The manipulation and measurement of self-disclosure in preadolescents.

Self-disclosure on the part of adult subjects has received considerable attention as a variable in studies of interpersonal relations and psycho therapy. Its investigation in children, however, has been relatively rare. Al though the term self-disclosure seldom appears in the child development literature, the child's ability and willingness to share information about himself has long been recognized as a critical factor in the development of logic and cognitive functioning, and in the socialization process. Piaget (1962) has emphasized that children have little "verbal con tinence" as they learn to speak, and seem unaware of what it means to keep thoughts and feelings to themselves. Naturalistic observation suggests, however, that this period of free self-disclosure is soon terminated, pos sibly as a function of selective reinforcement or punishment of the child's revelations by adults. In this connection, Sullivan (1953) has stated: ". . . one must realize that there are . . . things that all of us are taught from the cradle onward as dangerous to even think about, much less to communicate." According to Piaget (1962), revealing one's personal thoughts to others represents a critical process in the development and functioning of thought. In particular, Piaget suggests that disclosure of one's ideations is largely responsible for the reduction of egocentric thought and the augmentation of socialized thought that is observed concomitant with development. A remarkably similar position with regard to self-disclosure and thought has