An adult, nontraditional student with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder, now enrolled in a community college, describes the pain of her school experiences, her quest for self-identity and personal satisfaction, and the value of drug therapy and other treatments. Suggestions are offered for students with similar problems. (JDD)

Contends that history is a valuable part of the elementary curriculum because it provides skills and concepts that connect and enhance other school subjects. Concludes that history, if well taught, enhances children's natural creativity and prepares for thoughtful, contributing citizenship. (CFR)

The 4-year followup of 87 deinstitutionalized Australian persons (mean age of 21 years) with severe to profound mental retardation found that subjects showed a gain in 6 of 9 skill domains of at least 1.6 developmental years over that which would have been expected had they remained in the hospital. (DB)

Examined preschoolers' and second and fifth graders' development of two types of perspective taking: (1) perspective taking based on differences in the information available to two people; and (2) perspective taking based on differences in weighting the same information. (RH)

This article traces the development of 22 children with learning disabilities and 22 controls at ages 1, 2, 10, 18, and 32 years. Most learning-disabled individuals made a successful adaptation to adult life, with marriage, divorce, and employment rates similar to the cohort as a whole. Clusters of protective factors were identified. (Author/DB)

Analyzed young, middle-aged, and old adults' ratings of person-descriptive attributes with respect to developmental change throughout adulthood for themselves and other people. Also assessed aspects of subjective identification with age groups. Findings suggested three modes of social comparison: self-assessment, self-enhancement involving…

Reports three studies which (1) investigated children's and adults' concepts of development (COD); (2) observed parents' tutoring their fifth-grade children; and (3) interviewed adults in three age groups about parenting dilemmas. In each study, COD scores were obtained. Results of all studies showed that subjects' stage of COD reasoning was…

Four studies revealed that (1) children judged a wrongdoer in a story to feel happy; (2) the incidence of happy judgments did not decline with age; (3) the presence of their teacher had an effect on children's judgments; and (4) some children judged the wrongdoer to feel sad rather than scared. (BB)

Assessed children's beliefs about the effectiveness of five causes of school success. At the age of 7-8 years, children differentiated the factors into "unknown" and "other"; at 9-10, "other" was differentiated into "internal" and "external"; at 11-12, "internal" was differentiated into…

Reprints a 1904 article from the "Journal of Geography" exploring geography's teaching focus. Argued for unchanged emphasis on the land and its people but advocated a deeper geographical interpretation of history. Contended that teaching should pay attention to scientific interpretation, and that children should discover a self-constructed…

Used latent transition analysis (LTA), methodology for testing stage-sequential models of individual growth, to compare fit of 2 models of substance use onset and to assess effects of prevention program on 2,009 early adolescents. Found that substance use onset model including alcohol and tobacco use as starting points fit better than model that…

Explores the notion of imaginative development. Defines imagination through a review of literature of music, religion, and aesthetics. Suggests that imagination precedes creativity and involves perception, intuition, thinking, and feeling. Describes a developmental sequence based on research. Proposes ways to cultivate imagination through music.…

Children as young as five years of age responded faster in a categorical task when information was initially presented to the left hemisphere, and faster in a coordinate task when information was initially presented to the right hemisphere. This finding provided evidence for the existence of distinct subsystems that compute categorial and…

Programs serving young people with visual impairments should ensure that young people receive opportunities for personal development that will enable them to become self-directed, articulate, and flexible. Factors impacting on rehabilitation policies are noted. Cooperation among organizations is encouraged to promote clients' personal development…

Describes a weekend residential trip at a British outdoor education center aimed at assessing primary students for the National Curriculum. Instructors constructed personal profiles based on assessment of math, science, geography, and technology and observation of personal and social skills. Formal assessment was conducted during structured group…