This study was designed to determine how educators involved with teacher centers perceived the roles of others associated with teacher centers and the purposes and major benefits of teacher centers as institutions. Subjects of the study were 56 professional educators from 15 states. They were questioned on their role expectations for inservice…

This paper discusses how social studies can best prepare enlightened citizens for the 21st century by centering the curriculum around ethics. The first part of the paper traces the history of the social studies from the Colonial period, when no uniformity existed in scope, sequences, and materials, up to the present period, in which there is…

The concept of social role range (SRR) deals with the magnitude of an individual's repertoire of different interpersonal behavior patterns and exhibits the properties of a personality trait. Over a broad range of interpersonal settings, individuals tend to be consistent in the magnitude of their SRR's. A role play technique was devised for…

The effects of three major variables--the perceived sex of the evaluatee, the sex of rater, and the sex-role identity of rater--were investigated with respect to conceptions of psychological health. The Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Sex Role Stereotype Questionnaire were administered to 222 undergraduate students. Using the difference in the mean…

When assessing the influence of empathy on prosocial motivation, analyzing empathy alone would lead to a misunderstanding. We must also assess other elements of the situation, such as the altruist's coping skills and situational constraints. In a similar manner empathy itself should be conceptualized as a process with many elements. One way to…

One of the important factors contributing to the current interest in the development of social competence in preschool children is the acceptance of such competencies as appropriate outcomes in the evaluation of preschool intervention programs. Measurement of social competence is still in an early stage of development. One problem is that…

Research on nuclear families has reported support for an hypothesized inverse relationship between power and role-taking accuracy. Family members who are in subordinate (dependent) power positions are better able to predict attitudes and behavior of other family members than are those in relatively more powerful and independent positions. This…

Results of two studies investigating children's abilities to use different kinds of cues to infer another's affective state are reported in this paper. In the first study, 48 children (3, 4, and 6 to 7 years of age) were given three different kinds of tasks (interpersonal task, facial recognition task, and vocal recognition task). A cross-age…

This paper presents the rudiments of a constructivist conceptual framework which school psychologists can use to help parents develop positive parenting concepts. Problems arise if school psychologists rely solely on a mechanistic paradigm when they identify causes of unwanted behaviors and suggest specific remedial strategies. Operating within a…

A developmental model for an empathy-based prosocial motive is presented. The framework of the model is presented in terms of three components of empathy. The first component, empathic affective arousal, is discussed and six involuntary psychological mechanisms which underlie it are described briefly. These mechanisms, in the order in which they…

Theorizing about evaluation should be conceptualized as a human activity governed by certain strategies and principles. The theories advanced by various evaluators have changed over the years, thus illustrating ten principles of evaluation. The starting point for theory development or modification is self-reflection and review of one's own…

The task of the journalistic pluralist is one of presenting alternatives so that audiences may exercise personal freedom in choosing among them. It has been held generally that the more publications there are--the more sources of information--the more the idea of pluralism will be served. However, with the consolidation of media ownership and the…

Forty-three preschoolers (14 three-, 16 four-, and 13 five-year-olds), who were attending four multi-age, child-centered classes in a University laboratory school, were assessed for perceptual, cognitive, and affective role-taking ability. These same children were then observed naturalistically (via systematic time sampling) in laboratory…

Among cross-cultural trainers and researchers, considerable attention has been focused on problems individuals encounter in adapting to new cultures or subcultures. The question of how to effectively transfer knowledge and skills to persons of different cultural backgrounds is an equally great concern. (Author)

Ability to take the visual perspective of another was studied among 97 Anglo American and Mexican American boys and girls aged 5 to 6 and 7 to 9. (BD)