A sensitive understanding of gifted preschool children's social and emotional development can provide the foundation for fostering the development of social competence both informally, through classroom interactions, and formally, through structured group lessons. (Author/CL)

Teaching social skills to mainstreamed handicapped children can be accomplished by prompting, praising, using graduated guidance, and capitalizing on incidental teaching. (CL)

Results of a psychoeducational evaluation administered to 40 hearing-impaired children (5-18 years old) revealed that hearing loss of any degree appeared to affect psychoeducational development adversely, leading to the conclusion that even minimal hearing loss places children at risk for language and learning problems. (Author/CL)

Fifteen autistic children (four to six years old) were assessed for visual self-recognition ability, as well as for object permanence and gestural imitation. It was found that 13 of 15 autistic children showed evidence of self-recognition. Consistent relationships were suggested between self-cognition and object permanence but not between…

The article reviews work conducted on the assessment and training of social skills in learning disabled individuals, outlining cognitive social skills and overt social behaviors that should be included in interventions, and discussing assessment techniques (such as behavioral observation codes and sociometric techniques). (CL)

Staff of a private school were asked to identify characteristics apparently interfering with academic progress of 321 bright elementary children who were underachievers in reading. Results suggested the need to avoid treating reading problems in isolation. Examples of successful treatment approaches are cited. (CL)

Judgments of physically aggressive and learning disabled youth were compared with children with more appropriate behavior. No differences were found between aggressive and nonaggressive boys, suggesting that aggressive perceivers do not necessarily "project" their characteristics onto others. However, learning disabled boys, both aggressive and…

Research is reviewed on conversational competence in learning disabled (LD) children. LD children are viewed as eager to fulfill conversational responsibilities while compensating for linguistic inadequacies. Findings emphasize the importance of teaching conversational skills. (CL)

This was an ex post facto analysis of the life histories of 24 Olympic female champions to determine events and variables in the psychological and social driving forces behind outstanding achievement in sports. (RC)

To assess the effects of toy guns and toy airplanes on children's antisocial behavior, 4- and 5-year-olds (ten in Study I and 13 in Study II) were observed during 15-16 free play sessions. During experimental sessions children played either with (novel, aggressive) toy guns or with (novel, nonaggressive) toy airplanes in addition to their usual…

Thirty-five 6- to 10-year-old children with initial low rates of donating to help a peer either received a fine for each failure to donate or also were informed of the contingency between the fine and failure to donate. (JH)

Previous research has demonstrated that participation in extracurricular activities, such as sports and music, frequently predicts "healthy" academic and social outcomes among children. The present study examines the lives of elementary school children who participate in acting both as an extracurricular activity and as a profession, by…

Cardinal Roy, President of the Pontifical Commission for International Justice and Peace, maintains that economic objectives for social development fail to consider the problems of the new era and result in an improper distribution of the benefits of development. He hopes that Christians will express their brotherhood by remedying social…

There exist today two groups, each seeing the world through different eyes-one cool, detached, rational; the other passionate, involved, visceral. Thus the conflict has developed between those who wish to experience the environment and those who would control it. (Author/RK)