Describes investigation systematically comparing influence of naturalistic social behaviors and nonbehavioral variables, measured by live observations, on development of peer status in unfamiliar boys attending summer research program. Participants included attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and comparison boys. Discusses implications for…

Education is identified as one of the major goals of zoos. Research studies of the educational goals of different audiences associated with zoos and aquaria are reviewed in this report. These audiences include: (1) the zoo staff; (2) volunteers or docents; (3) general community members in formal programs; (4) students (elementary through graduate…

This literature review on the importance of play in the development of children focuses on play differences of exceptional children, methods of observing and assessing play, play interventions, the use of toys and playthings, the role of nonhandicapped peers in play, the physical environment for play, and the role of adults. The paper concludes…

Research using new direct observation procedures to analyze classroom social behavior of children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) is reviewed. Research indicates teachers seldom provide praise or other forms of potential social reinforcement and that teachers may engage in behavior to escape or avoid social contact with these…

Women and men characters on primetime TV were observed to determine the amount of distancing behavior enacted by them. Distancing behavior, which indicates discrimination, was demonstrated more frequently by men TV characters toward women than toward men. Women demonstrated equal behavior towards both sexes. Implications are discussed. (JS)

A symbolic interactionist approach to evaluation views the evaluator as an observer of group behavior in which individual action aligns with collective action. The evaluator attempts to discover what is actually going on in the program being evaluated. Though the interactionist approach frees the program manager from having to articulate goals, it…

Attempts to clarify the epistemological basis of interaction analysis by exploring the modes of observation researchers adopt when using interaction coding schemes and outlining the validation requirements these options entail. Modes of observation include the viewpoint of the experiencer, the process of experiencing, and what is experienced. (JAC)

The quantitative synthesis of 89 correlations from 16 studies of behavioral ratings and classroom observations suggested significant problems in the areas of the construct of behavioral disorder and criterion-related validity of widely used measures of social behavior. A "components of variance" model is proposed to aid in educational decision…

This study reviews the literature on the social and behavioral characteristics of only children in China. Of 16 studies that reported differences in the characteristics of only and non-only children, only 2 indicated that only children exhibited more socially desirable behaviors than did non-only children. The remaining studies reported that,…

Assessment of social skills is not viewed as an encapsulated diagnostic process but as one with ongoing impact on intervention programs. Assessment procedures which have developed from behavioral and social learning approaches to treatment appear to be reliable and useful. (Author/CP)