In this research work we explored the nature of 9-12 year old pupils' responses to probabilistic problems with tree diagrams. It was found that a large percentage of pupils failed to respond correctly even to very simple problems that demanded the identification of "possible routes/paths" in figures with tree diagrams/mazes. The results…

This report uses data from the 1990 and 1991 samples of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to construct a profile of the U.S. noninstitutionalized adult population needing assistance with activities of daily living (ADL) and to estimate the size of the population eligible for federal personal assistance services (PAS) under different…

This study examined the career patterns of secondary school business education teachers, focusing on possible demographic differences between teachers who sought alternate career paths and those who did not. A stratified national sample of 284 business teachers completed a survey questionnaire. The study found that the typical respondent was a…

This paper reviews the policy context of school retention and shows that age-grade retardation has been common and growing in American schools from the 1970s-90s. The paper focuses on the period from 1972-98 and on grade retardation at ages 6, 9, 12, 15, and 17 years. By age 9 years, the odds of grade-retardation among African American and…

The undergraduate liberal arts program is assumed to promote sophistication in thinking. At the same time, certain levels of cognitive ability are assumed to be present in students accepted into selective undergraduate colleges. Beginning in the fall of 1991, a long-term research study was undertaken at a small residential liberal arts college…

This special issue of the Mensa Research Journal contains four papers written by K. Warner Schaie, a psychologist who focuses on psychological development from young adulthood through old age. The first paper is "Living with Gerontology." In it, Schaie recounts his own childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, his path to becoming a…

This publication presents data on the University of Wisconsin (UW) System new freshman enrollment for fall 1999. Data tables include new freshman headcount information: by institution, fall 1999; by institution, fall 1989, fall 1994, and fall 1999; by resident status and institution, fall 1999; by resident status, fall 1989 to fall 1999; by gender…

Seven features of adolescents' relationships with mothers and with fathers (time together per day, number of activities, degree of influence, subjective closeness, and frequency of experiencing positive, hostile, and sad emotions in the relationship) were used to predict adolescents' problem behavior and chemical use. Using a sample of 64 seventh-…

This paper analyzes the determinants of literacy and earnings in Ghana. Introductory sections discuss developments in literacy in the United States and Great Britain, literacy rates in developing countries, worldwide increases in literacy, literature on the determinants of literacy, aspects of the Ghanaian economy and educational spending, and the…

Noting that gender may be an important issue when studying relations between attachment and social functioning, four studies explored whether the relationship between children's internal working models of attachment and their general functioning was gender specific. A total of 246 children, ages 5 to 10 years, were given the Separation Anxiety…

While research on prosocial behavior has dramatically increased during the last 20 years, there are few studies examining the role of self-evaluative emotions such as pride and guilt as consequences of and motivations for helping others. This study examined how children attribute pride and guilt for actions germane to the moral or competence…

This book considers the question of whether, or to what extent, a critical period limits the acquisition of a first language as well as a second language acquired postpubertally. The diversity of opinion on this question is represented in this volume. It is a question that has been approached by researchers working in linguistic theory, evolution…

This study examined variables related to problem-solving approaches of young children, using the theoretical framework provided by Zigler and collaborators in their work on outerdirectedness. Four aspects of outerdirectedness were examined: developmental trends, different types of reinforcement, task difficulty, and pride in accomplishment. (ST)

Results support the inference that symbolic mediation is a measurably time-consuming process and that temporal factors are involved in the ontogenetic transition from single-link to symbolically mediated behavior. (Author/CB)

Results indicated that children's comprehension of stories and commands tended to vary significantly as a function of age. (Editor)