Four experiments examined children's interpretations of lexical and vocal cues to speaker affect and the developmental trajectory of their interpretations of discrepancy. Findings indicate that the affective interpretations of 7- to 10-year-olds reflected a weighted- averaging strategy favoring the affect conveyed lexically. Both 4- and…

Two social factors and their interactive effects were examined as possible influences on children's detection and reporting of inconsistent statements. Factors were the stated intention and the age of the speaker. (PCB)

Children's restrictive disclosure to friends, which is a facet of intimate friendship, was investigated. It was found that children in kindergarten, second, and fourth grade showed restrictive disclosure to friends, and that greater disclosure of positive personal information to friends than to nonfriends was exhibited with age. (PCB)

Two studies were conducted to determine how well story grammar predicted recall of televised stories. In Experiment 1, prechoolers viewed a nonnarrated televised story from "Sesame Street." In Experiment 2, preschoolers and adults were administered a narrative via television or radio. In both studies, subjects' retention reflected recall…

Report concerns research to develop a broad and flexible method for assessing familiarity with slang for various topics. (Authors)

Reviews recent research on the developmental course of attentional processes, suggesting that more emphasis be given to understanding the basis of interference from irrelevant stimuli when it occurs. (Author/RH)

Examined the relationship between three behaviors (physical aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behaviors) and three social outcomes (peer rejection, acceptance, and reciprocal friendships) in 131 third-graders and 135 sixth-graders. Found that among girls, but not boys, relational aggression explained variance in rejection beyond…

Investigated representational and social pretend play behaviors of 52 preschoolers as a function of age and sex. Play behaviors differed depending on the age and sex of the pretenders. Children did not significantly alter their style of play from one playmate or group to another. (RJC)

Children often confuse what is said and what is meant in referential communication. Five- and six-year olds were exposed as listeners or evaluators to a message in which they were either aware or not aware of the referent intended. Found that only six-year olds benefited from instructions to focus on the literal meaning of the message. (BC)

Studied frequency and style of help-seeking in 18- and 24-month olds observed at free play and problem-solving. Found that younger toddlers sought less help than older toddlers; both groups sought more help during problem solving than in free play. Older toddlers increased vocal help-seeking whereas younger toddlers sought help through vocal and…

In three studies, children and adolescents were questioned about vignettes that raised issues involved with decision making, such as precedents, the role of probability, open-minded thinking, and errors of omission. Decision-making biases in children's responses were scored. Some age and group differences were found. (BC)

Thirty-six children from grades 1, 3 and 6 observed and rewarded a peer who played an experimental game. Children experienced a developmental shift in the criteria they used to reward a peer's performance. References to intention-act matches increased with grade and with children's understanding of controllable and noncontrollable tasks and causal…

Explored patterns of emotional communication in 70 mother-infant dyads, emphasizing both mother and child roles in affect regulation. Display of maternal positive and negative affects decreased with age; child affects were unchanged. Maternal sensitivity was associated with maternal matching of son's affects and daughter's creation of shared…

Examined responses of 9-19 year olds to different forms of interadult anger expression. Children perceived all forms of anger expression as more angry than control conditions and had more negative reactions to anger expression than to control conditions. Results suggest that others' anger is viewed as a negative emotional event and reacted to as a…

Examined age differences in self-esteem concepts. Found that with increasing age, children's concepts increasingly resembled those of some theorists. Subjects believed that liking oneself influences internal reactions to events. From nine years, children used self-esteem to explain others' thoughts and feelings, and expected self-esteem to resist…