Compared to age-matched and language-matched controls, 15 autistic children (mean age of 45 months) who were administered the Early Social-Communication Scales displayed deficits in gestural joint attention skills in 2 testing sessions 13 months apart. The measure of gestural nonverbal joint attention predicted language development in subjects.…

Writing samples of 295 primary school children improved in productivity, syntax, and level of abstraction from grade one through three. The writing of learning-disabled children who were matched with average reading ability primary-school children indicated no significant differences in productivity, but problems in syntax (especially morphology),…

Findings from a longitudinal study which examined the stability of reading attitude from early childhood to the middle-adult years suggest that reading attitude is a stable construct over time, although early childhood measures of reading attitude are poor predictors of adult attitude. Young adult measures are the best predictors. (IAH)

A stratified random sample of 82 subjects, from 4 to 25 years of age, was used to examine relationships between intransitivity of paired-comparison relationships and age of subjects. Results indicate a floor level, at 6 to 7 years of age, below which response intransitivity increases significantly. (TJH)

High school students (N=893) completed questionnaires on peer counseling program in these areas: characteristics of students who meet with peer counselor, types of problems students discuss in first meeting, satisfaction with peer counseling, and perceived helpfulness of the service. Found that girls and sophomores were heaviest users of peer…

Examined attitudes toward death and dying among 163 Xhosa-speaking children and adults in South Africa. Found age, gender, belief in life after death, educational level, and exposure to death and dying were critical factors in formation of attitudes. Findings were similar to those from previous studies in African and western societies. (Author/NB)

Examined attitudes of Nigerian college students (N=134) toward caring for aged parents. Students supported caring for aged parents; male students, however, were less supportive than were female students. Older students were less willing to care for their aged parents than were younger students. (Author/NB)

Compares differences between adolescent and older mothers on tests of infant motor, cognitive, social and language development; and first- and second-year abilities. Older mothers were better at predicting emergence of infant behaviors and first-year behaviors. There was no difference between groups in predicting second-year behaviors. (Author/BB)

Studied the verbal-nonverbal consistency principle to infer truth and lying in two experiments which involved 117 children in kindergarten, second, and fourth grade. Findings in both experiments indicated that the use of the verbal-nonverbal consistency principle increased with age. (RJC)

Interviewed 519 children between the ages of 5 and 13 from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Liberia, and the United States. Fifteen fears cited most often were identified. Age differences and some cultural differences were found; little difference between genders was found. Results suggest shift toward increasing fears of people and of being alone.…

The influence of social and cognitive developmental processes on the construction of social reputation was assessed by having first-, third-, and fifth-grade boys and girls provide free descriptions of their classmates. (PCB)

Examined the relation between a history of maltreatment and cognitive control functioning in two groups of preschool and early school-age maltreated and nonmaltreated children. Maltreated children showed developmentally impaired cognitive control functioning on a number of tasks. (RH)

Reviews literature on Chinese patterns of socialization. Discusses methodological issues with respect to continuity versus change through time, and variation across geographical locations, systematically considering variables of gender, age, and social class. Concludes that departures from traditional pattern in different locations are evident,…

Investigated 60 parents' perceptions of influence of their eldest child's (aged 4, 7, or 10 years) development and the extent to which these perceptions varied as a function of five factors. Cognitive and social development were significant variables for beliefs about influence. (RJC)

Two groups of children with Down Syndrome, aged 13-17 (n=21) and 15-22 (n=24), were evaluated on their performances on 26 consonants. Results indicated patterns of delayed and deviant articulatory performances in both groups, particularly in connected speech and particularly in older subjects, who had received little or no speech-language…