A new computer program designed to teach people with autism spectrum disorders to better recognize and predict emotional responses in others was evaluated with 22 adolescents with autism or Asperger syndrome. Experimental subjects made gains relative to the control group on post-intervention assessment measures. Gains correlated significantly with…

It has been 20 years since Bever's (1982) and Strauss and Stavy's (1982) books on U-shaped functions in human development were published. The three target articles in this issue describe several old and new U-shaped functions and new theoretical explanations for their existence. In this article, the authors will comment on two aspects of U-shaped…

This article argues that a culturally approved style of nonverbal parent-infant interaction influences the unfolding parent-child relationship and the child's social development. The author, an anthropologist, compares parenting styles in the "low-contact" culture of the United States with parenting in the "high-contact"…

"Zooming in" with a camera lens led students in Joan Berger's class to enrich their writing exponentially. Through class discussion of body language, along with the use of worksheets (provided), role-playing, modeling, and conferencing, one aspect of lively writing became a part of their writing repertoire. (Contains 5 figures.)

The English language in Russia: a brief survey. It includes a historical perspective, the traditions of the past and the new challenges of the present-day situation. The history is simple: it is based on a deep love of foreign languages in general and English in particular. Love against all odds, for better, for worse, for richer and for poorer.…

Purpose: This study tested the hypothesis that depth of semantic representation influences toddlers' word retrieval. Method: Nineteen toddlers participated under 3 word learning conditions in this longitudinal study. Gestures cued attention to object shape (SHP) or function (FNC) in the experimental conditions. No semantic cue was provided under a…

Communication skills are important for children with developmental disabilities to be functional and independent in their own lives. This study examined influences of different types of listener feedback or breakdowns on repair behaviors of nonverbal children with disabilities during semi-structured opportunities at snack time. Three preschool…

The article describes a research conducted on students at the University in Pula, by which was attempted to establish whether there is a relationship between exam success and a type of online teaching material from which a student learns. Students were subjected to psychological testing that measured factors of intelligence: verbal, non-verbal and…

Background: The ComFor (Forerunners in Communication) is an instrument to explore underlying competence for augmentative communication. More specifically, it measures perception and sense-making of non-transient forms of communication at the levels of presentation and representation. The target group consists primarily of individuals with autism…

Background: Apraxia is neurologically induced deficit in the ability perform purposeful skilled movements. One of the most common forms is ideomotor apraxia (IMA) where spatial and temporal production errors are most prevalent. IMA can be associated Alzheimer's disease (AD), even early in its course, but is often not identified possibly because…

Objectives: To examine associations among adolescents' generated verbal strategies (ie, Simple No, Declarative Statements, Excuse, Alternatives) and underlying nonverbal assertiveness in 2 refusal situations: smoking and shoplifting. Methods: Sixth-grade urban minority students (N = 454) participated in videotaped role-play assessments of peer…

A cultural profile of the French-Canadian business community of Quebec is presented, focusing on seven aspects of business communication: language; environment and technology; social organization; degree of contextual understanding; authority conception; nonverbal behavior; and temporal conception. The history of French and English language use in…

According to A. R. Luria (1973) the cerebral organization of mental activity can be understood through analyzing how mental activity is altered in different local brain lesions. Recent brain function research has used this approach in locating areas of the brain involved in specific processes. This study recognized the importance of this method…

This study examined the prelinguistic communicative behaviors of 48 young Israeli children with hearing impairments (ages 8 months to 49 months). Most subjects were severely hearing impaired. Ninety percent were born to hearing parents. A parent questionnaire utilizing a direct observation methodology in six situational contexts was selected,…

This paper looks at teacher behavior in the classroom and teacher student relationships. The first section describes teacher behavior from an interpersonal perspective and presents a model to map behavior using two dimensions, proximity and influence. Proximity indicates degree of cooperation between those who are communicating; influence…