Unrealistic personal optimism is the perception that undesirable events are less likely and desirable events are more likely to happen to oneself than they are to happen to other similar people. Three experiments were performed to study the relationships among personal optimism, perceived control, and selective activation of the cerebral…

Factor analysis and multiple regression are two major approaches used to look at functional age, which takes account of the extensive variation in the rate of physiological and psychological maturation throughout life. To examine the role of racial or cultural influences on the measurement of functional age, a battery of 12 tests concentrating on…

The present research shows the development of, and rationale for, status perceptions. By grade 2, both Catholic and public school pupils are well socialized to accept inequality, and rank occupations accurately in accordance with adult values. By grade 4, they legitimate the ranking. Public school children gave an increasing emphasis on…

Although the study of the acquisition of a first language has been split by a controversy between the "innatists" and the "behaviorists," neither group has given enough consideration to the relationship between language development and the other developments of the child (social, cognitive, and perceptual). This collection of readings links the…

Witkin's Embedded Figures Test (EFT) was used to measure the changes with age in field dependence and problem-solving ability. Qualitative data concerning problem-solving strategies and quantitative data were collected. EFT was administered to 12 females in each of the following decades: 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. All subjects were moderately…

This research deals with the development and relative importance of both the conceptual-cognitive and the aesthetic-affective aspect of the perceptual process at various age levels of children. Three tasks were chosen: (1) sorting drawings of human figures--a task that represents a more conceptual function; (2) expressing preferences for those…

This report is an evaluation of a New York City school district educational project funded under Title VIB Education of the Handicapped Act. Under the direction of a project coordinator and a music therapist, 365 emotionally disturbed, hyperactive, and mentally retarded youngsters, ranging in age from 6 to 15, participated in the program. Primary…

Recognizing that photography in the classroom is highly motivating in that it offers a unique vehicle for communicating ideas visually, this study was designed to isolate variables which can be both observed and evaluated in photographs and for which instruction can be designed. Relationships among the technical and aesthetic qualities in…

A study was conducted to test whether three, four, and five-year-old children would be better able to use either static or dynamic properties for grouping objects, and whether performance under these conditions would be better than when no property was given. One of the two study tasks, the free sort, also used by Rosch et al. (1976), asked…

This paper discusses a longitudinal, exploratory study of developmental dimensions related to object permanence theory and explains how multidimensional scaling techniques can be used to identify developmental dimensions. Eighty infants, randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups and one of four counterbalanced orders of stimuli, were…

To determine the developmental level at which letter processing skills become automatic, an experiment was conducted using a variant of the visual search task. Subjects in grades one, two, and three and in college searched for target letters displayed on a cathode ray tube along with either visually confusable letters, acoustically confusable…

THIS BOOKLET WAS DESIGNED TO MEET SOME IMMEDIATE NEEDS FOR THE FIRST SUMMER SESSION OF PROJECT HEAD START. IT CONTAINS SOME OF THE MOST WORKABLE AND PROMISING TEACHING METHODS IN THE ENTIRE FIELD OF COMPENSATORY EDUCATIONS, METHODS THAT HAVE BEEN USED IN PRIVATELY SPONSORED CENTERS AND HAVE PROVED VALUABLE IN COPING WITH PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN…

THE THEORY OF VISIBLE DISPLAYS IMPLIES A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERCEPTION IN THE CHILD AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIS CAPACITY TO MAKE THINGS THAT STIMULATE PERCEPTION. TO VERIFY THIS, TWO STUDIES ON THE FUNDAMENTAL GRAPHIC ACT AMONG YOUNG CHILDREN CONSIDERED MOTIVATING FACTORS LIKE THE PLEASURE OF MOVING, KINESTHESIS, ACTIVITY DRIVE,…

THE PUBLICATION INCLUDES THE SPEECHES OF THE TWO KEYNOTE SPEAKERS, A PROGRESS REPORT OF THE OHIO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PILOT PROJECTS, AND THE SUMMARIES OF NINE WORK-GROUP SESSIONS. THE TOPICS PRESENTED ARE--IMPLEMENTING DEMOCRACY IN THE CLASSROOM, WORKING WITH GROUPS IN THE CLASSROOM, TESTING IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, PLAY THERAPY IN THE ELEMENTARY…

The study developed and used a self-report graphic Multisensory Imagery Scale (MIS) to analyze imaginal behavior, and to test the hypothesis that multisensory (MS) imagery is a specific teacher competency associated with effective teaching, particularly in special education. The MIS was field-tested, abbreviated, performed on teacher trainees,…