Investigated interpersonal understanding in friendship reasoning of 97 children at ages 9, 12, and 15 years. Results support theories of the cumulative nature of the development of friendship reasoning. (RJC)

Investigated long-term stability of vocational interests in 409 college freshmen tested with Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory as freshmen in 1974, four years later (N=204), and in 1986. Results revealed remarkable degree of interest stability over all three time intervals and individual differences in stability over time. (Author/NB)

Suggests that Goad & Ingram's (1987) argument in favor of a cognitive model of phonological development failed to recognize the uniqueness of each individual's neural and vocal structures, ignored documented variability in the phonetic patterns of prelexical infants, and inexplicably assumed that inter-child variability implied the operation of…

Investigated sex differences in the motor activity level of 83 children of 5-8 years. Relative maturity was negatively related to activity level. Girls were less motorically active and more mature than boys. (RJC)

Data suggest that infants with high vagal tone were more reactive than infants with low vagal tone to positive and negative events at 5 months, and were more sociable at 14 months. Infant reactivity to mildly stressful events seemed to be a stable dimension during the first year. (RH)

Presents the case of Daryl, a fourth grader who performs well in daily classroom work, but cannot tolerate testing. Because of New York State testing mandates, this child will probably repeat fourth grade or be assigned to special education classes. Clearly, alternative measures building on children's strengths are needed. Includes two references.…

Utilizes the information processing model of human memory to provide teachers with suggestions for improving the teaching-learning process. Briefly explains and specifies applications of major theoretical concepts: attention, active learning, meaningfulness, organization, advanced organizers, memory aids, overlearning, automatically, and…

Explores the effects of question task conditions on reading comprehension and metacomprehension for proficient readers, disabled readers, and deaf readers. Finds several significant interaction effects for both demonstrated and perceived comprehension performance in selected-response and constructed-response question tasks under both lookback and…

A group of 10 less able fifth-grade readers with comparable scores on a standardized reading test were assessed under reading conditions representing different combinations of familiarity, text type, length, and mode of reading. Results indicated that the students did not perform similarly under a variety of reading conditions. (Author/JDD)

The authors of The Bell Curve have been accused of everything from racism to poor research. However, the book could have a tremendous impact on the role of intelligence in social science and social policy. It is especially relevant for adult education programs geared to the less fortunate, and it is appropriate to discuss the merits of the book…

A choice assessment was used to categorize reinforcers as high, middle, and low preference with 4 males (ages 7 to 19) with multiple disabilities including severe/profound mental retardation. High-preference stimuli consistently functioned as reinforcers for all subjects whereas low-preference stimuli did not function as reinforcers. (Author/DB)

Results of a longitudinal study of seven children under age two suggest that variation in children's early word combinations can be explained in terms of different routes to multiword speech; and a strategy involving the breaking down of originally unanalyzed phrases may be used by all children in varying degrees. (Contains 22 references.)…

Examined the relations of emotionality and regulation to preschoolers' naturally occurring anger reactions through observations of behavior. Children's use of verbal objections to anger situations were positively related to constructive coping and attentional control, particularly for boys, and negatively related to girls' anger intensity,…

Responds to calls for combining the ideas of Piaget and Vygotsky, discussing differences between the two perspectives. Notes that differences are found in underlying assumptions about the nature and process of development, philosophy, stages of development, developmental influences, and the integrity of cognitive structures. Suggests that, given…

Addresses the extent to which differences in Piagetian and Vygotskyan psychologies make their theories incompatible. Differences result from a Vygotskyan belief in a material primary cause for development; Piagetians do not hold this view. Explores this difference in perspective, concluding that, despite it, the two approaches are compatible. (JW)