Examined nonpersistence among 83 nonpersisting students using Tinto's model and compared retention risks for traditional-aged and nontraditional-aged students. Found that traditional- and nontraditional-aged students showed same risk factors for dropping out: both had parents with low educational levels, attempted to combine education with…

Information about adulthood that evaluators need to consider as they help others grow is presented as a series of templates of development and change. Examples are given of growth receptivity at different ages and positions in life. In self-development evaluation, the individual might write an Individual Development Plan. (SLD)

This study found that 420 regular elementary and 359 special education teachers were similar in use of procedures to assist students with low achievement. Peer tutoring received the highest mean score by both groups, followed by cooperative learning. Differences in teaching practice are analyzed by age, grade level, and degrees obtained.…

Examined relationship of perceived harm of drugs, age, and reported drug use through analysis of free associations of students from elementary to graduate school. Results showed how subjective meanings and system of mental representation, including those characteristic of drug users and nonusers, evolve as function of age. Perceptual and…

Examines whether feminine or masculine gender role behavior is associated with lower academic achievement in general as well as in mathematics and whether these relationships increase with age in a sample of 333 boys aged 6 to 10 years. Variations are only marginally correlated with school achievement. (SLD)

Examined extent of loneliness among midwestern adolescents (n=156) in relation to depression, self-esteem, family strengths, parent-adolescent communication, age, and gender. Found that subjects had high loneliness scores and that older adolescents were lonelier than younger adolescents. Found significant relationship between loneliness and…

Used a cross-sectional natural language database to investigate the parent-child conversations of 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds. Found that 4-year-olds and, to a greater extent, 5-year olds reliably used explicit contrastives. All the children regularly elicited mentalistic responses from their parents and, in some cases, these parental responses were…

This study examined use of psychotropic drug treatment with 488 children and youth. It found that younger children, girls, and those with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder were more likely than adolescent males with conduct disorders to receive medication. Stimulants, tricyclic antidepressants, and neuroleptics were the drug types most…

Examined association between understanding of psychological causation and ability of young children from low-income families to produce goal-based episodes in narratives. Participants "read" book and resulting narrative was coded for psychological causation and goal-based episodes. Use of psychological causation was related to age and…

Examined deductive reasoning in 120 adolescents and relationship of parental style and test anxiety to reasoning performance. Found that tenth and twelfth graders demonstrated more advanced reasoning than sixth graders. Authoritative parenting was related to more advanced reasoning performance and lower test anxiety than nonauthoritative…

Investigated whether children's ability to recognize themselves in delayed video feedback indicates change in self awareness. Parallel results in both conditions studied, and the likelihood of false positives and false negatives indicate that the video test in its present form may not be a valid measure of differences in self-awareness. (Author)

This study compared the development (at 40 months) of 40 deaf and hard-of-hearing infants whose hearing loss was identified either before 6 months or after 18 months. Infants whose hearing loss was identified earlier scored significantly on tests of expressive language and comprehension/concepts. Results support early hearing screening for…

This study investigated the relationship between advanced-grade placement and the self-concept of 600 gifted adolescents. No differences were found in any facet of self-concept between grade-advanced and non-advanced students nor in interactions of advanced status and gender and/or grade level. Caucasian students were significantly more likely to…

Proposes and briefly discusses several hypotheses concerning the unique developmental status of peer relations in the first three years of life. Analyzes the meaning of individual differences in very early peer competencies. Suggests that developmental differences in peer relations might translate into hypotheses regarding early individual…

A longitudinal study examined the developmental progression of mother/child conflict and conflict resolution strategies spanning the toddler to preschool years. Emphasizing verbal negotiations, the study showed that mother/child conflicts peak at 30 months, and, although toddlers tend to rely on refusing, preschoolers rely increasingly on…