Todd D. Little

Yale University
Department of Psychology
Ph.D., Developmental Psychology
University of California, Riverside: December, 1988

B.A., English Literature
University of California, Riverside: June, 1983


Address: P.O. Box 208205 (2 Hillhouse Ave.)
New Haven, CT 06520-8205
Work Phone: (203) 432-6861
Work FAX: (203) 432-7172
e-MAIL: Todd.Little@Yale.edu
Date of Birth: September 6, 1960



Research and Teaching Positions

Assistant Professor (7/98 to 6/03; 5-year term contract)
Yale University, Department of Psychology
Lead investigator, Agency and Development project(7/98 to date)

Faculty Research Scientist (8/91 to 7/98; 7-year term contract)
Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Lifespan Psychology
Co-Lead investigator, Action Control and Child Development project
(10/92 to 7/96; co-directed with Paul Baltes and Gabriele Oettingen)
Co-Lead investigator, Self-Regulation and Social Relations project
(8/96 to 7/98; co-directed with Lothar Krappmann)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (1/89 to 7/91)
University of California, Riverside
Lifespan development of adaptive behaviors (K. Widaman, principal investigator)
Adolescent self-concept and school dropout (D. MacMillan, principal investigator)

Lecturer (9/85 to 8/93)
Boston University, European Division (8/92 to 8/93; Graduate Psychology Program)
California State University, San Bernardino (12/86 to 7/91; Department of Psychology)
University of California, Riverside (9/85 to 12/88; Department of Psychology)

Research Interests

Developmental Psychology: Action-Control Processes; Motivation; Self-regulation; School Achievement; Peer and Friendship Relationships; Adjustment and Well-being; The Social-Personality Nexus; Cross-Cultural and Socio-co ntextual Influences.

Statistics and Methodology: Modeling Individual, Group, and Developmental Differences; General Structural Equation Modeling Techniques (e.g., LISREL, MACS, Growth Curve, HLM), Construct Validation; Measurement; Selection Effects.


Publications

Journal Articles

Little, T. D., Lindenberger,* U. & Nesselroade,* J. R. (in press). On selecting indicators for multivariate measurement and modeling with latent variables: When 'good' indicators are bad and 'bad' indicators are good. Psychological Methods, 00, 000-000.

Little, T. D., Brendgen,* M., Wanner, B., & Krappmann,* L. (in press). Children's reciprocal perceptions of friendship quality in the sociocultural contexts of East and West Berlin. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 00, 000-000.

Little, T. D., Lopez, D. F., Oettingen, G., & Baltes, P. B. (in press). A comparative-longitudinal study of action-control beliefs and school performance: On the role of context. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 00, 000-000.

Little, T. D., Stetsenko,* A., & Maier, H. (in press). Action-control beliefs and school performance: A longitudinal study of Moscow children and adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 00, 000-000.

Brendgen, M., Little,* T. D., & Krappmann,* L. (in press). Peer rejection and friendship quality: A view from both friends' perspectives. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 00, 000-000.

Grob, A., Little,* T. D., & Wanner, B. (in press). Control judgments across the life span. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 00, 000-000.

Hawley, P. H., & Little, T. D. (in press). On winning some and losing some: Social dominance in toddlers. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 00, 000-000.

Lopez, D. F., Little,* T. D., Oettingen, G., & Baltes, P. B. (in press). Self-Regulation and school performance: Is there an optimal level of action-control? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 69, 000-000.

Raykov, T., & Little,* T. D. (in press). A note on Procrustean rotation in exploratory factor analysis: A computer intensive approach to goodness of fit evaluation. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 00, 000-000.

Ryan, R. M., Chirkov, L. I., Little, T. D., Sheldon, K. M., Timoshina, E., & Deci, E. L. (in press). The American dream in Russian: Extrinsic aspirations and well-being in two cultures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulliten 00, 000-000.

Stetsenko, A., Little,* T. D., Gordeeva, T. O., Grasshof, M., & Oettingen, G. (in press). Gender effects in children's beliefs about school performance: A cross-cultural study. Child Development, 00, 000-000.

Little, T. D. (1997). Mean and covariance structures (MACS) analyses of cross-cultural data: Practical and theoretical issues. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 32, 53-76.

Little, T. D., & Gordeeva, T. O. (1997). Modelirovanie s pomoshiu lineinyh strusturnyh uravnenii: primenenie analiza srednih i kovariazionnyh struktur dlja obrabotki cross-kulturnuch dannyh [Structural equation modeling: Mean and covariance structures analyses of cross-cultural data]. Psihologicheskii zhurnal [Russian Journal of Psychology], 18, 96-109.

Little, T. D., & Lopez,* D. F. (1997). Regularities in the development of children's causality beliefs about school performance across six sociocultural contexts. Developmental Psychology, 33, 165-175.

Karasawa, M., Little,* T. D., Miyashita, T., Mashima, M., & Azuma, H. (1997). Japanese children's action-control beliefs about school performance. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20, 405-423.

Stetsenko, A., Little, T.D., Oettingen, G., & Baltes, P. B. (1997). Razvitije predstavlenij o shkolnoj dejatelnosti u detej: Kross-kulturnoe issledovanije [Development of children's conceptions about school performance: A cross-cultural study]. Voprosi Psihologii [Russian Journal of Psychological Issues], 00, 000-000.

Grob, A., Little,* T. D., Wanner, B., Wearing, A. J., & Euronet. (1996). Adolescents' well-being and perceived control across fourteen sociocultural contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 71, 785-795.

Lopez, D. F., & Little,* T.D. (1996). Children's action-control beliefs and emotional regulation in the social domain. Developmental Psychology, 32, 299-312.

Little, T. D., Oettingen, G., Stetsenko, A., & Baltes, P. B. (1995). Children's action-control beliefs and school performance: How do American children compare with German and Russian children? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 686-700.

Diaz-Veizades, J., Widaman, K. F., Little, T. D., & Gibbs, K. W. (1995). The measurement and structure of human rights attitudes. Journal of Social Psychology, 135, 313-328.

Little, T. D., & Widaman,* K. F. (1995). A production task evaluation of individual differences in mental addition skill development: Internal and external validation of chronometric models. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 60, 361-392.

Stetsenko, A., Little,* T. D., Oettingen, G., & Baltes, P. B. (1995). Agency, control and means-ends beliefs about school performance in Moscow children: How similar are they to beliefs of Western children? Developmental Psychology, 31 , 285-299.

Oettingen, G., Little, T. D., Lindenberger, U., & Baltes, P. B. (1994). Causality, agency, and control beliefs in East versus West Berlin children: A natural experiment on the role of context. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 579-595.

Sneed, T. G., Carlson, J. S., Little, T. D., & Yachimowicz, D. J. (1994). The relationship of teacher and parent ratings of academically related personality traits to academic performance in elementary age students. Learning and Individual Differences, 6, 37-64.

Little, T. D., Das,* J. P., Carlson, J. S., & Yachimowicz, D. J. (1993). The role of higher-order skills in cognitive ability as mediators of deficits in academic achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 5, 219-240.

Oettingen, G., & Little, T. D. (1993). Intelligenz und Selbstwirksamkeitsurteile bei Ost- und Westberliner Schulkindern [Intelligence and self-efficacy beliefs in East and West Berlin school children]. Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie [German Journal of Social Psychology], 24, 186-197.

MacMillan, D. L., Widaman, K. F., Hemsley, R., Little, T. D., & Balow, I. H. (1992). Differences in school attitude as a function of academic level, ethnicity, and gender. Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 15, 39-50.

Widaman, K. F., MacMillan, D. L., Hemsley, R., Little, T. D., & Balow, I. H. (1992). Differences in adolescent self-concept as a function of academic level, ethnicity, and gender. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 96, 387-404.

Widaman, K. F., Little, T. D., Geary, D. C., & Cormier, P. (1992). Individual differences in the development of skill in mental addition: Internal and external validation of chronometric models. Learning and Individual Differences, 4, 167-213.

Little, T. D., & Widaman,* K. F. (1990). On the modeling of scaled measurement sequences: Implications for analyses of cognitive development. Intelligence, 14, 459-471.

Tomlinson-Keasey, C., & Little, T. D. (1990). Predicting educational attainment, occupational achievement, intellectual skill, and personal adjustment among gifted men and women. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 442-455.

Widaman, K. F., Geary, D. C., Cormier, P., & Little, T. D. (1989). A componential model for mental addition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 898-919.

Jacobs, D. F., Marston, A. R., Singer, R. D., Widaman, K. F., Little, T. D., & Diaz-Veizades, J. (1989). Children of problem gamblers. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 5, 261-268.

Marston, A. R., Jacobs, D. F., Singer, R. D., Widaman, K. F., & Little, T. D. (1988a). Adolescents who apparently are invulnerable to drug, alcohol, and nicotine use. Adolescence, 23, 593-598.

Marston, A. R., Jacobs, D. F., Singer, R. D., Widaman, K. F., & Little, T. D. (1988b). Characteristics of adolescents at risk for compulsive overeating on a brief screening test. Adolescence, 23, 59-65.

Geary, D. C., Widaman, K. F., Little, T. D., & Cormier, P. (1987). Cognitive addition: Comparison of learning disabled and academically normal elementary school children. Cognitive Development, 2, 249-269.

Geary, D. C., Widaman, K. F., & Little, T. D. (1986). Cognitive addition and multiplication: Evidence for a single memory network. Memory and Cognition, 14, 478-487.

Books, Chapters, Monographs, Reviews, and Published Reports

Little, T. D. (in press). Development across generations (and cultures?). Contemporary Psychology, 00, 000-000

Little, T. D. (in press). Sociocultural influences on the development of children's action-control beliefs. In J. Heckhausen & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Motivation and self-regulation across the life span (pp. 000-000). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Little, T. D., Schnabel, K. U., & Baumert, J. (Eds.) (in press). Modeling longitudinal and multilevel data: Practical issues, applied approaches, and specific examples. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Little, T. D., Schnabel, K. U., & Baumert, J.(in press). Modeling longitudinal and multilevel data. In T. D. Little, K. U. Schnabel, & J. Baumert (Eds.), Modeling longitudinal and multilevel data: Practical issues, applied approaches, and specific examples (pp. 000-000). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Little, T. D., Lindenberger, U. & Maier, H. (in press). Selectivity and generalizability in longitudinal research: On the effects of continuers and dropouts. In T. D. Little, K. U. Schnabel, & J. Baumert (Eds.), Modeling longitudinal and multiple-group data: Practical issues, applied approaches, and specific examples (pp. 000-000). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Baltes, M. M., Maas, I., Wilms, H-U., Borchelt, M., & Little, T. D. (in press). Everyday competence in old and very old age: Theoretical considerations and empirical findings. In P. B. Baltes &K. U. Mayer (Eds.), The Berlin aging study: Aging from 70 to 100 (pp. 000-000). New York: Cambridge University press.

Hawley, P. H. & Little, T. D. (in press). Modeling intraindividual variability and change in biobehavioral developmental processes. In B. Pugesek, A.Tomer, and A. von Eye, (Eds.), Structural equations modeling: Applications in ecological and evolutionary biology research (pp. 000-000). London: Sage.

Lindenberger, U., Gilberg, R., Little, T. D., Pötter, U., Nuthman, R., & Baltes, P. B. (in press). Selectivity and generalizability in the Berlin aging study. In P. B. Baltes & K. U. Mayer (Eds.), The Berlin aging study: Aging from 70 to 100 (pp. 000-000). New York: Cambridge University press

Little, T. D., & Wanner, B. (1997). The Multi-CAM: A multidimensional instrument to assess children's action-control motives, beliefs, and behaviors (Materialen aus der Bildungsforschung, No. 59, ISBN #3-87985-064-x). Berlin: Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

Oettingen, G., Little,* T. D., & Baltes,* P. B. (1996). Subjektives Leistungsvermögen und objektive Schulleistung bei Ost- und Westberliner Schulkindern [Subjective beliefs and objective performance in East and West Berlin school children] (pp. 650-655). Jahrbuch der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft[Year book of the Max Planck Society]. Goettingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Lindenberger, U., Gilberg, R., Pötter, U., Little, T. D., & Baltes, P. B. (1996). Stichprobenselektivität und Generalisierbarkeit der Ergebnisse in der Berliner Altersstudie [Selectivity and generalizability in the Berlin aging study]. In P. B. Baltes & K. U. Mayer (Eds.), Die Berliner Altersstudie [The Berlin aging study] (pp. 85-108). Berlin: Akademie Verlag.

Little, T. D., Oettingen, G., & Baltes, P. B. (1995). The revised control, agency, and means-ends interview (CAMI): A multicultural validity assessment using mean and covariance (MACS) analyses (Materialen aus der Bildungsforschung, No. 49, ISBN #3-87985-041-0). Berlin: Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

Oettingen, G., & Little, T. D. (1994). "Adäquate Selbsteinschätzung" als Erziehungsziel: Die Selbstwirksamkeits urteile Ostberliner Schulkinder ["Adequate self-evaluation" as an educational goal: The self-efficacy beliefs of East Berlin school children]. In G. Trommsdorff (Ed.), Psychologische Aspekte des soziopolitischen Wandels in Ostdeutschland [Psychological aspects of the sociopolitical changes in East Germany] (pp. 113-124). Berlin: De Gruyter.

Borthwick-Duffy, S., Widaman, K. F., Little, T. D., & Eyman, R. K. (1992). Foster family care for persons with mental retardation (Monographs of the American Association on Mental Retardation, No. 17). Washington, DC: American Association on Mental Retardation.

Widaman, K. F., & Little, T. D. (1992). The development of skill in mental arithmetic: An individual differences approach. In J. I. D. Campbell (Ed.), The nature and origins of mathematical skills (pp. 189-253). New York: Elsevier.

Widaman, K. F., Borthwick-Duffy, S., & Little, T. D. (1991). The structure and development of adaptive behaviors. In N. W. Bray (Ed.), International review of research in mental retardation (Vol. 17, pp. 1-54). New York: Academic.

Widaman, K. F., Geary, D. C., Cormier, P., & Little, T. D. (1985). Cognitive processing strategies for complex addition. Proceedings of the Cognitive Science Society,7, 385-389.

Widaman, K. F., & Little, T. D. (1985). Contextual influences on sociomoral judgment and action. In J. B. Pryor & J. D. Day (Eds.), The development of social cognition (pp. 115-152). New York: Springer Verlag.



Selected Manuscripts Under Review

Under Review

Little, T. D., Lopez, D. F., & Wanner, B. (under review). The nature of children's action-control behaviors: A longitudinal validation of the behavioral inventory of strategic control (BISC).

Little, T. D., Miyashita, T., Karasawa, M., Mashima, M., Oettingen, G., Azuma, H., & Baltes, P. B. (under review). Action-control beliefs and school performance: How do Japanese children compare with American and German children?

Teaching Activity

General Teaching Interests

 Substantive Areas

Childhood and Adolescence Cross-cultural Psychology
Developmental Psychology (by period or Life span) Exceptional Children
Introductory Psychology Motivation and Self-regulation
Psychology of Control Social and Personality Psychology
Social and Personality Development Theories of Development

Statistics and Methodology

Computer Applications for Data Analysis Developmental Methods
Introductory/Advanced Methods & Statistics Factor Analysis
Introduction to Test Theory Questionnaire Design and Validation
Regression/Correlation Analysis Structural Equation Modeling (e.g., LISREL)

Teaching Experience
Courses Taught (26 total; full responsibility)
Graduate Level
 Structural Equation Modeling (Yale) Current Work in Develeopmental (Yale)
Computer Software for Data Analysis (3x, UC) Methods: Research Procedures (8x, BU)

Undergraduate Level

Cognitive Development (2x,UC; 1x CS) Life-span Development (2x, CS)
Critical Thinking & Problem Analysis (5x, CS) Research methods (3x, UC)
Teaching Assistantships (10 total; supervised section responsibility)

Awarded Outstanding Teaching Assistant, University of California at Riverside, 1985

Graduate Level (at UC)
Elementary Statistics (2x) Experimental Design & Analysis

Undergraduate Level (at UC)

Adolescent & Adult Development Introductory Psychology (2x)
Methods: Statistical Procedures (2x) Social & Personality Development (2x)

(Note: UC = Univ. of California, Riverside; BU= Boston Univ. Overseas Program; CS = California State Univ., San Bernardino)

Supervising and Mentoring Experience

Doctoral and Pre-doctoral degrees

 Mara Brendgen, Ph.D., 1996, now at the University of Montreal, Canada
Matthias Grasshof, Dipl., 1997
Ute Kunzmann, Ph.D., 1997, now at the University of California, Berkeley
Brigitte Wanner, Dipl., 1995; Ph.D., exp., 1998

Post-doctoral training at Max Planck Institute

David F. Lopez, now at Bard College, USA
Heiner Maier, now at Max Planck Institute, Rostock, Germany
Monisha Pasupathi, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany
Anna Stetsenko, now at the University of Bern, Switzerland
Professional Information and Service-related Activity


Academic and Research-Related Grants and Support

1998- Agency and Development project
Date (Yale Department of Psychology)

1996- Self-Regulation and Social Relations project
1998 (Max Planck Society: Co-directed with L. Krappmann)

 1991- Action Control and Child Development project
1996 (Max Planck Society: Co-directed with P. Baltes & G. Oettingen)

1997 Modeling longitudinal and multiple-group data: Practical issues, applied approaches, and specific examples
(Max Planck Society: Conference-Workshop Grant with J. Baumert & K. Schnabel)

1996 The Friendship Interview: Validation of a Paper-and-Pencil Format in Childhood and Adolescence
(Max Planck Society: Ad-hoc Study Grant with L. Krappmann)

1995 The Resurgence of Cross-cultural Research: Theoretical, Methodological, and Analytic Issues
(Johann Jacobs Foundation: Conference-Workshop Grant with T. Gordeeva)

1993 Action-Control Beliefs in the Domain of Children's Friendships
(Max Planck Society: Ad-hoc Study Grant with L. Krappmann)

1993 Stress and Coping in American Military Children: The Effects of Drawdown on the Socioemotional Adjustment of Elementary-Aged Children
(Max Planck Society: Ad-hoc Study Grant with D. Lopez)

1992 Identifying Sub-Group Patterns using Cluster Analytic Techniques
(Max Planck Society: Conference-Workshop Grant with P. Baltes)

1987 The Development of Individual Differences in Mental Addition: A Production Task Evaluation
(University of California at Riverside, Graduate Division: Dissertation Grant)

1986 Chronometric Models of Mental Addition: Developmental Profiles
(University of California at Riverside, College of Humanities and Social Sciences:
Pre-doctoral Research Grant)
Committee Memberships

Junior Developmental Search Committee, Yale University (1998)
Ad-hoc Liaison to the Institute's Scientist's Union (1995-1998)
Max Planck Institute Computer Committee (1991-1998)
Chair, Campus Commencement Committee, UC Riverside (1987)
 Department of Psychology Computer Committee, UC Riverside (1985-91)
Graduate Student Representative, Department of Psychology, UC Riverside (1985-90)

Memberships in Professional Associations and Societies

American Psychological Association (Divisions 5, 7, & 8)
American Psychological Society
International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology
International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development
Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Society for Research in Child Development
Psychometric Society

Review Activity

Consulting Editor

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

Ad-hoc Reviewer

American Journal of Mental Retardation
Child Development
Developmental Psychology
Journal of Research in Personality
International Journal of Behavioral Development
Memory and Cognition
Psychology and Aging

Methodological and Statistical Consulting

Berlin Aging Study (BASE), Berlin Germany (Longitudinal and Multiple-group Modeling; 1991-)
Lifespan Project, UC Riverside (Growth Curve Modeling; 1991-1993)
Scientific Software International (porting LISREL and PRELIS to Macintosh, 1990-1996)
Center for Research on Teaching and Learning at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (Longitudinal and Multiple-group Modeling; 1997-)

Invited Workshops and Lectures

Cross-Cultural Data Analyses: Practical and Theoretical Issues (Multi-day Workshop; 5x)
(Melbourne and Newcastle, Australia; Moscow, Russia; Manchester, England; Berlin, Germany; Vaasa Finland)

Mean and Covariance Structures (MACS) Modeling (Lecture; 4x)
(Bern, Switzerland; Warsaw, Poland; Manchester, England; Berlin, Germany)

The Development of Children's Action-Control Beliefs (Lecture; 4x)
 (Bern, Switzerland; Melbourne, Australia; Riverside and Redlands, California)

References


Dr. Paul B. Baltes
Max Planck Institute for Human
Development
Lentzeallee 94
14195 Berlin, Germany
(011 49 30) 824-06-255
e-MAIL: sekBaltes@mpib-berlin.mpg.de
 Dr. John R. Nesselroade
Department of Psychology
Gilmer Hall
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903-2477, USA
(804) 924-0656
e-MAIL: JRN8Z@kiptron.psyc.Virginia.edu
Dr. Laura L. Carstensen
Department of Psychology
Jordan Hall, Bldg. 420
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA 94305-2130, USA
(415) 723-3102
e-MAIL: LLC@psych.stanford.edu		 Dr. Richard M. Ryan
Department of Clinical and Social
Sciences in Psychology
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY, 14627-0266, USA
(716) 275-8708
e-MAIL: RYAN@psych.rochester.edu
Dr. Sandra Graham
Graduate School of Education
405 Hilgard Avenue
University of California
Los Angeles, CA 90024-1521, USA
(310) 206-1205
e-MAIL: shGraham@ucla.edu		 Dr. Keith F. Widaman
Department of Psychology
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521, USA
(909) 787-5435 or 787-3187
e-MAIL: JOSH@mail.ucr.edu


Additional Letters of Support may be obtained from any of the following upon request:

Dr. Nancy Eisenberg
Department of Psychology
Arizona State University
P.O. Box 871104
Tempe, AZ, 85287-1104, USA
e-MAIL: Nancy.Eisenberg@ASU.edu		 Dr. Jack McArdle
Department of Psychology
Gilmer Hall
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903-2477, USA
(804) 924-0656
e-MAIL: JJM@kiptron.psyc.Virginia.edu
Dr. David L. Featherman
Institute for Social Research
426 Thompson Street
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, USA
(313) 936-0550 (fax)
e-MAIL: Feathrmn@umich.edu 		Dr. Ellen Skinner
Department of Psychology
Portland State University
P.O. Box 751
Portland, OR 97207-0751, USA
e-MAIL: ELLEN@ch1.ch.pdx.edu

Personal Statement

Since August of 1991, I have been a Research Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin where I am currently in the last year of my 7-year contract. Although the opportunity to develop my research skills and broaden my academic experiences within the context of European psychology, and in particular the Max Planck Institute, has been tremendously rewarding both personally and professionally, I am both eager and committed to return to the U.S. and to a multifaceted educational setting that reflects a diverse student-oriented environment coupled with a tradition of research.

Research Activity

 My substantive emphasis on motivation and self-regulation emerged when I was introduced to action-control theory upon arriving in Berlin. As a result, my current program of research covers a number of topics that are integrated under an over-arching action-control theory perspective. Specifically, I study developmental changes in how children's and adolescents' action-control processes (i.e., motivational and self-regulation) influence (a) their adjustment and achievement in school settings, (b) their peer and friendship relationships, and (c) their ability to cope with challenging and stressful events. In addition, I examine these topics with a special focus on cross cultural and sociocontextual influences (e.g., ethnic differences, socialization processes). In support of my substantive work, my graduate and post-doctoral experiences included indepth training in an array of multivariate statistical techniques including structural equation modeling (e.g., LISREL). Much of this training focused on methodological issues surrounding aspects of cognitive development and the development of adaptive behaviors in persons with mental retardation.

Motivation and self-regulation in the school domain. The Action Control and Child Development project's primary focus was on the relations between children's action-control beliefs and actual school performance (for an overview of the project see Little, in press; Little & Oettingen, in prep.). As lead investigator of the project (10/92 to 7/96; co-directed with Paul Baltes and Gabriele Oettingen), I guided the assessments of individual and developmental differences in self-regulatory processes across diverse sociocultural contexts. For example, after the project's initial comparison of East and West Berlin children (Oettingen, Little, Lindenberger, & Baltes, 1994), we included samples from Moscow (Stetsenko, Little, Grasshof, Gordeeva, & Oettingen, under review; Stetsenko, Little, Oettingen, &Baltes, 1995), Prague (Little & Lopez, 1997), Tokyo (Karasawa, Little, Miyashita, Mashima, & Azuma, 1997; Little, Miyashita et al., under review), and the United States (Little, Oettingen, Stetsenko, &Baltes, 1995).
Although this project was formally completed in July, 1996, my follow-up analyses have focused on understanding the long-term influences of action-control regulation by examining the relations between beliefs and performance longitudinally (Little, Lopez, Oettingen, & Baltes, under review; Little, Stetsenko, & Maier, under review; Lopez, Little, Oettingen, & Baltes, under review).

Motivation and self-regulation in the social domain. As a complement to my focus on self-regulation in the school domain, I began a second project examining self-regulatory processes in the social domain (since 8/96; co-directed with Lothar Krappmann). For this project, we developed a multi purpose action-control belief instrument (Multi-CAM; Little & Wanner, 1997) for use in any goal directed domain. In a number of recent studies, my colleagues and I used this instrument to assess the nature of children's motivation and self-regulation within the context of friendships and peer relations. These studies have evaluated (a) the structure of children's friendships as a function of peer status (Brendgen, Little, & Krappmann, under review) and sociocultural context (Little, Brendgen, Wanner, &Krappmann, in press) and (b) the role of action-control beliefs as self-regulatory influences on friendships and peer relations (Wanner, Little, & Krappmann, in prep.).
Also within the social domain, my colleagues and I developed a multi-purpose measure of children's action-control behaviors (coping) called the BISC (Behavioral Inventory of Strategic Control). In a short-term longitudinal study, we assessed American military children as they were experiencing the closure of the Berlin military community. In this study, we identified important predictive links from children's beliefs about their friendships, their coping behaviors, and emotional adjustment (see Lopez & Little, 1996). These data also allowed us to longitudinally validate our multi-dimensional model of coping (Little, Lopez, & Wanner, under review).
My current work in the social domain examines self-regulatory processes in children's and adolescents' friendships. One feature of this work is my focus on reciprocated friendships. Friends who nominate each other as such comprise a sociodevelopmental context that is relatively under-studied. My emphasis here is on the regulatory processes, within the context of mutual friendships, that contribute to quality friendship relations and personal well-being. Given the highly influential nature of peer relations in this age range, understanding these processes has potentially important implications for social policy work (i.e., prevention-oriented and community-based research) and aspects of psychopathology, especially because action-control resources (both beliefs and behaviors) are quite important not only for individuals within generally normative contexts (Little, in press), but also for those who are at risk (Lopez & Little, 1996).

Research on methodology. In addition to my substantive work, I examine the use of structural equation modeling techniques as a general data analytic approach to studying individual, developmental, and sociocontextual differences (see Little, 1997; Little & Gordeeva, 1997; Little, Lindenberger, & Nesselroade, under review; Little & Schnabel, in prep.; Little & Widaman, 1990). For example, I have been focusing on the practical and theoretical issues related to (a) utilizing mean-level information in structural equation modeling approaches (mean and covariance structures analysis, or MACS; Little, 1997), (b) applying these methods to multiple-group and longitudinal data (Little, 1997; Little & Schnabel, in prep.), and (c) selecting and representing indicators in a structural equation modeling framework (Little, Lindenberger, & Nesselroade, under review).
My focus on making strong tests of underlying theoretical models (i.e., bringing implicit assumptions into the explicit realm of model specification) is not limited to structural modeling techniques. I also apply it within the framework of more classical, regression-based techniques (e.g., Little & Lopez, 1997; Little & Widaman, 1995). In my view, statistical procedures are not mechanistic ends in themselves (i.e., fixed and rule-bound), but rather are flexible tools that should be adjusted and adapted into an appropriate means for testing a given substantive theory.

Summary and future directions. My research foci share a number of commonalities. For example, they share an emphasis on the self-regulatory processes of individuals, the meta-theoretical cohesion of action-control theory, and the methodological consistency of an integrated individual- and group differences analytic system. Because I examine these processes developmentally and within situated (e.g., cross-cultural) contexts, my research covers topics of central relevance to cross-cultural, developmental, social, personality, and educational psychology.
My future research goals are (a) to further develop my work on self-regulatory processes (e.g., action-control beliefs and behaviors) with a particular emphasis on the antecedent conditions (e.g., the socializing influences of parents, peers, and teachers) affecting the relations between self-regulation and performance, (b) to continue examining broad contextual influences on self-regulation and development in both the educational and social domains, (c) to continue expanding the developmental range of my program of res earch to encompass the entire life span (see e.g., Grob, Little, Wanner, Wearing, & Euronet, 1996; Grob, Little, & Wanner, under review), and (d) to continue using longitudinal studies in order to disentangle the processes and relations that exist in the dynamic beliefs performance system (Little, Lopez, Oettingen, & Baltes, under review; Little, Stetsenko, & Maier, under review; Lopez, Little, Oettingen, & Baltes, under review).
A particular focus of my future work will be on intracultural influ ences, such as those defined by ethnic identity and economic opportunity, on the development of self-regulatory processes. In my view, the motivational and self-regulatory profiles of individuals from diverse sociocultural backgrounds represent an importa nt and under-studied key to understanding basic mechanisms by which these processes are formed and how they serve to regulate behavior across different sociocultural settings and different developmental epochs. In other words, my future work on motivation and self-regulation will emphasize even more the interface between sociocultural context (e.g., ethnic populations) and aspects of social and personality development.
Teaching and Service Activity

 Although I have been invo lved in considerable research-related activity during the last six years, I had entered graduate school to become an educator. Therefore, over the last ten years, I have actively sought teaching opportunities and have been fortunate to have taught a varie ty of courses within diverse cultural and academic settings. During my graduate and post-doctoral years, I taught courses for both the University of California at Riverside and California State University at San Bernardino in order to develop these skills . During my first few years in Berlin, I regularly taught the graduate methods course for Boston University's Overseas Program in Psychology until its closure. Since then, I have continued to maintain my instructional experiences through regular seminars on topics such as action-control regulation, friendship and development, and culture and development. In addition, I have taught a number of courses on structural modeling and topics in multivariate analysis at the Institute as well as multi-day workshops outside the Institute (these workshops typically last three days and are designed to cover the basic skills necessary to conduct mean and covariance structures modeling of multiple-group data). Finally, I have enjoyed numerous opportunities to give collo quia, invited addresses, and conference presentations.

 Teaching philosophy. Aspects of my teaching philosophy have evolved over the years while other aspects have remained unchanged. I have always believed that enthusiasm is a critical component of effective instruction and training. I strive to engage students in the thrill of discovery and understanding such that satisfactory performance becomes a by-product of the learning process instead of the primary goal. In this regard, my teaching has evolved to include a greater emphasis on intrinsic motivations, learning-based goal structures, and facilitating students' action-control beliefs about the learning process. In short, I have integrated my own work and the work of other mo tivational and educational psychologists into my teaching approach.
My teaching philosophy applies equally to students at all levels (i.e., undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate). I encourage students to find research topics that are of perso nal relevance and interest to both them and to me. I have found that this approach facilitates enthusiasm and engagement for both parties. In addition to finding a balance of interest on substantive matters, I encourage my students to discover the importa nce and power of strong methodological skills to best pursue their substantive research interests. As I see it, one important task in training students is to find the key that will unlock their willingness and desire to acquire methodological and statisti cal competencies that can optimally service their substantive goals.
I am excited by the prospect of providing regular instruction and advising to students at all levels (i.e., undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate) and I am quite eager to re-emphasize student centered activities within a broad academic community. As mentioned, a long-standing goal of mine has been to become an educator, following a family tradition begun by my late grandfather. At this stage in my career, I am committed t o return to an educational setting and the stimulation of a diverse student-oriented environment. To this end, I am prepared to teach courses in developmental psychology, social and personality psychology, methodology and statistics as well as allied topi cs in educational and cognitive psychology.

Service activity. Along with research and teaching, I view academic service as an integral cog in the overall mission of an academic institution and as an opportunity to foster my se nse of community involvement (a goal to which I strongly aspire). As consequence, I have actively involved myself in regular committee and service activity. For example, since arriving at the Institute, I have been a member of the Institute-wide Computer Committee and an associated departmental committee. I have also consulted on the Institute's library's resource clearinghouse project (an ongoing compilation of web-based resources tailored to the various research foci of the scientists at the Institute). I am also an ad-hoc liaison with the Institute's scientist's union (Mitarbeiterauschuss) and the Institute's governing council (Leitungskongress). Finally, I have co-organized periodic methodological workshops at the Institute, which are designed to prov ide continuing educational opportunities for all Institute scientists and students.