Examined the relationship between early adolescents' temperament, as assessed by parent report, and a wide range of measures relating to school functioning. Found that temperament was related to academic achievement during the transition to adolescence and was related even more to classroom behavior and to students' perceptions of relationships…

Examined the visual scanning patterns of infants ages 6, 10, and 13 weeks who viewed static geometric figures. Measures of fixation dwell-times, saccade lengths, and the choices and sequences of saccadic targets revealed that, although younger infants demonstrated salience-guided scanning behavior, older infants increasingly utilized volitional…

Examined children's notions about segments of written sentences. Subjects watched a sentence being written and listened to it being read. The interviewer then asked questions about each word--whether or not it was written and, if so, where. Found that children used word order before phonics to figure out what was written in each segment of the…

A model of cognitive slowing is proposed that correctly predicts a positively accelerated reaction between latencies of older and younger adults and provides a unified account of the effects of task complexity, practice, speed-accuracy tradeoffs, and fluctuations in individual performance. (SLD)

Reviews the literature on the relation between early memory development and corresponding changes in brain development of infants. Finds that an adult-like form of explicit memory emerges between 8 and 12 months of age, drawing heavily on limbic and cortical structures. Offers theoretical perspectives for studying the ontogeny of memory. (JW)

Investigates differences in children's concepts of death as reflected in their drawings in terms of gender and age differences. Four age groups of children (n=431) were asked to draw their impression of the word death and to give a verbal commentary. Analysis of the drawings indicated that conceptual categories were found to be both age and gender…

Examined the nature of infants' development of social knowledge and the role of caregivers' verbal responses to requests in learning about self and others. Found that, as indicated by changes in request-making behavior, children's conceptualization of the role of self in making requests changes with age; the nature of children's conceptualization…

Notes that musical aptitude is not developed or nurtured through mere "exposure" to music but through active participation in singing and moving to music. Provides a rationale and suggestions for teaching singing in early childhood classrooms. (HTH)

Suggests that the remedial-developmental dichotomy in the counseling profession is an artifact of the profession's grounding in linear, mechanistic, and stage-based, organismic theories. Contextually based, developmental systems models are advanced as frameworks that better account for researcher and practitioner observations and bridge the…

This rejoinder to critiques (EC 602 213-215) of the authors' article (EC 602 212) on stereotypy and self-injury in the disabled responds to specific objections raised, including misleading statements, failure to address other existing models, misunderstandings, and need to include neurochemical factors. (DB)

As an undergraduate at Williams College, G. Stanley Hall learned a theistic developmental psychology from Mark Hopkins. As president of Clark University, Hall initiated a program of questionnaires that contributed to a scientific vision of childhood and adolescence. Hall treated this vision as a moral philosophy. (BC)

Presents ideas from the book, "Developmental Continuity: From Preschool through Primary Grades." Developmental continuity is a way of providing instruction that permits children to progress according to their rate and style of learning. Curriculum approaches, classroom organization, and ways to begin are discussed. (LB)

Educators who value student work that displays ingenuity and complexity must look beyond "standards" for evidence of achievement. Work of this kind requires exercise of critical judgment based on certain criteria. Applying criteria is a more complicated and intellectual enterprise than applying a standard. Developmental characteristics of…

The Tasks of Emotional Development is an apperceptive test that has the additional advantage of a specific developmental focus. Test administration and interpretation are described, focusing on use with adults with mental retardation. It is concluded that the test minimizes many biases plaguing accurate psychodiagnosis with this group. (JDD)

Examines seventh grade life science students, tenth grade biology students, and college zoology students for understanding of the concept of diffusion. Describes the differences among the grade levels in sound or partial understanding, misconceptions, and no understanding. Discusses the effect of developmental level on understanding. (KR)