A study was based on retrospective descriptions obtained from interviews with a large number of teachers who have taught for over 20 years. Three areas of change in students were consistently noted in the descriptions: children today know more, are freer, and grow up more rapidly. More autonomous, and armed with greater knowledge, children emerge…

Goal setting is a dispositional trait that influences motivation to learn and to perform. Individuals with a Performing (or Proving) Goal Orientation are characterized by a desire to please authority figures, the belief that personal abilities are stable and unchanging, and a tendency to become frustrated and give up quickly when faced by…

This paper describes a pilot project in which three teachers served as virtual guest speakers to preservice teachers through an electronic discussion group in the form of a moderated listserv. One goal of the project was to integrate technology into the daily classroom activities of the students. The expected outcome was that teachers and teacher…

This paper explores the concept that the experience of growth may be structurally similar to the emotional experience of religion and hope. It develops this view by focusing on two studies that involve a series of coping and outcome variables, together with analysis of Park, Cohen, and Murch's (1997) instrument on stress related to personal…

This review covers the psychological literature of the last 30 years regarding the personality and motivational characteristics of individuals with mental retardation. The first section is a brief historical review and critical examination of the various conceptual models and theories regarding personality and motivational processes in persons…

This study examined the effects of divorce and custody arrangements on Taiwanese children's emotional adjustment and gender role development 2 years post-divorce. The sample consisted of 90 children, 30 in father custody, 30 in mother custody, and 30 in intact families. Teachers, blind to study purposes and well-acquainted with the children, rated…

The careers, lives, and work habits of successful individuals were examined to identify factors that might explain their success. Each researcher selected one successful individual to interview. The researchers attempted to select a diverse group of interviewees from the general population, taking special effort to include females and nonwhites.…

Biology I students (n=166) in a high school in southern Mississippi completed the Learning Styles Inventory, a 45-item instrument designed to measure preference for channel of learning (visual, auditory, or kinesthetic), sociological environment (individually or in groups), and mode of expression (oral or written). A three-way analysis of variance…

Romance novels have become increasingly popular and sexually explicit, in part because women may gain a sense of self through reading them and perhaps in reaction to the patriarchal structure of society. Women may seek escape and a sense of self-identity through the novels'"larger-than-life" characters and predictable endings. Readers of…

This study investigated predictors of foreign language anxiety in 210 university students enrolled in French, Spanish, German, and Japanese language courses. Several instruments were used to gather information on student characteristics, study behaviors, attitudes, and language anxiety experience during the fourth week of the semester. Results…

This year-long study explored toddler separation distress behaviors in a developmentally appropriate classroom that used a gradual entry process, including a home visit. Four toddlers were selected for study: two had overt separation distress behaviors at the beginning of the year, and two did not exhibit overt distress. The children were…

A study determined whether a short-term educational program could be used to help women overcome personal-social barriers to entry into non-traditional occupational preparation programs. Twenty women from each of three community/junior colleges were surveyed using the Survey of Women's Attitudes about Careers (which was also used for posttesting)…

This longitudinal study used repeated measures analysis of variance (RM ANOVA) and latent growth curve modeling to examine behavior change in 228 elementary school students over grades 1, 2, and 3 who varied in risk status. Of particular interest were the developmental trajectories for behaviors along four dimensions as rated yearly by teachers on…

The objective of this case study is to explore the influence of evaluators' beliefs on the diagnosis of language-minority children's cognitive-linguistic development. More specifically, the following five areas are explored: (1) evaluator's cultural and linguistic backgrounds; (2) their beliefs about language-minority children's…

The proposal for a study of success factors for overseas business interns is presented. The proposed research would investigate predictors of success for undergraduate and graduate international trade majors from the United States and Western Europe who are interning in foreign countries. Predictors to be considered include personal…