A discussion of the use of media to study behavior, the application that is used by microteaching. (HB)

Children's sharing and helping behaviors were observed after they had seen an adult who modeled donation behavior and/or who preached either about the importance of sharing or about the importance of helping others. (Author/JMB)

Reports a study conducted to determine whether individuals who observed others experiencing noncontingency would develop learned helplessness vicariously. Subjects were 75 college female undergraduates. (MP)

In a naturalistic setting, boys and girls were exposed to a same- or opposite-sex live adult model who played with sex inappropriate toys. The results are explained in terms of the inappropriateness of toy playing for adults and the theoretical importance of adult vs. peer influences. (GO)

A study attempted to determine the extent of actual disagreement among adult educators over the definition of "professionalism" and to examine assumptions underlying the ideological debate. Data on adult educators' attitudes toward professionalism were gathered. Subjects strongly supported "more professionalism" for adult…

Twenty-four 14- and 30-month-old children observed a model use 20 new words as labels for objects of varied semantic associations. Age was highly and positively correlated with elicited and spontaneous imitation and scores for recognition of the objects associated with the words. (Author/SB)

Nursery school children were shown films to vicariously condition either fear or positive emotional responses in them. The children showed a higher rate of responding to the positive stimulus. (Author/KM)

Results were interpreted supporting a social learning view of observational learning that emphasizes contral processing of response information in the acquisition phase and motor reproduction and incentive processes in the overt enactment of what has been learned. (Author)

Describes early spring night field trips by two naturalists and ten adults, armed with cameras and flashlights, in search of Spotted Salamanders performing ritual mating dances. Although dancing salamanders proved elusive, their habits and those of other pond life were examined and Spring American Woodcock nuptial flights were observed. (NEC)

The results showed that the majority of the autistic and the youngest normal children acquired only some limited features of the observational situation and chronological age was related to the amount of learning through observation in the normal children but not in the autistics. (Author)

Examines nine studies claiming to have demonstrated facial imitation in the neonatal period. Finds that the claims of early imitative abilities are not well founded: because the matching behavior found is restricted to a single gesture--tongue protrusion--it is best explained as a specific, directly elicited response, rather than imitation. (HTH)

A new analysis, based on the concept of the ideal observer in signal detection theory, is described. It allows: tracing of the flow of discrimination information through the initial physiological stages of visual processing for arbitrary spatio-chromatic stimuli, and measurement of the information content of said visual stimuli. (TJH)

There is a great deal of narrative in play and also of play in narrative, especially in the narrative and play of young children. Part of the reason for this may be that they share an important pattern or structure in the way they work as mental instruments, "mimesis." Mimesis is a mode of representation in which the relation between the symbol…

Social precursors to symbolic understanding of pictures were examined with 100 infants ages 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 months. Adults demonstrated 1 of 2 stances toward pictures and objects (contemplative or manipulative), and then gave items to infants for exploration. For pictures, older infants (12, 15, and 18 months) emulated the adult's actions…

Given the privileged status claimed for active learning in a variety of domains (visuomotor learning, causal induction, problem solving, education, skill learning), the present study examines whether action-based learning is a necessary, or a sufficient, means of acquiring the relevant skills needed to perform a task typically described as…