Describes some preliminary results comparing two groups of children's performance on a set of Piagetian conservation tasks. Findings highlight the need to sensitize parents and teachers to current views on appropriate learning environments for young children, particularly the strategies they might use to make sense of their experiences. (TJQ)

A British year-seven pupil developed school attendance problems and was referred to home teaching along with a gradually phased reintegration to school. The program was unsuccessful until parental involvement in facilitating the girl's return to school was emphasized. This article examines the participants' search for a scapegoat and the role of…

Surveys the incentives and disincentives that influence men's decisions to participate in the role of father. A proposal is offered as a means of minimizing disincentives and maximizing incentives to increase fathers' support of their children, thereby decreasing child poverty. (GR)

Daily activities were investigated of 237 mothers and 134 fathers of children with Down syndrome and 216 mothers and 174 fathers of children without Down syndrome. Compared to controls, parents of children with Down syndrome devoted more time to child care and spent less time in social activities. (Author/SW)

This essay reviews research on mother-infant roles during early interactions and how these serve to foster the development of infant emotion regulation. It provides illustrations of the ways in which physical unavailability (resulting from hospitalization or other separation) and emotional unavailability (resulting from mental illnesses such as…

Features of mothers' and fathers' interaction with children who stutter are reviewed, along with results of intervention studies that have included children who stutter and their parents. Similarities and differences in the roles played by fathers and mothers in children's communicative development are discussed, as are implications for clinical…

This review of communication research on television viewing by intellectually gifted children examines the number of hours such children spend watching television, types of programing they watch, their capacity to process and comprehend program content, appropriate child role models in television programing, and mediation of television viewing by…

The best help parents can offer students with their homework is instituting a formal study program. Rather than assisting with reading, writing, and arithmetic, parents should spend more time teaching students to organize, budget time, plan ahead, concentrate, handle responsibility, and solve problems. (SM)

Interviewed 104 couples concerning their work and family roles in winter and in the following summer and winter. Husbands and wives decreased their involvement in work, and husbands increased their involvement in housework, during the summer. Husbands' psychological responses to work and family roles remained stable over time. (LB)

Parents of 84 severely retarded children, ages 2-8, were interviewed over a 2-year period, and their thoughts and actions regarding out-of-home placement for their child were assessed. Results indicate linear trends in placement tendency. From initial consideration of placement, it may be one to two years until the act of placement is completed.…

A study of the everyday pretending of children in nine middle-class families addressed fundamental issues about the social nature of early pretend play. Children were followed from 12 to 48 months of age. Children's pretending occurred predominantly in interaction with others. (GLR)

Discusses a study of prelinguistic "referential" communication routines and their effects on infants' mastery of protoreferential communication. Reports that observations were made of interactions between infants and mothers. Concludes that infants' communicative skill development depends partly on how adults organize interactions to…

Discusses the effects of child play on the learning and development of young children. Argues that play is an important part of an entire network of learning, a fact often overlooked by parents who view play as recreation. Maintains that, when parents and educators help children to enhance their play experiences, important learning outcomes can…

Interviews using a conceptualization methodology with 32 black men explore the meaning of manhood and provide a perspective on masculinity often hidden in the discourse on the black male crisis. Conceptions of manhood reported reflect the survival and inner strength a man can use to negotiate racism and economic oppression. (SLD)

Britain's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act provides for the assessment of adults for parenthood on both medical and social grounds, justified by concern for the welfare of the child. Compares these assessments with those undertaken in the adoption process and questions the utility of such decisions for the welfare of the children involved.…