Contrary to assumptions about aversive effects of competition on achievement motivation, in this study young people saw academic contests as fair. When participants completed structural interviews on fair ways to organize science contests and on differentiation of skill and luck, age-related trends in their conceptions of procedural justice were…

Three experiments examined vision's role in infants' grasping of horizontally and vertically oriented rods. Found that infants differentially oriented their hand regardless of lighting and similar to control conditions where they could see rod and hand throughout reach. Findings suggest that infants may use current sight of object's orientation or…

Examines the birth dates, sex, and cognitive abilities of children with special educational needs at a comprehensive school in England. Demonstrates the large separate effects of season of birth and sex upon special educational needs classification. Finds that summer- and spring-born children were over represented, while males were also over…

This longitudinal study of 63 English-as-a-Foreign-Language school learners investigated whether the development of written production is related to the age (8-11 years) of starting contact with the second language. (Author/VWL)

Examined National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data on four versions of HOME-Short Form for four major ethnic groups. Found differences for majority of items between poor and non-poor families. Magnitude of effect for poverty was greater than for ethnicity. For every item at every age, effects of poverty were proportional across European American,…

Data from two affiliated national surveys were used to examine distribution of work-family spillover among working adults. Analyses testing family life course hypotheses indicated self-reported negative and positive spillover between work and family were not randomly distributed within the labor force. Age was found to have a persistent…

Students (n=1,343) were administered either a standard format mathematics test or one in which questions were read aloud. Performance of students with learning disabilities (LD) was compared to others on specific "difficult reading" items. Elementary school students with LD (but not middle school students with LD or general education students)…

A study examined theory of mind acquisition in 34 children (ages 5- 10) with deafness using four traditional false-belief tasks. Results indicate the age of the child was strongly related to theory of mind development and that the children were delayed by approximately 3 years in this cognitive developmental milestone. (Contains references.)…

Activation of change processes in cognitive capacity of 71 institutionalized adults with mental retardation in four age groups was investigated after the Instrumental Enrichment Program. The initial and final test scores of adults with Down syndrome were lower than those of adults with other forms of mental retardation. (Contains extensive…

This article comments on a study that found teachers believed that both inclusive education and community-based instruction were effective in preparing students with disabilities for adulthood. It argues that secondary students should be members of age-appropriate high school classes and receive educational and community-based services during…

Examined 12- to 14-year-olds' understanding of mental health and illness, responses to negative feelings, and perceived differences between themselves and adults. Found that the term "mental health" was little understood. Relationships with family and friends were considered a positive influence. Youth, especially boys, reported…

Examined the development of children's conceptual understanding of attention by focusing on their awareness of various subtypes of attention. Found three changes with increasing age: (1) less emphasis placed on surface features of scenarios used in similarity judgments; (2) more attentional subtypes identified; and (3) more emphasis placed on the…

Compared 5-, 8-, and 11-year-olds and young adults on 6 speeded performance tasks, 4 requiring an inhibition of response activation. Analyzed reaction and inhibition times; found support for hypothesis of generalized developmental changes in response activation, but revealed less pronounced development of inhibition. Concluded that a nonselective…

A study compared the self-concept and loneliness of 36 students with deafness and 39 hearing peers (grades 4-8) in co-teaching inclusive classrooms. Consistent results indicate that while age differences appeared, there were no negative social consequences of coteaching for the students with deafness. (Author/CR)

Reviews literature on children's use of metaphors, focusing on how metaphorical language is used in the learning process and the implications for teachers in helping their students use metaphorical language and thereby build knowledge of the world. Asserts that teachers need to speak metaphorically and that conversation, writing, and literature…