Developmental aspects of auditory and visual scanning.

60 Ss from Grades 1 through 6 were administered an auditory and visual scanning procedure and 27 of those Ss were given arithmetic and reading achievement tests. Data indicated scanning ability increases linearly with grade in school and the relationship between the scanning measures also increases sharply with grade. Auditory scanning was related to academic achievement; visual scanning only approached significance with arithmetic achievement but was unrelated to reading achievement.     

Sensory integration and single-modality scanning.

An auditory scanning, visual scanning, and auditory-visual integration test was administered to 72 children from grades 1, 2, 3, and 5 to determine whether increases in sensory integration skills could be accounted for by increases in skills of single modalities. Using a multiple regression model, the results indicated that increases in integrative functioning occur independently of developmental changes in individual modalities. Implications for future research are presented.     

Effect of donor resources on recipient self-esteem and self-help

A 2 (aid vs no aid) × 2 (high vs low resource potential donor) between subjects design tested the effects of aid and donor resources on recipient self-perceptions and subsequent self-help behavior. The results were characterized by interactions between the two factors. Subjects who received aid from a low resource donor perceived themselves more positively and engaged in less self-help than subjects in the no-aid low resource potential donor condition. In contrast, subjects who received aid from a high resource donor perceived themselves less positively and tended to engage in more self-help behavior than subjects in the no-aid high resource potential donor condition. The relationship between threat to self-esteem inherent in aid and subsequent self-help is discussed in terms of self-esteem theory.     

Information extraction during visual search: A developmental progression

Five developmental experiments examine the role of context in visual search. Experiments I and II presented either lists or paragraphs that were either in meaningful context or scrambled. Results showed a significant interaction of these variables. Experiment II examined within-item context or predictability and replicated and extended the work of Brand (1971) and Ingling (1972). Experiments IV and V examined search through lists of various widths; results showed a significant interaction of Grade × Position × Width reflecting the different perceptual spans of children and adults. Although these were search tasks, appropriate comparisons between list and paragraph performance were made allowing interpretations of the results to be supportive of a model of reading in which meaningfulness, predictability, and peripheral vision play critical roles.     

Parental correlates of Rorschach human movement responses in children.

The meaning of the human movement response (M) to inkblot stimuli was explored in terms of correlations between children's M productions and the attributes of their parents in 119 familes. M scores were available for the family members; and for each parent there were also measures of personality, values, and childrearing attitudes. A number of the parent-child correlational patterns were congruent with Rorschach's theories concerning the significance of M.     

Fusion frequency as a function of number and phase of binocular stimuli

The relation of fusion hertz to the number of pulses in a train was explored under three conditions: monoptically, dichoptically inphase, and dichoptically antiphase. All three conditions show an increase in fusion hertz as the number of pulses in the stimulating train increases. Over the range of pulse numbers investigated, fusion hertz varies principally with the number of pulses delivered to one eye regardless of the stimulating condition of the other eye.     

Influence and Selection In the Friend-adolescent Relationship: Findings from Studies of Adolescent Smoking and Drinking1

The importance of friend influence as a determinant of adolescent behavior has primarily been inferred from research that has repeatedly demonstrated the behavior of friends to be similar. Homogeneity among peers, however, could also be due to a selection process whereby adolescents choose and keep friends whose behavior is similar to their own. Most previous studies have used cross-sectional designs that cannot delineate the source of peer homogeneity; this study employed sociometric data from longitudinal research on adolescent smoking and drinking to separate and examine the selection and influence processes. Although the findings indicate some support for the friend influence model, the acquisition hypothesis from the selection model accounts for substantially more of the adolescent-friend relationship. The implications of these results for past and future research concerning the role of peers in adolescence are discussed.