The development of prosocial and reparative behaviors was investigated by examining children's responses to distresses they caused and those they witnessed in others during the 2nd year of life. Prosocial behaviors (help, sharing, provision of comfort) emerged between the ages of 1 and 2, increasing in frequency and variety over this time period. These behaviors were linked to expressions of concern as well as efforts to understand and experience the other's plight. Children's reparative behaviors after they had caused distress also increased with age. Age changes in these early signs of moral development were accompanied by social-cognitive changes in self-recognition. In assessments at age 2, children were most responsive to distress in their mothers but also showed some sensitivity toward unfamiliar persons.

We presented a new conceptualization of perceived control in which three conceptually independent sets of beliefs are distinguished: control beliefs, expectations about the extent to which agents (e.g., the self) can obtain desired outcomes; means-ends beliefs, expectations about the extent to which certain potential causes produce outcomes; and agency beliefs, expectations about the extent to which agents possess potential means. In a study of 155 children from Grades 2, 4, and 6, we demonstrated that children's questionnaire responses reflected the distinction between these beliefs. Factor analyses of the items for each known cause separately revealed the predicted three factors, marked by control, means-ends, and agency items, respectively. Likewise, factor analysis of the scale scores resulted in control and agency beliefs factors as well as three factors for means-ends beliefs. Initial evidence on the usefulness of the new scheme indicates that control, means-ends, and agency beliefs show differential developmental trajectories as well as differential relations with cognitive performance. Researchers from many areas have attempted to understand belief systems about control and action. Under the rubric of perceived control, researchers investigate the causes people view as responsible for important outcomes in their lives, the role people perceive themselves to play in influencing events, and the resources people believe they can access in reaching their goals. (See Baltes & Baltes, 1986, or Lefcourt, 1976, for reviews.) Perceived control has been examined not only because it is interesting in itself, but also because it predicts important

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