The investigation systematically assessed whether four autistic children (5 to 7 years old) would improve their learning of discrimination tasks if they observed normal children perform the task correctly. In each case, the peer modeling procedure produced rapid achievement of the acquisition criterion which was maintained after the peer models…

Two experiments studied five- to eight-year-old children's capacity to resist temptation as a function of observing a deviant model. (CM)

Discusses how animals learn from companions, especially among Norway rats. Rats begin early eating foods that other rats eat. Adults also choose to eat a food largely because companions are eating it even if they had learned to avoid the food at an earlier time. Other animals also learn from watching companions' eating techniques, reactions to…

Suggests several factors to account for the onset of infant-adult joint attention initiated by the infant, and identifies several consequences of infants' understanding of others as intentional subjects, such as verbal development and infants' role in their own enculturation. Contends that infants learn referential gestures not only by imitation…

Two studies investigated whether 10- and 12-month-olds can use televised emotional reactions to guide their behavior. Findings indicated that 12-month-olds avoided the target object and showed increases in negative affect after observing an actress orient toward a novel object with negative affect, but their responses to positive versus neutral…

Describes a freshman writing course in which students practiced various forms of writing. Explains that students began by reading both a personal essay (Annie Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek") and poems (such as works by William Wordsworth). Notes that students later prepared scientific research papers. Suggests that nature writing…

Tested the motivational structure of conformity and independent behavior in children aged three to seven years. Results indicated that independent behavior in the classroom can be enhanced if children's traditional submissive position in interaction with adults is replaced by a position of equal partners. (BAC)

Describes a formalized library media specialist mentoring program in the Iowa City Community School District. Discussion includes characteristics for successful mentoring; the role of mentors; benefits for mentors, proteges, and library media programs; and the evolution of the mentoring relationship. (AEF)

Offers ways to teach students to understand and appreciate stories not just for their plots but for their stylistic features. Suggests that teachers demonstrate alternatives by rewriting passages in ways different from those chosen by the author, and asking students to describe the differences. Includes classroom examples. (PRA)

"Agriculture of Developing Countries," a course offered to nonagricultural majors at Illinois State University, uses a demonstration plot at a university farm to show students 60 species or subspecies of crops from around the world. Plant culture and harvesting techniques can be observed by university as well as high school students. (SK)

Presents empirical evidence for imitative problem solving and the interpretation theory, based on a study of Scottish secondary school students. Discusses analogical problem solving; the interpretation theory notation; and predicted sources of difficulty in mapping and adapting the practice problem to solve a variant. (Contains 42 references.)…

The possible selves construct is presented as a useful and largely untapped perspective on adult learning. Special attention is given to the role of educational helping relationships in fostering positive possible selves among adult learners.

This study reports findings from a content analysis of the activities and tasks of a school-based problem-solving team. Analyses of observational data collected over the course of five months found that team tasks and activities fell into the following five clusters: (1) needs identification, program development, and planning; (2) intrateam…

Students learned teaching principles either with or without (control group) the presentation of a classroom exemplar in video or text format. Across 2 experiments, the video group produced higher transfer scores and affective ratings than the other groups. Four weeks later, the video group recalled more information about the exemplar than the text…

Adults (either mothers or strangers) presented unfamiliar foods to 1- to 4-year-olds individually in their homes. Childrens' acceptance of the food was examined when the adults were eating and when they were simply offering the food. It was concluded that social facilitation could account for the data obtained. (Author/GO)