Third and sixth graders were induced to experience sympathy and distress with procedures to examine: possibility that facial and heart-rate markers and self-report indices could differentiate sympathetic and distress reactions; age and sex differences in markers of response modes; relations of empathy, parental attitudes toward expression of…

The relationship of achievement attributions of 34 learning-disabled children (in grades three through eight) to academic progress and developmental patterns of attributional styles was examined in longitudinal studies (continuing for two years). Developmental changes in achievement attributions parallel those of non-disabled peers (n=40), but…

Explored relations between measuring procedures and reasoning about amount on the part of 36 children of 3-8 years in 2 studies. Transformation on a relevant measurement procedure predicted difficulty of transformation for a domain. (RJC)

Studied 237 fifth-, eighth- and eleventh-graders to determine their knowledge of effective strategies for dealing with everyday problems. Strategy effectiveness was dependent on the context of the problem. Age and gender differences were found when students' strategy knowledge was compared with that of teachers. (RJC)

Teaching students decision-making skills is integral to many drug education programs. Conducted series of studies examining elementary and secondary school students' attitudes toward making decisions. Found different age groups perceived making decisions differently. Suggests practitioners need to take maturational levels into consideration when…

Examined whether speech rate is related to the amount recalled and if developmental increases in speech rate allow faster rehearsal with age, and hence, greater recall. Found that the group relationship was clear and replicable but that speech rates of individual children were not good predictors of those children's memory spans; age was found to…

This study compared 56 early and nonearly readers (matched individually on sex, age, and preschool and kindergarten attended) in terms of their language concepts and skills, as well as their reading achievement, in kindergarten through second grade. The early readers were found superior to nonearly readers on preschool measures of general language…

Seventy-seven children (ages 5-13) with mild to moderate mental retardation were presented with addition problems. The patterns of strategies used were found to be similar to those used by intellectually normal children, though counting-on and memory strategies were used by subjects with greater frequency. Strategies became more sophisticated with…

Two studies examined young children's ability to understand whether the actions of artifacts, insects, mammals, or humans were caused by mental or physical states. The studies suggest that children abstract specific features of action when construing its cause across disparate situations and actors. (MDM)

Types of assessment for young children with special needs can include the following approaches: norm referenced, criterion referenced or curriculum based, adaptive to handicap, process oriented, and ecologically based evaluation. An explanation of each approach is given with a description of possible advantages and disadvantages of each in the…

The curriculum revolution in nursing education is a direct result of outdated modes of teaching and learning that fail to prepare students for nursing in a diverse society. Little dialog is occurring on the topic of the inclusion of multiculturalism into the curriculum. (Author)

Structural equation modeling was used to test a conceptual model and alternative models of competence in 191 children. Found that competence had at least three distinct dimensions in childhood and five in adolescence. These dimensions reflect developmental tasks related to academic achievement, social competence, and conduct important to both age…

Examined differences in fourth-, sixth-, and eighth-grade students' willingness to portray themselves as diligent to their popular peers and to their teachers. Found that younger students desired to portray themselves as such to both peers and teachers, whereas eighth graders were more reluctant to convey to their popular peers than to teachers…

Presents a portrait of adult literacy in Illinois based on the results of the State Adult Literacy Survey conducted in 1992 as part of the National Adult Literacy Survey. Highlights include age differences; foreign-born individuals; effects of education and training; employment, economic status, and civic responsibility; and language use.…

Three experiments found that after enacting everyday actions using toys or toy substitutes (a block or stick), preschoolers were more likely than kindergartners or second graders to claim they had played with a toy when a substitute had been used. However, preschoolers rarely claimed they had played with a substitute when a real toy was involved.…