The purpose of this study was to clarify features of childhood depression by focusing on aggression, which has often been seen as more characteristic of depression in childhood than in adulthood. Participants were 469 parent-child pairs. Children (ages 8-12 years) provided self-reports on a depression measure, and completed a P-F study. Parents rated the temperament of their children. Anovas for P-F scores were conducted on two factors : depression and temperament. Of greater interest was the finding of a relation between depression and P-F scores (aggression). Children with a higher depression score reported more aggression towards others and less toward themselves, compared with children with low depression scores. In the age range studied, lack of depression apparently facilitates the development of introspection and the turning of aggression inward rather than toward others. Conversely, children with high depressive tendencies were relatively more likely to direct aggression toward others in immature ways. Compared with adulthood depression which is characterized by excessive introspection and guilt, our data indicate that childhood depression appears to be characterized by externalized aggression in daily life.

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This longitudinal study examined the development of nonreferential gestures in relation to two Deaf infants' first use of Japanese Sign Language. Hand activities were observed for two Deaf infants with their Deaf parents. Nonreferential gestures were seen often just before the onset of sign usage, in the form of numerous rhyihmic and repetitious movements. With age, the infants' nonreferential gestures became more complex and increased infrequency. There was also a continuity between the movements involved in nonreferential gestures and in first signs. These observations indicate that nonreferential gestures are the manual analogies of vocal babbling.

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Ourreseachshowedhow1-year-oldchildrenunderstoodcharacters'emotionswhenmothersreadthem2picturebookstories:a"crymg"storyandan"angry"story.Thebehaviorof4mother-childpairswasobservedmonthlyoverthecourseofayear,asfollows.First,forthe"crying"story,childrenbegantounderstandthereasonfortheprotagonists'cryingatabouttheageof18months.Whenthestorycharacterwasreunitedwithhismother,thechildrensmiledorexpressedrelief.Secondly,whenlisteningtothe"crying"story,childrenirnitatedthenaturalfacralexpressronofcrying.Thissuggeststhatchildrencaneasilyunderstandsorrybyobservingacryingexpres-sion.Third,forthe"angry"storytherewereindividualdifferencesinchildren'semotionalexpressions.Childrenages19to24monthssometimesweremoreinterestedinthe2characters'interactionsthanintheirangryemo-tions.Indeedthefacialexpressionofangerwasnotwellunderstoodbyparticipants.Finally,fromabouttheageof18months,3ofthechildrenbegantotalkaboutthecharacters,sometimeseveninterpretingtheiremotionsandcriticizingthem.Theseresultssuggestthatinthesecondyearoflifechildrencomewithagetobetterunderstandandimitatestorycharacters'emotions,respondingdifferentiallytotheemotionsofangervs.sadness.

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The relationship between leisure activities and successful aging in late adulthood was examined interms oflife satisfaction and psycho-social development. The 3 subsamples of elderly participants were (1) Life History (mental activity) Group (n=88), (2) Mountain Climbing (physical activity) Group (n=88) and (3) Control (neither mental nor physical) Group (n=62). Measurements of successful aging were the LSI (Life Satisfaction Inventory) and the EPSI (Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory). Members of the Life History Group scored higher on the LSI and on all EPSI items than did participants from the other two groups. The LSI and EPSI scores did not differ significantly between the Mountain Climbing Group and the Control Group. As to the relationship between life satisfaction and psych-social development, LSI scores and all developmental stage scores were correlated, and "trust" and "integrity" items had the highest of the EPSI score correlations with life satisfactron in all partrcrpant sub-groups. These findings suggest that writing a life history is associated with life satisfaction and psycho-social development in old age.

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This study investigated whether 3- or 4-year old children would show a "word length effect" (i.e., longer words are more difficult to remember) on immediate recoguition tasks. In Experiment 1, 3- or 4-year-olds (n=29) were presented only with phonemic stimuli (Condition 1), while another group of 3- or 4-year-olds (n=30) were presented simultaneously with both phonemic and visual stimuli (Condition 2). When the children were given recognition tasks in a phonemic mode or in a visual mode, they showed a word length effect only in the phonemic mode. In Experiment 2, when 3- or 4-year-olds (n=19) were presented with phonemic stimuli on immediate recognition tasks and delayed recognition tasks, the word length effect was found only for the immediate recognition tasks. The results suggest that the effect of word length on young children reflects not only processing at the point of output of words but also a rehearsal process of phonemically presented stimuli.

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