Literacy education in Wheatfield Prison uses individualized, participatory, holistic approaches focused on personal development. The curriculum features language experience, extension of literacy skills with information technology, and creative arts. Forty percent of education participants take literacy classes; 40% of literacy students achieve…

Interviews with 24 people depicted the formation of meaningful learning relationships in their lives and an interpretation of mentoring as a learning alliance. Most mentoring took place outside formal settings and was characterized by equality and emotional ties. Mentoring should be considered as valuable as formal teaching for the promotion of…

Examines the impact of the elder caregiver role on developmental tasks of early adulthood (N=50). Specifically, differentiating from family of origin, establishing intimate relationships, and career development are examined. Results suggest that acquiring the caregiver role before age 40 has a definite impact on family life, intimate…

Describes 360-degree feedback that provides performance data from multiple points of reference. Topics include reasons for performance improvement; what needs improvement; how to improve; choosing a reliable 360-degree instrument; and applications of 360-degree feedback, including personal development, team development, change, and needs…

The student experience involves displacement of the self into an epistemological framework, beginning a trajectory that can either rise with increased confidence, or fall with diminished interest. The learner becomes a new, authentic self through the process of becoming a student. (SK)

Calls for a coalition of different research methods and strategies to better understand learning and development. Describes two such strategies: (1) testing-the-limits decomposing age-graded differences in upper limits of plasticity; and (2) experimental simulation of development, a coordinated sequence of theory-guided research steps. Both…

Claims that Matthews sees independence as moving freely and being able to function apart from the adult, leading to competence and cognitive development for life. Reiterates the importance of emotion, relationships, and the mother as the central part of the child's prepared environment. (MOK)

Addresses five research themes with at-risk populations that have begun to transform traditional understanding of normative human development. These themes are: protective forces inherent in developmental delay, loss involved in progressive development, symptoms as signs of developmental complexity, rediscovery of biography as an essential…

Proposes an amended timetable for the origins of joint visual attention and offers theoretical alternatives for the development of point. Includes discussions of the origins of intentionality, the emergence of joint attention, the transition to pointing comprehension, the signal cues of different joint-attention cues, pointing comprehension, the…

Examined whether chronic illness causes delays in adolescents' perceived developmental status, using annually-completed questionnaires from insulin-dependent and healthy adolescents. Found that, in first year of study, diabetic adolescents reported delays in physical maturity and an independent lifestyle compared with healthy peers. Overall…

Notes that Nelson, Plesa, and Henseler's (1998) article addresses the issues of where social cognitive knowledge comes from, what form it takes, and whether "theory of mind" is an appropriate description of the social cognitive enterprise. Argues that researchers ought to get beyond the "theory" issue, and focus on the sources…

Maintains that Muller and Overton (1998) challenge the current Zeitgeist regarding infant cognitive development. Suggests that researchers reconsider infants as developing actors in a meaningful environment, not as born philosophers. Notes the need to explore processes underlying key transitions in infancy and the relation between action and…

Maintains that strengths of Olson and Torrance's work include its balanced focus on child and curriculum. Argues that the book neglects affective, social, and cultural aspects of development. Argues that the book's avoidance of ethnic categorization could encourage or justify avoiding issues of differences in human development and equity in…

Argues that an "as-if" mode of making sense of the world is an important characteristic of human development across all age groups. Illustrates the role of as-if functioning in adults following loss of a loved one, maintaining that self-reorganization centers on the grave as a physical and symbolic entity and the deceased as an…

Maintains that Josephs (1998) identifies a new and significant research question: how individuals relate to loved one's death through an imaginary dialog created in an "as-if" manner. Discusses the issues of how adults' as-if activities are related to children's pretend play and how such dialogs might transform the self over time.…