Focuses on two aspects of dialog in preschool units: (1) suggests that language development is enhanced by learning through imitation, direct teaching, and opportunities to practice and experiment; and (2) suggests that staff can learn from child-child dialog and improve communication with and between children. (JOW)

The instrumented team approach at St. John's High School, South Carolina, succeeds in getting general students to meet serious intellectual challenges because group learning counters the problems of poor reading ability, fear of failure, absenteeism, limited time, and underestimation of the importance of school. (MJL)

Correlates of alcohol use were compared in France, with high prevalence of use; Israel, low prevalence; and the United States, in the middle. In all three countries, significant others--parents and peers--were more powerful predictors than personal attributes. The importance of parents in Israel and peers in the United States was shown. (Author/CM)

Describes the Maine Occupational Information Coordinating Committee's efforts in establishing its career information delivery system, a component of which is the involvement of peer facilitators in the career guidance process. (SK)

Evaluated influence of film preparation on children undergoing dental sessions with respect to peer modeling v demonstration of procedures and amount of information. Children exposed to peer-model videotaped presentations immediately preceding their restorative treatment exhibited fewer disruptive behaviors and less apprehension than those…

Examines factors contributing to a person's desire to talk to a friend about personal problems. Results suggest that students value genuine, accepting, confrontive friends whom they can trust. In contrast, the expectancies that counselors are directive, expert, tolerant, and trustworthy are higher than those for the friend. (Author)

Counselors with low dogmatism scores are more effective than counselors with higher dogmatism scores. Over the course of training, the group of trainees classified as highly dogmatic both decreased in level of dogmatism and increased in level of counseling effectiveness as measured by improvement in level of performance. (Author)

It is suggested that the most desirable approach to combatting the smoking problem is to prevent youngsters from beginning to smoke, rather than prescribing treatment for them after they have become steady smokers. A program, which uses peer models, is described in this paper. (Author/KC)

A role theoretical model for understanding changes in health and illness behaviors among college students is described. Behavior changes are related to the expectations of others in the college setting. (JMF)

Investigated the effects of peer reinforcement and various clinician reinforcement schedules on the imitation accuracy of language-delayed children in small treatment groups. (SJL)

This longitudinal study examined the relationship of three domains (personality/attitudinal orientations, peer relationships, and family socialization factors) with initiation into adolescent marihuana use. (Author/DB)

Presents an outcome study of a 14-session preadolescent peer-group therapy program conducted in an elementary school. Results indicated that group members improved significantly in task-oriented classroom behaviors; however, the relationship between this improvement and improved social skills in unclear. (Author)

Caretaking of children by siblings, cousins, or other peers is widespread in most developing nations. The influence of peers as mediators of social change cannot be underestimated. (RH)

Two experiments are reported in which people who were merely exposed to others' responses tended not to conform to the average observed response but to exceed it, and to differentiate themselves from others toward the extreme that reflected the group ideal. (Author)