Faced with a problem in which the probability of obtaining the correct answer was 70 percent, 2 of 23 kindergartners and 18 of 19 second graders generated an appropriate strategy. When the probability of a chance correct response was reduced to .45, 23 of 35 kindergartners generated an appropriate strategy. (Author/GDC)

The confluence model of cognitive development was tested on 7,060 children. Family size, sibling order within family sizes, and hypothesized age-dependent effects were tested. Findings indicated an inverse relationship between family size and the cognitive measures; age-dependent effects and other confluence variables were found to be…

Evidence on the impact of noncognitive factors on the cognitive performance of young and older adults is reviewed. Cohort-associated modifiers, motive states, task and measurement factors, and environmental effects are related and account for age differences in cognitive performance. Areas of research pertinent to educational psychologists are…

Only the College Major Questionnaire distinguished between women who had different career plans. Women planning to pursue graduate or law school were more intuitive. Women planning to practice nursing were more analytic. The measures discriminated among women at different years in school. (Author)

Subjects listened to sounds of individual musical instruments and matched these to instrument pictures. Second graders scored significantly higher than first graders; rank orders of instruments according to association difficulty, however, were markedly similar between grades. Results support the view that children bring much music knowledge to…

Overall findings of this meta-analysis reveal small effects of adjunct pictures on reading comprehension. No advantage was found when traditional v nontraditional text settings were compared. Line drawings seem to facilitate comprehension and color pictures seem to have a greater effect than black and white pictures. (Author)

Classroom teachers need to understand the broad differences that exist between a child's perception of death and that of an adult and should be prepared to confront and cope with the effects of death and grief upon students. Children's perceptions of death and ways in which the teacher can help the child with his grief are described. (JN)

Sex differences in self-perceptions of intelligence and self-confidence were examined. In third grade, perceptions of intelligence favored females; by fifth grade, males were favored. Differences persisted into eighth grade. Sex differences could not be explained by internalizing sex-stereotypes. (Author)

In a study of elementary students, the relationship between the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) and social and emotional adjustment were higher than correlations between MFF and achievement. Suggests MFF performance is related more to adjustment than achievement. Latency in MFF scores did not predict achievement or adjustment. (Author/JAC)

As part of an ongoing study by William Paterson College, 700 New Jersey children (Grades 4-5) were surveyed about their reading interests. Age and sex remain the major factors influencing children's topic choices; some rural-urban differences were also found. Related primary grade findings are included. (SJL)

Reviews studies on the etiology of monotonism, the monotone being that type of uncertain or inaccurate singer who cannot vocally match pitches and who has trouble accurately reproducing even a familiar song. Neurological factors (amusia, right brain abnormalities), age, and sex differences are considered. (Author/SJL)

Data are presented in this paper to refute G. C. Wright's allegation that racism is an important factor in the provision of family planning services in the United States. (Author/EB)

Observation of infants and toddlers in a day care setting revealed that frequency of teacher-child interaction decreased and peer interaction increased with age. The increase in peer interaction appeared to be related to the toddlers' greater capacity for reciprocating social behaviors and increased use of vocal behavior in interactions. (JMB)

A field test was initiated with kindergarten and first grade classes (558 children) within four urban elementary schools to determine the validity of identifying young handicapped children (5 to 7 1/2 years of age) through a frequency sampling technique. (Author/MP)

First-, third-, and fifth-grade children and adults performed a tactile shape-discrimination task. Changes in the magnitude of differences between performance in the left and right perceptual fields were examined. Results suggested that the right hemisphere becomes progressively more specialized for tactile spatial ability with increasing age.…