Studied 4- to 10-year-olds' familiarity judgments of peers. Found that, contrary to adults, external facial features were key. Also found that the switch to adult recognition pattern takes place after the ninth year. (ETB)

Results of a study involving 15 mentally retarded and 15 nonretarded control subjects matched for mental age suggest that some low-level aspects of person-related (and probably object-related) perception may not involve the same high-level symbolic functions typically employed in intelligence-quotient related functions. (SLD)

Compares family role dysfunction, college adjustment, chemical dependence, and family functioning among college students (n=245) from three groups: dysfunctional homes with significant substance abuse; dysfunctional homes without significant substance abuse; and nonabusing, nondysfunctional homes. Results suggest that substance abuse or dependence…

This paper examines the special considerations involved in selecting a speech perception test battery for young deaf children. The auditory-only tests consisted of closed-set word identification tasks and minimal-pairs syllable tasks. Additional tests included identification of words in sentences, open-set word recognition, and evaluation of…

Examined cerebral activation during sign language comprehension in six persons with deafness and nine hearing persons, all of whose parents were deaf. The group with deafness showed more activation than the hearing group in the right parieto-occipital region, indicating that they were more dependent on the spatial components in sign language than…

Two experiments examined children's ability to use lengths of lines on a page to show orientations of object surfaces. Found that five- and six-year olds are more reluctant to depart from actual object proportions than seven- and eight-year olds, but children in both age groups can foreshorten line lengths to indicate surfaces receding from a…

Reviews briefly how imagery is integral to knowing and thinking, and how perception and reason do indeed reside under the same blanket. Details two college writing assignments that require writers to engage in "imaginal processes" in proportion to their verbal process. (SR)

The perception of emotions from facial expression was studied with 68 schizotypal individuals and a control group (n=40). The results did not support the hypotheses that the schizotypal group would display more restricted similarity range in judging emotions, judge emotions as less pleasant, and display less accuracy in labelling emotions. (SW)

Summarizes a study using latent-trait theory to construct a variable that conceptualizes practitioner perspectives about the deputy principalship in self-managing (Australian) primary schools. A sample of 403 deputy principals, 179 principals, and 138 teachers was analyzed according to both actual and ideal situations, using a Rasch measurement…

Summarizes a study of parental beliefs attempting to identify what behaviors and attitudes parents thought were important influences on the child's school success. The sample comprised parents of primary schoolers in a citywide district in the South. Results indicated that parents saw their role as crucially important to their child's academic…

Determines if skin-color perception in the lives of African American adolescents affects self-esteem and dating relationships. Findings from 123 adolescents show the existence of relationships between satisfaction of skin color and self-esteem and dating. Findings also show more males than females desired lighter skin tone. Implications are…

This study investigated the multidimensional information underlying accurate speech perception as processed by children with mild to severe hearing impairments. Results suggested that the auditory dimension has a normal strength-of-processing level (thus normally distracting) but that the linguistic dimension has an underdeveloped…

This study examined elbow angle during a fine motor task (threading a needle), in the context of positions used in preclinical training exercises and assumed by practitioners performing dental procedures. The 101 subjects tended to choose an obtuse angle (mean of 125 degrees) and to vary this angle only slightly in repeated trials. (DB)

In two experiments, preschool children and adults were asked to judge which way an equilateral triangle was pointing under several contextual conditions. Results indicated that children and adults attended to both global and local levels of a pattern. (BC)

The development of visual orienting to a cued target on the part of practicing and nonpracticing tennis players aged 13, 16, and 25 years was examined. Results indicated that practicers were not faster than nonpracticers in processing visual information and that subjects of all ages oriented attention voluntarily to cued locations. (LB)