Describes a prosocial learning environment for small groups of four-year-olds at a university laboratory nursery school. Uses case study approach to support conclusion prosocial behavior is easily acquired by, if not natural to, children. Includes record of four actual behavior sequences classified as conflict, chaos, defiance, and isolation. (NB)

States that social studies education must teach caring as a socialization skill in order to equip students for a lifetime of good personal mental health, and to enable them to make a more meaningful contribution to the solution of national and world-wide problems. (GEA)

Reports two investigations of the self-efficacy beliefs of students with and without a physical disability. Used the Social Situations Questionnaire, Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale, and the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Social Skills to validate the instruments developed for this investigation, the College Interaction Self-Efficacy…

Recruited 109 college freshmen to evaluate test-retest reliability of videotaped scenario measure and questionnaire designed to assess interpersonal functions. Subjects responded to both measures at two assessment times. Found both measures to have adequate reliability. There were no sex differences, nor were subjects' responses related to measure…

Strategies typically used for teaching academic skills can also be used to teach disabled children to become more socially competent. They include modeling, strategic placement, correspondence training, rehearsal and practice, positive reinforcement/shaping, prompting and coaching, positive practice, and multimethod training packages. (VW)

The article describes the Parent and Toddler Training Project, a research-based early intervention program for visually impaired and blind multihandicapped infants, toddlers, and their families in the Western Pennsylvania area. Project purposes include increasing infant social responsiveness, developing parenting skills, reducing family…

Individuals who are capable of perceiving others in complex and divergent ways may be able to communicate more effectively. This proposition represents a link between several fields of inquiry that researchers rarely interrelate: higher level thinking skills, social cognition, social competency, and communications. (Author/MLW)

Examines the nonverbal communication competence of 18- to 48-month-old Down Syndrome children. Results indicate that Downs children display strengths and weaknesses in nonverbal communication skills. Further, results suggest a deficit in expressive language is associated with a deficit in nonverbal requesting skill that had developed earlier among…

Compares the effects of two educational programs--Developing Understanding Self and Others-Revised (DUSO-R) and Walker Social Skills Curriculum (ACCEPTS)--on the social skills and self-esteem of children 6-10 years old. Results indicate ACCEPTS program resulted in greater efficacy in social adjustment, although DUSO-R program faired better in…

Focuses on the professional role of the teacher in the classroom in relation to the students being taught and the subject matter being learned. Defines and gives examples of three dimensions of the professional act of teaching: conceptual knowledge, general knowledge, and interpersonal communication and social skills. (JHZ)

Surveyed national sample of elementary and secondary school psychologists regarding recent referrals. Found that most referrals were initiated by school staff and majority occurred initially through formal mechanisms. Poor academic performance was of primary concern in 52% of cases, social/emotional problems in 31%. More boys than girls were…

Talk time and eye contact are the most important variables used by peers to judge heterosocial skill in college women. Other variables peers use include attractiveness, skill, anxiety, conversational guidance, listening ability, smoothness of response, smiles, and gestures. These variables replicate across sexes. (BJV)

The study examined preference for social gaze, percentage occurrence of social gaze, nonverbal social avoidance, and nonverbal repetitive behaviors. Prepubertal males with the fragile X syndrome (N=12) demonstrated a higher overall percentage of avoidance for both parent and strangers than handicapped (autistic and Down Syndrome) and…

Replicates the findings of earlier examinations of relationship disengagement. Extends the range of variables pertinent to strategy selection by evaluating the role of network overlap, partner desirability, trust, and dyadic adjustment. Finds that both relational variables and tactics were associated with consequences of disengagement. (JD)

Interpersonal problem-solving skills of 17 mildly retarded students and two groups of nonretarded subjects (Ns=30) matched on mental age (MA) and chronological age were assessed using hypothetical problem solving situations. Results indicated similarities between mentally retarded subjects and MA matched controls in types and number of strategies…