The present descriptions of play of children two to five are based on the theory that the four processes of understanding include four different emphases: (1) imitation, (2) exploration, (3) prediction, and (4) construction (building, etc.). Therefore, the categories of children's play discussed are transformations of each of these types. Play is…

How can a person be induced to do something he might not ordinarily do? What constitutes a commitment on his part of some future action? Past research indicates that compliance with a small, relatively innocuous "foot-in-the-door" request serves to increase, relative to a control group, subsequent compliance with a larger request directed toward…

The research reported here attempted to develop a social profile of the participants in organized sports leagues and to investigate the social and psychological satisfactions that were achieved by these participants. (DS)

The authors argue that instructional personnel in health education should assume an approach emphasizing joint decision-making processes in which the instructor models methods for making responsible choices, rather than assuming for the clients a unilateral responsibility for decision making. (MJB)

This study investigated the impact of a marriage enrichment program. One experimental group received fair-fight training for three weeks followed by a sexual enhancement format for three additional weeks. The second experimental group received the opposite treatment sequence. Treatment effects generally favored the treatment groups over the…

Examines the relationship between self-instructions and subsequent instruction-following performance of 7- and 8-year-old children as a function of previous reinforcement for rule-breaking or rule-following. (BD)

Procedures used in empathy-helping studies suggest results may be due to demand characteristics. Two studies were run to investigate especially the mood induction process. One reproduced the Aderman-Berkowitz main mood effects. Another showed that after seeing a help-non-help incident, mood effects were demonstrated only when Ss knew the research…

Sixteen elementary school children were administered an auditory and visual vigilance task and their performance related to their off-task behavior in the classroom. In addition, the relationship of vigilance performance to teacher ratings of the children's behavior and to reading achievement scores was also assessed. (JB)

It is suggested that empathy raters be encouraged to accept the tough intellectual challenge of rating empathy inductively, since only then can the scale accurately reflect the counseling transaction. (EV)

The classroom behavior of 15 learning disabled (LD) third and fourth grade boys was compared to that of 15 matched normal Ss to determine differences in behavioral style and to examine LD Ss' behavior in different classroom environments. (Author/CL)

Analysis of a survey of senior high school students revealed significant differences between males and females, and between athletes and non-athletes in their attitudes and behaviors toward alcohol and drinking behavior. (MJB)

A sample of 40 babies was observed in a variety of mildly challenging situations throughout their second year and in a series of follow-up assessments at age 31/2. Findings revealed two types of avoidant mechanism--wariness of the unfamiliar and fearfulness after exposure to a mildly difficult situation. (JMB)

Facial expressions used by children defending their possession of a disputed object were studied in 72 pairs of kindergarten children. Results showed a relationship between the facial expressions a child used and both his own subsequent behavior and that of his partner. (Author/JMB)

This paper examines the informal consensus that psychological dysfunction, manifested by suicide and divorce, is unusually high among the occupational group of police officers. Results indicate that those officers studied may, in fact, have lower psychological dysfunction rates than presumed. (Author)