This document reviews research concerning the factors affecting premarital sexual attitudes and behaviors of adolescents and young adults. Trends in the literature prior to 1980 are discussed briefly together with summaries of literature reviews from the decades of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Studies from 1980 to the present are reviewed in some…

The effects of alcohol on the developing fetus are examined. Noted is the existence of both structural problems (such as microcephaly and cardiac anomalies) and behavioral problems (such as mental retardation and speech and language deficits). The potential damage of alcohol at a very early stage of fetal development is discussed. It is thought…

This paper lists and describes inventionist themes that writers and writing teachers can use during rhetorical invention. It defines invention as the process whereby writers discover ideas to write about, and the inventionist as one who focuses on this discovery process, whether that focus be pedagogical or theoretical. The items included and…

Noting that there is growing interest in systematic, ethnographic studies of mass media and their primary audiences (families), this paper seeks to encourage additional ethnographic study of audience behavior by discussing some theoretical concerns that bear on the qualitative research enterprise. To do this, the paper first introduces a variety…

Achievement behavior is defined as behavior directed at demonstrating high ability. Ability is conceived as relative to one's own past performance, or relative to that of others. Conditions under which these conceptions of ability function as individual's goals and the nature of subjective experience in each case are specified. (Author/BW)

Findings from a review of recent empirical studies on autism in the areas of behavioral characteristics (stimulus overselectivity, echolalia, imitation) and treatment interventions (social language development, stereotypic behavior, instructional design) are presented. (Author/CL)

Reviews the literature on child compliance from two theoretical perspectives, social learning theory and the ethological-evolutionary model, with an emphasis on the link between an adult's supportiveness and sensitivity and a child's level of compliance. Strategies for practitioners, based on the research, are suggested. (Author/JAC)

Discusses behaviors which culminate in suicide attempts and relates these to the biological concept of conservation-withdrawal. Clinical advantages to this conceptualization are presented. (Author/JMF)

The extent and nature of remediation are said to depend on careful observation of children in the environment. Remedial techniques appropriate for older children must be adapted to meet the individual situation of each preschool visually handicapped child. (Author)

Analysis of communicative events between individuals with and without severe disabilities provides evidence that individuals who are often considered "least able to" do indeed communicate. Proposes that embedded in each communicative act, there is a drive toward self-determination, but that in order for self- determination to be actualized,…

Reviews research and outlines patterns of support among in-laws. Examines parental aid to married children and indirectly to their spouses, help directed specifically toward children-in-law, in-law support in later life, and effects of marital dissolution on in-law support. Includes discussion of how various demographic factors may affect nature…

Describes and provides examples for six approaches and factors related to serendipity in library research: coincidence; previent grace (i.e., the prior organization of information); synchronicity (i.e., hidden patterns and forces); perseverance; altamirage (i.e., idiosyncratic behaviors); and sagacity (i.e., intuition and skill). The stigma…

Discusses reasons for the limited behavior-analytic research about anxiety, describes recent developments in the experimental analysis of human behavior that make behavior-analytic study of anxiety more tenable, and examines some applied implications of these recent developments. Explores the term "anxiety" and recommends increased…

Young adolescents (N=163) were administered a 23-item self-report inventory measuring antisocial behaviors. Results showed antisocial behavior to be multidimensional and to have different factor structures for males and females. The three factors accounting for the majority of variance in antisocial behavior are discussed in terms of…

Available information is reviewed on defining features and diagnostic issues related to autism and related developmental disorders. Controversies over both the boundaries and the heterogeneity within the autism syndrome are evaluated. Diagnostic rating instruments for expediting systematic sample selection are critiqued. (Author/DB)