Analyzes the time children of different ages, sex, and proficiency levels spent on various compositional processes while creating a melody. Suggests that the amount of time used for exploration, development, repetition, and silence has an effect on the subject's ability to replicate the melody. Finds developmental differences in strategies for…

Used symbolic interaction theoretical framework to predict association of seven variables with self-esteem, depression level, and negative behaviors of female adolescent incest victims (N=101). Found type of sexual act single most powerful distress predictor. Found age and race had unexpected associations with victim outcomes. (Author/CM)

Two studies, involving 2 students (aged 11 to 12) with severe behavioral disorders, demonstrated that the use of cognitive behavior modification components, including self-instruction and self-monitoring, led to increased academic performance, and academic skill improvement led to a reduction in inappropriate classroom behaviors. (Author/JDD)

Assessed classroom stress and burnout experienced by 121 gifted and talented students, ages 10-15, in combination with background, personal, and general anxiety and stress variables. Found poor self-esteem, an externalized locus of control, high levels of state and trait anxiety, poor school life quality, and tedium proved to be significant…

Investigated children's understanding of meaning of the cognitive verb "know" (as defined by an abstractness and conceptual difficulty hierarchy). Found that knowledge increased with development, and low levels of meaning were mastered before high levels, and more rapidly. Understanding in audio-taped stories was more difficult than in video-taped…

Gathered data on arcade use in adolescents (n=460). "Regular" arcade visitors varied sufficiently from the more "casual" visitors in their orientation to, and experience in, arcades. Regular visitors were more likely to score positively on indices screening for addiction. Raises questions about children's access to potentially…

Examined adolescent suicide attempts and temporal cycles in a multiethnic population. Medical records in Hawaii were reviewed for adolescents (ages 12-18) admitted for suicide attempts during the years 1987-91. Results showed significant increases in attempts during the afternoon/evening and on Mondays and Tuesdays and transition points between…

This article identifies sources of information about syntactic ability of school-age children and adolescents from language samples (spoken and written) and standardized language tests. Language samples yield information on sentence length, clause density, and use of higher level discourse-motivated structures. Syntactic subtests from three…

Sibling differences in family processes, such as parental monitoring, and in individual adjustment were examined for 133 pairs of 10- to 18-year-old siblings in divorced families. Found that siblings who lived apart after their parents' divorce differed more than siblings who lived together. (MDM)

In a survey of 242 seventh and eighth grade students ranking highest (129) and lowest (113) in occupational attitudes and abilities, those who believe a variety of careers possible have high self-esteem, middle to high socioeconomic status (SES), cognitive vocational complexity, and are mostly female. Those doubtful of their career potential have…

Examined associations between the quality of the interparental relationship and the success of 68 family triads (mother, father, preadolescent son) in solving family problems. Parental agreement on child rearing issues facilitated problem solving, whereas strong parental coalitions inhibited problem solving. The latter result may be attributed to…

Examined gender differences in means and standard deviations for main subscales of the Children Motivation Analysis Test (CMAT), an instrument for quantifying human motivational dynamic traits among upper elementary school children. The test was administered to 540 Zimbabwean children in sixth grade, and results indicated that the CMAT is suitable…

Presents initial findings in a study of language use by preadolescent African-American male participants in a neighborhood sponsored Youth Basketball Association. Using data collected over a 30-month period in Chicago (Illinois), the study takes an ethnographic approach for exploring communicative competencies in oral and written language. (JB)

Describes the "Unpuffables Program" in which two states tested receptivity to and feasibility of a smoking prevention activity package for fourth through sixth graders and parents. High awareness and participation rates were seen, and "Unpuffables" provided an opportunity to discuss smoking at home, motivating smokers to…

Piaget's hypothesis that children's interactions with peers during middle childhood are essential to their moral reasoning development was tested with 48 female preadolescents who were paired with a female agemate or their mother. Subjects paired with peers showed more sophisticated moral reasoning and used more active transacts in their…