Examined the relation between a history of maltreatment and cognitive control functioning in two groups of preschool and early school-age maltreated and nonmaltreated children. Maltreated children showed developmentally impaired cognitive control functioning on a number of tasks. (RH)

Positively correlated were verbal fluency scores and scores for strategies expected to distinguish levels of verbal fluency among 64 third-graders and 71 sixth-graders. When a smaller sample of similarly aged students completed expanded versions of tasks, results revealed grade and gender differences in strategy use and level of task performance.…

Investigated egocentricity and ascriptions of knowledge to others in 45 children of 3-6 years. Six-year-olds were better than younger children at assessing the other's knowledge. Subjects were better at assessing the other's knowledge when their own access and knowledge were identical. (RJC)

Studied influence of intelligence, metacognitive attributions, and knowledge base coherence in the regulation of the category-sorting strategy in first and second graders. Knowledge base was a powerful predictor of strategic-looking behavior; metacognitive attribution was most influential in low knowledge base conditions; and intelligence had…

Two experiments examined developmental changes in accuracy of judgments about physical abilities in primary school children and college students. Subjects were asked to complete four physical tasks with and without benefit of practice. Found that children overestimated their physical abilities, individual differences in overestimation related to…

Students in first, third, and sixth grade and college heard scenarios in which a peer experienced an emotionally equivocal or unequivocal event. Neither prompting children to consider alternatives nor reminding them of peers' individual differences produced greater discrimination between equivocal and unequivocal situations. (BC)

A modification of the observer-based psychoacoustic procedure was used to estimate the detectability of auditory signals by infants. Data from infants up to 3.5 months of age revealed improvement in performance as a function of increasing signal intensity and age. (BC)

A sample of seventh, ninth, and eleventh graders generated self-descriptors for the role of the self in the classroom, with friends, with parents, and in romantic relationships. Findings revealed that the self becomes increasingly differentiated into role-related multiple selves with age. (GLR)

Assessed temperament of children of 5-42 months of age. A Q-sort measure was used to assess children's attachment security between 12 and 45 months. Analysis of results revealed an association between temperament and attachment security at all ages. (BC)

Examined facial expressions in relation to cognition in infants 2 to 8 months of age. A total of 48 subjects received an audiovisual stimulus contingent on arm movement, whereas 32 infants did not control the stimulus. Infants in the contingent group expressed greater interest and joy during learning and greater anger during extinction. (RH)

A questionnaire designed to assess experience with activities presumed to require spatial visualization abilities and psychometric tests of these abilities were given to 383 adults of 20 to 83 years of age. Findings suggested that at least some age-related differences in cognitive functioning are independent of the amount of experience with…

Examined the etiology of individual differences in literacy, phonological awareness, and language ability in monozygotic and dizygotic twins. Found that there was no genetic link between phonological awareness and literacy independent of general language ability. Individual differences in literacy ability were substantially influenced by genetics…

Three samples of 8- to 16-year olds were assessed three times at yearly intervals on eight water-level items. Within-child change over age was viewed as stochastic process of the child changing or remaining in one of three latent strategy states. Although there was improvement in task performance over age, the general finding was that strategy…

Studied feeding-related arousal effects on a visual recognition paired-comparison task at newborn, 1, and 4 months of age. Found that newborns and 1-month olds shifted from a familiarity preference before feeding to a novelty preference after feeding. Control-group testing confirmed that shift was not due to increased stimulus exposure. By 4…

Described experiences of 84 German toddlers enrolled or not enrolled in child care. Found total amount of care per weekday did not differ by child-care status; child-care toddlers received lower care levels from center providers; their mothers engaged in more social interactions during nonworking hours than did mothers of home-only toddlers; and…