Evidence concerning the contributions of social networks to the subjective well-being of older persons is inconsistent, reflecting the conceptual complexity of social networks and supports. In order to investigate the relative importance of different types of social ties and supports, the distinction between objective and subjective dimensions of…

Previous research on friendship selection has failed to focus on how the selection process changes with age or in differently organized environments. This review of the literature takes a life-course perspective on the selection of friends, charting research results on three aspects of the selection process: (1) the number of friends and their…

In recent research, two qualitatively different classes of mental operations have been identified. The performance of one type of cognitive task requires attention, in the sense of mental effort, for its execution, while the second type can be performed automatically, independent of attentional control. Further research has shown that automatic…

Studies suggesting appropriate literature for children at various stages of social and intellectual development can offer only a general picture of children's changing response to literature. While smaller children appear to prefer shorter stories in simple language, for example, they readily accept the unfamiliar place names or nonsense words of…

Investigated were school children's recognition of social class distinctions, cues they used, and the relationship of their ideas about social class to other beliefs and attitudes about the social world. An ethnically mixed group of 201 male and female subjects participated in the study. Five age groups were represented: second, fifth, and sixth…

The author discusses the various contradictory views about middle age. Some claim that middle aged persons face a new identity crisis and have a number of adjustment problems in their work and marriage. Others maintain that middle age is a period of maturity and strength. (SE)

The results of this study show that, below ten years of age, stability in IQ scores from group verbal tests is considerably below that for Stanford-Binet. Non-verbal IQ scores were found to have substantially less stability than verbal IQs. (Author/DEP)

This document comprises a report on the number of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) who graduated, dropped out, or transferred during the 1985-86 school term. Students covered include 42,661 who dropped out of secondary schools, 58,233 in secondary schools who transferred from one school to another, and 25,067 who…

A study evaluated the ability of older adults to accurately perceive and retain Spanish in their short-term memory. Specifically, the study investigated differences in native language (English) auditory perception, short-term native language auditory memory capacity, monolingual age differences in auditory perception ability in an unknown…

This paper presents normative data on height, weight, and body mass in a birth cohort studied prospectively from birth to the age of 7 years. Data are presented by gender and race. The cohort was meant to be representative of the St. Louis metropolitan area in that it included poor people's children, and especially black children who had rarely…

This booklet was designed to help school personnel make good use of their opportunities for helping bereaved children directly as well as helping others in the classroom who may have concerns about death upon hearing of another child's loss. It provides necessary information for teachers on how children view death and the nature of bereavement…

For this study of relations between maternal and paternal discipline, children's playground behavioral orientations and children's peer status, 106 mothers and fathers of preschool-age children were interviewed. The children's playground behavior in child care settings was observed and measures of sociometric status were obtained. Results…

A total of 959 children who applied to enter kindergarten in 1986 in 6 Virginia school districts were studied in an effort to determine the relation of social class, age, ethnicity, and gender to kindergarten placement decisions, i.e., to nonplacement, placement in a regular kindergarten class, or placement in junior kindergarten. All…

Disabled students (N=983) in the state of Washington were surveyed regarding what they felt they needed in postsecondary education services and facilities to gain the best possible education; 432 completed survey questionnaires were returned. The purpose of this paper is to describe how students' characteristics vary with the type of postsecondary…

A study compared interpersonal communication motives of three age groups: young adults (age 18 to 25), middle-aged adults (age 35 to 55), and elder adults (age 62 to 82). Three-hundred randomly selected volunteers completed a survey containing the Interpersonal Communication Motives (ICM) scale. Results indicated that all three groups used motives…