Interviewed 1,708 East and West German adolescents to study similarities and differences in their psychosocial transitions. Found that females generally underwent transitions earlier than males. East German youths conceived of the transition to work and displayed autonomy earlier than West German youth, but the overall timetable of transitions…

Introduces this issue's topic of schooling and adolescent development, noting that much work is needed in the understanding of the changes adolescents experience during this age period. Describes the articles in this issue, which focus on different psychological characteristics of early adolescents, their relationships with others, and how those…

Investigates the development and role of phonological recoding in beginning reading. Finds regular phases in phonological recoding prior to accuracy in reading simple pseudowords and a strong but changing relationship between these rudimentary skills and several reading tasks. Finds that phonological recoding and phoneme awareness are complex…

This study of 43 individuals (ages 9 to 26) with autism, autistic-like, or childhood-onset pervasive developmental delay found that the 8 subjects who experienced regression in their language development were perceived as using less well-developed oral communication skills. No relationship was found between a period of regression and the presence…

Presents a working model for studying development of autobiographical memory based on literatures concerning children's metacognitive capacities, social construction of personal narratives, and development of self-concept. Notes that source monitoring and parental styles of discussing the past affect autobiographical memory, and emphasizes the…

Discusses two broad stages of children's drawing--scribbling and representation--and the phases of each stage that children will pass through as they develop. Provides suggestions for supporting children's early drawing development. (HTH)

Describes gender-based imagery preferences in research studies and instructional design, and the relationship of stages of aesthetic development to gender-based imagery preferences. Also provides four guidelines for selecting images for various purposes and discusses implications for further research to understand the impact of gender-based visual…

This response to a paper by Guess and Carr (EC 602 212) on stereotypy and self-injurious behavior in the disabled commends their theoretical thoroughness and attention to prevention but notes the lack of attention to neuroanatomical and neurochemical aspects of such behavior patterns. (DB)

The possibility that perceptual predispositions may assist young language learners in the initial identification of words in speech was investigated in a corpus of early words. Results suggest that syllables that are stressed or final in adult speech are particularly salient to young children and likely to be extracted and included in first…

Suggests that Piaget's early theory on moral development and moral education can elucidate the discussion about broad or narrow definitions of morality. Explores the connection between interaction and morality, mutual respect, and cooperation. Argues that Piaget's concept of mutual respect is an important educational device for dealing with…

Proposes a theoretical model of cognitive development and applies this model to the secondary analysis of two large-scale studies which focus on the acquisition of formal operational schemata by adolescents in the United States and Israel. Results support the "unity" hypothesis of cognitive development that the various schemata of formal…

Discusses how young minds come to understandings about how words work, what conditions are necessary for these realizations, and how teachers can help. Discusses instruction that hinders, allows, or helps students' progress. (RS)

Provides a contemporary Government-and-Binding reinterpretation and evaluation of Klima and Bellugi's 1966 work on the acquisition of interrogatives. It is argued that wh-questions in Child English involve a wh-pronoun positioned in the head complementizer position within the Complementizer Phrase (CP) and that children learn that wh-questions…

This study used saccadic eye movements to assess visuospatial attention in 53 normal children (ages 8-15). Saccadic latency, the ability to suppress extraneous saccades during fixation, and the ability to inhibit task-provoked anticipatory saccades all improved with age. Developmental patterns varied by task. Analyses of age-related changes may be…

Thirty-four school-aged children with developmental disabilities were assessed for level of tactile defensiveness (TD) and then presented with a repeated tactile stimulus while engaged in computer games. Evidence was found for a differential sensitivity in TD but not an inhibition deficit. Another finding included a negative correlation between TD…