Thirty-seven mothers and fathers were observed in their homes interacting with their 2- and 4-year-old-children at Time 1 and 2 years later. Parental mental state talk to children varied as a function of children's age, the context in which talk occurred, and the gender of the parent. Four-year-old children, with an older sibling, produced and heard more cognitive talk and less desire talk than children without an older sibling. Cognitive and feeling talk by family members at Time 1 predicted change in younger children's cognitive and feeling talk (respectively) 2 years later, after controlling for initial levels of younger children's talk and general language ability. Findings are discussed in the context of theory of mind understanding and family talk about the mind.

This study explored the growing capability of children, 9 to 18 months of age, to request a partner's participation in social games. Nineteen infants played a set of prescribed games for 30 min in a laboratory setting with an adult partner when they were 9, 12, 15, and 18 months of age. The children's nonverbal behavior and vocalizations during 15-s intervals in which the adult partner discontinued her involvement in the game (interruption periods) were compared with their behavior during game-playing periods. A reliable increase in communicative behavior was displayed during the interruption periods. Behavior during the interruption periods indicated that infants as young as 9 months understood elements of the content and structure of the games, were capable of engaging in object-person interaction, and were able to regulate the games by requesting that their partners continue to participate. The display of this knowledge and skill became more frequent and reliable with increasing age. The results are discussed with reference to the effect of adult scaffolding on infants' use of communication.

Parents' interventions in conflicts of their 2-and 4-year-olds were observed in 40 families. Parents addressed conflict issues 45% of the time, directed interventions to children who had violated siblings' rights or welfare, supported children who had been victims of such violations, and generally supported rules for family interaction. Not all potential rules received equivalent parental support, however. For example, children could tattle, boss, lie, and exclude siblings, whereas rules prohibiting aggression and promoting sharing were strongly endorsed. When conflicts ended, many of the rules parents supported were upheld only because they had intervened. Only ownership rights and the right of children to play without interference were upheld regardless of intervention. Relating results to a typology of 3rd-party conflict intervention, differences among conflict issues and the roles of both parents and children in setting family standards of justice are emphasized.