Relates six play-based teaching techniques used in an experimental Soviet primary school. Reviews the theoretical foundations of this approach, with particular emphasis on psychology. (JDH)

Reviews theoretical literature on the use of play in education. Notes the lack of consensus regarding the usefulness of play, including "activity methods" and games, but goes on to advocate a central role for a "pedagogy of play" in the modern school. Concludes by considering the need for teacher training. (JDH)

Tests two hypotheses concerning developmental change in the speed of cognitive processes: (1) age differences in processing time reflect changes that are specific to particular tasks, and (2) age differences in processing speed do not reflect task-specific change but are due instead to more general developmental change. (HOD)

Beery's Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration was individually administered to 193 school-age children. Four factors were obtained, indicating that the test does not measure a unitary dimension of perceptual-motor development, but rather four distinct levels or stages for the age range of children investigated. (Author/ABB)

Presents self organization theory, which explains change in human development and behavior and which views choices and changes as being created in a state of disequilibrium. Includes background in previous developmental theory and in systems theory and explains first- and second-order change within the theory. (Author/KS)

Compared physically disabled and able-bodied college students on Erickson's epigenetic stages of life-span development, and Maslow's motivational needs hierarchy of personality development. The groups were more similar than dissimilar in ego development and needs level. College students with disabilities may be a select population because of their…

Extends the available information base on intellectural aging by collecting self-report data from 100 psychologists between 45 and 64 years of age. Subjects rated changes in intellectual functions, related present changes with past expectations, and answered questions about health problems affecting intellectual functioning. The importance of…

Crib-talk between identical twin girls and diary records of their speech were examined. It was found that the subjects developed conventional syntax and vocabulary but adapted them in ways which appropriately expressed their twin status. (Author/SED)

Early childhood books that are concerned with peace and that highlight peaceful solutions to difficult problems are described in this bibliographic essay. Books that oppose violence and stories that have a peaceful, soothing nature could become balancing factors in young children's exposure to scenes of violence and threats of war. (RM)

Teaching strategies to help elementary social studies teachers teach distributive justice--i.e., fair sharing of available resources--are provided. Also described are the approximate age levels and the different levels of reasoning associated with distributive justice. (RM)

Explores the relations among combinatorial capacities in language, symbolic play, blockbuilding, and nonsemantic action sequences within a sample of 18- to 24-month-old children, as well as assessing the developmental level of a selected subset of concepts. (HOD)

In Western societies, the study of emotional development has been retarded by the view that it is less important than cognitive development, but a review of relevant literature indicates emotional well-being may be as important as cognitive growth in determining life outcomes. Cognitive skills, physical health, and emotional well-being are all…

Describes the compliance-resisting behaviors in selected communication by first-, fourth-, and tenth-grade students. Seeks to assess the development of ability to construct compliance-resisting strategies. (MS)

Reviews Kohlberg's research on moral development and criticizes standard issue scoring, a measure of individual developmental stages of moral judgment. Discusses problems with the Moral Judgment Interview's content and scoring, suggesting longitudinal, comparative, and gender-related research needed to resolve problems of validity and reliability.…

Argues that style and self are inextricably bound together in a writer's work, and the voice that they create emerges only after a certain level of writing development has been reached. This happens when the writer has been thoroughly immersed in a context and has had plentiful experience in a specific form of expression. (HOD)