This study combined the concept of self-control with Keller's ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction) model of motivational design to determine whether students could be trained to make instruction relevant to themselves by using metalearning strategies. Results suggest students can be trained to do this and that this training can…

Theater participation aids students in several areas, including self-expression, self-development, self-understanding, self-esteem, self-discipline, analytical skills, empathy, human understanding, and competition. Balance between academics and the arts is essential if students are to be prepared to live well-rounded, meaningful lives in the…

Interviews male and female primary-health-care patients aged 66 to 83 years (N=14) in regard to their fears in connection with their present symptoms and in general. Results show that diseases believed to entail disability, bodily changes, and/or loss of control over body and environment were the most feared. (Author/MKA)

Study examines refusal skills developed by young people (N=743) who have not participated in a smoking-prevention program and sets out to identify issues relating to refusal or acceptance of cigarettes in the context of gender, self-perception, and refusal skills. Findings reemphasize the complexity of the process young people must undergo in…

Reviews research on four dimensions of temperament: positive emotionality/approach, fear, irritability/frustration, and attentional persistence. Applies knowledge of temperament to teachers' approaches to children's mastery motivation, fear of novelty, and ego-based anxiety. Argues that educators' training should include understanding of…

Evaluated modes of anger expression in 104 adolescent suicide attempters and 323 high school students. Results indicated that, in comparison to the control group of high school students, suicidal adolescents displayed an increased likelihood of experiencing anger, reported significantly higher levels of both internalized and externalized anger,…

Examination of self-restraint in 99 adults with severe/profound mental retardation who exhibited self-injury found that 46% exhibited self-restraint. A higher occurrence of compulsive behaviors was found for subjects who engaged in self-injury and self-restraint. When self-restraint was prevented, subjects responded negatively. Results support a…

Three developmentally normal adolescents with chronic hair pulling were treated with a simplified habit-reversal procedure consisting of awareness training, competing response training, and parental social support. Treatment resulted in immediate reduction to near-zero levels of hair pulling with one to three booster sessions. Results were…

Examined development of inhibitory control using a stop-signal procedure with subjects ages 6 to 81 years. Found that the speed of stopping becomes faster with increasing age throughout childhood, with limited evidence of slowing across adulthood. The go-signal reaction time clearly increased through childhood and slowed markedly through…

Reviews theories of management and shows how they are interrelated. Highlights include environmental factors, such as behavioral settings; socio-technical systems that represent the interaction of people with tools and techniques; science, technology, and society (STS); self-control; performance improvements solutions; and action research. (LRW)

A study examined the effects of progressive relaxation training on the disruptive behaviors of a 12-year-old boy with autism. The participant acquired progressive relaxation skills, displayed more relaxed behavior after performing the procedures, and showed a decrease in the duration of his disruptive behavior upon completing progressive…

Emotion regulation has emerged as a popular topic, but there is doubt about its viability as a scientific construct. This article identifies conceptual and methodological challenges in this area of study and describes exemplar studies that provide a substantive basis for inferring emotion regulation. On the basis of those studies, 4 methods are…

Emotion regulation cannot be temporally distinguished from emotion in the brain, but activation patterns in prefrontal cortex appear to mediate cognitive control during emotion episodes. Frontal event-related potentials (ERPs) can tap cognitive control hypothetically mediated by the anterior cingulate cortex, and developmentalists have used these…

In error management training, participants are explicitly encouraged to make errors and learn from them. Error management training has frequently been shown to lead to better performance than conventional trainings that adopt an error avoidant approach. The present study investigated self-regulatory processes mediating this effect. Fifty-five…

Objective: The primary goal of this pilot study was to examine emotion management skills (i.e., emotional understanding, emotion regulation) in children who had experienced neglect and a control group to determine the ways that neglect may interfere with children's emotional development. Method: Participants included children 6-12 years of age and…