This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a three-part volume on the psychology of child personality development. In part one, the author shows that psychology is one of the most important scientific disciplines on which education is based, particularly because of its contribution to the scientific planning of…

Derives a positive personality profile of model school media specialists through a modified case study approach and compares this profile with stereotypical views of librarians from previous research. Communication abilities of media specialists are examined, and recommendations for further use of the methodology are made. (CDD)

Relates the self-reported behavior of 19 mothers and 19 fathers with their ratings of the activity levels, mood quality, intensity, approach behavior, adaptability, and persistence of three- to four-year-old children. Results suggest that the child's behavior style may contribute to the parents' behavior style and that mothers and fathers may…

The strong association established between attention skills and school performance has led to increased research in understanding the development of children's attentional processes. How attention develops during early childhood is crucial to understanding partly why children enter school with varying readiness skills. This Snapshot highlights the…

This study attempted to evaluate H. J. Eysenck's antisocial behavior (ASB) hypothesis that proposes there is an antisocial temperament which, in interaction with socialization, intelligence, and achievement, puts an individual at significant risk for developing antisocial behavior. Evaluation of Eysenck's ASB hypothesis was conducted with 107…

This paper explains the importance of disposition as an essential aspect of critical thinking and suggests how instruction can be designed to promote learners' development of the dispositional side of critical thinking. Topics addressed include: (1) the dispositional bottleneck between opportunity and action, i.e., sensitivity to occasion; (2)…

Identifies imagoes as idealized and personified self-concepts that we form in early or mid-adulthood. These characters dominate life stories and personal myths. Discusses a class exercise where students review the imagoes most frequently used in journal entries concerning individual myths and major life events. (MJP)

Seven college students who were achieving academically but had been identified as having learning disabilities ("resilient" subjects) and four similar "nonresilient" subjects were interviewed. Common themes between groups were success in a group/team experience, particular areas of strength, an encouraging teacher, a special friend,…

Reports on a study of the effect of eye contact on 73 male and female college students. Finds that as eye contact duration increased, the model was judged to have less state anxiety, less trait anxiety, and less test anxiety. Concludes that the study confirms that as eye contact increases, an individual is judged more positively. (CFR)

Tested hypothesis that African American children protect themselves from failure by detaching their self-esteem from academic outcomes. Analyses revealed a pattern of weakening correlations between self-esteem and academic outcomes from 8th to 10th grade for African American students. Correlations for white students remained stable or increased.…

Highlights the application of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) in college counseling, couples counseling, medical problem assessment, military applications, personnel screening programs, and other areas. Provides a general description of the MMPI-2, discusses continuity of MMPI and MMPI-2 scales, and describes new scales…

Examined self-perception as a correlate of individual temperament. Administered Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children and the Dimensions of Temperament Survey-Revised to 131 third and fifth graders. Offers suggestions for classroom changes that will enhance the development of positive self-perception. (MM)

Uses Social Learning Theory to compare 149 university students from Poland with 136 university students from the southern United States for belief-based personality constructs and personality correlates of paranormal beliefs. As hypothesized, Poles reported a more external locus of control and significantly greater endorsement of irrational…

Reports a study with 38 African Americans investigating own-race preference and own-race maintenance as defined in a metatheory of African personality. The experiment's complex methodology involved deception and intricate procedures around a photograph selection process. The results support the metatheory's own-race maintenance. (JB)

Infants' home-based Q-sort scores of security, dependency, and sociability were compared to laboratory Strange Situation classifications of secure, anxious-resistant, and anxious-avoidant. Secure classification was associated with Q-sort security and sociability, but not dependency. (BC)