Television's impact on children and the positive role of parents in moderating that impact is discussed in terms of: (1) the view that television has a largely negative impact on children; (2) the importance of television literacy; (3) ways in which parents are molding television's impact to their purposes; (4) variation in television's impact…

This document reviews the literature on the following: (1) studies on the nature of the Hispanic family; (2) studies on the prevalence of Hispanic alcohol use and abuse; (3) general impact studies on the consequences for children of family alcoholism; and (4) studies of family factors that appear to protect or shield high risk children from the…

Type A behavior is an epidemiological construct whose major features are aggressiveness, hostility, a sense of time urgency, and competitiveness; these features are considered measures of coronary-prone behavior in men and women. To determine a possible relationship between sex role orientation, parenting behavior, and Type A behavior, college…

Race and socioeconomic class differences in children's reading performance are influenced by social and motivational factors. For example, children from poverty backgrounds are more likely to attribute success to conditions outside personal control, and thus do not experience as much pride in achievement as middle class students who have learned…

This discussion argues that two approaches are helpful in reconciling the dissonance and conflict between attitudes and behavior in families, that results from faulty expectations in childrearing processes. One such approach is to change attitudes so they conform to actual behavior. An alternative approach is to change behavioral patterns to make…

Discussion explores the role of guilt in depression, arguing that "how children come to view themselves as pervasively responsible for bad things that happen" is a key element in the social transmission of affect that involves guilt. "Guilt" basically is an adaptive emotion that involves thoughts of remorse or responsibility…

Two studies of concept development and categorization among 1-, 2-, and 3-year-old children suggest that concept formation is a socially guided process involving convergence on an adult model. Convergence in labeling is an early strategy for shaping children's category boundaries, while later, more elaborate linguistic means are used to…

This study investigated the relationship between day care and young children's language performance. Receptive, expressive and a combined language score plus an intelligence quotient (IQ) were derived for middle-class, Caucasian 3-year-olds from intact families who attended high quality day care since infancy and were compared to the scores of…

A pilot study (using the case study, or field research format) examined the acquisition of behaviors in infants who are read to and with on a consistent basis from their first day of life through the first year. Three parent/infant teams participated in a year-long course which consisted of reading "familiar" books to the infants,…

This longitudinal pilot study, which extends Veneziano's (1987) work on phonetically and semantically contingent maternal response types, compared, microanalytically and globally, maternal response types and mother-child dyadic interactions of normally developing and Down syndrome children. Participants were three normally developing infants, five…

Based on the premise that reading and writing, like other aspects of development, have histories that reach back into infancy, this book for teachers and parents introduces a comprehensive understanding of literacy development for infants through preschool age children. A practical approach, it emphasizes age-appropriate methods, books, and…

This report includes proceedings from the Family as Educators Conference which aimed (1) to clarify the roles parents have in supporting their children's achievement in literacy and motivation for school learning (i.e., attitudes affecting school work and attendance), and (2) to assess the viability of parents' educative roles in light of current…

Responding to the need for empirical data regarding the exercise of parental control under current finance practices in public education, this study examined the extent to which parents select their children's schooling by locating the family residence with schools in mind and the extent to which parents maintain frequent and self-initiated…

This review examines studies which deal with family interaction and home situational factors that lead up to and mediate the intrepretation and use of what is viewed on television. It surveys empirical studies in two domains: the effects of parents and siblings on program selection and amount of viewing time; and mediation of what is learned and…

This paper presents a literature review and the author's views on the male role in parenting, including the choice not to parent. The traditional view of male parenting is reviewed, with an emphasis on the effects of the traditional paternal role on the development of children. The materials shift in focus to a broader consideration of the…