The development of understanding of Biblical parables on the part of 28 Swiss subjects of 7 to 50 years of age was studied. It was found that Biblical parables were interpreted through the lens of one's stage of religious judgment in the manner described by Oser's and Gmunder's (1988) model. (BB)

The relationship of retest effects from pretest to posttest 2 to 4 weeks later was studied for 2,014 elementary school children (second through sixth graders) taking a battery of 26 multifactor aptitude tests--the Structure of Intellect Learning Abilities Test. Implications of score gains are discussed for age and gender groups. (SLD)

Tested children for recall of paired associates. Traditional measures of recall suggested that older children displayed better retention than younger children. But when data were reevaluated using a technique that statistically controlled for degree of learning, developmental differences in retention disappeared. (BC)

Children and adults listened to stories that contained a goal sentence and an inconsistent outcome. Several encoding and retrieval factors were simultaneously manipulated in the stories. Interaction effects in situations with weak encoding constraint decreased with age. (BC)

Children and adults performed a divided attention task and two selective attention tasks with shapes that were either spatially integrated or separated. Results indicate that integrated stimuli are initially perceived as wholes, and separated stimuli as features, at all ages. (BC)

Tested children's ability to produce appropriate similes, evaluate a given simile's appropriateness, and select an appropriate simile. Minimum competence appeared around the age of three years for the multiple choice task, four years for the production task, and five to seven years for the evaluation task. (BC)

Explored emotional states of dying patients, age, and family support. Findings from 26 terminally ill female cancer patients revealed that younger patients expressed more bargaining and complaints than older patients who revealed more depression and acceptance. Patients with immediate family support expressed less depression and more fears than…

A survey of 850 Arizona university employees (71 percent response) found that water quality was the top-rated environmental issue. Among methods of receiving information, most would accept renting videotapes, home study, bulletins, or workshops within 10 miles of home. Older respondents were generally less willing to use the methods offered. (SK)

Cardinality responses are affected by both the direction and nature of the elements in the counting sequence. Error analysis suggests six stages in the acquisition of cardinality. Although there appears to be a developmental dependency between counting and cardinality, this relationship is not significant in all cases. (RH)

The study examined frequency of contact with family members of 474 mentally retarded persons in Norwegian residential placements. Age trends in family contact were noted with decreasing contacts as the individual aged. Results have implications for the increasing numbers of older adults in such placements. (DB)

This study of 115 children with attention deficit disorder (ages 6-12) found that those with hyperactivity performed more poorly on a nonword reading task than did those without hyperactivity, that neither age nor gender interacted with subgroup class, and that poorer performance on written spelling/written language measures relative to reading…

A buoyancy prediction test was developed to access preschoolers' early understanding of density. Two- to five-year-olds and college students make predictions about the buoyancy of a set of objects that varied in density, weight, and volume. Found that children aged four and five demonstrated patterns of judgment similar to those of the college…

Examines research on developmental differences among groups of older preservice teachers and how those groups differ in relation to more traditional students. Student teachers completed questionnaires about their experiences, attitudes, and expectations. Results indicated differences were minimal, but those that did exist were age-related…

Four experiments examined the effect of pictures on the recall of expository prose by 171 first graders and 97 third graders. Results consistently demonstrate that representational pictures can facilitate recall of illustrated and unillustrated prose information by children as young as those in the first grade. (SLD)

A dual taxonomy is presented to reconcile two incongruous facts about antisocial behavior, that it shows impressive continuity over age, but its prevalence changes dramatically over age, increasing almost tenfold during adolescence. Studying delinquents earlier in life may yield more information about the causes and antecedents of antisocial…