Though the personalities of mentally retarded persons are affected by the same factors that impact upon nonretarded persons, their life experiences often lead to overdependency on others, low aspiration levels, and outerdirected problem-solving styles. These characteristics may be responsible for the high rate of mental unhealth in mentally…

Describes a board game used to facilitate the learning of theoretical principles associated with the psychoanalytic perspective on personality. Covers rules governing play and special advantages of this learning experience. Game board is reproduced. (Author/LS)

Discusses the article by Lewis in this issue in the context of complex systems theory. Reviews several concepts of complex systems theory, including self-organization, entropy, phase transitions, stochastic processes, nonlinearity, and attractors. Notes that Lewis highlights the need for psychological models to treat nonlinear processes, chaotic…

Outdoor pursuits can facilitate major psychological and philosophical change in participants, and can act as a catalyst for self-actualization. Participants are temporarily relieved from all but the basic needs in life, allowing efforts to be concentrated on intense, meaningful, personal experience. (KS)

The emphasis in the integrated model of character education on the development of the whole person and interaction with the whole environment requires that character education be seen as a dimension of the total curriculum. It means integrating character education into the academic curriculum, recreational activities, administration, and social…

Conducted study as part of longitudinal research project designed to discover more about the relations between religious involvement and mental health. Collected data through semistructured interviews and a psychological test battery from 56 religious young adults in a 3-year followup. Revealed lack of evidence of link between orthodox religiosity…

Although multicultural education is helpful for developing perspectives of various traditions, the significance of individuality should not be overshadowed. Equal time should be given to individual development, internal locus of control, and nurturance of stable, consolidated personality. (SK)

Discusses the development of moral sensitivity in gifted children and its impact on identity formation and development of the self. Also addresses how the phenomenon of asynchrony manifests in moral development of gifted children and the models they develop to give form to their moral concerns. (Author/CR)

Critiques recent research on the effects of birth order on intelligence and personality, which found that the between-family design revealed that birth order negatively related to intelligence, while the within-family design revealed that birth order was unrelated to intelligence. Suggests that it may not be intelligence that co-varies with birth…

Since the mid-1980's, many school districts have developed character education programs in response to a need expressed in the general public. This article outlines elements of character education program development and implementation by providing strategies, activities, and interventions for administrators, teachers, and counselors. (Author/MKA)

Presents a theory of child-development stages that reflects the relationship between children's play and the need to create a personal identity. Considers the relationship between socializing play and individuation, and defines four stages of identity development through play: amorphous, play, games, and generalization and maturity. (JPB)

In German debates over key competencies, it was recognized that noncognitive, e.g., social competencies and transfer across situations are important. A model of social communicative action was developed, with these elements: verbal/nonverbal articulation and interpretation of statements, metacommunication, sensitivity to latent communication,…

Study focused on the relationship among adolescents' negative thoughts, depressive mood and family environment. Family cohesion was found to be related to the degree of negative thoughts and depressive mood, while perceived control within the family was not. (BF)

In generic psychiatry there has been increasing interest among scientists for the developmental perspective. However, professionals active in the mental health care of people with intellectual disability (ID) have not shown the same degree of interest. The author of this article, who has had a liberal amount of rewarding experiences with the…

The contribution of various educators, including William Holmes McGuffey, in developing a character education-based curriculum in the United States is discussed. The role of teachers in moral education of students too is described.