This study determines cultural meanings of parent v nonparent roles using the following variables: one's generational group, place of residence, and family size. Generational differences appear to be the overwhelming influence on parental roles. The decision not to be a parent is an emerging role in contemporary culture. (CT)

Describes and discusses the rule-assessment approach, a new research strategy for studying developmental sequences in children's acquisition of knowledge. Four experiments were conducted to illustrate the utility of this approach across a variety of concepts and a wide range of ages (three-year-olds to college students). (Author/CM)

Fifth- and sixth-graders were tested with multiple-choice fact and inference questions about a reading passage, then given feedback either with or without the text present. Retesting occurred four days later. Results corroborated recent findings on age-related improvement in inferential processing comprehension and memory. (Author/SJL)

This monograph describes the development of the Metaphoric Triads Task (MTT), an instrument designed to assess metaphoric comprehension. Validity and reliability of the instrument are discussed and data for 12 samples of subjects are reported. Sex differences were negligible, but progressive improvement in MTT score with age was noted. Pictorial…

The dyadic controls of the social interchange patterns of 12- to 42-month-olds (N=27) with their different social partners is the focus of this study. (Author/MP)

A review of the recent literature on pregnancy resolution among unmarried adolescent women suggests that those who seek and go through with an abortion do not comprise a "special" population, but are similar to their age mates in many of their social and psychological characteristics. (Author/DB)

Eighty adolescents, grades 7-9, were assessed on empathy development and perceived competencies. Females proved more empathic than males, but no developmental trends in empathy development were observed. Social competence was positively associated with empathic skills, but cognitive and physical competencies showed a negative association,…

Using a group-listening test, this study examined (1) what terminology from their own vocabulary subjects would use to label music concepts and (2) if consistent terminology would be selected by elementary children and by college students majoring in elementary or music education. (Author/SJL)

Examines the quality of communicative interaction and task performance among younger and older women in relation to conversation distance and density. Results indicate that older persons exhibit positive communication behaviors in response to spatial intrusions while younger subjects show the negative, compensatory withdrawal behaviors normally…

A study was conducted on nonmedical drug use among college undergraduates enrolled in selected health science classes. A questionnaire was administered to measure drug use in relation to age, sex, and grade point average. Areas covered by the questionnaire involved patterns of marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, and barbituate use. (JN)

Discusses children's attitudes toward humorous stories, the variables regarding children's sense of humor, and the results of a study examining the relationship between children's grade level and sex and their preference for and perception of select elements of humor. Includes a bibliography of 50 books children might find humorous. (Author/HTH)

A longitudinal research strategy was employed to explore the developmental changes in the self-concept of 260 preadolescent girls from three different ethnic groups over a three-year period. (Author/MP)

The recall effectiveness of semantic and phonemic cues was compared to uncover the pattern of deep and elaborate processing in relation to age and experimental treatment. It was concluded that aging results in poor elaboration, especially in inefficient integration of word events with the context of presentation. (Author/CP)

The relationship between subtests of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities and the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration to a comprehensive battery of reading measures was investigated in a sample of 77 poor readers in grades 2 through 6. (Author/PHR)