Comprehensively reviews known examples of genetically influenced learning disabilities and speech and language disorders, including familial dyslexia, stuttering, and other speech and language disorders, as well as sex-chromosome anomalies, treated PKU, and minor auto-somal anomalies. (Author/RH)

Data on reading-disabled and control probands (pairs matched for sex, age, and school district) and their families were subjected to a comprehensive longitudinal-familial path analysis. Covariance matrices were constructed from composite scores for reading performance and for coding and symbol processing speed, and maximum likelihood estimates of…

Contrasts measurements and conceptualizations of the environment employed by environmentally oriented behavioral scientists with those developed by behavior geneticists. For the environmentalist, the environment is multidimensional, dynamic, and transactional, as well as mediated by the individual. By contrast, the behavior geneticist's…

Argues that nonshared within-family environmental variation is a major influence on general mental performance. Data are presented from longitudinal studies revealing that intraindividual variation over age in IQ accounts for as much or more variability than has been estimated to be the nonshared within-family environmental variability in IQ.…

Suggests that each dimension of perceived family environment appears to be influenced by a different combination of underlying factors: acceptance-rejection by genetic and specific environmental factors and restrictiveness-permissiveness by shared and specific environmental factors. (RH)

Proposes a theory of development in which experience is directed by genotypes and in which genotypic differences affect phenotypic differences, both directly and through experience, via three kinds of genotype-environment effects. The theory adapts the three kinds of genotype-environment correlations in a developmental model used to explain…

The propensity to raise and vary the pitch of one's voice when addressing an infant or small child was investigated in a sample of 16 male and 16 female adults, half of whom were married with children and half of whom had never married and never had children. (Author/RH)

The notion that partial control of full agent-action-patient word order in comprehension may precede its production was examined. Reversible active sentences including the verbs "kiss,""hug," and "tickle" were presented to a triad of listeners consisting of a test child, a familiar adult caretaker, and a familiar older child. (Author/RH)

Analyses of the interaction of 45 Swedish infants with their mothers and fathers revealed that degree of paternal involvement had no effect on preferences displayed on measures of attachment and affiliative behaviors. At both eight and 16 months, infants showed clear preferences for their mothers over their fathers. (Author/RH)

Acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of organizational strategies were studied in two experiments as a function of impulsivity-reflectivity and metamemory among primary school students. Findings are in line with the hypothesis that metamemory, rather than cognitive tempo, mediates the effectiveness of an experimenter-trained strategy in…

Compares the performance of preschool and kindergarten children who were presented with 18 paired associates to learn under three conditions: control, mnemonic test-time instructions, and mnemonic plus retrieval instructions. Results are consistent with the claim that younger children need more explicit prompts. (RH)

An experiment was conducted with 40 children, ages four to six, who were tested from both "good" and "poor" viewing positions on a perspective-taking task. As hypothesized, children showed no bias toward the view they chose when it was poor. However, when they had a good view they chose their own rather than another equally good view. (Author/RH)

Attempts to reevaluate the reliability characteristics of two scales used frequently in studies of children's locus of control; the Bialer scale and the Nowicki-Strickland scale. The study replicated and expanded upon earlier research by examining a wider range of grade levels and measures of children's locus of control expectancies. (Author/RH)

Three studies were conducted to assess age-related changes in children's compliant helping behavior (helping directed toward a peer at an adult's request) in relationship to (1) information about another's need, (2) knowledge about how to help, and (3) the helper's perception of interpersonal and situational constraints on helping. (Author/RH)

Concludes that Black and White kindergarten children indicate a preference for same-color peers at the beginning of kindergarten, that this preference increases over the school year, and that differences in behavioral style between Blacks and Whites may play a role in same-color preferences. (Author/RH)