Six infants were filmed at 15 and 30 weeks of age while alone and in the presence of an adult (mother or stranger) who interacted with the infant or remained passive. Signal detection analysis of ratings made by judges showed that infant behavior at both ages varied in accord with whether or not an adult was present. (Author/DB)

Two experiments tested whether children fail to make transitive inferences because they forget the premises. Children did not justify incorrect inferences by incorrect premises. Results between nontransitive and transitive inferers parallelled similar studies with nonconserver- conserver dyads and were viewed as reinforcing the commonality between…

Preschool children were observed in a natural setting in order to examine the continuity of their play styles over a period of one year. Changes in play styles appeared to be affected by peer or teacher intervention. In particular, male peer groups effectively shaped male sex-typed behavior even when they engaged in play activities not…

A symbolic interactionist approach to evaluation views the evaluator as an observer of group behavior in which individual action aligns with collective action. The evaluator attempts to discover what is actually going on in the program being evaluated. Though the interactionist approach frees the program manager from having to articulate goals, it…

Proposed a method of predicting the mean rating of the cooperating teacher and college supervisor of student teachers on the Teacher Observation Rating Scale. Direct observation and operationally defined personality measures predicted student teacher performance more accurately than the prediction of academic performance in education. (Author/JAC)

Describes an ethnographic study of writing in one elementary classroom that identified four functions of writing: writing to participate in community, writing to know oneself and others, writing to occupy free time, and writing to demonstrate academic competence. (HOD)

In a longitudinal study of sibling interaction, same-sex and mixed-sex pairs of siblings were observed twice in their homes. Interaction patterns remained stable over the 18 months separating the two observations. Older children initiated prosocial and combative behavior more often than younger children and submitted less often to dominant…

Observations showed that the use of signs did not impede the development of speech. Instead it seems to increase the children's skill in lipreading, although the early use of written language may play a part by facilitating the encoding of lip movements. (Author)

The social interaction and social organization patterns of 408 Israeli kindergarten children and first graders engaged in outdoor free play were observed for 40 minutes each day for three continuous weeks. (Author/CM)

Problem-child families and normal families were classified using the dyadic parent-child interaction coding system (DPICS). The DPICS was found to be a reliable, clinically practical research instrument that correctly classified 94 percent of the families and predicted 64 percent of the variance in parent report of home behavior problems. (Author)

A British observational study of science classroom interactions was replicated in Atlantic Canada with 33 teacher-class units. Comparison of results revealed a less practical approach to science teaching in the Canadian classrooms, with greater emphasis on the informational aspects of science and convergent, problem-solving activities. (Editor/SJL)

Convergence between temperament ratings from two different sources (mothers and observers) and observer codings of peer-peer interaction was assessed. (Author/MP)

A survey of students at three stages in the preservice education curriculum at Shippensburg State College is analyzed to measure the impact of a prestudent teaching field experience offered in conjunction with an introductory educational psychology course. (JMF)

Results of two studies of teachers' attributions for school problems indicate that teachers hold student factors more responsible for classroom problems than teacher factors, and that teachers' attributions vary for learning v behavior problems. The second study also indicates that students perceived as lacking motivation were criticized more…

The author discusses children's developing conceptions of how to represent objects artistically. She compares the use of detail, line, viewpoint, and dimension in imaginative and observational drawings by concrete-operational children and cites their opinions about the accuracy of their work. Part of a series on children's art. (SJL)