In individual interviews, 80 children ages 4-8 predicted which of 5 emotions they would feel, and how intensely, to 15 affect-laden situations. Results indicated that responses involve three dimensions of emotion cognition (intensity, multiplicity, and valence) that emerge in four developmental stages. By age eight, children can predict multiple…

Preschoolers' appraisals of others' emotions were compared with adults' appraisals. The accuracy of children's appraisals varied with age and with type and intensity of emotion. Children's appraisals were biased toward attribution of causes to external factors. Attributions to internal factors varied with age, emotion, and type of internal factor.…

Argues that experts in philosophical and psychological paradigms can and do contribute to revisions of theories of moral excellence and that the study of prototypes has limited value for resolving some important theoretical issues. Describes research topics that can be informed by the investigation of prototypes of moral excellence, such as social…

Examined mothers' representations of their relationship with toddler sons over a 13-month period. Found that the three factors characterizing mothers' representations for 15-month olds also fit data for 28-month olds. Found significant increases in anger but no changes in joy, pleasure, coherence, guilt, and separation distress. Changes in…

Compared performance of infants with autism, developmental delays, or normal development on a prospective screening instrument for autism. Found that 20-month-olds with autism lacked social gaze in empathy and joint attention tasks. Infants with autism or developmental delays demonstrated functional play. Few produced spontaneous pretend play.…

Three experiments compared infants' reactions to videos of normally responsive women varying in eye contact. Found that, relative to frontal faces, three-month olds smiled less at images averting head and eye (H&I), head alone (H), and closing eyes (ECL) but not at averting eyes (E). Five-month-olds smiled less at H&I, E, and ECL but not…

Used questionnaire and observations from 94 nonclinical mother-adolescent dyads to examine whether the inverse relationship between maternal emotional distress and responsiveness was mediated by mothers' parenting efficacy and parental perspective taking. Found that maternal emotional distress was associated with lower levels of mother- and…

Explored use of punitive force by adults with low perceived power in teaching interactions. Found that those women with low perceived power were more likely than the others to use high levels of punitive force and show elevated levels of autonomic arousal when given ambiguous control, and more likely to attribute intentionality to children whose…

Data regarding individual differences in children's regulation, emotionality, quality of socioemotional functioning, and shyness were obtained from teachers and peers for 112 Indonesian 6th graders. Similar data (plus parents' reports) also were collected when these children were in 3rd grade. For boys, regulation and low negative emotionality…

Involving 82 preschool children and grade 2 students, a study was conducted to (1) determine whether heart rate, facial, and self-report indices could be used to differentiate between different vicariously induced negative emotional states; (2) examine developmental differences in the degree of differentiation; and (3) assess the pattern of…

A disappointment model was used to examine expressive control in four- and five-year-old children with low, moderate, or high risk for disruptive behavior. Boys' anger predicted their disruptiveness during the disappointment. Girls' minimization of negative emotion predicted attention deficit and conduct disorder symptoms. (WP)

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)

Investigated ideas of 50 first-grade children from two different Nepali cultures (Tamang and Chhetri-Brahmin) regarding how they would feel and act in six emotionally challenging situations. Found significant cultural differences. Chhetri-Brahmin children were more likely to endorse negative emotions and to report masking negative emotion. These…

Used quantitative genetic design to examine between- and within-family variations and gene-environment processes in parent-child mutuality among 3-year-old identical and same-sex fraternal twins. Found that greater mutuality was associated with higher socioeconomic status. Moderate sibling similarity in parent-child mutuality was accounted for by…

Observed weekly 13 infants from 1 to 6 months of age to determine when they produced different types of smiling and other facial expressions. Found that the cheek-raise and open-mouth dimensions of smiling appear to be associated with, respectively, amplification of processes of sharing positive affect and of visual engagement present to a lesser…