The president of Association for Specialists in Group Work, a counselor trainer, and a consultant on group counseling, reported questions most often asked and framed responses mindful of beginning and practicing group counselors. Answers cover such topics as group size, selection, emotions, roles, leadership and other areas. (Author/CMG)

Role-taking ability and level of moral development were measured in three groups of boys and girls including 16 moderately retarded adolescents (mean chronological age 15; mean mental age 9), 16 nonretarded adolescents matched for chronological age, and 16 nonretarded children matched for mental age. (CM)

Two studies (one cross-sectional and one longitudinal) examined the relation between two developmental trends in play during the second year of life: the emergence of decentered acts, and the integration of separate acts into simple sequences. Subjects were infants aged 13, 19, and 24 months. (CM)

Investigated how empathy ratings using the Empathic Understanding in Interpersonal Processes Scale were affected by conditions under which ratings were made. Empathy ratings should be sensitive to the rater's knowledge of to whom and what the counselor is responding. This was not so. Validity of the scale was questioned. (Author/BEF)

Thirty four- and five-year-old children were tested in a spatial perspective task employing a production format. It was found that the subjects' performance was affected by the position of the observer relative to the subject, as well as by the type of view the subject was required to generate. (MP)

Urges writing teachers to encourage revision and peer reading of drafts of papers so that students will know the processes writers go through to meet the requirements of the strangers who read what they write. (DD)

Examines issues related to theory and instructional systems design: the utility of theory; differences between descriptive (scientific) and design (goal-oriented) theories; the value of multiple theoretical perspectives; the inadequacy of current instructional design theories; and new directions needed in instructional theory, emphasizing the…

Introduces the idea of usability as a guiding principle for the successful design of sustainable and scalable science curricula. Presents a framework for examining usability in school contexts. (Author/SOE)

This study investigated how 15 preadolescents and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) performed on false belief tasks that included social inferencing of psychological states as well a logical inferencing of physical states. Unlike the control groups, the ASD group performed better on the social inferencing tasks and use of a prompt…

Had children draw two blocks arranged in depth, and then moved either child or array and had children draw what was then a left-right arrangement; the transformation was then reversed for a final drawing. Found that when children moved to a new standpoint, there was a significant increase in vertical portrayal (as depth portrayal) between first…

Addresses the concept of "Standardized Tests as Quality Control." Discusses the types of assessment used in today's schools and the need for a new perspective concerning assessment. Outlines a different perspective for assessment, one based on reflective inquiry rather than measurement. Explains the characteristics that have helped…

Comparison of autistic with nonautistic mentally retarded youth on three role-taking tasks and three measures of social competence found the autistic group deficient on each of the social competence measures and one of the role-taking measures. (Author/DB)

Blind and visually impaired children, and children with normal sight, were asked whether an observer could see a toy from varying distances under conditions in which obstacles did or did not intervene between the toy and the observer. Blind children took longer than other children to master the task. (BC)

Investigates whether undergraduate students could benefit, in terms of increased recall, by instruction in professional actors' learning strategies. Rules out the effort involved in generating elaborations as the primary operative mechanism behind verbatim recall. Indicates that a specific form of perspective taking, termed "active experiencing,"…

Explores multiple understandings of empathy: as affective resonance, as cognitive understanding and perspective taking, as action and cognizance, and as imagination. Offers definitions of, and obstacles to, empathy. Focuses on systemic empathy, gender empathy, and ethnic empathy. Discusses perspective taking in marriage and describes techniques…