Provides editorial perspective on the selection of papers chosen for publication in the March 1988 IJBD. Emphasizes the multi-cultural mix of the papers which deal with a range of issues related to human development and the importance of rigorous life-span perspective regarding developmental disabilities. (RWB)

Introduces this thematic issue of CHILD DEVELOPMENT which addresses schooling and child development. (PCB)

Examines the differences in parental reasoning about child development along a dimension ranging from categorical to perspectivistic in a group of Mexican-American mothers and a group of Anglo-American mothers of comparable SES. Results emphasize the importance and usefulness of examining within-culture diversity in developmental research.…

Professional review teams in nine Third World countries assessed a sample of children referred as probable cases (or as controls) from a door to door household survey of 1000+ children aged 3 to 9 years. Examines the criteria used by the teams in determining whether or not the children should be classified as severely mentally handicapped. (RWB)

Reports on a study of young children's abilities to discriminate between two chords played as the accompaniment of a melody and played alone with no melody. Finds that age, type of stimulus, and the interaction of these two variables affected children's performance significantly. (CFR)

Analyzes 500 drawings by 258 Hong Kong Chinese and English children (ages 7-11) in order to assess intellectual, social, and emotional development. Found that, irrespective of race or culture, the drawings were symbolic and that similarities were more apparent than differences. Also found that as development proceeded, symbolism was increasingly…

American and German children were asked to judge and talk about different mass media--television, radio, and picture books--and their use of each media. Analyses of the data indicated that five- and six-year-olds have qualitatively different concepts of media characteristics and functions than three- and four-year-olds, i.e., the younger children…

Examination of 71 American Indian and 149 White children from grades three through six on an open self-description measure and a transformational measure of self-concept reveals differences between the groups on specific external, behavioral, and internal attributes of self-concept. (Author/BJV)