This study examined methods of identifying children who display patterns of inhibited behavior in novel social situations or who appear anxious-withdrawn in their habitual preschool environment. Subjects were 118 children of French-Canadian background recruited from 60 preschool classrooms around Montreal, Canada. Children ranged in age from 31 to…

This study investigated the relation of loneliness in middle childhood to behavioral, sociometric, and attributional measures of social functioning. Data for 128 third- through sixth-graders were collected on three occasions during a 1-year span. Teachers completed a rating scale assessing students' social behavior. Children's peer acceptance was…

Substance abuse is pervasive in both rural and urban settings. Previous attempts to educate America's youth as to its dangers have not reduced the numbers of adolescents involved in the drug culture. The assertiveness-based "Just Say No" campaign attempts to counter peer pressure to use drugs, but is hampered by our society's…

This study compared the cognitive, social, and global self-perceptions of gifted children, over the course of a school year, in three settings that represented increasingly higher concentration levels of exceptional cognitive ability and for increasingly extensive parts of the day. Subjects were 176 students in grades 3-5 from the following three…

This study evaluated a cognitive-process approach used to train three secondary-aged students with moderate mental retardation on a social skill involving response to criticism. The cognitive-process approach teaches a generative process of social behavior rather than specific component behaviors; relies on receptive and expressive language…

Despite evidence that levels of social support can affect health, there has been little work isolating the factors which actually mediate the relationship between social support and health. In an attempt to analyze the role of nutrition as a mediating factor of health and social support among the elderly, female older adults (N=43) responded to an…

Research on interpersonal influence within counseling psychology has focused primarily on the characteristics of the counselor. There is a need to study the role of client characteristics in resistance or noncompliance. A review of the literature indicates that most client characteristics associated with noncompliance in therapy can be narrowed…

Through careful preparation and followup, students can insure successful job interviews. If they evaluate their own skills and expectations and assess employer characteristics before interviews, they can increase their credibility with interviewers and make more effective job decisions. If they anticipate irrelevant or illegal questions on such…

Interviews with six managers trained to teach the Interpersonal Managing Skills (IMS) program at the Lockheed Missiles and Space Company provided insights into three aspects of communication training programs: training skills, the trainer role, and methods of training the trainer. A highly structured, packaged program, IMS teaches five…

Explores the predictability of friendly, cooperative behavior of school children over a 5-week period. The basis for the predictions was the children's others-concept, as measured by the Paired Hands Test. In three tasks out of five the high others-concept children showed a higher frequency and greater proportion of task-related and friendly…

Researchers have offered a number of explanations for why people occasionally or frequently feel shy in social situations, focusing on behavioral, psychological, or somatic causes. However, each theory encompasses a problem with communication skills. A study examined the communication implications of shyness as reported in definitions by both…

A counseling perspective is applied to issues concerning the preparation of high school students with learning disabilities for postsecondary education and employment settings. The combination of academic limitations and difficulties in getting along with others provide continuing problems for these young adults. Instructional and counseling…

The implication of an ever-increasing knowledge base is that students will need to know how to select, evaluate, and utilize information. In response, a resource-based approach to learning which emphasizes learning how to learn has been recommended in curriculum guides in Newfoundland from kindergarten through the final year of secondary school,…