Compared children's performance on initial-unknown and final-unknown problems involving the addition or subtraction of a single item. Found that although 4-year olds responded in a directionally appropriate way to the final-unknown problems but not to the corresponding initial-unknown ones, 5-year olds were able to respond appropriately to both.…

Examined 30 Indonesian toddlers' play with their mothers and siblings. Found that the level of object play and mutual involvement in cooperative social pretend play increased with age. Findings suggest that older siblings can be effective facilitators of pretend play with younger children. (MDM)

Two studies examined preschoolers' conflict behavior in peer and sibling dyads. Found that conflicts were quickly resolved in nonaggressive ways, and they occurred within the context of ongoing, coordinated play. Most conflicts occurred between same-gender dyads. Age was also found to influence conflict behavior. (HTH)

This exploratory study assessed whether mental disability stigma can be usefully investigated by looking at parental (n=131) stress and (1) deviating characteristics of the child and (2) distressing reactions of others. Stress was found to be significantly associated with parents exhibiting either controlled affect or dissociation modes of coping.…

A survey of 89 on-campus and 50 teleconferencing students (71 percent response) showed that 83 percent of externals were over 19 and 94 percent of internals were 18 or less. External students had higher scores for intrinsic motivation, interrelating ideas, and deep approach; internal students for fear of failure, surface approach, achievement…

Examined use of parental affinity-seeking strategies by high school students (n=246). Results were consistent with Bell and Daly's (1984) constraints dimension of affinity-seeking process, with adolescents employing narrower range of strategies with the parent as familiar target. Additionally, significant differences in use of strategies were…

Examines some current theories claiming to explain the acquisition of the passive. The results are then presented from an experiment with Italian subjects of different age and school levels. The authors findings bear directly on current psycholinguistic theories. (22 references) (LET)

Analyzed drawing and writing of 60 Chinese boys and girls of 2 to 6 years. Children drew self-portraits and wrote their own name. There was an age effect in both tasks. Children as young as three years could differentiate drawing from writing. (MM)

A variety of ways in which retired college faculty benefit from social services and commercial and professional perquisites, in addition to retirement income, are discussed. It is proposed that these faculty are benefiting at the expense of their younger colleagues and should in turn participate in volunteer public service. (MSE)

This study examines the existence of Oedipal conflicts and the relationship of social and cognitive factors to Oedipal conflicts. Forty children of three to six years were studied and found to show Oedipal behaviors that varied with age and changes in the children's social and cognitive understanding. (SH)

Studied the ability of 8- and 11-year olds, and college-age subjects, to allocate attention rapidly. Older subjects were better able to reallocate attention. The developmental change in the reallocation of attention appears to be continuous and quantitative. Improvement is linked to the ability to use active attentional strategies. (Author/GH)

Examines seventh grade life science students, tenth grade biology students, and college zoology students for understanding of the concept of diffusion. Describes the differences among the grade levels in sound or partial understanding, misconceptions, and no understanding. Discusses the effect of developmental level on understanding. (KR)

This study of mathematics and science attitudes of 117 African-American gifted middle grade students found significant gender differences in attitude toward success in mathematics and perceptions of mathematics as a male domain. No significant grade differences or interactions were found in any of the variables. (Author/JDD)

Eighty-five elementary and secondary teachers completed a questionnaire about the characteristics of gifted students. The perceptual differences identified were related to grade level taught and whether teachers had taken courses or workshops on gifted education. The paper concludes that teachers of the gifted need more grade-specific course work…

Collected teacher absenteeism data for 108 elementary teachers and 165 secondary teachers in Nova Scotia. Compared absences by sex, age, level of license, school level taught, and days of the week. The most significant predictor of short-term absences is the level of school taught. Elementary teachers are absent more than secondary teachers. (KS)