Researchers observed activities of preschool children engaged in various forms of play, and focused particularly on symbolic play. (Author/DB)

The paper describes some observational procedures that can be employed by the special teacher or learning assistant to determine the levels of either appropriate social behavior or deviant responding in the classroom. (Author/SBH)

The functioning of a new instrument for measuring behaviors in physical education classes is explained. (JD)

Evaluation of students' dance performance provides feedback for developing skills and self-awareness. (JD)

Presents a computer program developed at the University of Cincinnati to transpose and compute sets of raw data from the Flanders' Interaction Analysis, used in investigating classroom teaching behavior. The program is included and its use with student teachers is discussed. (RAO)

Meaningful smoking reduction was maintained at follow-up, suggesting the relative efficacy of experiencing one of three maintenance strategies employed. Superior maintenance of smoking reduction was demonstrated by the self-monitoring group relative to the modeling and participant observing groups of the original sample. (Author/BEF)

Investigates infant preferences for interaction with mother v father, similarities and differences in maternal and paternal behavior, and the influence of a second parent's presence on parent-infant interaction. Families with infants 15 months of age were observed in their own homes. (Author/SS)

Describes a residential treatment program for emotionally disturbed children which used a computerized method for cross-confirming information about the functioning of children. (CM)

Observations of superintendents indicate that, within the plethora of tasks and activities, the hectic variety of demands and contacts of their jobs, the superintendents cope with rather than organize their time schedules. Still, the superintendents seem to attend to the most vital activities. (Author/IRT)

A young child with cerebral palsy was observed concurrently using four methods of data collection--a participating master teacher, a participating intern teacher, a nonparticipant observer, and videotape recordings--which were then compared. The findings indicated that a highly trained and experienced participant observer can furnish more than…

Those evaluating teacher behavior were highly influenced by verbal remarks that led them to expect either excellent or poor performance. (Editor)

A critique of the research methods used in "Primary Education in England," a report of Her Majesty's Inspectorate that was based on teacher questionnaires and classroom observations of 7-, 9-, and 11-year-olds in 542 schools. (SJL)

Twenty-seven severely mentally retarded patients, all of whom manifested body-rocking in their normal ward environments, were systematically observed. (SBH)

Describes vignettes of meaningful events in the lives of children and suggests the use of vignettes in training teachers and in promoting communication with parents. A number of examples are given. (MS)

"Five roles are considered by which systematic, quantified field research can augment controlled laboratory experimentation in terms of increasing the validity of laboratory studies." Advocates that comparative psychologists should "take more initiative in designing, executing, and interpreting our experiments with regard to the natural history of…