Suggests that parents can encourage independence, self-reliance, and healthy self-concept by involving children in appropriate household tasks. Describes a six-week project designed to encourage parents to attain this goal. (KS)

Application of the normalization ideal has often failed to incorporate behavioral and developmental models of social skill training with the mentally retarded. A recent study indicated that social skills develop slowly; a distinction must be made between socially skillful and socially appropriate behavior; and the environment must be properly…

Personal attitudes toward social issues help people meet their needs either through benefits received from the attitude object or the attitude's expression. The personality, situational, and domain characteristics likely to influence the functional value of attitudes are discussed. Strategies for changing attitudes are briefly considered. (PS)

Contrasted Lewis M. Terman's letters to parents of boys (N=42) with childhood intelligence quotients (IQs) greater than 170 contrasted with those sent to parents of boys (N=42) with IQs between 135 and 159. Suggests that the social needs of many highly intelligent children can best be satisfied in peer groups consisting of children of similar…

To counter schools' unwitting contribution to self-centeredness in American culture, this article advises teachers to study childrearing practices of certain primitive, nonviolent societies like the Mbuti, the Tassaday, and the !Kung. Alternative disciplinary techniques designed to shape students' personal strengths are suggested. Includes 18…

Investigates some of the following characteristics associated with young children playing with imaginary play companions (IPCs): intelligence, parental and socioeconomic and educational background, family size, and birth order. Compares these children to those without IPCs. (HOD)

Offers caregivers in day care centers broad guidelines for promoting early infant-infant and infant-toddler social interactions. Argues against the common belief that a child is developmentally unsociable before three years of age and advocates engaging him/her in meaningful daily care activities. (DT)

Describes an experimental study of gender segregation in 38 fourth and fifth grade classrooms. Students working in small, experimental, mixed-sex, instructional groups engaged in more cross-sex interactions than students in control groups. Boys in experimental classrooms showed greater preference for working in cross-sex groups. (SA)

In Western societies, the study of emotional development has been retarded by the view that it is less important than cognitive development, but a review of relevant literature indicates emotional well-being may be as important as cognitive growth in determining life outcomes. Cognitive skills, physical health, and emotional well-being are all…

A study of family patterns and their relationship to television-viewing and children's development clearly indicate the combined influences of parental styles and television on emerging cognitive and behavioral tendencies. Television-viewing, although potentially positive with limited use and appropriate programing, generally predicts negative…

Observed play of 52 toddlers with a set of socially stereotyped masculine, feminine, and neutral toys in a day care setting over 14 months to (1) determine the age at which toddlers consistently exhibit sex-stereotyped toy choices in a natural setting and (2) investigate relation of parents' expectations and the children's own knowledge of gender…

Preschool children reasoned and made judgments about stories that varied in dimensions previously found to be associated with judgments in two social-cognitive domains, moral and conventional, to examine types of information that produce differentiated judgments in young children. (Author/DST)

Observed in group day care settings, responses to distress in peers were examined in 10 abused toddlers and 10 matched controls from families experiencing stress. Early development of "abusive" behavior patterns in toddlers who have been subjected to physical abuse and later behavior of abused individuals as parents are discussed in relation to…

Focusing on the intellectual, cognitive mental domain of learning, the article discusses the kind of mental work one is expected to perform and the social relationships one engages in academic learning and field learning. (SB)

Social skills training programs offer an effective means of controlling behavior problems in the classroom. Modeling, role-playing, reinforcement, and transfer of training are suggested methods for inducing behavioral change. Several programs to help students control negative behavior are discussed. (DF)