Investigates the relationship between social skills and depression in a college student population. Finds that depression is associated with a partial social skill deficit, most notable in terms of excessive social anxiety, low motivation to communicate with others, low social expressivity, and diminished behavioral involvement. (PRA)

This Dutch study examined the play behavior of 18 kindergarten children without mental retardation and 55 children with retardation, all at a developmental age of 4 to 5 years, as they played individually with a stimulating adult. The study found few differences with regard to activity, types and quality of play, and play content. (DB)

A study of 3-5 year olds in child care focused on the children's real and pretend aggression, rough-and-tumble play, and nonaggressive pretend play. Results suggest that toy gun play and parental punishment are positively associated with a high level of real aggression but not of pretend aggression. (LB)

Incidental teaching procedures were used to train a 16-year-old mildly handicapped student to use social amenities in a resource classroom. Generalization to another resource room and an art classroom was assessed. Results indicated increased use of social amenities in the training setting and generalization settings. (Author/PB)

Discussion of how information technology affects higher education focuses on ethical dilemmas and creating appropriate policies and guidelines. The process of exercising discipline within a university community is considered, and one model of policy creation and community process that used facilitated discussions at the University of Michigan is…

Considers contributions of Sigmund Freud and Rene Spitz to developmental psychology. Freud's contributions include his observations about play, perspectives on developmental processes, and ideas about unconscious mental activity. Spitz's contributions include his assessments of infants, perspectives on developmental processes, and his concept of…

Examines the application of the Fishbein and Ajzen model of attitude-behavior consistency to research in library and information science (LIS). The components of the model are explained, two examples of LIS research are presented, and there is a brief review of areas in LIS that could benefit from attitude-behavior consistency research. (Contains…

Two children (ages 13 and 16) with autism were taught to differentiate appropriate from inappropriate social behaviors. Children's treated behaviors improved rapidly, and there were generalized changes in untreated social behaviors. Results suggest the possibility of identifying pivotal response classes of social behavior that may improve peer…

Reviews three articles in this journal on pretend play and focuses on the communicative activity through which social pretending is created. Suggests that, despite recent advances toward understanding techniques by which children construct make-believe, further examination of conversational exchanges and sequences of this complex activity is…

Suggests that the three articles on pretend play in this journal expand knowledge of pretend and social pretend play. Notes that the ultimate value of these articles lies in their exploration of the integration of affective, communicative, and cognitive processes as children construct shared social reality in pretend play. (MM)

Compared the psychological characteristics of withdrawn, aggressive, and average fifth-grade children. Both withdrawn and aggressive children were found to be less popular among peers than were the average group; the aggressive group was most actively disliked. Teachers rated aggressive children as most hostile and as having more learning problems…

Investigated impact of participation in cultural awareness program on racial attitudes and social behaviors of racially diverse college students (n=75). Results suggest that race may account for more differences in racial attitudes and social behaviors than sensitivity training, and moreover, students may drop out of similar programs without…

The Social Strategy Rating Scale, which measures social competence in young children with disabilities across multiple contexts, was completed with 47 toddlers in 3 social settings over a 16-month period. The scale exhibited relatively high interobserver agreement across items, high internal consistency, and sensitivity to skill changes over time.…

Implementation of a social skill training package with three elementary-school children who had behavioral and learning disorders resulted in increasing student acquisition of targeted social behaviors, which in turn led to lengthier peer interactions. Increases in nontargeted social responses were also demonstrated. (Author/JDD)

Examined relationship of shyness and sociability to illicit substance use in 654 male high school students. Found that, in general, shy males were significantly more likely to use illicit substances than were not-shy peers. Shy, highly sociable males were significantly more likely to use hallucinogenic substances than were shy, less sociable males…