Describes development and use of creative drama with 30 children over a six month period. Over time, the dramas evolved through four stages: chaos, control and chaos; control; and flexibility. Certain developmental and psychological themes also emerged: narcissism, exhibitionism, activity, orality, dominance, morality, social themes, comedy and…

A competency-based training model is presented which specifies competencies, achievement methods, and evaluation procedures for a clerkship in mental retardation. Focus is on developing practical skills and a positive orientation toward developmental problems. Evaluative measures for 12 students showed positive knowledge and attitude changes.…

Children in grades 1-3 were asked to retell and explain a series of riddles. Ability to recall riddles was not predictive of ability to explain them. Three cognitive factors seemed to determine level of riddle competence. Implications concern the relationship of riddle competence to reading ability and metalinguistic facility. (CHK)

An experiment on children aged 2 to 7 led to a critical evaluation of Piaget's implicit contention that young children use determiners anaphorically. It is suggested that the importance of young children's processing procedures on the linguistic environment has been underestimated in Piaget's interactive epistemology. (CHK)

States that most of the current research in the area of television advertising for children excludes black subjects; reviews major studies of television and children and black versus white child development. (MB)

Introduces the concept of "developmental niche" as a framework for examining the cultural structuring of child development. Focuses on (1) anthropological perspectives on human development, (2) psychology and the environment, (3) subsystems and other aspects of the developmental niche, and (4) changes which occur in niches as individuals…

Investigates the belief that caregivers' sensitive and contingent behavior is closely related to children's perceived control by analyzing the interactions between mothers and their 3 1/2- to 4 1/2-year-old children during a problem-solving task. (HOD)

Provides a short synopsis of nine research projects developed by school staff members throughout the country. They were selected by the Advisory Committee on Higher Education Relationships to compete for the Outstanding Research Presentation Award. (MD)

Investigation of the perception and production of English voiceless fricatives in normally developing monolingual 3- to 5-year-olds (N=12) partially supported the hypothesis that certain sound substitutions by older children are perceptually based substitutions, typified by poor discrimination, while others are phonetic substitutions--phonemic…

A conference on bonding and attachment attended by professionals and foster and adoptive parents was followed by a questionnaire survey of participants which was designed to measure effectiveness. A follow-up survey was conducted six months later. Professionals and parents benefited from combined training sessions. (BB)

Points out that infant day care research is still in its infancy, criticizes Jay Belsky's infant day care position conceptually and methodologically, and considers alternative models of influence that may account for the putative association of day care and maladjustment. (SKC)

Seventeen visually impaired children, aged 7-11 years, were compared with sighted children on a test of facial recognition and a test of expression identification. The visually impaired children were less able to recognize faces successfully but showed no disadvantage in discerning facial expressions such as happiness, anger, surprise, or fear.…

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)

Presented observational and descriptive data on the attachment and sensitivity between mothers and teachers and children with severe disabilities. Attachment data from mothers and teachers were obtained for four children with severe disabilities. (Author/RWB)

Nine women imprisoned for fatal child maltreatment were interviewed concerning their perceptions of interactions with their children, pregnancy and childbirth, mother-child separations and reunions, child development, rejection, children's behavior, and prior child abuse. Interpretation of their children as developmentally abnormal and…