Notes the similarities in dealing with puppies and toddlers in terms of teaching correct behavior; age, temperament, and personality; and reasons behind misbehavior. Explores developing a plan for teaching social behavior, establishing a teaching style, and setting standards. Notes that parents and teachers need to look at their personal teaching…

The links between endocrine physiological processes and adolescent psychological processes are the focus of this article. Presents a brief history of biopsychosocial research in adolescent development. Discusses four models for conceptualizing hormone-behavior research as illustrative of biopsychosocial models. Concludes with challenges and…

Two studies examined whether effects of attention to rewards during a delay of gratification task in waiting situations affects preschoolers' ability to delay gratification in working situations. Findings show that when work provides distraction, attention on rewards reduces delay time whether working or waiting; when work is not engaging,…

Uses findings from Seattle Longitudinal Study of adult cognitive development to assist discussion of event history analysis. Illustrates its application to data involving changes of states in individual behavior related to human aging. Describes hazard functions which permit assessment of future decline risk and prediction as to when individual…

Results from an experimental study involving 120 third, seventh, and eleventh grade parochial school girls showed that for third-grade females, short-term failure experiences are relatively transitory; however for females around the age of adolescence, helplessness and egotism appear to undertake a significant role in influencing behavior. (IAH)

Visual behavior of infants was assessed with multiple discrimination tasks week to week from four to seven months of age. Task to task reliability was low, but attentional averages from week to week were reliable. Generally, infants with shorter fixations showed more novelty preferences, and infants' shift rate improved with age. (SKC)

Cluster analysis of data from 166 children with autistic spectrum disorders revealed 4 subtypes with differences in behavioral and cognitive areas. The four subtypes include a typically autistic group, a low-functioning group, a high-functioning group (Asperger syndrome/schizoid), and a hard-to-diagnose group with mild/moderate retardation and a…

Two children (ages 10 and 12) with severe mental retardation were trained to make the same response when presented with 2 initially unrelated stimuli and then trained to make a new response when presented with 1 of those stimuli. Children were then assessed on their response to the second stimulus. Results of the tests for the emergent…

Educational and political issues involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a social/behavioral component are discussed, and a model for instructional design using a systems approach is outlined. The system model is applied specifically to the pharmacy school structure, resources, and curriculum. (MSE)

Evaluates the epigenetic landscape metaphor in light of behavioral development. Cites two common errors in integrated models of behavior and biology: (1) fixing behavior as structure, thereby robbing it of dynamics and plasticity; and (2) assuming that a single optimal trajectory applies to development of organisms or systems. (BC)

The Neurobehavioral Assessment of the Preterm Infant instrument was developed by means of pilot, exploratory, and validation studies. The validation study tested the generalizability of results for different cohorts, test versions, hospitals, and examiners. Seven stable functions were identified: motor development; scarf sign; popliteal angle;…

Examines the predictive relations among dimensions of symbolic play (object and ideational transformations), linguistic verbs, and measures of early literacy. Indicates that use of linguistic verbs predicts Concepts of Print scores and that symbolic play and linguistic verbs predict emergent writing and reading, respectively. (SR)

Reviews studies involving noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) for the treatment of challenging behavior such as aggression, self-injury, and extreme tantrums in persons with developmental disabilities. A clinical guide for implementation is delineated. Among the advantages of NCR is ease of implementation. NCR appears particularly relevant for…

Study surveys secondary school students (N=4,773) about five items concerning the circumstances of smoking initiation: age at first cigarette; source of supply; location of first smoke; persons present; and perceived degree of coercion. Although there was a highly significant gender difference on the item concerning age at first cigarette, with…

Compared arousal during peekaboo game of low birthweight infants with higher or lower perinatal risk to that of healthy full-term infants. Found that low birthweight babies showed less positive arousal, more negative arousal, and three mixtures of behavioral cues than full-term babies, who showed strong positive and negative responses. Perinatal…