Compared predictive value of kindergarten phonological awareness tasks and letter knowledge on 134 German first and second graders' literacy performance. Found that phonological awareness tasks varied in prediction of later literacy but were better predictors than letter knowledge. Kindergarten letter knowledge also reliably predicted later…

Presents findings from an exploratory, empirical investigation of perceptions of Internet catalog shopping compared to more traditional print catalog shopping. Two factors that might influence perceptions, personality, and important other people are examined, and directions for further research are suggested. (Author/LRW)

Birth data for 1,031 Dutch patients with autism were compared to those of the national population. Separate analyses were performed on diagnostic subgroups (i.e., infantile autism vs. other psychoses with origin specific to childhood), gender, and intelligence. No evidence was found that autism is characterized by a deviant birth pattern.…

Adolescents (N=506) in a northeastern metropolitan area were surveyed to test hypotheses that family factors, particularly parental support and monitoring, influence individual trajectories in development of alcohol misuse. Results showed that parenting significantly predicts adolescents' initial drinking levels as well as rates of increase in…

A study compared employment factors that influenced 29 organizations currently employing an individual with Asperger syndrome with 40 organizations that are not. Factors relating to support and information regarding the disorder were more important to employing organizations, while non-employing organizations focused on the ability of the…

Examined memory of 3- to 18-year-olds with leukemia regarding lumbar punctures (LP). Found that children displayed considerable accuracy for event details, with accuracy increasing with age. Use of Versed (anxiolytic medication described as a "memory blocker") was not related to recall. Higher distress predicted greater exaggerations in…

Graduate students who are human resource development practitioners (n=48) rated their organizations in terms of training/education, reward/recognition, vision/strategy, information flow, and individual/team development. Those who felt their organizations rewarded risk, recognized their work, and supported and encouraged training were more likely…

Investigates factors that facilitate four-year college enrollment for subpopulations of high school students. Students that find themselves at risk and those with parents who have no college experience receive primary consideration. (Author/EV)

Examined whether 6-month-olds expect people to behave differently toward persons and inanimate objects. Found that infants habituated to an actor talking to something hidden behind an occluder looked longer at an object, whereas infants habituated to an actor reaching and swiping looked longer at a person. No difference in looking at stimuli was…

A review of studies examining dropping out of high school prior to graduation demonstrates that grade retention is one of the most powerful predictors of dropout status. Addresses the discrepancies regarding the effectiveness of grade retention and deleterious long-term correlates. Presents the transactional model of development, which emphasizes…

The authors discuss risk factors for late life alcohol abuse and characteristics that differentiate early- and late-onset abusers. Problems in identification, diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of older abusers are reviewed. A case example illustrates the dynamics of effective treatment with this population. (Contains 55 references.) (Author)

Examined faculty's perceptions toward the potential benefits of and barriers to mobile computing in higher education based on a survey of faculty at a university that is planning to adopt campus-wide mobile computing. Also examined the role of three moderating variables associated with faculty's current use of technology. (Author/LRW)

Examines the relation between social and academic competence of school-age children (N=163) to determine the direction of influence between these two domains across time. Results supported a reciprocal model, indicating that academic achievement directly influenced social competence, and social competence was reciprocally related to academic…

This article discusses otitis media in children. It addresses risk factors for otitis media, pathogenesis, diagnosis, bacteria causing otitis media, and treatment for acute otitis media, recurrent acute otitis media, and persistent otitis media with effusion, including antibiotics, steroids, allergy control, autoinflation, mechanical ventilation,…

Students at a Venezuela high school were tested to determine creativity, cognitive variables, and academic performance. Multiple regression analyses showed that the mobility-fixity dimension was the most consistent predictor of academic performance with creativity scores also explaining variance between subject areas. Results suggest the…