Discusses new research directions in the study of emotions, including postulations that emotion is relational rather than intrapsychic; emotion and an individual's goals are closely related; emotion "expressions" are social signals, not merely outward signs of internal states; and the physiology of emotion can regulate and be regulated.…

Empathic responsiveness and affective reactivity to infant stimuli were examined in matched groups of mothers (n=45) at either high or low risk for physical child abuse. Low-risk mothers showed an increase in empathy following presentation of a crying infant, whereas high-risk mothers showed no differences in empathy across infant conditions.…

Examined self-perception during late adolescence as a correlate of individual temperament. Found that positive self-perception correlated with approaching, flexible, and positive mood patterns, and with high task orientation. Different aspects of self-perception showed distinct relationships with specific temperament dimensions. Noted men's and…

Explored whether vicarious emotional reactions of macho males reflect a lack of empathy and a tendency to respond with anger. Male subjects (n=107) viewed videotapes of a crying, quiescent, and smiling baby, respectively. Macho males reported more anger and less empathy for the crying baby than did less macho males. (RJM)

Demonstrated the emotion-specific priming effects of negatively valenced emotions (anger, sadness, and fear) in a divided attention task. Results indicated that a negative emotion displayed by a target that matched the emotion induced by a priming manipulation was significantly stronger than an incongruous priming manipulation and displayed…

Infants at two, four, and six months of age learned a string-pulling task and were tested again two months later. Individual differences in emotional expressions of anger during extinction, and interest and enjoyment during learning, were stable over the two-month interval. (BC)

Twenty schizophrenics with flat affect, 19 right-brain-damaged patients, and 21 normal controls were compared on a task of facial emotional expression. Compared to controls, both patient groups were judged as less expressive and displaying more negative than positive emotion. Patients seemed to have difficulty with the expression of positive…

Discussion of the advantages of local area networks (LANs) focuses on their use for successful cooperative learning. Individual and group assessment of success are discussed, effects on academic and affective achievement are considered, and computer-assisted instruction (CAI) programs to use with networking are suggested. (19 references) (LRW)

Examined developmental changes and individual variations in the ways children use expressive information from others. Concluded that processing deficits are more probable for younger children or for children with low perceived control than for other children. (BB)

Preservice teachers (n=75) wrote reflective essays about their experiences presenting a reflective teaching lesson that illustrated one of four different instructional domains. Analysis of the essays indicates that reflection was similar and stable across the reflective experiences, despite the instructional domain and level. (IAH)

Discusses processes in the development of shared pretend representations: adoption of shared pretend focus; metacommunication defining the activity as pretend play; and communication within pretend play. Examines claims that children's play becomes intersubjective only after three years of age. Concludes that intersubjectivity in peer pretend play…

Discusses directions for future research on the importance of emotion during adolescence. Notes that such research should include an expanded focus on the normative range of emotional expression and on related adaptive behaviors, including competencies, coping, self-esteem, and creativity. The application of research to clinical problems and…

Reported is a study examining the causes of development of mathematics anxiety in upper elementary students. Significant results indicate increased anxiety related to increased time spent on review and lower anxiety associated to small group work. The conjecture that mathematics anxiety is transmitted from teachers to students is not supported.…

A study of sixth grade boys and their families hypothesized that boys who were prone to high levels of distress but low or moderate levels of self-restraint would be particularly unlikely to agree to make considerable efforts to complete tasks that were not especially enjoyable. Results supported the hypothesis. (RH)

Relationships between anxiety toward computers and variables trait anxiety, anxiety toward mathematics, perceived impact of computers on society, and experience in using computers were studied in a sample of 81 male and 81 female university students. All of these variables were found to influence anxiety toward computers, and a significant…