No one sector has the right to abdicate its responsibilities in educating children. Schools should focus on the educative tasks that are rightfully theirs. Structures and curricula should be overhauled, and teachers need to understand how culture and ethnicity influence academic and social behavior. (SK)

A 13-month study of preschoolers' conversations with friends examined development of understanding of mind and emotion and mental-state talk. Findings indicated significant and related improvements in theory-of-mind task performance and affective perspective-taking. There were qualitative and quantitative changes in mental-state references in…

Suggests ways to use dynamic systems analysis to illuminate the pluralistic and multidimensional model described by Larivee, Normandeau, and Parent (2000). Issues discussed include the characteristics of developmental transitions, such as hysteresis; nature of growth processes, such as hierarchical development or predator-prey interactions; and…

Reports evidence of the extent to which Japanese English-as-a-foreign-language learners seek to adopt second language communicative norms. Examines learners self reports on attitudes toward the target language, subjective reactions to second language pragmatic norms, and motivations toward accommodating to those norms. (Author/VWL)

Surveyed graduate students in international business at a top-ranked program in the United States on their attitudes and preferences relative to different aspects of potential future job assignments. Noted differences based on respondents' country of origin that indicate a place for tailored educational responses. (EV)

For 12 years, the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) has researched use of technology to expand opportunities for diverse learners. Universal design principles drawn from architecture and product development are useful for developing effective educational tools that can accommodate students' varied recognition, strategic, and affective…

Examines the development of children's caring behavior. Suggests that caring behavior is evident from infancy, and notes the importance of individual differences, the role of modeling and encouraging empathy, and the importance of considering the impact of television and child rearing practices. Differentiates reinforcement from encouragement of…

Examines the differences between German and Vietnamese students in both learning-relevant features and the relation between learning strategies and motivational features. Reveals both communalities (similar patterns of determinants of depth-oriented learning strategies) and differences (longer duration of studies and higher reliance on repetition)…

Describes a study of interactional troubles occurring between citizens and 911 calltakers. Analysis of recorded 911 calls, dispatcher notes, training and procedural manuals, and interviews suggests that many routine interactional troubles relate to a mismatch between the callers' and the calltakers' frames of reference and the fact that each party…

Considers areas of consensus from commentaries, including the value of an evolutionary perspective and the utility of exploring variations in physical activity play. Examines areas of debate, including the nonplay-play distinction, functions of rough-and-tumble play, and the opportunities of juveniles for exercise training. Calls for more directed…

Acknowledges that Halberstadt et al. have provided the field with a framework in which to organize ideas regarding affective social competence. Argues for modification of the model to stimulate thinking and further research, addressing points of modification in the areas of regulation as the core of the construct and self-factors influencing…

Examined the psychometric properties of an individual difference measure of identification within the mathematics and English domains. Factor analytic results substantiated the presence of English and Mathematics subscales, which yielded scores that were internally consistent and stable over time. Results for samples of 1,143 and 98 college…

Examined effects of contextual and individual differences on mothers' autonomy support versus control on homework-like tasks with their third-grade children. Found that mothers in the high-pressure condition were more controlling on the poem task. For the map task, mothers with initial controlling styles in the high-pressure condition were more…

Presented paired-comparison familiarization-novelty recognition task to 4-month-olds. Found that peak look duration during pretest and familiarization periods predicted recognition performance. Recognition was unaffected by choice-trial length. Longer gaze durations during pretest and familiarization were associated with more time in heart…

Argues that there are substantial problems with the theoretical foundations of David Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI). Notes anomalies with the relationship between Carl Jung's style and Kolb's use of possibility processing. Argues that these anomalies make it impossible for defining firm conclusions about the nature of Kolb's learning style.…