Investigated the influence of gender, ability, and grade level on the political attitudes of ninth and twelfth grade students. Among the conclusions were that low ability subjects are less likely to support fundamental freedoms and that females have greater respect for law and law officials. (GEA)

Argues that because the United States is culturally diverse, the nation must be vigilant in passing on to new generations a common political culture. Reviews evidence that schools have failed to teach about the common political culture and offers recommendations for correcting this failure. (JDH)

Describes a typology of communication dimensions used by academic chairpersons in the early stages of the socialization process. Four new chairpersons were interviewed, and four functions of communication (informative, integrative, regulative, and innovative) guided data gathering in researching the link between communicator and role…

Two studies on faculty aging--one using a psychological/developmental framework and the other a sociological/socialization model--are critiqued. A life-course perspective is introduced and the questions raised by the methodology are discussed. The contributions of the life-course framework are demonstrated. (Author/MLW)

A systematic program for the training of broad-based social skills is necessary for some visually impaired children. Research on social skills programs has focused on the use of behavioral therapy, verbal and nonverbal social skills intervention, early intervention, and a team approach. (Author/JDD)

Analyzes primetime commercial television content showing that heroes, villains, and secondary characters are almost always being rewarded or justified when commiting antisocial acts, frequently portrayed as being internally motivated. The context is also portrayed as very antisocial. (SD)

Proposes an integration of critical theory and humanistic education. Strengths and limitations of each are discussed, and a model for liberatory education is proposed. The model is illustrated with an example from a fifth grade classroom. Further dialogue among humanistic educators and critical theorists is recommended. (Author/VM)

Educational development in the Philippines is reviewed. A case study is developed which highlights the means by which a nationally funded program seeks to socialize Filipino students into a national identity. The data suggest that no real ideological changes are occurring. Instead, a colonial consciousness is being perpetuated. (VM)

Negative reactions reflected in personal as opposed to educational issues are apparent in the teacher and student groups surveyed; sex differences in attitudes are not demonstrated although sex stereotyping is evident in both groups; and socialization issues are revealed in both groups relative to dehumanizing and isolating effects of computers.…

Describes a study which determined that the photographs of school taken by Black and White adolescents reflected previous findings that socialization causes Blacks to focus on people stimuli while Whites learn to focus on objects. Analysis of the photographs revealed significant race differences in choice of content and found that Black students…

The unintended impact of an employment and training program on the political orientations of participants is investigated. The post program attitudes toward citizenship of 286 CETA-eligible youth are compared with a randomly assigned control group. Results indicate that political orientations of experimentals are significantly higher than control…

Describes two measures of gender salience, one assessing the use of the gender dimension in classifying new information and the other assessing its use in making affiliation choices. The developmental course of gender salience from age three to age seven and the relation between salience and sex-role development were examined. (HOD)

Analyzes the structure of young children's social comparison exchanges in two preschool settings, focusing on the precursory and sequent phases of social comparison exchanges manifested by young children during play in preschool. (HOD)

Presents descriptions of play reflecting recent theories, including the psychoanalytic works of Freud, Erikson, and Peller; Piaget's developmental theory (with discussion of Sutton-Smith); and the views of Smilansky and Parten. (AS)

British universities remain autonomous and continue to act as effective agencies of political socialization. The historical ambivalence in the structure of the German university between academic freedom and state regulation remains, inhibiting the German university's value as an agency of political socialization. (Author/RM)