Middle school and junior high school students are caught "in between" in terms of their emotional, physical, psychological, and educational development. Paradoxically, with so many common problems, these students need to be treated as special and unique--as individuals. (RL)

Describes the development of a 13-item self-report Affective Communication Test (ACT) and reports on studies showing the ACT to be a reliable and valid measure of individual differences in expressiveness or "charisma." (Author/SS)

The information-processing approach and results of research on spatial ability are analyzed. Performance consists of a sequence of distinct mental operations that seem general across subjects, and can be individually measured. New interpretations for some classical concepts in psychological testing and procedures for abilities are suggested.…

An information-processing framework is presented for understanding intelligence. Two levels of processing are discussed: the steps involved in solving a complex intellectual task, and higher-order processes used to decide how to solve the problem. (MH)

Based on research on patterns of infant-caregiver attachment, a theory of individual development is proposed. Principles of the theory include a focus on adaptation, a view of the person as a coherent whole, a central role for affective constructs and emotion, and a focus on individual differences. (GC)

Two experiments were conducted to study the development of mental rotation abilities in late childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Subjects were third, fourth, and sixth graders, and college students. (MP)

Left- and right-handed second-grade, sixth-grade, and college students were compared on four subtests of the Torrance creativity test. At each level, left-handed students had higher creativity scores than right-handers. The greatest differences were found on the elaboration subtests. (Author/RL)

Favors community college recognition of the diversity of potential college students. Argues for research into the major areas and stages of adult development through analysis of individual ego, moral, and intellectual differences in relation to individual orientations toward knowledge, educational practices, and programmatic alternatives. (CM)

Presents case studies of students with various learning styles and discusses research dealing with learning styles of students and teachers. The objective of the article is to help teachers perceive more accurately the strengths of students who might otherwise be labeled as deficient in learning ability. (Author/DB)

Responses to attitude and activity preference surveys were compared for the degrees of real and perceived similarity within male and female undergraduate friendship pairs. Activity preference similarity was substantially greater than attitudinal similarity. Friends' attitudinal similarity was no greater than strangers'. Activity similarity was a…

Investigated was the hypothesis that high arousal increases processing of physical characteristics and reduces processing of semantic characteristics. While introverts and extroverts had equivalent scanning rates for physical features, introverts were significantly slower in searching for semantic features of category membership, indicating…

This review of the concept learning literature indicates that the greater effectiveness of field-independent learners is related to memory efficiency and the ability to conduct combinatorial analysis. Short-term memory and free recall studies suggest factors contributing to the less efficient memory of field-dependent learners. (Editor/SJL)

Subjects were classified as external or internal. About half of the externals (internals) were given a traditional method of instruction. The remaining subjects were involved in a contract grading plan. Using an achievement posttest, a strong disordinal interaction was found, with internals performing better under the contract grading plan and…

Asserts that the role of biologically transmitted individual differences needs to be explored fully, examines the assumptions underlying the emphasis on childhood in empirical research, and examines the nature, persistance and later impact of two sorts of orientations which may be acquired in childhood, political attitudes and party…

Many talented students enroll in vocational agriculture, but, because they may have been labeled "slow" or "difficult" by academic teachers, the extent of their talent often goes unrecognized. The nature of talent is discussed, and means of providing for talented students are suggested. (AJ)