Used stick-figure cartoons depicting various peer social situations to investigate meanings given by children in 14 countries to native terms cognate to bullying. Found that 8-year- olds primarily discriminated nonaggressive and aggressive situations; 14-year-olds discriminated fighting versus physical bullying and verbal bullying versus social…

This study coded descriptions of disliked peers provided by U.S. and Indonesian 11- and 14-year-olds for references to physical, verbal, and three types of relational aggression. Found that physical aggression was mentioned more frequently by boys, adolescents, and Indonesians, with no significant differences in verbal aggression references. Girls…

Asserts that multi-age grouping in early childhood settings can and does work. Addresses four main hurdles to successful implementation: (1) laws and regulations that act as barriers; (2) health concerns; (3) overcoming educational values that conflict with those of the age-grouped classroom; and (4) staff misunderstanding of multi-age grouping…

Two studies examined the impact of temporal synchrony on infants' learning of and memory for sight-sound pairs. Findings indicated that 7-month-olds had no difficulty learning auditory-visual pairs regardless of temporal synchrony, remembering them 10 minutes later and 1 week later. Three-month-olds showed poorer learning in no-synchrony than in…

Examined links between parental knowledge and adolescent delinquent behavior for correlated rates of developmental change and reciprocal associations from age 14 to 18. Found that parent knowledge was negatively correlated with delinquent behaviors at age 14 and knowledge increases over time were negatively correlated with increases in…

This study compared the ability of 20 young adults (mean age 29) and 22 older adults (mean age 63) with mild/moderate mental retardation to respond to requests for clarification in conversation. Neither group was as responsive to the requests as would have been predicted from their general cognitive and linguistic functioning levels. Few…

Examines the development of young children's analysis of spatial patterns--specifically, hierarchical letter and geometric forms. Suggests that although children as young as four years of age demonstrated substantial analytic competence, their ability to integrate the parts of the spatial array to form a coherent whole was weaker and more easily…

A study of 461 families of adults with mental retardation found that factors that predicted being put on a waiting list for residential placement included Down syndrome diagnosis, higher unmet needs, smaller parental support networks, and better maternal health. Predictors of residential placement included being on a waiting list, poorer maternal…

Evaluation of a Dutch sexual abuse prevention program, "Right for Security," for elementary school children (ages 8 to 12) found differences in short-term and long-term effects. In the long run, children thought refusing to cooperate with the intruder more feasible and younger children showed less social anxiousness. However, the oldest…

Examined claim that associations between emotional responses to maternal separation and cognitive performance would change with cognitive development over the first year. Emphasized the measurement of separation and reunion distress. Found that emotional responses and cognitive performance may be linked by individual differences in self-regulation…

Using a nine-year study, examines the extent to which selected admissions criteria predicted the future performance of 34 family therapy doctoral students. Age and clinical background were positively related to clinical ratings and letters of recommendation and student autobiographies were positively related to publications. Entrance exams and…

In the continuation of an earlier study, 69 high school students who had completed an epistemological beliefs questionnaire in 1992 completed the questionnaire again as seniors in 1995. Beliefs in fixed ability to learn, simple knowledge, quick learning, and certain knowledge changed as they grew older. (SLD)

Examined racial differences in associations between academic achievement and parent behaviors such as grade expectations, consequences for unsatisfactory grades, and praise for satisfactory grades in second, fourth, and eighth graders. Found several relationships between parents' self-reports of selected behaviors and children's academic…

Studied story selection by preschoolers, ages 2 through 4. Presented children with three sets of books, each set consisting of three books depicting protagonists in romantic, violent, or scary stories; titles were read aloud to reinforce content. Found that with age, girls showed a growing preference for romantic stories, while boys showed a…

A study examined the long- and short-term spectral characteristics of speech simultaneously recorded at the ear and at a reference microphone position. Twenty adults and 26 children (ages 2-4) produced 9 short sentences. Children's vocal levels were low in amplitude at both the ear and at the microphone position. (Contains references.) (CR)