For adults, fear of death is universal, but young children are exposed to realities of death only infrequently and are often shielded from it by parents. Because parents realize the extent of a child's fear of losing a parent, parents sometimes take precautionary steps, such as avoiding both parents' travelling on the same airplane or designating…

Participants were interviewed about the biological and psychological functioning of a dead agent. In Experiment 1, even 4- to 6-year-olds stated that biological processes ceased at death, although this trend was more apparent among 6- to 8-year-olds. In Experiment 2, 4- to 12-year-olds were asked about psychological functioning. The youngest…

Examined the relationship between depression rates, IQ, knowledge of the finality of death, exposure to suicidal behavior and knowledge of suicide methods. Found that the effect of these factors differed between suicidal and nonsuicidal psychiatrically hospitalized children and developmentally delayed adolescents. Also found that the factors had…

Adverse childhood events can influence the development of emotional and physiological self-regulatory abilities, with significant consequences for vulnerability to psychological and physical illness. This study evaluated stress sensitization and inoculation models of the impact of early parental death on stress exposure and reactivity in late…

A total of 122 middle-class White boys and girls aged 3 through 12 years were interviewed to determine the nature and the development of their concepts of death and the impact of experience on those concepts. (Author/BH)

Tasha R. Howe got her BA in psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She received her MA and PhD in developmental psychology from the University of California, Riverside. After doing an NIMH-sponsored postdoctoral fellowship in developmental psychopathology at Vanderbilt University, she served as assistant professor of…

Provides a review of the literature on children's developmental conceptions and reactions to death. Suggestions are made as to provide appropriate intervention strategies that can be used by psychologists, such as individual counseling, play therapy, bibliotherapy, family counseling, and group counseling. (Contains 105 references.) (GCP)

Explored children's conceptions of death from a Piagetian framework. Significant changes in the direction of more realistic attitudes by children were noted as levels of cognitive development advanced. (DP)

The aesthetic quality and psychological subtlety of contemporary picture books give genuine expression to a child's conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions. Increasingly, themes of existential and developmental stress are appearing in picture books. Typical reactions aroused by such stress factors--and also by themes treated in picture…

Few images are as compelling as a child who has become the victim of a manmade or natural disaster. This book is designed to draw together data, theory, and observation that address children's psychological response to disaster. Characterized by its diversity in scope, nature, and quality, some of the material comes in the form of observations…

Fourteen preoperational retarded boys and girls were interviewed for their concepts of death. Subjects did not have realistic concepts of when they would die, or of the permanence of death, but did have knowledge of how things die. Types of replies subjects made were significantly related to subjects' cognitive level. (Author/RH)

The 15 essays in this collection examine and challenge the assumptions and beliefs underlying the theory and practice of gifted education today. Essays are grouped into three sections which consider first, reconceptualizations of giftedness; second, gifted education and equity; and third, the practice of gifted education (identification,…

Classroom teachers need to understand the broad differences that exist between a child's perception of death and that of an adult and should be prepared to confront and cope with the effects of death and grief upon students. Children's perceptions of death and ways in which the teacher can help the child with his grief are described. (JN)

This book presents three models for teaching social studies to young children, each of which is based on use of the senses, concrete experiences, and opportunities to discuss observations. The models can be used as needed with children at differing levels since each addresses a particular level of development. The book focuses on a cognitive…

Much of the research on orphan and vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa has focused on their risks and vulnerabilities. This article describes the "funds of knowledge" (Moll and Greenberg, 1990) and means of acquiring new knowledge of children living in child-headed households in Uganda's Rakai District. Using ethnographic methods,…