This study of 60 mothers of young children with physical disabilities in Israel failed to support hypothesis that mothers with "internally" focused locus of control would demonstrate greater utilization of their support system. Analysis indicated that mother's age, child's level of functioning, and existence of additional members of…

This descriptive study of 325 Ohio special education teachers examined factors influencing their attitudes about parents as educational collaborators. The study found that teachers view parents as more capable and are more open to parent input if they interact more frequently. Also, student age influenced openness, independent of interaction…

Parents (n=52) of blind and partially sighted infants and preschoolers were surveyed concerning the frequency of occurrence and stability of the children's stereotyped behaviors. Stereotyped behaviors frequently observed in blind children proved to be stable, whereas other stereotyped behaviors were less stable. Age of child and frequency of…

Nonword spellings were obtained from children in kindergarten through third grade in a study of the development of young children's phonological and orthographic knowledge. Results indicated that young children's nonword spellings reflected the joint influences of linguistic knowledge and psychological processes. (GLR)

Gender and decade-of-life effects on quality-of-life (QOL) experiences of the chronically mentally ill (CMI) are examined using data (n=469) from previous QOL research. Gender and decade-of-life affect objective QOL experiences more than life satisfaction. Data show a difference in midlife psychological adjustment between CMI males and females.…

Six experiments involving 192 infants and 1 experiment with 16 college students examined sensitivity to acoustic correlates of phrasal units in English. A basic finding is that nine-month-old infants are sensitive to acoustic markers that correspond to major phrasal units, a sensitivity that develops after six months. (SLD)

Students (n=107) in grades 4-6 were administered tests of evaluative ability and divergent thinking. Results indicated that evaluative abilities can be reliably assessed and that there was a significant relationship between divergent thinking and evaluative skill. The evaluative measures were negatively correlated with intelligence test scores.…

Describes a study that assessed social styles (i.e., preferred work environment and preferred use of time) and sustained library use (i.e., amount of work completed in the library) to learn more about the interaction between the library and the user. A significant relationship between social style and library use is reported. (seven references)…

Examined the effect of several variables on children's academic readiness at the end of kindergarten. Results indicated that age of entry into school and number of years in preschool predicted academic readiness. Children who entered preschool by age four scored higher on readiness measures than those who entered at age five. (BC)

Infants' orienting of attention undergoes marked development in the first six months of life. Changes in attentional control appear to be related to infants' susceptibility to distress. (Author)

A study found that differences in children's ability to regulate their emotional responses, and in their social and cognitive development, are implicated in developmental differences in children's strategies for influencing others' mood states. (BB)

Discusses five issues related to the Georgia Centenarian Study: recruitment of centenarians, birth cohort effects, the changing age structure of the population, religion, and cognition and survival. Concludes that Georgia Centenarian Study provides critically needed baseline data so characteristics of centenarians of the twenty-first century can…

Acoustic and video data tracing the development of intrasyllabic coarticulation suggest that young children (n=30; ages three, five, and eight) and adults (n=10) produce similar patterns of anticipatory coarticulation, and perceptual data indicate that coarticulatory cues in the speech of three year olds are less perceptible than those of the…

The Six-Factor Self-Concept Scale was developed as a multidimensional measure of adult self-concept to be applicable across life settings and activities. Confirmatory factor analysis reveals a reasonably good fit for data from a sample of 365 noncollege adults. High factor congruence is found between gender and age groups. (SLD)

This paper reviews the research on speech perception and reassesses the contribution of innate capacities versus external stimulation in conjunction with age in first- and second-language acquisition. A developmental model of speech perception is then discussed in relation to neonatal auditory perception. (Contains 86 references.) (MDM)