Reports a study that examined the influence of authoritarianism on the formation of behavioral intentions by female college students. High authoritarians took subjective norms less into account relative to low authoritarians, providing support for the theory that personal and subjective norms can be distinguished empirically. (LS)

Describes the computer program labeled ERVING which teaches students to reason sociologically using E. Goffman's classic dramaturgical perspective. Suggests that artificial intelligence programs offer a means for developing instructional models for the social sciences which are not amenable to a quantitative approach. (KO)

Two studies examined the influences of concordant and nonconcordant attachment relationships to mothers and to child caregivers on children's behavior in child care. In both studies, the child's level of competence in play with the caregiver and engagement with peers was a function of attachment security with both mother and caregiver. (NH)

Discusses the development of social policy since 1901, with special emphasis on the War on Poverty. Analyzes the relationships among poverty, social norms, and family structure. Outlines the problems of the new social condition, characterized by drug abuse and welfare dependency. (FMW)

A longitudinal study examined predictive relations among sociometric status, aggression, and adolescent childbearing; the relation among peer status, aggression, and multiple births; and whether these variables are related to the timing of adolescent childbearing. Results suggest that controversial peer status and aggression predict adolescent…

Explored relationships between three dimensions of temperament (surgency, negative affectivity, and control) and several patterns of behavior for 80 children aged 6 and 7 years. Found that surgency correlated positively with aggression and negatively with guilt and shame. Negative affectivity correlated positively with aggression, guilt and shame,…

Summarizes 16 recent ERIC documents and journal articles on children's social difficulties. Topics of the articles include social-cognitive processes of withdrawn children; genetic and environmental influences on inhibition; anxious-withdrawn preschoolers; helping children grow up in the 1990s; development of inhibition; behaviors of parents of…

This study examined the social attributions of 32 students with learning disabilities (LD) compared to those of 29 nonlearning-disabled low achieving and 33 average-achieving students. Students with LD were more likely to use external factors in explaining their social successes and failures, while attributing their successes to internal factors.…

This paper views effective communication as an essential component of appropriate social behavior, provides definitions and conceptualizations of social skills and social competence within academic contexts, and describes social skills assessment and intervention procedures for school-age children and youth with and without disabilities.…

Three peer caregivers with moderate mental retardation worked to improve the occupation level of a passive man with profound mental retardation. The peer caregivers carried out meaningful activities with the trainee for 15-minute periods. The trainee received social reinforcement; the caregivers received tangible reinforcement. Use of multiple…

This paper reviews functional analysis' historical development as an important pretreatment assessment and analysis strategy for academic and social behavior problems. It examines seminal and influential studies to document historical and contemporary progression, functional analysis' contributions, and future directions. Conclusions focus on…

Argues that feminist psychologists not only do not have a uniform position on the issue of gender differences, but that many have argued for large gender differences. The article contends that meta-analyses indicate great variability in the magnitude of gender differences across different behaviors. (GR)

Ways to promote generalization of social skills of students with learning disabilities (LD) are considered. Approaches include: sequential modification, introducing naturally maintaining contingencies, training sufficient exemplars, training across settings, training loosely, using indiscriminable contingencies, programming common stimuli, and…

Discusses a model of television interpretation processes regarding the influences of alcohol advertising and describes a study that tested the model with preadolescent at-risk students. Highlights include perceptions of alcohol use at home and on television; social norms; perceived realism of commercials; and intent to drink. (41 references) (LRW)

Studied the changes in the social exchanges of 30 young children with disabilities with their mothers and a familiar playmate at 4 data points over a 16-month period. Found that the children engaged in more and increasingly social exchanges over time, showed more vocal behavior, and completed more object-related acts. (AC)