Homesickness is a normal response of campers to the stress of being separated from their families. Suggestions for interventions include preparing children and parents for the camp experience, educating staff concerning child development and homesickness, developing a plan for the child who has adjustment problems, and following-up with campers at…

Investigated whether actors and observers differ in their beliefs about what features of an individual best reflect his/her "authentic self." Results indicate that actors' views differed significantly from observers'. Friend raters believed that their friends' dispositional traits were better indicators than what their friends actually did,…

The Self-Expressiveness in the Family Questionnaire is introduced as a measure of emotional expressiveness. Four studies involving 499 mothers and 362 fathers provided evidence of good convergent, discriminant, and construct validity for the instrument and a preliminary short form. Factor analyses support a two-factor solution across the studies.…

Reports results of a study on the effectiveness of a coordinated community intervention to reduce domestic violence in DuPage County, IL. Logistic regression analysis indicated that arrest significantly deterred subsequent domestic violence incidents over an 18-month follow-up period, especially with those with a previous history of police…

Reports rate of intimate partner homicides (married and unmarried, heterosexual and homosexual) in Chicago from 1965-1993 (2,556 in all). Identifies major trends in intimate homicide over this 29-year period; discusses the people who are most at risk and the riskiest situations. Explores implications for intervention strategies. (LKS)

Three models of achievement motivation in the classroom are contrasted. Results with 155 high school students suggest that the model of C. S. Dweck and E. S. Elliott offers a better explanation of the relationships among achievement motivation, attributions, emotional reactions, expectancies, and performance than do the other models. (SLD)

This study of an adult with severe mental retardation and severe physical impairments found that the subject learned the cause-and-effect relationship between her voice commands and resultant action controlling environmental devices, differentiated various vocalizations for different environmental actions, and experienced positive affect when she…

Studies response style characteristics among 1,908 Hispanic Americans and 14,425 non-Hispanic whites in 4 studies. Hispanic Americans prefer extreme responses on rating scales more than do non-Hispanic Americans. Hispanic Americans are more likely to agree with a given item. Results are discussed in the contexts of acculturation and education.…

Effects of dimensionality on ability estimation of an adaptive test were examined using generated data in Bayesian computerized adaptive testing (CAT) simulations. Generally, increasing interdimensional difficulty association produced a slight decrease in test length and an increase in accuracy of ability estimation as assessed by root mean square…

Analysis of taped utterances of New Zealand sixth graders show how children perceive and respond to subtle cultural and gender biases in curriculum and teachers' presentation. Children construct their own knowledge as they attempt to make sense of classroom culture that may undermine their gender and racial identity. (SK)

Responds to earlier article by Mio and Iwamasa (1993) on white researchers investigating ethnic-minority populations and other cross-cultural issues. Organizes concerns raised by Mio and Iwamasa under two themes: ethical issues and professional turf. Concentrates on ethical issues having to do with nonmaleficence, beneficence, privacy, gratitude,…

Presents a method of teaching liturgical texts, related to the lectionary. Describes Bernard L. Lee's shared homily method based on Hans-Georg Gadamer's hermeneutical movements. Illustrates how Lee's homiletic method can be adapted into a disciplined conversation with the text for use in other religious instruction. (DB)

Explores the reactions of fourth and seventh grade students to two picture books about Columbus written from two different perspectives (white European explorer and Native American). Notes that the fourth graders saw Columbus as either all good or all bad after reading the books but that seventh graders were able to recognize the complexities of…

Presents the framework for a chemical engineering course using ordinary differential equations to solve problems with the underlying strategy of concisely discussing the theory behind each solution technique without extensions to formal proofs. Includes typical class illustrations, student responses to this strategy, and reaction of the…

Scaling methodologies used in analysis of National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) surveys since 1984 are reviewed. The plausible values methodology developed for NAEP scale-score analyses is described in the contexts of item response theory and average response method scaling. Current NAEP research in scaling is discussed. (SLD)