The study explored possible effects of instruction (highlighting a choral composition's historical and social context) on perceived musical tension recorded by children (N = 62). Children listened to a recording of Debussy's "Noel des enfants qui n'ont plus de maisons" (The Christmas Carol of the Children who No Longer Have a House/Home)…

Adults inexperienced with mental retardation, parents of retarded children, and teachers of the retarded children viewed slides of retarded and nonretarded children whose facial expressions depicted happiness, anger, sadness, and/or neutrality. Inexperienced adults identified fewer expressions of retarded children than did parents who, in turn,…

Explored relationships between three dimensions of temperament (surgency, negative affectivity, and control) and several patterns of behavior for 80 children aged 6 and 7 years. Found that surgency correlated positively with aggression and negatively with guilt and shame. Negative affectivity correlated positively with aggression, guilt and shame,…

Addresses the issue of whether preschoolers are aware of the connection between their emotions, their performance on a task of eye-hand coordination, and their evaluation of the task and their performance. Results indicate a developmental trend that children's predictions conform more to mood congruity theory as they grow older. (Author/DST)