A study of seven adults with mild mental retardation investigated whether nonverbal behavior was under the control of covert rules and whether verbal reports of these rules were functionally equivalent to the covert rules that control nonverbal behavior. Results indicated self-instructions, when used as external instructions, produced the desired…

Suggests the missing piece in violence-prevention programs is character development through the skills of empathy and self-discipline. Notes that to nurture such qualities in young people, schools must help them learn basic decision-making and perspective-taking skills, delay gratification, learn persistence, develop a set of positive values they…

The study assessed whether 4 students (ages 9-13) with severe autistic disabilities could learn to use a self-management treatment package to reduce stereotypic behavior. Use of the procedures greatly reduced levels of stereotypic behavior. Improvement also occurred for extended periods of time in new settings without the presence of a treatment…

Addresses common misconceptions about young adolescents, concentrating on some truths garnered from middle-school art teachers' experience. Young adolescents can respect authority, are capable of self-discipline, can manage their own behavior and art materials, are bored by routine assignments, enjoy learning and applying new skills, have adequate…

Examined the efficacy of a causal model suggesting that lack of a violence inhibitor when confronted with distress cues may explain psychopathic behavior. Compared to control subjects, the psychopaths made no moral/conventional distinction about transgressions, treated conventional transgressions like moral transgressions, and were much less…

Reviews a double publication of the Swiss Orienteering Foundation. The theoretical part analyzes the psychological and psychophysiological demands of orienteering. The second and more applied publication is a series of working sheets for psychological training. Each step in training includes an introduction, exercises, working schedules, and…

"New right" governments may support experiential learning because of its role in developing self-discipline and law-abiding citizens and consumers. Adult educators and trainers must understand and engage in debates about experiential learning and postmodernism to understand their own practices. (SK)

In a culture glorifying thinness and beauty, most females (especially adolescents) carry some risk of developing eating disorders. A recent survey of 280 South Carolina middle school students disclosed significant female/male differences. About 70% of the girls felt fat; many used various weight-loss techniques, including dieting, fasting,…

Explored the use of metaphor as a strategy for enhancing teachers' capacity to work with students as they express and learn to manage anger. Found that participants reported that the process was highly effective for themselves and their students. Metaphors enabled detachment, consideration of alternatives, a means of reflection, and a…

Examined relationship of regulatory control to preschoolers' peer interactions. Found that children high in effortful control were relatively unlikely to experience high levels of negative emotional arousal in response to peer interactions, but this relationship held only for moderate to high intense interactions. Socially competent responding was…

Examined associations among emotion display rule use, negative emotional reactivity, and fourth-graders' social competence. Found negative relation between self-reported negative emotional coping strategies and observed measures of display rule use. Found children who reported using more effective coping strategies for managing negative emotions…

Examined whether putative regulatory behaviors widely assumed to be conceptually associated with certain behavioral strategies were associated with the changes in fearful and angry distress in 6-, 12-, and 18-month-olds. The key finding was that the use of some putative regulatory behaviors (distraction and approach) reduced the observable…

Study examined relation of children's negative emotionality and regulation to current and subsequent sociometric status throughout the year. Measures of emotional intensity, regulation and aggression completed by teachers for 74 four- to six-year olds at two points during the year, indicated individual differences in regulation, and emotionality…

Outlines the foundation for a new national program, Fun First! Sports for Kids, designed to help grassroots sports leagues work with and get the most out of sport parents, noting that parents have a great impact on a child's sport experience. The article also provides recommendations for actions that sport league administrators can take to…

This article offers a way to salvage the ideal of the autonomous person from the predicament besetting it and to reclaim it as a worthy and respectable ideal. Carefully maneuvering around this ideal, jettisoning its obsolete qualities while reaffirming its sound ones, the authors offer outlines for a conception of personal autonomy suitable for…