To provide data on the development of compliance and self-assertion toward mothers and fathers, 2-, 4-, and 6-year-old children were observed in their homes. Compared with younger children, older children were more compliant, more likely to use logical argument, and less likely to ignore or to show defiance. Two-year-olds showed more ignoring of their fathers, whereas 4-year-olds were more ignoring of their mothers and showed greater compliance to their fathers. Regardless of age, boys showed higher levels of compliance to their fathers, whereas girls did not respond differentially to mothers or fathers. Girls were, however, more likely to state their desires and preferences and to use logical argument. Further analyses suggested that none of the gender differences in child response were apparent artifacts of differences in parental treatment.Researchers from a variety of theoretical perspectives have argued that the development of self-regulation and control is central to the task of early socialization (e.g., Freud, 1908;Kopp, 1982;Luria, 1961;Mischel, 1974). As children learn to regulate their behavior and emotions in response to caregiver directions and commands, the foundations for social learning and internalization are established. Research has demonstrated that compliance and self-regulation begin in infancy and develop throughout the preschool years (e.g., Mischel, 1974;
Nineteen 12-to 24-month-olds were videotaped on two different days (2 weeks apart) in a series of tasks assessing single object manipulation, relational play, pretend play, distractibility, and persistence. Through detailed coding of the videotapes, eight relatively stable measures were developed that tapped three aspects of individual differences in infant behavior: developmental level, attention span, and exploratory diversity. As expected, the developmental level measures were highly correlated with infant age, and the attention span and exploratory diversity measures were not. Attention span and exploratory diversity tapped independent aspects of infant behavior, although each was associated with one or more measures of developmental level.
The present study examined the effects of reasoning and choice on children's prosocial behaviour. Forty-eight secondand third-grade children were randomly assigned to a 3 X 2 design (Adult-oriented Reasoning, Beneficiaryoriented Reasoning, or No Reasoning x Choice or No Choice) where they were asked or instructed to donate one of two prizes to sick children who could not be in the study. All children donated one prize. Subjects were then given the opportunity to help "other children who were having trouble with school" and to play with toys. It was predicted that beneficiary-oriented reasoning in the first situation would lead to the most prosocial behaviour in the second, and that the least amount of prosocial behaviour would occur when children had been given no reasoning and no choice. As predicted, children were more helpful in the choice than in the no-choice condition. However, prosocial behaviour was most likely when no reasoning had been used. Results are interpreted in light of the types of reasoning used, the experience of reactance, and Lepper's (1981, 1983) minimal sufficiency principle.
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