ncepts effectively. This definition is reflected in the types of questions asked on intelligence tests for children. Two well-known teststhe Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Revisedare used to index childrens mental growth and to predict learning performances. Because school learning seems to depend on the ability to reason verbally, the content of intelligence tests seems appropriate. Some relationship does indeed exist between intelligence-test performance and school achievement. Predictions based on tests are imperfect, however, because intelligence tests do not measure motivation and because knowledge about the skills needed for school learning is incomplete. In addition, intelligence tests are sometimes inappropriate when used with minority children, who may not understand or respond appropriately to certain items because of language difficulties or cultural differences. Thus, test scores must be interpreted with great care.The attitudes, values, and behaviors of parents toward their children clearly influence patterns of development. Likewise, childrens characteristics influence parental attitudes and behaviors; handicapped children, for example, require more attention and cause more parental anxiety than do normal children. Extensive studies have established that parental behaviors toward children vary widely, ranging from restrictiveness to permissiveness, warmth to hostility, and anxious involvement to calm detachment. These variations in attitudes produce different patterns in family relationships. Social relationships among infants involve mutual interest without interaction. This relationship is called parallel play. Beginning with the preschool years, peer-group relationships become increasingly sophisticated social systems influencing childrens values and behaviors. The transition to the adult social world is aided by the organization of peer groups with a leader, members with varying streng...
