Compared third and fourth graders' responses to general self-concept questionnaire items when they were included in academic, social, or physical domain items. Found that there were high and significant loadings of general self-concept indicators on the academic, social, and physical factors, and low or nonsignificant loadings of the same…

The scientific community has a system of friendships, rivalries, customs, rules, social structures, and mores. Scientists have certain strengths and weaknesses, virtues and limitations. Students studying science can profit by examining some of these behaviors. Examines categories of human social development (such as cooperation/competition, moral…

Addresses attitudinal and logistical roadblocks to launching social and emotional learning programs. Debunks ideas that such programs are either faddish, ineffective, "New-Age," or detractions from academic learning. Stresses conceptual origins in the work of Daniel Goleman, Howard Gardner, and Robert Sylwester. Notes educators must work…

Notes that schools should be nurturing places, where staff know and appreciate students as individuals. Based on teacher and student responses to questionnaires, a recent study analyzed characteristics of nurturing schools and their presence in participants' schools. Although both groups value nurturing characteristics (such as mutual trust and…

Study examines if there is a distinctive difference between the prejudice of Black and White college students at a predominantly White university. Using focus groups, explores the perceptions that Black and White undergraduate students have of each other and how they socially encounter each other on campus. Offers recommendations for practice…

A 2-year ethnographic study focused on social behaviors and gender differences among preschoolers engaging in science activities. Findings indicated that boys exhibited curiosity, spontaneity, extensive prior knowledge about nature, and tended toward aggressive, competitive, and sometimes violent behavior. Girls displayed a submissive countenance,…

This article summarizes proposed benefits of children's play and critically reviews the empirical evidence which supports or refutes the explanatory model. It concludes with suggestions for future research to explicate more fully the developmental benefits of play for the child. (JD)

Contends that, to understand role of gender in psychological problems, counselors need to be aware of gender-socialized individual characteristics, which may affect what psychological problems people develop, associated symptoms, and how people respond to problems. Claims it is important to recognize how broader sociological context presents men…

Described are strategies for teaching social communication skills to 8- to 10-year-old students with mild handicaps. The instructional model involves determining behaviors to be taught; assessing social communication skills; teaching skills through motivating student performance, modeling, and practicing; and maintaining and transferring skills. A…

Interviews with 25 graduates from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf indicated respondents felt both mainstream and residential schools offer specific advantages and disadvantages and selection may involve trading academic for social opportunity. Both school experiences are important in the socialization of deaf people and development…

Examined the consequences of peer conflict on performance of a preference task and on relationships of 36 children of 8-11 years. Children evaluated their preferences more negatively after disagreeing with a friend than after disagreeing with a nonfriend, and were more likely to change, often to a more mature way of thinking. (RJC)

Examined rates of cognitive and psychosocial development and the influences of salient life experiences of traditional-aged college students. Results from 15 college students over one academic year suggest that intellectual and psychosocial developmental processes are not uniform, occur at discrepant rates, and are significantly affected by life…

Two sample lessons are presented to help elementary-school children with behavior disorders understand friendship relationships. Hypothetical student relations are diagrammed, and class discussions deal with the reasons for students' popularity and unpopularity and the acceptability or unacceptability of the reasons. (JDD)

Presents a model of cognition and emotion that suggests that feedback between cognition and emotion generates, maintains, and reconfigures interpretations of emotion-eliciting events at micro- and macrodevelopmental time scales and that personality and behavior self-organize in response to fluctuations in perception or cognition and trace…

Synthesizes the theoretical implications of the studies presented in this issue on social repercussions of a unified Germany, highlighting the effects of economic and political change on women, families, and youth, and their relevance for cultural-historical theories of human development. (JW)