The author reviews theories and research on the etiology of infantile autism, specifically regarding its organic basis. He cites controversies over its organic vs. environmental basis and over the family's impact on autism. Quotes from such theoriests as L. Kanner, B. Bettleheim, and B. Rimland are presented along with E. R. Ritvo and M. Coleman.…

The developmental progression of belief in three major imaginary figures of early childhood was examined in 20 White, Christian children (ages four to eight years) by means of interviews and parental questionnaires. (Author/DLS)

Parental responses to grammatically correct and incorrect child utterances were observed in free-play interactions of two groups, each containing 10 parents and their language learning children. Group 1: 21-26 months old, with MLU's between 2 and 2.5 morphemes. Group 2: 34-40 months old, with MLU's between 3 and 3.5 morphemes. (Author/BN)

Pairs of unacquainted preschool children and infants were observed in a playroom. Each infant's mother attempted to engage the child in interaction with her baby. Results of this study were compared with a previous study in which mothers did not attempt to facilitate interaction. (Author/PCB)

Examination of records from 1979 to 1983 on pedestrian vehicle collision fatalities to children less than five-years-old in Washington state reveals that these incidents tended to occur when the child was backed over in the home driveway by the family van or light truck driven by a parent. (Author/BJV)

Uses contested child custody cases between divorcing parents to examine the interconnections between legal and familial processes. Examines the structure of the legal system in relation to the factors leading to custody litigation, the strategies of parents contesting the custody of their children, and the impact of these actions on the legal…

Administered questionnaires to 272 preadolescents to assess their degree of parent-peer compliance. Results revealed that, on most items, youths were clearly parent compliant. There was, however, a significant age trend in the direction of peer compliance, with males demonstrating the greatest degree of change. (Author/NRB)

Examined the relationships between adolescent drug use (N=145) and perceived parent attitudes and behaviors. Relationships between parental use of drugs and adolescent use of the same drugs were moderate and roughly equivalent across drugs. Parental use of marijuana was strongly related to the adolescent's use of harder drugs. (JAC)

The case study traces the early education of an exceptionally intellectually talented sister and brother identified by the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) at the Johns Hopkins University. The experience of the parents with education, both their own and their children's are examined. (Author/CL)

Describes a study that analyzed and described humorous productions of deaf children and the reaction of other deaf children to those productions. One finding was that primarily verbal humor was appreciated more by older children with hearing parents; humor characterized by sign complexity, by children with deaf parents. (SED)

Attempted to determine authoritarian paternal attitude inter-generational transmission in fathers and sons (N=75). Results suggested that authoritarian paternal attitudes could be indicated in terms of five factors: Dominant, Rigidity, Conformity, Intolerant, and Uncreative; and that the sons expressed strongly the authoritarian attitudes of their…

Examines indirect parental influence on mate choice of Hawaiian brides (N=3,814) and grooms (N=3,357), all of whom married into the native group of their parents. Results indicated that mate choice is more influenced by the opposite-sex parent and in general more influenced by mothers than by fathers. (LLL)

This paper explores levels of perceived parental influence on mathematics learning among over 700 students in China and Australia. Students in China had stronger perceived parental influences than students in Australia, and while students in China, Chinese speaking students in Australia, and other language speaking students in Australia…

This report examines associations between three dimensions of family religious involvement (number of days per week the family does something religious, parental worship service attendance, and parental prayer) and the quality of family relationships for early adolescents. Out of the 27 family relationship variables examined, all significantly…