Conversation, development, and gender: a study of changes in children's concepts of punishment.
One hundred thirty-three children, average age 9.58 years, were read vignettes describing a moral transgression and then discussed what would constitute a fair punishment. Children's gender influenced conversation dynamics (use of interruption and other simultaneous speech) but not conversation content (justifications for judgments). All children who engaged in conversation showed development in judgments after 8 weeks compared with a control (no interaction) group. However, there was no relation between conversation dynamics or content and development, or any effects of gender, on the developmental process. The benefits of peer collaboration were general rather than specific to the stimulus story.
Leman
Patrick J
PJ
Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway,University of London, Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom. patrick.leman@rhul.ac.uk
Björnberg
Marina
M
D002648:Child; D003210:Concept Formation; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D011678:Punishment; D035481:Retrospective Moral Judgment; D012930:Social Dominance; D012951:Socialization; D014705:Verbal Behavior