This paper describes the findings of a study on group development using experiential education. Jones and Bearley describe group development as occurring in four phases. Each phase has a task and process dimension to it, where task refers to how the group gets the job done, and process refers to how the group members deal with one another along…

Social competence promotion has emerged as a promising strategy for the prevention of adolescent antisocial behavior. However, although evaluations of social skills training interventions consistently have shown improvements in participants' skill levels, the evidence for long-term behavioral improvements is equivocal. Variables such as social…

This study investigated toddlers' reactions to morally related events to determine whether age was a factor in emotional reaction, whether the middle of the second year was a salient time for the emergence of emotional reactions to such events, and whether heart rate change could be used as a new measure of moral responsivity. While their heart…

This study examined the letters that 438 children aged 2 through 12 wrote to "Santa Claus" in care of a local newspaper in 1992. The letters were scored for: (1) number of toys requested; (2) non-toy requests; (3) specific requests for others; (4) intangible requests (i.e., world peace); (5) total toy price; and (6) number of toys…

In this study, reasoning about moral responsibilities in friendships on the part of 97 subjects was assessed at the ages of 7, 9, 12, and 15 years. Assessment was undertaken of: (1) general reasoning about the moral obligation of promise keeping; (2) general reasoning about responsibilities in friendship; and (3) situation-specific reasoning about…

The Parental Attitudes Toward Childrearing Questionnaire, which assesses parental warmth, encouragement of independence, strictness, and aggravation, was completed by 92 mothers and fathers when their child was 20, 26, and 32 months old. Analyses assessed covariation between parents across time points. Also assessed were the possibilities that:…

This study investigated the processes and outcomes of family decision-making during children's transition from late childhood to adolescence. Members of 28 one-parent families and 40 two-parent families completed four decision tasks independently, then as a family. Decision tasks concerned selecting a bicycle, a snack, a movie, and a camp for the…

A short term longitudinal study investigated the relationship between spatial activity and spatial competencies over the course of the preschool years. A group of 22 children, 3 years of age, were observed exploring two different novel environments with their mothers: an indoor children's museum and a small outdoor zoo. When the children were 3.5…

Pressure variations applied by newborns and by infants 1 to 4 months old to rubber nipples were recorded in three different procedures under no-fluid conditions. In the first study, infants were presented for 90 seconds with novel nipples varying in shape and in shape plus material. Results suggested that a developmental trend existed for an…

Three studies explored age, sex, and individual differences in children's defensiveness about four feelings: happiness, anger, sadness, and fear. Also investigated was the relation between children's defensiveness and their mothers' comfort with and expression of feelings. Participants included children ranging in age from 4 through 11 years of…

Although age and work commitment have been correlated positively in previous studies, the studies have not clearly defined whether it is age per se or the correlates of age (job tenure, length of service) which account for the commitment. To investigate the relationship between age and various indicators of commitment to work (job involvement,…

A longitudinal study of mental development during the first 6 years of life was conducted to determine whether different social and biological variables were related to mental development at different ages. A total of 218 children having complete neonatal records of 12 biological variables were studied at 6-month intervals until the children were…

Children's knowledge of daily events in full-day child care was assessed. Interviews with 14 children produced spontaneous narratives that revealed script-like knowledge of the child care day, including events such as indoor play, outdoor play, breakfast, lunch, nap, and snack. Younger children reported a smaller number of events in their…

The development of scripts and their use for guiding memory was examined in children ages 3 to 5 and 7 to 9. In the first phase of the study, 10 preschool children and 10 elementary school students were asked to describe three scripts related to everyday life. Scripts were analyzed to determine whether any differences existed between those of…

A naturalistic study of 112 families in two parks examined proximity and touching between family members as a function of age and sex of child, sex of parent, and family composition variables. Mothers and fathers were strikingly similar in their behavior. Distance from parent increased and touching decreased as age of child increased from the…