This study analyzed the relative efficacy of normative (population relative) and ipsative (person relative) measures for the study of intraindividual and interindividual differences in child ability. Ipsative ability measures were found to be uniformly inferior to their normative counterparts and conveyed no uniquely useful information. (Author/DB)

College honors programs provide an especially promising context in which to promote reflective judgment by challenging and expanding students' intellectual horizons. However, faculty must carefully assess the different levels of cognitive development among their students, cultivate the skills of reflective judgment accordingly, and understand that…

This article addresses six myths often used to oppose ability grouping of gifted students. These concern distinctions between tracking and ability grouping; ability grouping and elitism; discrimination against racial and minority groups; gifted students' supposed lack of special needs; the effectiveness of cooperative learning for all students;…

Assigned drawings of 217 children (ages 4, 6, 8, and 10) were evaluated for both developmental and ability-related differences. Age-related trends were found in the ability to render perspective with talented children making flexible and elaborate use of perspectival abilities. Artistic abilities other than perspective appeared to be less…

The phonemic inventories of 30 children (aged 3;4-5;7) with phonological delays were examined in terms of featural distinctions to address universal vs. individual accounts of acquisition. Phonetic inventories of the same children were also identified for comparison purposes. (Contains 40 references.) (JL)

Research on college student essay writing looked at the qualitatively different ways that students conceive of essays, and therefore approach the writing process, and the qualitatively different types of essays that result. The findings are compared, and implications for the teaching of undergraduate essay writing are examined. (MSE)

Examines developmental stages of reading from preschool to secondary school. Discusses cognitive requirements of various stages of reading and identifies possible sources of difficulty. Presents several case vignettes to illustrate common patterns of reading disabilities and their behavioral manifestations. Offers specific suggestions for…

Examined the relationship between home literacy environment and child language ability for 323 4-year olds attending Head Start and their mothers or primary caregivers. Statistical analysis indicated that from 12-18.5% of the variance in child language scores was accounted for by the home literacy environment. (MDM)

Compared the attachment classification distributions of 23 infants in Israeli kibbutzim with communal sleeping arrangements with those of 25 infants in kibbutzim with home-based sleeping arrangements. Among the home-based infants, 80% were securely attached to their mothers versus only 48% of the infants in communal sleeping arrangements. (MDM)

Examined the development of self-evaluative biases by having children at 3 age levels (5-6, 7-8, and 9-10 years) evaluate themselves or another child when given social or temporal comparison feedback. Found that there was greater bias for general ability evaluations by older children and greater bias for specific performance evaluations by younger…

Investigated associations between ego development and emotion communication in 73 adolescents, 33 of whom were residents of an inpatient psychiatric hospital. Found that enthusiasm, affection, anxiety, and neutrality were directly associated with higher stages of ego development, whereas sadness and anger were inversely correlated with ego…

Deviations in children's mental test performance were studied for children of 169 disadvantaged mothers at 24, 48, and 96 months to determine whether aspects of the child rearing environment predicted the deviations from expected values. Relationships between aspects of the environment, child intelligence, and child characteristics are discussed.…

This article responds to Dolby (1993) who urged parents of young prelingually, profoundly deaf children to contact those (such as prelingually deaf adults) knowledgeable about long-term effects of educational decisions. Although agreeing with this point, the article notes a destructively patronizing attitude of the education system toward parents…

In their reply to the present author's critique (1991), J. H. Kranzler and A. R. Jensen have still not demonstrated that a factor of general intelligence, "g," depends on, or contains, several independent factors. They have only demonstrated that an estimate of "g" is predictable from several independent components. (SLD)

Examined facial expressions in relation to cognition in infants 2 to 8 months of age. A total of 48 subjects received an audiovisual stimulus contingent on arm movement, whereas 32 infants did not control the stimulus. Infants in the contingent group expressed greater interest and joy during learning and greater anger during extinction. (RH)