Data on the attention patterns of Sesame Street's intended target audience were analyzed and compared with data on middle-class children. Attention scores gleaned from a series of formative research studies performed in New York day care centers in 1972 and 1973 yielded the following conclusions: (1) within each of the four categories of affect…

Data were collected regarding the problem of the effects of the Human Development Program procedures on the generation of linguistic tools for the written expression of feelings. Two classes of elementary students participated in the experiment, one a sixth grade of denied children and the other a fifth grade identified as gifted on an…

Separation and greeting responses were examined in a longitudinal study of 26 infants, aged 15 to 54 weeks, observed at home. All instances of a person's leaving and entering the room during home visits were observed. The developmental trend--both onset and relative frequency--of each separation behavior was plotted at three-week intervals. The…

The rationale, design, and data collection methods of a study of factors that may influence the effectiveness of adult instructional groups that included interaction are discussed. Two aspects to be considered when studying instructional groups are called work and emotionality. The Work-Emotionality Theory is discussed. Six types of…

Used newly developed codes for parenting behavior during the Great Depression reported in the Oakland Growth Study. Results indicated that economic hardship adversely influenced the psychosocial well-being of adolescent girls, but not boys, by increasing the rejecting behavior of fathers. This effect was particularly strong for unattractive girls.…

The strong association established between attention skills and school performance has led to increased research in understanding the development of children's attentional processes. How attention develops during early childhood is crucial to understanding partly why children enter school with varying readiness skills. This Snapshot highlights the…

Intended for parents of children ages 2 to 10 years, this videotape offers parents alternative strategies to yelling, threatening, and putting down for dealing with children's challenging behaviors. The 35-minute video features scenarios of four common, challenging behaviors: (1) when children are very active; (2) when they get angry; (3) when…

Eating disorders involve serious disturbances in eating behavior, such as extreme and unhealthy reduction of food intake or severe overeating, as well as feelings of distress or extreme concern about body shape or weight. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the two main types of eating disorders. Eating disorders frequently co-occur with…

Family sources of stress and conflict are critical variables in the well-being of adolescents. This paper assesses the relationship of coping resources to negative emotions produced by parental conflict after controlling for social desirability; age; financial resources; and measures of parental attachment and family functioning. Undergraduate…

Noting that during adolescence the importance of feeling intimate or close to a relationship partner (mothers, fathers, or friends) increases and that closeness to parents is associated with positive adolescent outcomes, this study examined how features of adolescent relationships are related to adolescents' experience of subjective closeness in…

This Kids Count report of the Action Alliance for Virginia's Children and Youth reviews the role of schools, bullying, media, family violence, gangs, and substance use in the violence experienced by children and young people in Virginia and the United States. The report finds that increasing numbers of young people experience violent images and…

How can schoolyard bullies be stopped? How can sensitive children become more resilient? How can teachers and parents help youngsters deal with teasing and taunting? This guide--for teachers and parents of children in grades K-12--helps to answers these questions and others like them. It uses the "frames-and-scripts" approach, a method based on…

Many mothers and fathers are parenting differently since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This booklet describes how parents are discovering new ways to strengthen and build upon their relationships with their children and provides advice to parents on how to help their children grow closer to them, to become caring and sharing people,…

This study compared 96 high efficacy and 93 low efficacy elementary teachers regarding a variety of cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors associated with classroom management and discipline of at-risk students. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in relation to: teachers causal attributions for student misbehavior, expectancy…

This observational study investigated children's temperaments and their relation to behavior and emotion across different contexts. Temperament, or individual behavioral style, was conceptualized as the manifestation of affect displays and social behaviors in context, with emotions acting as signals for interactions. Ratings of child temperament…