Spatial ability research has been approached from several psychological vantages since its beginnings in the late 1800s. This contribution attempts a summation of spatial ability research, beginning with a historical vignette and a major section on each psychological approach including the psychometric, developmental, differential and information…

Closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) are used by many elderly people who have age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The functional vision of 68 participants, which was measured immediately after they adopted CCTVs, suggested successful outcomes, but the psychosocial impact of the use of CCTVs did not peak until a month later. The findings help…

One of the primary psychosocial tasks of the period of emerging adulthood is to become an autonomous, self-governing, self-regulating individual. Increased use of e-mail and cell phones, however, means that students enrolling in college directly out of high school are often electronically tethered to their parents, yet little is known about the…

This article analyzes the experiences of students at a pluralistic Jewish high school learning the documentary hypothesis in biblical scholarship as an approach to reading the biblical text. The author examines selected student writings, locating her analysis of student experience in the context of her particular institution. She classifies…

Youth work in the United Kingdom is a profession requiring three years of training, and its beginnings are strongly rooted in a spiritual (often specifically Christian) context. Until the past few decades, spirituality was also integrated within the educational system. The author argues that intentionally bringing spirituality to the center of…

Speaking to the issue of spiritual development from her extensive experience as a youth work practitioner, the author notes several ideas she finds particularly compelling, among them that spiritual development interacts with, yet is distinct from, moral and religious development; that spiritual development is a core construct of identity…

Research on historical cognition has capitalized on developing the thought processes of expert historians in students. Biofunctional theory points to several limitations to this approach: (a) developing from novice to expert is probably not a direct process; (b) developing expertise requires more time than the historical thinking approach…

As Literacy Outreach Coordinator for Opportunity to Read (OTR), the Watsonville (CA) Public Library literacy program, this author has recognized the concept of responsibility through example. Adult learners incorporate concepts easily when these concepts are specifically demonstrated for them by someone similar to them. Sounds simple, but putting…

In our day-to-day striving, dissonance litters obstacles along the path of personal development and these obstacles cause pain and hinder growth. An environment that is relatively free from dissonance should foster personal development and enhance growth. The Dissonance Test-Revised (DISS-R), a test derived from second force psychology, was…

This article presents several letters in which a university mentor shares her reflexive notions of how she lives as a teacher researcher. In her letters, Julia encourages teachers to embrace what she calls "An Embodied Aesthetic Curriculum." When teachers are able to develop "embodied aesthetic wholeness", they are capable of deepening…

Mentoring programs for youth have become increasingly popular interventions and are generally effective in promoting proteges' wellbeing and functioning. Building on recent efforts to understand the interpersonal mechanisms underlying mentoring relationships, the authors apply central concepts from attachment, social support and social learning…

Following a discussion of activity theory as an approach to human development originally rooted in transformational change, we review the historical context and diverse conceptualizations of social conduct from the field of sociology. The discussion of social conduct is broken into theories of social action, theories of enactment, and contemporary…

In a recently published study, Sloutsky and Fisher [Sloutsky, V. M., & Fisher, A.V. (2004a). When development and learning decrease memory: Evidence against category-based induction in children. "Psychological Science", 15, 553-558; Sloutsky, V. M., & Fisher, A. V. (2004b). Induction and categorization in young children: A similarity-based model.…

A teacher's prophecy of his students' futures is described. (DB)

The author describes methods she used to hide the fact that, because of a learning disability, she could not read. Through trial and error, the author learned the conditions and ways in which she was able to study and thus was able to largely overcome her disability. (PHR)