Many studies have shown that infants prefer infant-directed (ID) speech to adult-directed (AD) speech. ID speech functions to aid language learning, obtain and/or maintain an infant's attention, and create emotional communication between the infant and caregiver. We examined psychophysiological responses to ID speech that varied in affective…

Seven-year-old children (N=65) participating in a study of the influence of infant temperament on socioemotional development performed an auditory selective attention task involving words that varied in both affective (positive vs. negative) and social (social vs. nonsocial) content. Parent report of contemporaneous child temperament was also…

This manuscript reports 2 experiments that were conducted to test and extend the work of J. P. Dillard and L. Shen (2005) examining the cognitive and affective processes involved in psychological reactance. In particular, the studies reported here (a) examined the best-fitting model of reactance processes and (b) tested 3 factors that may affect…

In recent years, the relationship between moods and thoughts has been the focus of much theorizing and some empirical work. A study was undertaken to examine the intraindividual relationship between negative affect and negative thoughts using a Box-Jenkins time series analysis. College students (N=33) completed a measure of negative mood and…

As part of a large scale evaluation of the state gifted program in Illinois, the systematic collection and processing of low inference student judgments about their classes was used to describe and evaluate classroom transactions. Profiles of 62 gifted classes were compared to 69 average classes on the Class Activity Questionnaire. This…

A need exists for a more clear-cut description of how the taxonomy of educational objectives can be implemented in the school setting. In answer to that need, a way is shown to formulate specific behavioral objectives within the hierarchy of the major levels and sublevels of the taxonomies as set forth by Bloom (1956) and Krathwohl (1964). To…

The cognitive characteristics involved in a relatively field-dependent or field-independent cognitive style and the personal characteristics associated with these contrasting styles have been shown to play a role in a) students' selection of electives and majors, b) vocational preferences they experience early in their academic careers, and c) the…

This dictionary of Piaget terms is devoted solely to the vocabulary of the most important terms found in the writings of Piaget and his collaborators. The definition of each term is illustrated in at least one context, and on several occasions the original text is cited. (WR)

Summarizing recent research, this article defines the functions performed by the left and right sides of the human brain. Attention is given to the right side, or the nondominant side, of the brain and its potential in terms of perception of the environment, music, art, geometry, and the aesthetics. (JC)

Comparison of 14 infants of highly educated mothers with 21 infants of less educated mothers indicated that infants' differential vocal responsiveness (DVR) to mother versus stranger was significantly higher among 3-month-olds with highly educated mothers, thereby suggesting that DVR is influenced by environmental factors. (RH)

Ninety 5- and 6-year-old children equally divided by sex were assigned randomly to one of three emotion-inducing conditions (self-focused happy, other-focused happy, or neutral emotion-inducing) and then given varying numbers of rewards. Results are discussed in terms of cognitive processes initiated by emotional states that may influence…

Reflects on G. Zivin's framework on the development of expressive behavior. Stresses the need to include noncognitive, as well as cognitive, affective activation in the framework, and the necessity for the adoption of an inclusive, synthesizing strategy at this stage of knowledge. (HOD)

Describes the symposium on action theory presented at the 1983 meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development in Munich. The symposium included reactions to action theory from a variety of theoretical perspectives. (Author/RH)

Reasserts view that there can be emotional or affective arousal without prior cognitive appraisal. Criticizes Lazarus's rejection of this view on the grounds that it presents no empirical evidence, is based on an arbitrary definition of emotion, and obliterates all distinctions between cognition, sensation, and perception. (CMG)

Responds to Zajonc's criticism of author's own belief in primacy of cognition by defining what he means by "emotion" and discussing whether sensory preferences can be regarded as emotions. Says that the evidence Zajonc presents to supporting his claim for the primacy of emotion and its independence from cognition is specious. (CMG)