To gain a basic understanding of some factors (i.e., community composition, family environment, and general retention of Mexican values) influencing the vocational aspirations of the Mexican American, several studies are reviewed. The literature reviewed disproves some of the common stereotypes as deterministic ethnic factors for the vocational…

Virtually all psychological theories assume that early life experiences have an impact on later life choices. However, increasing doubts have been expressed about the universality and permanence of the relationship between women's work and family lives. To explore how early family experiences and early adult decisions affect women's later career…

Self esteem in the learning disabled (LD) child is considered in terms of family, school, and peer influences. A review of the literature points out that the LD child seems to have a greater need than the normal child for parental support which helps to establish high self esteem. Performance, and not potential, appears to be the more important…

To determine whether preschool education benefits middle-class elementary school children, a study was conducted which compared the social, motor, and academic progress of kindergarten and elementary school children who had attended a Montessori preschool, another kind of preschool, or no preschool. The sample was chosen according to age,…

Half Pueblo and half white, a young man grew up in the Taos Pueblo, made contributions to his Indian people, and decided to work as a mental health professional. Having grown up learning the Indian ways, the young man accepted his heritage and pursued a college education in Social Work after working as a teacher's aide at the Pueblo Day School,…

A national survey examined the factors that are primarily responsible in determining an individual's overall quality of life. Using the critical incident technique, researchers surveyed a representative sample of 50- and 70-year-old adults in the United States in order to determine which of 15 factors they felt had negative and positive effects on…

School children can learn even more when the school and parents work as a team. Parents can become active members in the school community by attending parent conferences, volunteering, and voting in school elections. Other ways that parents can help the school are by being aware of what their children are learning in school and communicating with…

A common assumption is that boys are innately superior in analytical and quantitative skills and girls are superior in verbal skills. Research indicates, however, that these assumptions hold true only at certain times in the life cycle of each sex. There is evidence that cultural attitudes, rather than innate sex differences, account for…

This study examines the cultural deprivation theory of scholastic performance among black children. The hypothesis of the study focuses upon family based determinants to explain variation in academic performance. The report also discusses arguments which indicate that the cultural deprivation theory is responsible for the lack of black children's…

Fourteen brief articles focus on the young handicapped child and his family. Articles have the following titles and authors: "Elements of Early Care and Education" (W. Fowler); "Mothers and Fathers--The Special Child's Special Resources" (M. Lamb); "Child Development--Knowledge and the Special Educator" (A. Honig); "The Handicapped Child in the…

The use of touch in therapeutic relationships is seldom dealt with as a practice issue except in a proscriptive way. To gather descriptive information on the use of touch in therapy, professional therapists (N=50) whose practice was largely family therapy were interviewed about the successful use of touch in their helping relationships. Interview…

Research has provided only partial support for Anne Roe's theory of career development that states that childhood experiences lead eventually to patterns of adult vocational choice. To determine the validity of Roe's theory about career choice, childhood experiences, and family climates, male physics students (N=15), seminary teachers (N=15), and…

The main purpose of this essay is to articulate a conceptual framework for early mental development. The content of the essay is based on a review of psychoanalytic literature and includes an attempt to integrate preverbal developmental data with the constructs of psychoanalytic theory. The view is taken that object constancy and the capacity to…

Many correlates of vocational choice have been suggested by career development theorists. A career decision-making model developed by O'Neil, Meeker, and Borgers suggests six factors (individual, societal, familial, socioeconomic, situational, psychosocial-emotional) that affect both sex role socialization and career decision-making. The validity…

Several themes relevant to the personality development and intellectual functioning of children are presented in this position paper. Inferences for the education of Nigerian children are also drawn. Among general factors considered influential in children's intellectual development, three are emphasized: the way in which intelligence is defined,…