Explores the relationship between college students' self-reports of adolescent substance use and scores on indices tapping different aspects of guilt. Results suggest that a stronger internalization of societal standards, as reflected by higher scores on Standards and Situational Guilt, may prove a useful tool in the prevention of substance use.…

College students (n=234) completed questionnaires on social and psychological predictors of alcohol consumption and satisfaction as step toward creating nonalcoholic social activities. Among multiple factors affecting drinking were wanting to release emotional tension, wanting to meet new people, belonging to a fraternity or sorority, low academic…

Eighty-four female nonstutterers examined videotapes of two mild and two severe male stutterers acknowledging and not acknowledging their stuttering. Nonstutterers preferred to interact with acknowledging stutterers and gave them more favorable ratings on intelligence, personality, and appearance. (Author/JDD)

Analysis of the sociometric ratings and status of 50 elementary school students with learning disabilities and 50 nonhandicapped elementary school students (in matched pairs) indicated that the pairs did not differ significantly in assigned status to their peers but did differ significantly in acceptance and rejection received from their shared…

Evaluated impact of methylphenidate on social behavior in 25 boys with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Compared children given placebo, low, and moderate dosages of methylphenidate and 15 boys without problems in attention and behavior during naturalistic summer research program. Medication decreased noncompliance and physical and…

The article describes the pilot testing of a direct observation procedure for observing social interactions of mentally retarded and non-retarded workers in supported work settings. The instrument was found to be capable of assessing such interactions and was readily utilized by practitioners. (DB)

Attempts to provide a plausible theory of music's evolutionary development. Speculates that music may have provided survival benefits by helping establish mother/infant bonds, by aiding in the acquisition of knowledge, by providing a unique way of knowing, and by playing important roles in social organization. (LS)

Summarizes research on disjunctive versus conjunctive, and multistage versus single-stage problem solving in a classroom setting. Concludes that students working in groups are less likely to drop out of class, give higher subjective motivation to learn ratings, perform better on tests, know more classmates, and score higher on Raven's Progressive…

Studies gender patterns in five- and six-year-old children's social interactions with one another and variables that may influence these patterns. Findings suggest that differences between boys and girls in the use of aggravated behavior in interaction style is strongly influenced by the nature of the activity being performed and by the gender of…

Examined angry conflict incidents in a sample of 108 children ages 7 to 11, focusing on relations of anger-related internal and behavioral reactions to children's social functioning. Found that individual differences in children's social functioning were related to boys' anger-related goals and children's anger-related strategies. (MDM)

Investigated the presence of sexual coercion, leading to sex play and intercourse as a feature of high school dating, carrying over to the college years. Responses from 217 female and 72 male college students illustrate that high school sexual coercion, including factors involving alcohol, drugs, and threats of force, cross over to the…

Examined the effect of resource availability on dyadic interaction of African American three- to five-year olds in a painting activity conducted under two resource conditions. Limited resources promoted more resource and task conflict, while plentiful resources promoted more nonconflictive social and task interactions. Results underscored the role…

Examined effects of directed art activities on behavior of two preschool children and one kindergarten child with disabilities. Results indicated that directed art activity had larger effect than control condition on social behavior of two children, whereas control condition generated little effect. Neither art activity had measurable effect on…

The social information-processing skills of 16 aggressive and 19 nonaggressive men with borderline-to-moderate mental retardation were examined. The two groups did not differ in their ability to generate multiple solutions or provide appropriate responses. K. Dodge's social information-processing model is considered. (Author/SW)

Used psychological tests to examine the effects of early childhood experiences on interaction patterns that have resulted from East and West German children growing up in different social contexts. Subjects were 140 East and West German adolescents. Found that West German adolescents showed more prosocial tendencies and had stronger emotion-based…