Theories concerning dimensions and dynamics of college student development and theories about how colleges exert influence on student change are reviewed. The models deal principally with growth among traditional undergraduate students. The theories of Chickering, Perry, Kohlberg, and Loevinger address the nature, structure, and processes the…

Data obtained under naturalistic conditions do not support the notion of a close fit between the growth of geometric concepts during the concrete operational period and "realism" in art. Realism here refers to the ability to portray the objective proportions of a figure, to coordinate spatial relations and distances, and to represent a…

This paper discusses N. B. Ralph's (1980) four stages of development for the novice therapist, focusing on the fourth stage (therapists become aware of their own feelings and reactions to the therapeutic process) through the author's experience in therapy. The therapist as client is discussed according to Karen Horney's classification of neurotic…

Divided into three sections, this paper briefly presents Kohlberg's theory of moral reasoning; surveys some key research relating childrearing practices to adolescents' social competence, including moral reasoning; and reports research findings concerning the value systems adolescents develop. The first section characterizes preconventional,…

The paper reviews the developmental perspective in interventions with behaviorally disordered youth and considers developmentally based models (such as the engineered classroom, the conceptual level model, and the developmental task instructional system). The Intervention by Prescription (IBP) model, an integrated problem solving system, is…

This article discusses practical and theoretical problems related to the measurement of formal operations. The first section of the article discusses problems in measuring formal operations using the clinical interview method. These problems include the lack of both a standardized interview and a uniform scoring procedure. Section two discusses…

A taxonomy of stages in the development of values concepts is presented and illustrated. In addition, the role of direct and social feedback in the evolution of an individual's values is examined. Level I of the taxonomy, Developing Behavior Patterns, is a pre-values stage experienced in early childhood. At this stage, the infant learns what he…

This paper summarizes the Thomas and Cross models on psychological nigrescence and reviews the empirical studies which have been conducted to validate these models. "Nigrescence" means the "process of becoming black", and as these models attempt to depict the various stages black Americans traveled in seeking a new identity…

James Britton's model of the uses of language is discussed as a way to focus and organize studies of response to literature. After the model has been explicated, specific studies are discussed in relation to a number of research areas: early forms of literary experience, the child's developing "sense of story," the child's awareness that…

This study was concerned with distinguishing between two kinds of immature reasoning, both of which lead children to draw the same conclusions from arguments and which, therefore, cannot be distinguished by the usual tests. A total of 20 second-graders and 16 sixth-graders were tested on a logic game in which winning depended on drawing correct…

The purposes of this study were twofold: (1) to investigate the effect of movement for several inanimate objects on children's judgments of "aliveness;" and (2) to examine the nature of explanations given by three age groups of children in support of their judgments as to whether animate and inanimate objects were "alive" or…

Moral education in boarding schools is the topic of this publication which includes summaries of the proceedings of the Bicentennial Summer Institute sponsored by Phillips Exeter Academy in June 1978. Interspersed throughout are passages from a journal kept by a participant in the Institute. The contextual and didactic approaches to moral…

Reading teachers of the 1980s need to be confident not only about the key issues but also about their own knowledge of the issues when making decisions. Two issues from the seventies (reading as a developmental process and reading as a psycholinguistic process) combine with the broad notion of textlinguistics as important areas of knowledge for…

The impact of adult models on the moralities of seventy-two 5- to 7-year-old boys was assessed in this study. Each subject was exposed to a televised adult model and was then administered tests of moral behavior (resistance to deviation in a laboratory situation), moral choice (in a hypothetical situation) and moral judgment level (on an…

Piaget's research on the processes and products of cognitive and representational development in early childhood is employed to outline the bases of early language development. The processes of assimilation and accommodation, leading to horizontal decalage; empirical and reflective abstraction, resulting in schemas and schemes; as well as…