The subjects in this study, 18 fifth- and sixth-grade students from a middle-class area, were asked to listen to a tape recording with excerpts of conversations by speakers of three dialects: middle-class white, lower-class white, and lower-class Negro. Subjects were asked to rate the personality of each speaker by voice cues alone. In addition,…

Literature relative to the economically disadvantaged and their personal characteristics has, to a great extent, centered on urban dwellers in recent years. The research reported in this book grew out of the belief that the impoverished in the rural areas no less than those in the city deserve serious attention. The research involved utilized…

The materials cited here represent information on such diverse but interrelated areas as: methods of assessing achievement, intelligence, personality factors, and attitudes; effects of testing on self concept and employment opportunities; prediction of academic success; reliability and validity of specific tests; criticism of the methods and use…

It has recently been noted that Negro children, especially those of lower socioeconomic status, have a language system whose phonological and grammatical rules differ in predictable ways from the rules governing the standard English used by most white Americans. Four features of Negro non- standard American English have been noted with predictable…

Factors which influence the acquisition of a second language within the framework of the British educational system are examined in this study. An ongoing, 10-year, language experiment (1964-74) involving 18,000 students ranging in age from 8 to 13, concentrates on determining the desirability and practicability of starting modern language…

Designed to determine how children acquire beliefs about institutional roles and authority associated with them, this study focused on schools and the teacher's role. Students from France and Scotland aged between 7 and 11 years with contrasting socioeconomic backgrounds were interviewed, and class and national differences in beliefs were found.…

Tested the future orientation of 228 Jewish and Arab adolescents. Results supported the hypothesized instrumental-expressive division between Jewish males and females and the primacy of higher education for Arab females; these gender differences are sustained by the developmental settings of Jewish and Arab adolescents. (Author/BJV)

Examination of medical records reveals that the frequency of health problems--including delayed immunizations, elevated blood lead levels, hospital admission rates, and child abuse and neglect report rates--among a sample of 265 New York City homeless children under age 5 far exceeded those of children of similar low socioeconomic status attending…

Responding to questionnaires, 983 Canadian high school and university students revealed the following reasons why their peers are unemployed: (1) work values; (2) business/government job creation; (3) educational system; (4) luck/contacts; (5) immigrants/women taking jobs; and (6) work experience/interview skills. These explanations are shaped by…

Reviews three volumes which provide considerable material on the cultural, economic, psychological, and social factors which affect Black and White women and their families: "Common Differences: Conflicts in Black and White Feminist Perspectives" (Joseph and Lewis); "The Black Woman Cross-Culturally" (Steady); and…

This study used a Vygotskian perspective to compare child rearing values and beliefs of parents, especially in regard to self-directed activities of children, in the United States, Russia, and Estonia. Participating were 60 families, evenly divided by society and social class (middle or working class), each with a child between 28 and 45 months…

Differential language development and preparation for school among young children of different racial and social groups has been asserted for decades. A study focused on mother-child interaction in two common activities: reading children's books and telling narratives about both shared and unshared experiences. A socially diverse group of 46…

The present study was a cross-sectional examination of the causes of adolescent participation in risky behaviors, using a diverse sample of adolescents from a Midwestern state. This research compared the relative effects of a traditional explanation of deviant behavior, differential association theory, with a modern derivative, nonsocial…

To combat the HIV epidemic, health service providers and public health professionals must use the best possible science and proven program models to reach and influence HIV-positive individuals and others at high risk of becoming infected. The large number and complexity of approaches that are necessary to institute and maintain HIV prevention…

Examined autonomy and individuation levels within financial, residential, romantic, and family formation domains among 17- to 27-year-olds in a community-based longitudinal study. Found that subgroup differences related to family socioeconomic status, parental divorce, gender, or race were not generally attributable to educational enrollment. Both…