This paper examines the affective components of reading and related learning disorders. A dynamic-developmental-interaction approach to etiology is suggested to allow for integration of constitutional, developmental, and environmental factors. The paper considers parental dynamics, intrapsychic factors, and interpersonal factors. (Author/JDD)

Using data from the High School and Beyond survey, compares junior and senior year performance and other variables in Catholic single sex, Catholic coed, and public schools. Finds Catholic school students are urged to take more academically demanding courses; this accounts for public/Catholic differences in achievement and university attendance.…

The Bears' Picnic, a new test of representations of self and family, was given to 27 4 year olds at 20 months of age who had been observed with their mothers. Maternal sensitivity to the child in play at 20 months was related to child's valuing or devaluing of self and others at 4 years. (DR)

Institutionalized adults with mental retardation (74% of whom had severe to profound retardation) were assessed. Of 30 adults who had been diagnosed as having affective disorders, 4 did not meet modified criteria for affective disorder; and of 30 with other psychiatric disorders, 6 did meet criteria for affective disorder. (Author/JDD)

Examines historical context, generalizability, methodological strengths and limitations of construct of "expressed emotion" (EE), designed to explore impact of family and social environment on vulnerability to relapse of schizophrenic patients, and Camberwell Family Interview, as well as nature and effects of treatment intervention programs…

Compared attention, behavioral reaction, facial affect, and cardiac responses of 22 autistic and 22 mentally retarded preschoolers to emotional displays. Found that both groups looked more at the experimenter and displayed more interest and concern when the experimenter showed strong distress than when she showed neutral affect. Autistic…

Discusses the treatment of idioms in language learning, specifically questions that need to be addressed when decisions are made on the role of idioms in language-learning programs. Particular emphasis is on the extent to which idioms present a particular source of misunderstanding and confusion for learners. (Author/VWL)

Used the language intensity/message affect coding metric developed by R. Rogan and M. Hammer to evaluate variability in the language of 160 Euro-American and African-American college students responding to a free-response scenario. Results indicate significant differences in the level of affect present in messages communicated by the two groups.…

Elementary curriculum about aging should seek to increase children's knowledge about aging, provide opportunities for interaction with older adults in class and community, and permit expression of attitudes about aging. Developing appropriate affective behavior can help modify stereotypes and develop interpersonal skills. (SK)

Module provides information to enable individuals to facilitate one- to two-hour training sessions appropriate for teachers, other professionals, and parents. It contains information relevant to advocating for children and youth who exhibit challenging behaviors. The module: (1) defines advocacy; (2) examines why advocacy is important; (3)…

Examined preschoolers' judgments regarding affect experienced by four participants in three social events. Found that preschoolers expected actors across all events to feel happy and recipient-observers in moral and conventional, not personal, events to feel unhappy; teachers witnessing the acts to feel happy in personal, not moral and…

Examined whether links between marital relations and six- to nine-year olds' adjustment were mediated by children's emotional security. Latent variable path analysis results supported theoretical pathway whereby marital dysfunction was linked with adjustment problems as mediated by emotional insecurity regarding parental conflicts. Emotional…

Examines the effect of inducing affect on the recall of moral transgressions and positive moral acts. Finds that negative affect is associated with higher recall of moral transgressions whereas positive affect is associated with higher recall of positive moral acts. Relates the results to two models of moral development. (DSK)

Reports on two experiments comparing the adequacy of naturalistic procedures in emotion-display research with standard procedures. The first experiment explored samples of naturally-occurring emotional speech with free-choice emotion labels, and later with labels from a standard set. The second compared valency ratings of words presented…

Examined role of parent-child discourse within a supportive relationship in children's early conscience development. Found that children's attachment security predicted maternal and child references to feelings and moral evaluatives in narratives about previous behavior incidents. Attachment security, shared positive affect between mother and…