Ten infants aged 8-12 months were studied to determine whether they would spontaneously imitate the average fundamental frequency or fundamental frequency contour of their speaking partners. Acoustic analyses failed to reveal any tendency by the infants to adjust vocal pitch, amplitude, or duration in home or laboratory settings. (Author/JDD)

The effects of expressive modeling experiences on the observational learning of generative language by children with severe mental retardation was investigated. All six children (aged six-nine) demonstrated observational learning of responses modeled by their peers. Organizing the modeling experiences according to matrix-training principles…

Eight students (ages 9-12) with mild mental retardation were instructed in sight-word reading in 2 small groups. Results showed that the time delay procedure was effective, that students learned other students' words through observation, and that students learned some incidental information. (Author/JDD)

A progressive time-delay and a trial-and-error strategy were compared in teaching sight word acquisition to two children with severe behavior disorders. Observational learning was also studied. Results found direct and observed instruction both effective, and progressive time delay somewhat more effective than trial and error. (Author/PB)

A structured discourse strategy, employing child echoic imitations and adult expansion, was used to teach five autistic preschool children two-term semantic relations. The strategy increased the children's initial spontaneous imitations of two-term relations. Following the imitation increase, spontaneous productions of the two-term relations…

Utilizing four pairs of preschoolers with Down's Syndrome, the efficacy of two prompt-fading procedures (decreasing assistance and graduated guidance procedure) was compared during instruction of two self-help skills. The efficacy of observational learning was also examined. Both prompt-fading procedures and observational learning were effective…

This study investigated the effect on teachers of observing or implementing an alternative form of instruction in a primary-grade arithmetic class. Under consideration were the relationships between the beliefs teachers held about mathematics and about teaching mathematics, and their recognition and internalization of the principles of the…

Two experiments investigated the effects of peer modeling on the acquisition of receptive and expressive language responses. Experiment 1 studied lexical learning among five children who were mildly/moderately developmentally disabled. Experiment 2 investigated the observational learning of receptive and expressive language responses by two…

Two dyads of students (ages 10-12) with moderate mental retardation were taught domestic and vocational chained tasks, with each student of each dyad being taught just a part of the task. Results indicated that constant time delay was effective, and all students learned a substantial amount of their partners' tasks through observation. (Author/JDD)

Three fifth grade students with learning disabilities were taught to recognize multisyllabic basal vocabulary words using constant time delay in a small-group instructional arrangement and were assessed on ability to recognize, spell, and define both their own target words and observational words. The procedure was effective in establishing…

An observational learning paradigm was used to instruct five elementary students with mild or moderate mental retardation to monitor their comprehension of incomplete instructions. Although all subjects eventually demonstrated observational learning, performance varied depending on the type of instruction inadequacy. During posttesting all…

Attempts to identify deficits in object knowledge specific to the autistic syndrome. Examines the correspondence between sensorimotor and play behaviors and language in mentally retarded and normal children. Determines whether these correspondences are different for autistic, mentally retarded, and normal children.(Author/AS)

Constant time delay was found to be an effective strategy in teaching targeted facts to four secondary-age students with mild and moderate mental retardation. Students also learned other students' target facts through observation and learned incidental information embedded in the consequent event following correct responding. (Author/JDD)

Reports on the use of participant modeling in a study of 56 college-level students to reduce fear of laboratory rats. Discovers that even mild exposure reduced fear significantly. Finds that women were more fearful initially but that their fear reduction was equal to that of men. (CFR)

Designed for media specialists and educators, this issue contains four articles focusing on children and television. The lead article outlines major Australian views on television, analyzing how these concepts determine that country's use of the medium. The second article reviews international developments in children's television highlighted at…