The Monitoring the Future (MTF) study involves an ongoing series of national surveys of American adolescents and adults that has provided the nation with a vital window into the important, but largely hidden, problem behaviors of illegal drug use, alcohol use, tobacco use, anabolic steroid use, and psychotherapeutic drug use. For more than a third…

The relationship between parent-child interactions during free play and a teaching situation and children's school functioning was studied, focusing specifically on the relationships between mediated-learning-experience (MLE) interactions between mothers, fathers, and children and teachers' ratings of the child's adaptive behavior. MLE involves an…

This report examines the relationship between students' attitudes to school and intentions to participate in education and training, and the influence of these attitudes and intentions on participation in Year 12 and in further education and training. Students' attitudes to school, educational intentions and attainments are considered in the…

Reports a study of the effectiveness of a third grade sexual abuse prevention program. Students who did and who did not receive the intervention completed a pre- and postprogram questionnaire. Results indicated that those completing the intervention significantly increased their sexual abuse knowledge scores and their behavioral intention scores.…

Examined in four studies whether and when infants connect information about an actor's affect and perception to their action. Found that 12-month-olds, but not 8-month-olds, recognized that an actor was likely to grasp the object she had visually regarded with positive affect. Replicated findings with 12- and 14-month-olds and with several…

Three studies examined children's ability to differentiate aggression and social withdrawal using attributional constructs. Found that even very young children understand the meaning of responsibility and are capable of using it to act as intuitive judges, weighing the evidence to make inferences about responsibility and then meting out judgments…

Examines aspirations by analyzing variables that can be directly influenced by the student, family, and/or school personnel. Data secured from 2,677 students in grades 8 through 12 suggest that many students do not understand why they engage in certain activities. To assume more responsibility, students must see purpose in their pursuits. (RJM)

Examines whether elderly individuals issuing advance directives for health care were more likely to have their wishes understood by designated surrogates than elderly folks who had not given such a directive. The mere completion of a directive did not guarantee the decision maker's awareness of the older person's wishes. (RJM)

Among 166 American Indian first-year college students studied for 6 years, only 16% graduated during the period. Typical college entrance criteria did not necessarily predict persistence. Interviews with 11 Navajo students examined going-home behavior, early educational intentions, and acculturation, and suggested culturally distinct…

Examines ways to apply control theory to the clinical practice of psychology. Offers general methods to assess psychological problems and to facilitate healthful change. Profiles what constitutes mental health from a control systems perspective, emphasizing the control of variables to achieve desired ends. (CH)

Aggressive and nonaggressive Latino and African-American adolescents read scenarios describing negative outcomes initiated by a hypothetical peer and made judgments about their reactions to the outcomes and about the peer's intentions. Data supported a model in which emotion mediates aggressive behavior. (BC)

Discusses problems for educational research posed by the unpredictability and indeterminism of human behavior. Presents a theory of purposeful behavior (perceptual control theory) to provide an explicit working model of how individuals produce repeatable outcomes via variable means. Describes primary characteristics of this theory and its…

Responses from 1,041 high school juniors, 712 parents, and 82 counselors in Illinois found that better educated urban parents and counselors were more receptive to agricultural education than anticipated. Relatively negative beliefs of rural counselors were cause for concern. Agricultural coursework influenced students' positive attitudes toward…

Uses national survey data to examine the extent to which group differentials in early nonmarital childbearing are a function of normative differences in fertility intentions. Results indicate that birth intentions do vary by race and ethnicity, poverty status, and family structure. (RJM)

Discussion of the use of videodiscs to improve postsecondary teaching focuses on a project at the University of Alberta (Canada) that considered ethical standards in visual anthropology. Topics include identifying teaching examples, accountability, collaboration, integrity, intentionality, authenticity, and dignity and privacy. (LRW)