Provides an overview of the issue's special section on structural equation modeling, indicating what the section contains and what it omits. (Author/RH)

Advances in the neurosciences have created exciting possibilities for interdisciplinary collaboration. The benefits of and barriers to collaboration with developmental psychology are discussed in this introduction to a special section of Child Development. (BN)

Examines and rejects common criticisms of the causality concept; shows causality is a relation implied in the grammar of a language about objects. Discusses objective criteria for concepts of causal relations and explains how the concept of causality may be modified to have causes determine probabilities of outcomes. (Author/RH)

Compares the characteristics of adult children who provide comfort and sympathy and serve as confidants to parents with those whom parents perceive as disappointing. Interview information from 117 couples having children who had left home was analyzed using aggregate and intrafamilial strategies. Differences in the findings from the two techniques…

Provides a set of guidelines for evaluating research using structural equation modeling (SEM). Offers insight into how someone familiar with SEM would judge the adequacy of a study using such methods. (Author/RH)

A total of 61 children from first through sixth grades participated in four balance-scale and four inclined-plane problem types in a study testing for invariance of subject classifications as rule-users across problems whose products differed but whose type did not. Results indicated that many children's classifications differed across…

Demonstrates ways in which conclusions about models may be affected by violations of the assumption that the observed variables are normally distributed. Addresses the issue of the robustness of findings obtained under such conditions. (Author/RH)

The stability of standard score and probability method sociometric group assignments was examined over a two-year period with an initial group of 334 fifth graders. Popular, neglected, and controversial groups evidenced low stability of group members over intervals of approximately 1, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. (Author/RH)

Challenges the typical treatment of causal effects in longitudinal data, arguing that models should be conceptualized and tested in ways that directly reflect prior assumptions as to the trait- or state-like nature of the variables. Examples demonstrate that meaningful longitudinal studies of state variables can be conducted without assuming their…

Results of a study involving 30 infants of 14, 20, or 26 weeks confirm the existence of distinct developmental phases of attention during the visual preference procedure. Findings suggest a refinement of the use of fixation duration as the major dependent variable in the procedure. (RH)

Introduces structural modeling with nonnormal continuous variables, using the equations language of the micro-mainframe program EQS in the context of a longitudinal study of adolescent development that followed about 700 adolescents across an 8-year span into young adulthood. Two models are developed to assess the influence of drug use on…

Considers problems which arise when researchers do not have the optimally large sample sizes desired in structural equation modeling. Discusses the ways in which small sample size affects assessment of model fit. Provides a new estimator that may be beneficial for use in small-sample situations. (Author/RH)

Multiple discriminant function analysis was conducted with data from Strange Situations. Results enable researchers to obtain attachment classifications directly from scores on interactive behavior and crying during reunion episodes. (PCB)

Defines structural equation modeling (SEM) and points out its relation to other more familiar data-analytic techniques, as well as some of the potentials and pitfalls of SEM in the analysis of developmental data. Discussion focuses on causal modeling, path diagrams, ordinary least-squares regression analysis, and powerful methods for model…

An analysis using data drawn from Nancy Bayley's Berkeley Growth Study is performed for didactic purposes to illustrate the use of structural equation modeling on a child development data set. Alternatives to standard latent factor approaches are demonstrated for use in research situations in which the subject-to-variable ratio is less than…