In a study of 630 elderly Hispanic women it was found that four cultural factors associated with assimilation were not strong predictors of preventive health behavior. These findings agree with those of other studies. Stronger predictors for Hispanics are sociodemographic factors and access and availability of health services. (VM)

Tested the application of a revised version on Hirschi's (1969) social bond model on the drug use patterns of 2,626 high school students. The revised model, which accounted for more of the use variance than the original model, reveals that the best direct predictors are belief and attachment. (BJV)

The school survival skills of 36 learning disabled (LD) high school students were compared with those of nonhandicapped and emotionally disturbed students. Although LD students tended to be ill prepared, inattentive, and not to volunteer comments or questions, their performance was not significantly different from that of the normal control group.…

Approaches a writing assignment in an all-girls classroom by differentiating between what men think is funny ("guyfun") and what women think is funny ("galfun"). (NKA)

During a major population study of adolescent functioning, pupils from four comprehensive schools were used to compare validity of several screening measures in this age group. Showed that screening instruments tended to be behavior specific and that antisocial and neurotic behavior were relatively sex specific. (Author)

Offers an organizational perspective designed to illuminate processes of symbolic development in both normal and abnormal populations. Focuses on the symbolic system of Down Syndrome children. Data support the claim that the symbolic system of these children is intact. (RWB)

Demonstrates that young autistic children suffer from deficits in social understanding and symbolic representations of other individuals. Data suggest that the core deficit appears to lie at the intersection of representational abilities and social experiences. (RWB)

Points out that the world of television activates, cultivates, and alters the gender schemata that children bring to the viewing situation. Finds that viewing can also promote creation of new schemata or modification of existing ones. (Author/RWB)

Addressing methodological limitations, Study One compared parent-child interactions of normal and language-delayed children; Study Two investigated whether mothers adjust the length of their utterances to the child's ability to comprehend or to produce language; Study Three probed interactional variables associated with variations in the…

This article examines a current, explicit, central theory accounting for the observed flexibility in motor performance: the generalized motor program with a multiplicative rate parameter. Reanalysis of data reported in the literature and a study of skilled typewriting show that a generalized motor program generally does not fit observed…

A study was conducted to determine the significance of specific occupational stressors on the behavior of selected leaders in industrial arts/technology teacher education and how well they coped with the stress. Task overload was rated highest by both non-administrator and administrator groups. (CT)

A study of 19 trainable retarded students (6-18 years old) showed (1) level of appropriate responding increased with transfer to the community; (2) level of inappropriate behavior remained the same after transter; and (3) levels of appropriate and inappropriate responding of the transferred group were similar to those of a community group.…

Examines the roles of age of rater and age of children rated in grade-related shifts in children's perceptions of aggression and withdrawal. Shows that differences across grade level reported in children's peer rating largely reflect differences in the child raters' view of behavior. (HOD)

Reviews results of research related to the control system model of how parents and children regulate each other's behavior. Confirmed early formulations that postulated individual differences in children's assertiveness, activity, and person orientation as explanations for differences in parents' child-rearing techniques. (HOD)

Independent ratings of videotaped sessions in which mothers (N=60) interacted with their mentally retarded children (ages 1-3) suggested that potentially important components of maternal behavior (child orientedness/pleasure and control) may be assessed with the seven-item short form of the Maternal Behavior Rating Scale. (JW)