The development of children's understanding of the learning process and factors that affect learning was explored with a sample of 18 children from 6 to 13 years of age. Subjects were interviewed, and three levels of their reasoning were identified. The 6- to 7-year-old subjects viewed learning as "doing" and reasoned that…

A three-stage developmental model of the socialization of altruism as a reinforcer was tested. The model posits mood as a mediator of helping behavior. The first stage of the model is characterized by a relatively low level of altruistic responding, regardless of mood state, among preschool children; the second by the acquisition, among…

This study examines the reactions of children and adolescents to stories about fictional boys and girls who act across three behavioral episodes in either masculine-stereotyped or feminine-stereotyped ways. Trait dimensions chosen for investigation were: (1) logical and steady versus excitable and emotional; (2) adventurous and risk-taking versus…

Study examines relation between: (1) maternal behavior observed in mother-child play and child's social behavior and sociometric status; (2) maternal behavior when interacting with another mother, child dyadic behavior and child's sociometric status; and (3) maternal social knowledge and child's social knowledge, social behavior and sociometric…

Discusses theoretical perspectives for improving teachers' understandings of task assignment in classrooms, and presents evidence from two British studies that highlight both the extent of the task assignment problem and possible causes. (SKC)

Examines how test anxiety affects children in certain evaluation situations and focuses on developing more valid and effective measurement procedures in school achievement testings. Third and fourth graders were divided into three anxiety groups and tested under time and no time pressures. Anxiety level, time pressure, and sex affected…

Preschool, second-, and sixth-grade children performed developmentally gradated, easy and difficult visual discrimination tasks in a quiet room or with one of two levels of extraneous auditory stimulation. Subjects' errors, response latencies, and glances away from the task were recorded. (Author/RH)

Tests the hypothesis that high-SES children process information more efficiently using mechanisms associated with the left hemisphere and that low-SES children process more efficiently using the right. A laterality task was administered tachistoscopically to 120 children, divided evenly by SES (high and low), sex, and grade (fifth and seventh).…

Investigates whether third- and fourth-grade children respond differently to conflict with friends and acquaintances. Results support the view that conflict between friends promotes more social development than conflict between nonfriends. Discussion among friends disagreeing on answers to social problems resulted in more mature solutions than…

Examines popularity's role in the gender socialization of elementary school children. Explains that children model their behavior based upon idealized male and female images. Concludes that boys attain popularity because of athletic ability, toughness, cross-gender relational skill, while girls obtain popularity because of attractiveness, social…

The responses of 2,511 Asian American students in grades 4 to 11 in Seattle, Washington, to the Survey of Achievement Responsibility revealed distinctions among Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other Southeast Asian students in attributions to effort or ability. Recommends national origin be defined in studies related to Asian…

Discusses a study of variations in Scottish elementary school children's reading attainment. Reports that, although individual student achievement varied with socioeconomic background, variations among schools did not appear to relate to schools' socioeconomic composition, size, location, or denominational status. Cites the need to evaluate such…

Investigates the contributions of tonal syllables, hand signs, and letter representations of tonal syllables to the development of verbal and symbolic tonal skills of first grade students. Finds no method to be significantly better than another. Concludes that tonal aptitude is the most significant predictor of tonal syllable and pitch…

Presents results of a study of the role of context upon English children's estimation skills. Includes estimation tasks involving distance, area, and volume measurements and children's answers about how they carried out the tasks. Concludes that estimates in contexts perceived as mathematical differed from those involving perceptual-motor skills.…

This report is one of a series on how curriculum unit experiences in U.S. history influenced the learning of fifth-grade students. This report focuses on the American Revolution period. Before the unit began, three classes of fifth graders stated what they knew (or thought they knew) about the events leading up to the Revolutionary War, the War…