Responds to Belsky's critique of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale and suggests explanations for the disparity in results when using the Scale as an intervention device with new families. (HOD)

Presents techniques that directors of child care facilities can use to deal effectively with angry confrontations from parents and staff members. These techniques include listening to and rephrasing the complaint during the initial encounter; dealing with one's own anger in safe surroundings; and offering explanations or solutions to the…

Explores children's understanding of a variety of interpersonal events, focusing mainly on the question of whether, and in what way, their conceptions of these events were heterogeneous or undifferentiated. (HOD)

Examines whether vocal exchanges between preverbal infants and their mothers show characteristics similar to those found to be typical of conversational exchanges between competent adult speakers. (HOD)

Results of a naturalistic, observational analysis of 43 self-contained classrooms serving severely handicapped students indicated that during designated instructional periods, slightly less than half of all student time was spent on-task. When students were on-task, almost two-thirds of their time involved nonfunctional instructional tasks.…

Reports on an experiment that examined the independent effects of television content (violence) and television formal features (action) on preschool boys' attention to programs and their postviewing social behavior. Shows rapid character action facilitated visual attention to the programs and that television action level had no systematic effects…

Examines the childrearing correlates of impulse control in 18 mothers and their 14-month-old toddlers. Shows that mothers who relied on physical punishment had infants who were more likely to ignore maternal prohibitions, to manipulate breakable objects, and to show low levels of nonverbal competence seven months later. (HOD)

Examines the relations among the quality of stepparent-stepchild relationships, the frequency of visits from nonresident parents, and child outcomes in four types of stepfamilies. (HOD)

Abused children who survived the trauma of their childhood and grew up to be well-adjusted were compared with a matched group who showed a high degree of psychosocial pathology. The variables which distinguished the two groups were fatalism, self-esteem, cognitive abilities, self-destructiveness, hope and fantasy, behavior patterns and external…

Presents results from two studies of how lower-back-pain patients communicate to health care providers. Suggests specific directions for future research. (MS)

Describes how the talk of legislative policy makers in public forums builds a system of justification for their actions. Uses observations from a case study of the Utah State Legislature and develops a sociopragmatic perspective of argument fields. (PD)

Presents two studies of the influence of group size, prior acquaintance, and gender composition on talking and silence in decision making groups (N=157). Results suggested that friends talked more than strangers, and leaders talked more than nonleaders. Group differences were reflected more dramatically in patterns of silence. (JAC)

Three myths about the cognitive processing of television and its effects on children and adults--television is a passive medium, viewing decreases creativity, and viewing is an addictive behavior--are discussed and compared with relevant research findings. (MBR)

Considers forces which influence the behavior of adolescents during dating, and traces changes in dating patterns. The main areas of influence during dating are seen as physiological changes, social pressures, and the personal meaning attributed to these forces in the individual's striving toward maturity. (JAC)

Behavioral rating scales were completed by teachers on 1,078 behaviorally disordered students assigned to resource rooms in public schools, self-contained classrooms in public schools, psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers, and state training schools for the adjudicated. Data indicate that some differences do exist across settings…