This paper views the adaptive behavior of individuals with mental retardation as a coping response to the biological and social demands of the environment. Adaptive skills are contrasted with adaptive behaviors, with skills being based primarily on developing new learning and habituating specific responses. Adaptive behavior represents a more…

The Rocky Mountain Talent Search 1984 Summer Institute participants, consisting of 12 through 15-year-old, highly able, high achieving students, are described in this study. The Harter Perceived Competence Scale for Children was used to measure feelings in the areas of cognitive, social, and physical competence and general self-esteem. An…

To determine the elements that most influence newspaper subscribership, 400 adults were polled in a stratified proportional sample to assess their levels of news media use in childhood and the strength of certain sociopsychological needs, and to record life style and demographic characteristics. Factor analysis of needs questions suggested the…

An analogy is drawn between the dynamics of interpersonal relationships and the relations of health educators to the health education profession. Recommended is the use of a 54-item questionnaire, the Fundamental Interpersonal Relationship Orientation - Behavior (FIRO-B), to determine what behavior a respondent expresses toward others and what…

Two recreational activities, deer hunting and goose hunting, both similar in form, are compared. It was hypothesized that the activity for which participants rated the process, the goal, and the social interaction as most important to the experience and for which participants showed the strongest family ties and social support for participation…

Considerable research has examined the correlates of job involvement and its conceptual independence from the notions of satisfaction and motivation, with an indication of considerable overlap beween the three concepts as well as the possibility that job involvement may be more aligned with motivation than with satisfaction. A job attitude survey…

There is an increasing appreciation of the significance of motivation in human behavior. "Achievement motivation" stands out as a useful construct for study in the area of motivational research along with the closely related concept of "fear of failure." Many view these two constructs as two sides of the same coin, but research has shown that…

Children's use of humor in hospital settings and ways hospital personnel might encourage positive uses of humor are discussed in this paper. Three questions are raised: (1) How is humor viewed in hospitals treating children? (2) How can developmental psychology help us understand children's humor? (3) What implications does an understanding of…

A recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that more than five million, or 7%, of U.S. children are being raised in grandparent-headed households. In many of these homes there is no biological parent in residence, and the grandparents have taken over the role of parenting. This family structure has gained enough residence to warrant the…

There is a general consensus that international students are a high-risk group who have a far greater number of psychological problems than their counterpart U.S. students. International students experience a number of problems due to the massive adjustments they are required to make abruptly in their social and academic lives. A review of the…

The Older Person's Counseling Needs (OPCN) Survey is used as an instrument to assess counseling needs of older persons in relation to their major life concerns. Four key areas of concern have been identified. These include personal, interpersonal, activity, and environmental concerns. These four areas have been subdivided to achieve 27 basic…

This study examined father-infant and mother-infant relationships by observing infants and parents in their homes. The subjects were 20 infants, 10 boys and 10 girls, 7 and 8 months of age. Each infant was visited twice when both parents were at home. All visits were made by the same two persons: a male observer, who maintained a narrative account…

This report briefly describes the recent search for personal and interpersonal growth which has been termed the "Human Potential Movement," and the institutions or "growth centers" which have evolved as a result of this movement. It presents a list of body, nonverbal, and movement experiences derived from descriptive literature…

To aid in focusing preventive interventions at needs perceived by clients, this study investigates Greek women's needs, attitudes, and experiences during the months immediately before and after childbirth. Participants were 156 women attending the out-patient clinic of the Alexandra Maternity University Hospital who completed pre- and postnatal…

This paper examines psychological and social issues for single mothers in the context of therapeutic strategies for effective intervention. Never married, previously married, and Lesbian mothers are considered in terms of sociocultural myths and sources of stigma; research findings related to these myths; and interventions targeting the…