Application of the normalization ideal has often failed to incorporate behavioral and developmental models of social skill training with the mentally retarded. A recent study indicated that social skills develop slowly; a distinction must be made between socially skillful and socially appropriate behavior; and the environment must be properly…

Describes corrections officers' work environment and the need for guard training that includes instruction in handling the social-psychological problems of the job. (Author/ABB)

Contrasted Lewis M. Terman's letters to parents of boys (N=42) with childhood intelligence quotients (IQs) greater than 170 contrasted with those sent to parents of boys (N=42) with IQs between 135 and 159. Suggests that the social needs of many highly intelligent children can best be satisfied in peer groups consisting of children of similar…

A high school vocational education course for mentally retarded students implemented an intervention program designed to promote appropriate job-related social behavior by developing students' social and conversational skills. The "coffee break" program phases (reminders, content suggestions, reinforcement, and questioning) resulted in…

Social skills training involving role playing, teacher praise, cuing, and coaching was applied with an isolated, gifted 11-year-old enrolled in a regular sixth grade classroom. The intervention resulted in a significant increase in the student's participation in classroom discussions. (CB)

Black and White undergraduate students responded to audiotaped and written stimulus situations, assessing the aggressive, assertive, and nonassertive qualities of the role plays or descriptions: Blacks were found to view certain aspects of Black assertive responding as more aggressive than did Whites. The need for attention to Black-White…

Reports on peer interactions and aspects of three events (teacher behavior, material use, and peer presence) in four preschool classroom activity contexts. (HOD)

Predicted membership in peer-identified aggressive, withdrawn, or aggressive and withdrawn groups and in a nondeviant contrast group, based on quantitative observations of playground behavior. Confirmed the ability of peers to identify children who show specific patterns of atypical social interaction. (Author/ABB)

To counter schools' unwitting contribution to self-centeredness in American culture, this article advises teachers to study childrearing practices of certain primitive, nonviolent societies like the Mbuti, the Tassaday, and the !Kung. Alternative disciplinary techniques designed to shape students' personal strengths are suggested. Includes 18…

Examines young children's developing ability to talk about emotions, considers evidence concerning the ability to talk about emotions in the conduct of interpersonal interaction, and offers ideas about future directions for research, emphasizing the functionalist approach to the analysis of emotion-denoting terms. (HOD)

Assessed the relationship of conversational involvement and loneliness among college students. Found that lonely participants in this study had lower rates of talkativeness, interruptions, and attention than the nonlonely; they were also perceived as less involved and less interpersonally attractive. (PD)

Explores the differences between boys and girls (5- and 7-year-olds) in their use of two kinds of strategies with interpersonal conflict: (1) active persuasion and negotiation, and (2) mitigation without disrupting social harmony between the interactors. (HOD)

The article synthesizes results of studies dealing with cross age and peer tutoring in special education, noting both tutor and tutee benefits (academic and personal/social). Implications for instruction are noted. (CL)

Outlines the positive approach of providing services that will enhance competence and effectiveness, especially in schools as an alternative to the current overemphasis on remedial approaches. Gives consideration to the issue of who can do it and how it can be done. (Author/ABB)

Suggests conditions or "cues" that provoke the process of second- guessing, and describes an experimental study confirming that interactants do second-guess when confronted with those cues. (MS)