Discussed whether similarity affects the relationship between comparison and other-evaluation. Subjects read about an emergency, estimated their reaction, and evaluated a target who failed to help. Results showed increasing discrepancy between self and other's reactions led to more negative evaluations if self and target were the same sex.…

Studied a cluster-analytic approach to developing value profiles as a technique for identifying value similarities in managerial subgroups. Results, from a sample of Indian (N=27) and American managers (N=47), show that two dominant value profiles (designated "pragmatic" and "altruistic") were present and helped explain variances in decision…

Study results indicated that: (l) male Indian students suffer little test anxiety or study stress, and their study habits are influenced by their motivation; (2) female Indian students worry about studying and have difficulty budgeting time; (3) Indian and White students from rural backgrounds are unskilled in note taking. (CM)

Three trends in adaptive behavior measurement are noted: (1) an awareness of the paucity of suitable scales; (2) sensitivity to the effects of adaptive behavior in the declassification of students previously labeled under outdated procedures; and (3) the use of measures for identification and intervention with emotionally disturbed students.…

Describes a study of fifth and sixth graders that investigated the effects of cooperative training and ability grouping on microcomputer learning. Results on four measures of achievement did not support the use of cooperative learning or ability grouping to enhance achievement in computer-assisted instruction. (Author/LRW)

This study assessed the relative merits of adult-like syntactic and limited scope formula accounts of children's early determiner use to evaluate the claim that children can be said to be operating with a syntactic determiner category early in development. The study focuses specifically on Valian's (1986) criteria for attributing the syntactic…

Normal and Specific Language Impaired (SLI) children were tested for evidence of the binding domain and orientation properties of their grammars. Results suggest that normal children acquiring English pass through a long-distance binding stage, whereas SLI children behave like very young normal children in requiring the nearest available noun…

The Lifestyle Satisfaction Scale (LSS) has been found among American samples to be influenced by types of accommodation (representing variations in level of lifestyle restriction). This study of 46 adults with mental retardation in Australia supported the discriminate validity of the LSS, and identified ways in which location and other factors…

This article describes a sequential criterion-referenced assessment tool that can be used by social work students in field work and field instructors in evaluating student progress over a semester, a process benefiting both groups. The system provides students with periodic self-administered, self-scored tests. Development and sustained use of the…

A study analyzed the narratives of 24 predominately English-speaking Latino children (ages 3-5) enrolled in a federally subsidized preschool. The length of narrative did not differ significantly by age. However, older children produced stories that contained longer sentences, a higher proportion of grammatically acceptable sentences, and more…

Presents a retrospective view of the infusion of computer technology at a large, predominantly ethnic/racial minority, inner-city high school serving at-risk students. Discusses results of in-depth case studies of students, teachers, and administrators; classroom observations; and a student self-esteem index. (Author/LRW)

A study compared the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Behavior Problems Inventory (BPI) for assessing the maladaptive behavior of 226 adults, mostly with severe or profound mental retardation. Individuals with elevated BPI scores generally had higher ABC scores, however, the extent of covariation differed across subscales. (Contains…

Discussion of problems in documenting student performance and progress focuses on middle-secondary subject matter, the state standards that are fundamental to most large-scale assessment systems, and curriculum text structures that limit the type of learning that can be documented. It suggests critical thinking measures as an alternative procedure…

Describes an experiment in which rhetorically different texts, with identical subject matter were read by 490 Hong Kong Chinese school children, studying in English as a Second Language. Comprehension was measured by a cloze procedure and by recall protocols. Results showed a clear difference in comprehension between the text types and suggests…

Describes a study of 460 second, sixth, and tenth graders that was conducted to explore the effects of content and development on children's perceptions of the social reality of television series featuring families with children and teenagers. Hypotheses tested are explained, measures used are described, and future research is suggested. (42…