Summarizes results of a study of 43 Israeli teachers' reactions to teachers' curriculum guides. Fewer than half the teachers interviewed made significant use of guides. Authors' intentions, as set forth in these guides, do not reach the teaching community and are felt to convey alienation, distance, arrogance, and lack of respect. Teachers did not…

Reviews this book by N. G. Satish, which investigated the information gathering and use patterns of social scientists. Recommends the researchers follow Satish's example by adopting an international perspective to the literature and study procedures. (JMV)

The relationship between attitudes about casual sex and casual sex behavior was investigated for 137 male and 187 female active heterosexuals aged 17 to 19. Behavior was more heavily influenced by social-psychological motivations than by disease-based variables, and the relationship between attitudes and behavior was stronger for females. (SLD)

This literature review examines the psychological aspects of the savant syndrome in people with intellectual disabilities, focusing on the means by which such abilities as calendar calculation are accomplished and highlighting variables (such as intense motivation in one area) postulated as important for development of the syndrome. (Author/DB)

Surveyed 620 nonpregnant, culturally diverse women at risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection concerning alcohol, marijuana, powder cocaine, crack cocaine, and intravenous drug use. Found consumption levels which exceeded expectations based on general estimates of female substance use. Substance use was associated with specific…

Principal theme in world history should be universality of basic human experience. This approach values differing forms of human expression without associating abstract concepts (such as faith, reason, or creativity) to one specific period of history in one particular part of the world. Scholarship should remain the highest priority, and past…

This study assessed the nonspeech behaviors associated with young stutterers (n=30, mean age 54 months) and normally fluent children's comparable fluent utterances. Findings suggested that children can be classified as stutterers on the basis of their nonspeech behaviors, which may reflect cognitive, emotional, linguistic, and physical events…

Ten sighted adults were blindfolded and asked to find four objects in the open space of a room. A perimeter pattern, a gridlike search pattern, and a reference-point strategy were variably effective, indicating that different kinds of experience may result in different kinds of knowledge that are optimal for different spatial judgment tasks.…

Summarizes a study exploring how teachers characterize their administrators' supervisory behaviors and administrator-teacher relationships, including how administrators show respect for teachers. Four distinct supervisor patterns (backstage, collaborative, surly, and imperial) emerged. Data indicate a correlation between principals' respect for…

Advances a theory that explains the educational achievement of Asian-American college students. Claims their subculture reinforces behaviors that virtually ensure achievement. Concludes need to further study the theory and its implications becomes increasingly important as college campuses continue to diversify. (Author/ABL)

Examined effects on college students (n=464) of the increase in the legal drinking age in North Carolina. In first experiment, students affected by law did not report increase in drinking behavior but did feel change made drinking more attractive. In second experiment those affected by law reported higher rates of alcohol consumption subsequent to…

Employs time series analysis to model individual and discursive influences on the response latencies of deceivers and truthtellers. Shows that a decay impulse model provides a good description of the data. Finds that message veracity and self-monitoring combined to affect the fit of the decay impulse model. (SR)

A general theory of humor elicitation is presented that specifies the conditions in which humor is experienced in both social and nonsocial situations. The theory is used to conceptualize humor elicited by jokes, witticisms, and social events that are not intended or expected to be humorous. (SLD)

A recent national survey of sexual behavior in the United States, whose initial funding was controversial, reveals few surprising results. It reveals information about homosexuality, sexual abuse, how couples first meet, and how individuals' sexual choices are constrained by the social networks in which they operate. (MSE)

A rational model of human categorization behavior is presented that assumes that categorization reflects the derivation of optimal estimates of the probability of unseen features of objects. A case is made that categorization behavior can be predicted from the structure of the environment. (SLD)