Conducted case study research with adults between the ages of 75 and 82 who maintained a consistent level of integrity and emotional health. Results revealed that subjects did not consider themselves old and saw no reason to retire from life. Respondents considered successful adaptation to changes and losses throughout life had helped them adjust…

Type and quality of nonfamilial child care were found to have no significant effect on peer social skills, sociability with strange adults, and child personality. The major determinants of personality maturity were background variables. Prior social skills and age were the best predictors of peer social skills. (PCB)

Found peer-counseling training for Black students in a predominantly White university to be significant in furthering psychological growth. There was movement in the areas of moral reasoning and ego development as measured by the Defining Issues Test and the Sentence Completion Test. Advocates providing programs aimed at improving psychological…

Administered Bem Sex-Role Inventory to high school students, and asked how they wanted to be remembered. Found a gender role by remembrance preference interaction. Masculine subjects chose "athletic star" more than did feminine or androgynous subjects, who selected "most popular" and "leader in activities" more frequently. All groups chose…

Assessed identification with same-sex parent and decision-making style for late adolescents classified by Marcia's (1964) criteria as identity achieved, foreclosed, moratorium, or diffused. Foreclosed subjects were more impulsive, male moratorium subjects more reflective, female moratoriums more impulsive, and diffuseds more reflective, than…

Studied how individuals test hypotheses about themselves. Examined extent to which Snyder's bias toward confirmation persists when negative or nonconsistent personal hypothesis is tested. Found negativity or positivity did not affect hypothesis testing directly, though hypothesis consistency did. Found cognitive schematic variable (vulnerability…

Focuses on three interrelated issues: (1) developmental theories of humor (2) variables that facilitate children's responses to amusing literature, and (3) strategies for the evaluation and more effective use of humorous children's books. Provides examples of books, an overview chart of the general chronology of children's humor development, and…

The article asks the following questions about self-identity: (1) how do people derive a unitary sense of self out of membership in many social categories; (2) do people respond differently when the social as opposed to the personal aspects of their identity are evoked; and (3) how do people respond to collective injustice? (PS)

Two studies examined loneliness in older adults (N=177). Loneliness was found to be related to poor psychological adjustment and to dissatisfaction with family and social relationships. It was also related to fears, expectations, and personality characteristics likely to inhibit the restoration of personal support networks after a stressful life…

This study examined the effect of increasing the frequency of positive self-referent verbal statements upon both overt and reported self-esteem in children with adjustment problems. Subjects were boys in special schools. Results showed a significant difference in overt self-esteem, but not in other dependent variables. (LMO)

Offers evidence supporting a model of bidirectional effects: the mother initiates maltreatment, but both mother and infant sustain the situation by their behaviors. Maltreated infants did not differ from controls in congenital characteristics, but displayed deviance in learned behavior patterns. Infants showed behavioral improvement after…

A study was conducted to develop a diagnostic instrument for students to evaluate student teachers. The result was an instrument containing 40 evaluation items divided into four major categories: personal traits, professional competence, student-teacher relationship, and classroom management. Results of instrument use are discussed. (CT)

Examines 95 parents' reports of relations between infant termperament and parental psychological conditions, as well as familiy characteristics of socioeconomic status, birth order, and infant gender. (HOD)

Reviews current theories of humor development, discusses the interaction of humor with other developmental areas (including cognitive development, personality development, creativity, and moral development), and suggests ways in which research can be applied in the early childhood classroom. (Author/DST)

Reports findings of three studies designed to examine patterns of masculinity and femininity in males and females separately both within and across three ethnic groups: Anglo, Black, and Chicano. The first two studies looked at identity patterns in adolescents, whereas the third examined the same patterns in elementary school students. (KH)