Argues that Susan Sugarman's article in this issue contains some valid criticism of assumptions in developmental psychology, but that some of her conclusions regarding other assumptions need to be questioned. Suggests that many problems raised by Sugarman would disappear if developmental psychologists concentrated on children's early achievements…

The paper notes A. Hore and W. Tryon's support of the developmental position that persons with and without mental retardation of similar mental age show similar cognitive patterns, but suggests that mental age is psychometrically invalid and Piagetian tasks are inappropriate to evaluate this position. An information processing approach is…

Argues that there are significant ways in which neither Piaget nor his successors in developmental psychology have adequately described the child's mind and how it changes. Proposes alternative guidelines for research that aims more directly at identifying essential constituent features of the child's mental reality. (PCB)

Alcoholism has repeatedly been implicated in many significant social and health problems, yet little is known concerning etiology before age 12. As part of a longitudinal project to investigate alcoholism etiology in preschool children, a study was undertaken which compared families with male preschool children who are statistically at high risk…

Offers a descriptive theory of the nature of classroom tasks. Describes the interplay among (1) the conditions under which tasks are set; (2) the cognitive plans students use to accomplish tasks; and (3) the products students create as a result of their task-related efforts. (SKC)