Children's Conceptions of Friendship: A Multimethod Study of Developmental Changes.

Addresses limitations of previous research by testing second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade children on three measures: an open-ended interview, a story-recognition task, and a questionnaire about the importance of different characteristics to friendships and acquaintanceships. Friendship expectations based on dispositional characteristics increased in saliency with age, whereas characteristics referring to overt behaviors remained constant. (Author/RH)