A scale of gender understanding and a measure of sex-role preference were administered to three- to nine-year-old children from four traditional communities in Belize, Kenya, Nepal, and American Samoa. Overall, findings reflected the strong contribution of cognitive development to the growth of gender understanding. (Author/AS)

Discusses the findings of educational research dealing with the developmental stages of children and the teaching of geography, student achievement in geography, and techniques and procedures that can be applied to the traditional geography curriculum. (RM)

A collaborative action research project studied how teachers in groups function at different developmental stages. Implications for staff development are described. (DF)

A social studies concept assessment instrument was developed and used to assess the concept development level of 24 kindergarten and 28 first grade subjects on n social concepts. Significant differences were found in scores for kindergarten and first grade; no significant differences were found in scores for race or sex. (Author/RM)

Compares the performance of 38 early childhood educators on real-life moral decisions with their hypothetical moral knowledge. The phenomenon of inconsistency between the two types of moral knowledge is explained. (Author/CI)

A cohort of former New York State adolescents were reinterviewed nine years after an initial survey. Drug use predictions, it was found, can be based on age effects and prior types of drug use; marijuana use, for example, is necessary for progression to other illicit drugs. (KH)

Discusses how teachers can help students make the transition from using manipulative materials to abstract mathematical symbols. Includes: (1) a definition of the transition state; (2) ways to bridge the gap (by asking questions and by using activities); and (3) a specific example (teaching place value). (JN)

Because of inaccurate assumptions and biases in developmental theories, the unique concerns of middle-aged women have not been sufficiently addressed. They must reconcile their masculine and feminine selves by reassessing their interpersonal relationships, their physical beings, and the meaning of work and achievement. Describes a four-phase…

Seventeen processes in the development of expressive behavior are reviewed and coordinated in a framework that is shown to accommodate current perspectives on expressive behavior development. Works of Ekman, Izard, Lewis and Michalson, and Sroufe are briefly reviewed. Neglected areas of research are indicated and the course of expressive behavior…

Cognitive activity of children from 1.5 to 5 years of age participating in problem solving and in spontaneous play was analyzed in terms of the successive coordination of existing patterns and the incorporation of new mental components. Analysis identified a series of developmental levels. (Author/RH)

Only at the third- and seventh-grade levels did proportional preferences for Fibonacci figures differ significantly from preferences for other kinds of proportional spatial divisions. Semantic patterns were similar among third and fifth graders, with a change occurring between fifth and seventh grades in keeping with the development of formal…

Determined that males (N=70) demonstrate higher level of intellectual development than females (N=70), that males mature intellectually earlier than females, and that there appear to be factors other than age and sex that are related to development of formal operational reasoning. Implications of these and other results are discussed. (JN)

Teachers and researchers of public speaking, rhetoric, small group, or interpersonal communication are all affected by research in communication competence. This essay discusses the consequences of applying a developmental-biological perspective to understanding the nature of communication competence. (PD)

Reviews empirical research on the development of ethnic attitudes and finds overlapping sequences: (1) progression from a focus on oneself to a focus on groups, and then on individuals; and (2) progression from affective to perceptual to cognitive forms of differentiation. Also discusses differences between majority and minority group children.…

Forty male and female students, ages 14 and 15, from Algeria and the United Kingdom, were interviewed on two of Kohlberg's moral dilemmas. Results support the prediction that cultural and religious values have an impact on Kohlberg's moral stages. (Author/RM)