The author reviews the history of the category of educable mental retardation (EMR), asserts that students with this label are more like children with academic or behavioral difficulties than they are like their more retarded peers, and suggests an approach focusing on returning EMR students to the regular school curriculum. (CL)

When asked to identify "chairs" from a series of pictures and order them as best examples, adults used contextual clues about the objects' function in their judgments. However, contextual function clues caused children's judgment to change greatly. Results are discussed in relation to theories of concept formation in children. (MSE)

A list of subjects and sources of pictures for a classroom "picture bank" is suggested. Tips are given for the use and conservation of pictures, and a classification scheme and ideas for language and civilization instruction are included. (MSE)

Identified five types of violent criminals (N=110) using cluster analysis of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scores, and compared them on 24 sociological and behavioral variables. Results showed differences on 16 items including family history, drug and alcohol use, events preceding the crime, and relationship between offender and…

Presents arguments concerning the linguistic assimilation of Blacks (West Indians) in Britain, and the research methodology used to examine this issue. One argument holds that the studies' designs are flawed, allowing a false interpretation that Blacks are linguistically assimilated; the other argument upholds the research findings. (WAS)

Based on interviews and participant-observation, a matrix of nine categories is proposed that classifies teachers in unions according to the intensity of their identification with the union ("us") and the union leadership's opponents ("them"). A complex image of teacher activism emerges, providing material for further research.…

To address the need for objective evaluation of parent-child interactions, the investigators created a taxonomy of interactional behaviors used by parents and preverbal/early verbal children. Based on statistical analysis, the taxonomy was shortened to include only those objective behaviors that were highly correlated with the overall subjective…

Results from the data analysis show that children learn mathematical concepts for clear cases, and that an analysis of attributes common to examples of a given concept is not a prerequisite to concept formation. The protocol findings provide information as to why this may be happening. (Author/PN)

The first experiment investigates the ability of children ranging in age from two to five years to use taxonomic and complementary organizational principles in a forced-choice picture recognition task. The second experiment assesses two alternative classes of cues which may have been used by 2-year-olds to mediate their recognition pairings. (RH)

Field-dependent and independent subjects sorted geometric and verbal material according to category exemplars, forcing active learning, and then recalled the category locations. Field-independent individuals generally performed better on learning and memory tasks with a more active approach. Active versus passive learning styles are discussed.…

Samples of undergraduates responded in two ways to a statement about how often they had engaged in various activities: first by indicating "never,""occasionally,""often," or "very often," and second by indicating the number of times they had engaged in the activity. (Author/MLW)

To clarify "power" and "authority," the authors review the concepts' history, examine contemporary concepts of social control, identify four authority modes (based on social relations and controls), derive four power resources from these modes, discuss persuasion and exchange as social control mechanisms, and demarcate…

A different approach is used to develop taxonomy concepts. A traditional outline of each phylum under consideration is given to students, together with a series of questions. Students must then determine relationships within the outline by answering the questions. (Author/JN)

Discusses long (expanded), short (condensed), and pyramidal periodic table formats and documents events leading to a periodic table in which subgroups (families) are designated with the letters A and B, suggesting that this format is confusing for those consulting the table. (JN)

Presents an expanded classification of the plant kingdom, emphasizing major evolutionary steps and differences in levels of complexity. Describes subdivisions and suggests that this classification, reflecting unity and diversity, may be logical, understandable, and useful to students. (JN)