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Production, mediational, and utilization deficiencies, which describe how strategy use may contribute to developmental trends in episodic memory, have been intensively investigated. Using a mediator report-and-retrieval method, the authors present evidence concerning the degree to which 2 previously unexplored mediator-based deficits--retrieval and decoding deficiencies--account for age deficits in learning. During study, older and younger adults were instructed to use a strategy (imagery or sentence generation) to associate words within paired associates. They also reported each mediator and later attempted to retrieve each response and the mediator produced at study. Substantial deficits occurred in mediator recall, and small differences were observed in decoding mediators. Mediator recall also accounted for a substantial proportion of the age deficits in criterion recall independently of fluid or crystallized intelligence. Discussion focuses on mediator-based deficiencies and their implications for theories of age deficits in episodic memory.

Mixed lists of associatively related and unrelated paired associates were used to study monitoring of associative learning. Older and younger adults produced above-chance levels of relative accuracy, as measured by intraindividual correlations (gamma) of judgments of learning (JOLs) with item recall. JOLs were strongly influenced by relatedness, and this effect was greater for older adults. Relative accuracy was higher for unrelated than for related pairs. Correlations of JOLs with item recall for a randomly yoked learner indicated that access to one's own encoding experiences increased relative accuracy. Both age groups manifested a contrast effect (lower JOLs for unrelated items when mixed with related items). Aging appears to spare monitoring of encoding, even though it adversely affects associative learning.

This article contrasts the differences between the educational philosophy and procedures used in early childhood education (ECE) and early childhood special education (ECSE). ECE emphasizes child-directed instruction that is based on children's choices and interests and is embedded in children's play. ECSE emphasizes teacher-directed activities that promote the acquisition of specific developmental skills. We propose that there is insufficient evidence to claim that the ECSE model is essential to the developmental functioning of children with disabilities. In contrast, recent research on parent--child interaction points to the potential benefits of ECE procedures. Findings from this research provide a rationale for examining how the ECE model can be adapted to meet the needs of children with disabilities.

This paper describes the Transactional Intervention Program (TRIP), an intervention curriculum designed to modify patterns of interaction between parents and their young handicapped children. Issues that were considered in designing the program are discussed, and evaluation data on a group of 41 handicapped children and their parents are presented. Data indicate that parent-child interaction is an important and legitimate focus for early intervention. At the same time, the data illustrate the complex nature of parent-child interaction and underscore the difficulty of developing and evaluating interventions designed to modify it.

This investigation presents data on a seven-item short form of the Maternal Behavior Rating Scale, which is a global rating scale designed to assess the quality of maternal interactive behavior with young mentally retarded children. Seven items were used to assess the interactive behavior of a sample of 60 mothers while they were playing with their mentally retarded children who were either 1, 2, or 3 years of age. A factor analysis of the seven items revealed two independent parameters of maternal behavior, child orientedness/pleasure, and control. A least squares regression procedure indicated that the two factors accounted for 20% of the variability in children's level of mental development. These results closely approximated those obtained with the 18-item version of this scale.