This study investigated how 4-month-old infants represent sequences: Do they track the statistical relations among specific sequence elements (e.g., AB, BC) or do they encode abstract ordinal positions (i.e., B is second)? Infants were habituated to sequences of 4 moving and sounding elements--3 of the elements varied in their ordinal position…

Argues that the simplification strategy of research is useful for understanding the basic cognitive processes that are necessary for mature performance in conservation, transitivity, moral judgment, causal inference, and other Piagetian tasks. (JMB)

A study showed that 5- to 15-year-old children first employed Heider's commission rule, then his intentionality rule, and finally the foreseeability rule at about 11 years of age. Results suggest that both the Heider and Piaget attribution research traditions were correct in part. (RH)

Choice and use of problem-solving strategies were monitored during a picture comparison task for 90 kindergarten, second and fourth grade boys and girls. (SB)

Reports three experiments which investigated the ability of children aged four to nine years to organize body-location information in recall. Attempted to correct for methodological confounding in previous similar research. (JMB)

These results suggest that previously published findings indicating that young children are unresponsive to issues of intentionality are methodological artifacts of the verbal assessment procedures employed. (Authors)

Investigates, among delinquent and nondelinquent subjects ages 10 to 11 and 14 to 15 years, differences exhibited on moral reasoning tasks, social problem solving/metacognition, effects of clues on performance on a social problem-solving task, effects of age, and the interaction of age and delinquency. (Author/RH)

Examines the use of tasks with backward false belief explanation as an effective technique in gaining a complete picture of the development of understanding of the representational mind. Argues that traditional prediction tests of false belief cannot tell whether children's wrong answers show misunderstanding about false belief or seduction by the…

Addresses the criticisms of Diana Baumrind's review of his research on sex differences in moral reasoning development. Discusses issues such as the nature of moral development, the focus on adulthood, the choice of statistics, the effect of differing sample sizes and scoring systems, and the role of sexual experiences in explaining variability in…

A 16-item self-report measure of loneliness and social dissatisfaction was developed to survey 506 third- through sixth-grade children. The measure was found to be internally reliable; more than 10 percent of subjects reported feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction; and children's feelings of loneliness were significantly related to…

To examine children's comprehension monitoring (CM) ability more comprehensively, this study treated CM as a complex phenomenon involving multidimensional evaluation and regulation procedures and used several different measures to assess them. Results highlight the sensitivity of different measures and the importance of treating CM as a…

Extends and replicates the 1948 Soviet study by Istomina that examined the age at which children use deliberate strategies to aid recall and the effect that task context has on remembering. Subjects were 3- to 7-year-old children. Istomina's results were not replicated in this study. (HOD)

Calls for a process-oriented approach to study of categorization in infancy. Maintains that further understanding of infant categorization and its changes with development requires a more direct assessment of infants' category formation. Argues that two research directions will enhance understanding of categorization: (1) contextual variations on…