This study was conducted to examine three explanations for gender differences in computer use and attitudes: (1) sex-typed females avoid computers if they perceive computers to be a male domain; (2) sex differences in video game use mediate sex differences in computer use; and (3) sex differences in attributional style mediate sex differences in…

People's beliefs about the origins of their health, sometimes referred to as health locus of control, have been shown to influence a variety of important behaviors, including the propensity to engage in effective health maintenance activities, and the willingness to seek and follow medical advice. The purpose of this study was to explore the…

The former HEW National Strategy for Youth Development model was a community-based planning and procedural tool to enhance and to prevent delinquency through a process of youth needs assessments, needs targeted programs, and program impact evaluation. The program's 12 Impact Scales have been found to have acceptable reliabilities, substantial…

Research has shown that learned-helpless children, who make attributions for failure to lack of ability, tend to show impaired performance of decreased persistence in the face of challenge. In similar situations, mastery-oriented children, identified by their tendency to attribute failure to insufficient effort, show improved performance or…

Gang membership and violence are pervasive across the United States. Today children, adolescents and young adults of all social classes and environments are susceptible to gang involvement. Gang members are getting younger and gang leaders are getting older. The composition and structure of the family is examined for the common element between…

Depiction of the problem of children living in the streets in third world countries emphasizes the extent to which they are victims (as statistics have shown them as numbers on the streets or killed by "death squads") or victimizers who affect an economy (e.g., by robbing tourists). Both descriptions suggest that one-dimensional portrait…

This report describes a study which examined the relation of Chinese parenting style to only-children's academic achievement. Subjects, 186 middle-class parents of fifth and sixth graders (10-13 years old) from one Beijing elementary school, completed a Chinese translation of the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ). Four approximately equal…

A person-centered approach was followed for the study of patterns in personality development in middle childhood through early adolescence. In a longitudinal study of 100 children, the "big five" personality factors--extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness--were assessed in person descriptions by…

This paper contains a poetry reading presented to a meeting on poetic narrative and educational development. The presentation was based on the theory that the field of philosophy of education should include the realm of the possible as created and populated by the imagination, and often portrayed by works of art. The poems consist of attempts to…

An alcohol misuse prevention study (AMPS) curriculum was developed, implemented, and evaluated with over 5,000 fifth and sixth grade students. The AMPS program, emphasizing peer resistance skills, focused on the immediate effects of alcohol, risks of alcohol misuse, and social pressures to misuse alcohol. Schools were randomly assigned to…

Assessment is an essential process for Physical Education program planning. This is especially true for children with special needs, such as children with Down Syndrome. The ultimate aim of assessments is to enable an informed and intelligent progam of planned activites. For children with Down Syndrome, there are no clear data on their overall…

While research findings suggest that self-concept and perceptions of classroom environment may be interrelated, there is little empirical evidence to validate the existence of such a relationship. This study was conducted to examine the relationship between fourth- and fifth-grade students' self-concept and their perceptions of classroom…

While evidence exists that a person's peripheral temperature responds to his state of arousal or stress, it also responds to other environmental factors. Wrist temperature has been found to vary with ambient temperature, and to increase during the school day. Before wrist temperature can be established as a valid measure of anxiety, stress, or…

Observing that plot and character changes in the daytime television serials has increased the teen and preteen share of soap opera audiences, a study compared demographic, personal experience, and attitudinal variables among adolescent soap opera fans, occasional viewers, and nonviewers. Data were collected from 230 students in the classrooms of…

In this study, a nine-lesson curriculum designed to teach 10- to 12-year-olds to become more critical consumers of violent television programs was developed and evaluated. Data from an experimental field study conducted immediately after the intervention showed that children perceived violent television programs more critically, and the gap…