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Developmental changes in the conceptualization of empathy were studied by testing and interviewing kindergartners, first graders, and fourth graders One part of the study showed that all age groups expect a child to empathize with liked peers more than with disliked peers Whereas kindergartners expect emotional reactions to be equally strong in response to both types of peers, older children predict weak and qualified empathic reactions to disliked peers Taken in conjunction with the children's explanations of their emotion choices, this result suggests age differences with regard to the integration of separate items of information A second part of the study showed that few kindergartners know how to control empathic arousal purely by means of thoughts Mentalistic strategies used by older children to maximize or minimize empathic arousal are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]