Argues that a reevaluation of our views on the use of children as courtroom witnesses is needed because of the new attention being drawn to child abuse and recent research findings concerning cognitive development. Introduces a series of articles addressing these questions. (KH)

Discusses ideas for future research on child witnesses in relation to children's ability to provide accurate testimony; emotional trauma likely to be experienced by child witnesses; and the perceived credibility of children's testimony. Proposes improvements for legal and psychological practice. (Author/KH)

Locating pairwise differences among treatment groups is a common practice of applied researchers. Articles published in this journal have addressed the issue of statistical inference within the context of an analysis of variance (ANOVA) framework, describing procedures for comparing means, among other issues. In particular, 1 article (Jaccard &…

Contrary to widely held belief, Watons and Rayner's (1920) experiment with Little Albert is not first reported case of classical conditioning of a child. Their work was preceded by that of Bogen and of Krasnogorskii. Mateer's work either preceded or coincided with Watons and Rayner's. This article clarifies chronology of these early studies of…

Examines common assumptions about children's memory and discusses their implications for legal practice. Asserts that, while research has shown that children recall less than adults, there is little evidence for other deficits in children's memory. Describes research suggesting that children may have difficulty with some, but not all,…

For developmental social psychology to be clinically practical, it must use categories of experience similar to categories that counselors, clinicians, and other practitioners find useful. Describes how individuals may function at different levels depending on the context in which they are expressing their understanding. (Author)

Describes a model for the synthesis of syndromal diagnosis and child behavioral assessment, and reviews the possible impact of the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (KH)

Describes the experiences of children who have witnessed the homicide of a parent and are then legally compelled to tell what they have seen. Reviews issues arising from police questioning, qualification procedures, testimony in open court, and defendant sentencing. Recommends providing young witnesses with counseling to help them cope with…

Examines three major aspects of child development--motor, cognitive, and psychological--and their influence on physical health. Suggests a beginning framework for examining the relationship between development and health, and proposes that a developmental perspective be added as a fourth dimension to the commonly employed three-dimensional…

Discusses sources of homelessness, the difficulties homeless people encounter in their daily lives, attitudes toward the homeless, and the social and psychological impact upon children and adults of losing the social identity and security that a permanent home, however poor, provides. (GC)

Reviews literature on the reliability of children as courtroom witnesses. Analyzes past and present laws governing the acceptability of children's testimony. Discusses psychological research that has challenged the view that children are more suggestible than adults. Gives special attention to studies made in the early 1900s. (KH)

Child adjustment to divorce is discussed as an interaction among four components: (1) beliefs, values, and attitudes surrounding modern family life; (2) social supports that reduce stress, and stability of the postseparation environment; (3) nature of preseparation and postseparation family functioning and support systems; and (4) children's…

There are four general approaches to treatment for the symptomatic child. In individual child psychotherapy, the child is seen alone and play therapy is often utilized to help the child become aware of his feelings and express them more appropriately. In conjoint parent-child psychotherapy and counseling, the child is seen together with one…

Proposes a new theory of self, based on the principles defined by Lawrence Kohlberg in his theory of moral development. The model sets forth self complexity (schemata) and biography (themata) as dimensions of self. Describes normal and atypical development arising from interaction of these components and assesses implications for practice. (KO)