Presents two studies that describe behavior of very young children in tasks requiring self-control. Behavior of 27 two-year-olds completing a task was observed and coded in Study 1 using a 10-category coding system. In the second study, 82 children 24 to 36 months old were observed in three delay tasks. Significant effects were found for age and…

Pairs of toddlers were observed with mothers in a context structured to assess sharing behavior. Children were separated by a barrier; one child had toys and the other had no toys. The situation was then reversed. Sharing for the initially deprived peer was related to extent to which the partner had shared, suggesting operation of principle of…

Examined object concept development in 2- to 4-year olds with a partial replication of a study by Spelke and Kestenbaum (1986). Found that children judged identical entering and exiting figures as involving one object and different figures as involving two objects. Continuity of movement failed to affect judgments of numerical identity. Findings…

Studied 125 mothers and firstborn sons over 11-month period to examine relations between mothers' representations of their relationships with their children, adult representations of attachment, and observed mothering. Findings revealed significant relationship between mothers' representations of relationships with their children and adult…

Studied 2-year olds' understanding of pretense expressions of independent agency in scenarios in which a doll acted as the agent of a series of pretend events. Found no gender differences in the doll's imaginary intentions, but older toddlers performed reliably better than younger. Episodes requiring enacting conclusions to events that began with…

Four experiments assessed infants' ability to solve isomorphic problems and explored the nature of early representations. Found that 13-month-olds transferred a modeled strategy across isomorphic problems, whereas 10-month-olds transferred only after multiple source problems or high perceptual similarity between problems. Comprehension of the…

Two experiments examined toddlers' ability to use cues to infer meaning of novel action words. Toddlers were taught labels for similar or dissimilar pairs of videotaped actions, with behavioral cues or eye gaze related to agents' intentions distinguishing similar events. Results showed that in year 2, children begin to consider…

Examined the developmental courses of temperamental constructs using structural equation model fitting with children from 3 to 48 months of age. Found that across all measurement occasions, models that fit best were those that allowed for stability in temperament to be at least partially mediated through intermediate forms of the trait. (JPB)

Temperament is examined from a longitudinal, within-individual perspective in order to investigate short-term change and patterns of temperament changes. For 100 consectutive days five mothers completed a temperament survey, reporting on their own and their two-year-old children's behavior. Patterns of change were identified for both mothers and…

Introduces the Social Relations Model as a new approach for understanding reciprocity during parent-child and sibling play. (PCB)

Based on observations of children ages 21-25 months in play groups, investigates reactions of both peers and teachers to behaviors that could be identified and coded as male, female, or neutral. (Author/NH)

Influence of others' emotions on the emotions and aggression of 2-year-olds was examined. Dyads of familiar peers were exposed during play to a sequence of experimental manipulations of background emotions of warmth and anger. Theoretical and practical implications of sensitivity to others' conflicts and interpersonal problems in toddlers are also…

Twelve- and 18-month-olds played with 2 adults and 2 new toys. For a third toy, one adult left the room while the child and other adult played with it. This adult returned, looked at the 3 toys, expressed excitement, and asked "Can you give it to me?" Infants at both ages were able to do so, suggesting that 1-year-olds understand other persons as…

This research tested the hypothesis that young children's bias to generalize names for solid objects by shape is the product of statistical regularities among nouns in the early productive vocabulary. Fifteen- to 20-month-olds given intensive naming experiences with typical noun categories developed a precocious shape bias and showed accelerated…

Direct defiance and passive noncompliance decreased with age, while simple refusal and negotiation increased with age. Five year olds who used skillful forms of resistance were more skillful when directing requests to mothers. Only unskillful noncompliance predicted later ratings of behavior problems. Sex differences and associations between…