Social competence of 239 students with and without learning disabilities (LD) was followed from kindergarten through fifth grade. Students with LD demonstrated the same trends in social competence as non-LD students. Students with LD differed significantly from average-high-achieving non-LD students on social skills and behavior problems, but not…

Grandparental coresidence is associated with a delay of first birth beyond the teenage years among young women from two-parent and stepparent families as well as among those who live with neither birth parent. Grandparental coresidence has no association with early childbearing, positive or negative, among young women from single-parent families.…

The surest way to improve schooling for 12 million children in poverty is to get them better teachers. The problem is selection, not training. "Star" urban teachers persistently engage their students, protect and enhance student learning opportunities, easily apply generalizations, succeed despite students' life conditions, genuinely respect…

Latent growth curve analysis was used to study individual differences in initial status and growth rates of antisocial behavior, delinquent peer association, and unsupervised wandering during the transition to early adolescence for 206 European American boys. Findings are discussed in terms of the trait-confluence model for peer influence. (SLD)

Examined effects of unexpected behavioral information on person impressions. Inconsistency was manipulated with respect to Implicit Personality Theory. Found that behaviors with inconsistent evaluation implications did not affect impressions and that effects of inconsistent information depended on dimension of contrast, valence of initial…

Examines people's behavior in the Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD), in which a person must make two decisions to win a prize. In a series of five studies, found that people misapprehend probabilities in the MHD. Discusses the MHD's relation to illusion of control, belief perseverance, and the status quo bias. (RJM)

Reports results of a study that used an online survey, focus groups, and logs of telnet connections to examine Internet use when accessed through the University of Toronto Library (Canada). Discusses needs of Internet users and reveals patterns of Internet use. An appendix contains the online survey. (JMV)

Assessed ways attachment styles affect young adults' reactions to stressors associated with four-month combat training. Results show that, compared with secure trainees, ambivalent trainees reported more emotion-focused coping, appraised the training in more threatening terms, and considered themselves less capable of coping with the training.…

Used a general model of affective aggression to generate predictions concerning hot temperatures. Results indicated that hot temperatures produced increases in hostile affect, hostile cognition, and physiological arousal. Concluded that hostile affect, hostile cognitions, and excitation transfer processes may all increase the likelihood of biased…

A national survey of 355 licensed pharmacists investigated their perceptions of themselves as lifelong learners, participation in various professional and leisure activities, attitudes predicting lifelong learning behavior, and respondent characteristics. The two analytical models used arrived at different demographic and other variables…

This study of book interest behaviors of preschoolers focused on four year olds who exhibited a low interest in books in classroom contexts. It was found that providing access to books without teacher mediation did not result in increased book interactions or changes in the childrens' book interests. (18 references) (LRW)

Examines the role of increasing use and heavy first-time use of alcohol and cigarettes in multisubstance abuse patterns for 4,192 secondary school students surveyed 3 times over a 4-year period. A history of licit substance use with increasing use levels is likely to precede use of other substances. (SLD)

Notes the omission of a historical perspective in the research papers in this special issue on prosocial and aggressive play. Maintains that the past several hundred years can be characterized as a time of domesticating children's play, and that more research on rough-and-tumble play is needed. (LB)

A commentary on the articles in this special issue addresses the themes of the origins and consequences of children's adversarial social roles and behaviors; children's peer relationships as a context for social learning and development; and linkages between the family and peer systems. (LB)

Draws on self-categorization theory (use of social characteristics to define psychological groups and promote positive self-identity) to explore the effects of demographic diversity on an individual's psychological and behavior attachment to an organization. Membership in a majority-dominated social group may both satisfy the minority member's…