Infants were familiarized to one stimulus fora brief period of time and then presented with two test trials on which the familiar stimulus was paired with a stimulus novel in colour or one novel in shape. A significant preference for the novel stimulus was only evident in the former test, with this outcome being independent of the “categorical clarity” of the familiar colour. The findings indicate differential encoding rates for colour and shape for these stimuli and suggest a basis for explaining the salience of colour in children's early cognitive processing.

Using an extended fear survey schedule, 72 per cent of a sample of 8 to 16 year old children and adolescents in Australia reported a lot of fear of nuclear war. Although a high proportion of respondents in all age groups expressed a lot of fear of nuclear war, significantly more respondents in the middle age group (11-13 years) were found to be afraid. Consistent with the findings on children's fears in general, significantly more females than males reported fear of nuclear war. Further research should be undertaken on the impact of the fear of nuclear war on the psychological development of children and adolescents.

Several studies are reviewed which evaluate the efficacy of training social problem-solving. Most of these studies reported assessing whether transfer of training took place following training. The means by which these assessments were made are examined and conclusions drawn concerning their validity. Attention is also drawn to the findings reported from several recent studies that question the efficacy of the step-by-step process model of training and propose an alternative model based on content analysis. Finally, the role of verbal cues in training social problem-solving is examined and a call made for the empirical analysis of competent behaviour in natural settings prior to training.

The effect of parental separation and divorce on the academic achievement of young primary school-aged children was examined using standardized instruments. Children from non-intact backgrounds were matched with an intact group of peers at both the early and middle years of primary school.

Analysis of results suggested that there were no significant differences in levels of achievement between the non-intact children and their intact peers either at the early or middle years of school across any of the variables measured. This finding is consistent with other studies using standardized measures of academic achievement.

Over 300 parents from two infant/primary schools responded to a survey concerning parent-child conflict associated with homework. Results show that 1 in 4 parents report that there is a substantial amount of tension concomitant with homework and that for many the problem is not transient but has been present for a long time. The implications of these findings on the benefit of homework as a learning activity, and also on the effect such conflict may have on the parent-child relationship, are discussed.

Time Out (TO) and Trained Play Sessions (TPS) of basketball/football and computer games were used to reduce the self-stirnulatory behaviour of a higher functioning autistic child in an integrated classroom setting. The self-stimulatory behaviour took the form of inappropriate vocalization while gazing at the classroom clock. The client participated in sessions in an A-B-A-B design where A is the baseline and B the intervention. In addition, there was one continuation phase and an additional phase with a different condition. It was found that: (a) during baseline, inappropriate vocalisation was very high with the clock on the wall, (b) the percentage of inappropriate vocalisation dropped during the intervention and continuation phases when the clock was removed from the wall and TO and TPS were introduced and (c) the reduction in inappropriate vocalisation was found to be maintained when TPS were conducted with the clock on the wall and without TO.

The range and incidence of responsivity to the onset of a stressful event was investigated with two different age groups of teenagers. There was a wide degree of responsivity to the stressor used and this responsivity was not found to be related to performance on the stressful event, sex of respondent, or physical fitness as measured by resting heart rate. Implications for effective stress-management of secondary school students' hyperresponsivity to similar stressors are discussed, with several suggestions given for implementation of these procedures.

In 1988 the report entitled “Interagency Responses to School Children with Social and Behavioural Problems” was released in South Australia. The investigation, chaired by Ms. Penny Stratmann, was asked to review the current provision of services for children of school age in South Australia who exhibit social and behavioural problems, and to examine inter alia, the extent of the problem.

The report stated that the extent of the problem was difficult to assess in numerical terms because; (i) schools do not keep systematic records, (ii) identification of disruptive students is a matter of definition and attitude (some schools would identify student behaviour as disruptive which other schools may be able to prevent or contain), (iii) it is even harderto identify is the number of children whose response to problems is passive (they are often compliant, no trouble, not noticeable), and (iv) small numbers of disruptive students create a disproportionately large amount of havoc in schools and stress in teachers. (These outcomes are the most significant in their impact but the least measurable).

The article discusses the occupational status of school psychologists, and the implications of that status. The question as to whether school psychologists are professionals is quickly dealt with. They are. Then questions are raised concerning problems in professional practice in contemporary Australia, and possible sources of support for the professional in his or her own practice. Continuing professional education (CPE) is suggested as the means of supporting professionals, such as school psychologists, in their practice. Three bases for the type of CPE being advocated are suggested: professional practice; a consortium for provision; clearly defined goals. The perspective of the article is that of all professionals working in Australia. Experience and research in other professions in Australia and from overseas are related to the professional practice of school psychologists in Australia.

Since the discovery that children's human figure drawings followed a clear developmental progression with increasing age, they have been used extensively as estimates of intelligence. From its development in 1926, the Goodenough Draw-a-Man Test provided psychologists and educators with a simple mental age score of a child's cognitive maturity. Its attraction lay in the fact that the test's non-verbal nature and brevity allowed it to be used with those whose language skills or attention span was problematic.

In 1963, Harris revised the Draw-a-Man and published his work as the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test. The test was normed on nearly 3,000 school children aged between 5 and 15 years who were attending regular school classes. The sample was drawn from 10 states covering 4 regions of the United States; the Mid-Atlantic and New England area, the South, the West and the upper Mid-West. However, there was no control for racial distribution. The tendency for girls to perform consistently better than boys of the same age resulted in the development of different norms for the sexes, but with each having a mean standard score of 100, with a standard deviation of 15 at each age level. Harris also devised different scoring standards depending upon whether the drawn figure was a male or female, with 73 scoring points for a male figure and 71 for a female figure.

About eight years ago I co-wrote a paper on guidance officer training in Victoria which argued that guidance officers required training in six core competency areas. There were identified as assessment, counselling, research, educational consultancy, systems intervention, and professional practice.

At the time, the intent was to argue for a broader training for guidance officers rather than the traditional focus on issues of assessment and counselling. It was recognising an international trend in service delivery from individual casework models to those which incorporated consultancy and direct classroom interventions. The paperwas arguing fora comprehensive training program which supported guidance officers and gave them the skills and strategies required to make this shift.