Describes the speech communication curriculum of Methodist Ladies' College at Kew, where speech education and drama are treated within a comprehensive notion of communication skills. (RL)

The predictive relation between neonatal behavior and temperament at 24 months was examined for 67 infants selected from the full socioeconomic status (SES) distribution. Initial ratings were made when the infants were one to four days old. Irritable neonates were rated as more upset, less attentive to stimuli, and less responsive to the staff at…

This study used data from the Berkeley Guidance Study (1954) to identify children with a pattern of temper tantrums in late childhood (ages 8-10) and to trace the continuities and consequences of this behavioral style across the subsequent 30 years of their lives. Life course continuities in behavioral style were found for both sexes. (Author/BN)

Compared social skills and cognitive-relaxation interventions for general-anger reduction with a no-treatment control in a pretreatment, postreatment, and five-week follow-up design. By follow-up, treatment groups reported significantly less anger, lowered tendencies to suppress or exhibit anger, and lowered state anger, and greater constructive…

Studied discipline, social competence, sophistication, and religiosity in relation to eating, drinking, and smoking behaviors in young women. Supported discipline's general relevance to a broad range of behaviors. Social competence, sophistication, and religiosity moderated discipline's form of expression. The personality variables had stronger…

Evaluation of a peer-mediated intervention which promoted communicative interaction by handicapped preschoolers through the teaching of facilitative strategies to three handicapped and three nonhandicapped students revealed increases in response rates of handicapped subjects during free play and maintenance (without initial prompting) of peer…

Describes and critiques criteria used to evaluate socially competent behavior of women. Discusses the relationship between the definition of competence used and the assessment methods relied on. Notes the advantages of focusing on specific goals and provides a checklist that consumers can use to review the content of training programs. (Author/ABB)

Discuss seven basic intellectual competencies possessed by all human beings: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Because I.Q. tests can measure only the first two qualities, this interview suggests evaluating schools by quality of educational experiences and students by project…

Interactional behavior of two groups (N=3 females per group) of elderly mentally retarded group home residents was measured in two generalization situations before, during, and after one group received social skills training. Among conclusions were that generalization to natural interactional situations may be delayed following training.…

Compares two divorce prone men with two marriage phobic men. Marriage phobic men were fearful of getting married and used avoidance as a means of coping. Divorce prone were self-centered, hard driving, and reckless using acting out to manage conflict. Both groups were wary of the opposite sex and needed to be in control of relationships.…

Compared alternative methods for examining relationship between two constructs and estimated true relationship between social skill and depression. Data from 68 subjects suggest that multitrait-multimethod data sets, analyzed via confirmatory factor-analytic techniques, can greatly enhance theory testing and development. (Author/NB)

Examined effects of short-term, family-oriented supportive therapy program for older veterans with anxiety, depression, or impaired coping mechanisms. Improvement in coping and social skills was noted for program participants, but morale scores improved only for those with normal initial scores, suggesting program is useful only as adjunctive…

Perceived unresponsiveness may be more critical to parent-child interaction than a severe disability itself. Controlling adult behaviors may reflect high levels of caregiver motivation and extinction burst effects. Reductions in the amount of caregiver-child interactions may be the outcome of previously unrewarded interaction attempts and…

Comparison of teacher perceptions of either behaviorally disordered or socially normal students (total N=410 and ages between 8 and 15) indicated teachers perceived more prosocial behavior by normal, female, and older subjects. Teachers perceived an increase in negative social behavior for normal secondary-age students but not for behaviorally…

To help public schools produce well-educated citizens, the Center for Civic Education (originating at UCLA in 1965) works with elementary and secondary school students and teachers to promote better understanding of such basic democratic principles as due process, federalism, and judicial review. The process transforms student interactions while…