Patterns of communication are commonly referred to in the language and communication literature particularly with adult samples. In this research 50 female and 30 male adolescents and adults participated in in-depth, structured interviews about their patterns of communication. Research typically defines such patterns in reference to the dominant style of the individual or group. Implied in the attribution of a dominant style is the idea that dominance is associated with recurrence. The recurrent patterns of communication have not been investigated in relation to the focus of the communication and the sex of the respondent. In the present research respondents were interviewed about the iterative process involved in their communication with other adolescents and adults. It was expected that a recurrent, sequential pattern of the focus of communication factors would emerge. Six naturally emerging factors emerged from the data, the most frequent being on task, conceding and succeeding. These categories were used in an ordered manner at various times in the dialogues described. Findings also showed patterned similarities and differences in the communication of males and females when they were communicating with adolescents and adults. Importantly, the interview format of this research provided insight into the use of confusion as a strategy in communication.

The purpose of this report is to provide some data on the interests of primary school pupils. Year 3 6 pupils (N=240) responded to the Inventory of Children's Activities, a 30-item general interest questionnaire based on the hexagonal interest and personality typology of Holland. Responses to a 5-point scale were dichotomized and were analysed using a Rasch model (RUMM2010). Items conformed partly to the measurement model and the six scales were characterised by moderate separability (.586 to .690). It was considered that children's interests did not conform to an adult typology; that interests may be idiosyncratic; and, an alternative hypothesis of a general interest dimension comprising all 30 items was also explored. This resulted in a dimension with 0.897 separability and Cronbach alpha of 0.828 but still with the interests of some pupils not covered appropriately.

This study assessed childhood prospective memory, the memory for future intentions such as remembering to hand in homework by: (a) comparing 47 children in three age groups; (b) using both time- (i.e., CyberCruiser)*, and event-based (i.e., a card sorting task) prospective memory tosks; and (c) examining relationships between prospective and retrospective memory, and prospective memory and two tests of executive function (Stroop Colour-Word Interference Test [Stroop] and Tower of London [TOL]. Results indicated improvements with age, albeit not identical patterns of improvement, on both prospective- and retrospective-memory tasks and the TOL Furthermore, the TOL was significantly correlated with both measures of prospective memory. The different patterns of improvement with age on the prospective memory tasks suggest that it is not the type of task per se that matters so much as the complexity of the task. It is recommended that aspects of task demand be investigated further.

The early identification and referral of students with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is crucial for the implementation of timely intervention and therapy. Classroom teachers could be well positioned to identify and refer students with OCD to the school counsellor or support services team due to their extensive interaction with these students. However, teachers need to become more knowledgeable about OCD to successfully identify and thus be able to refer students with OCD (Purcell, 1999). These students also need to be managed differently within the classroom. However, there is limited support to guide teacher practice in this area. This paper provides a general overview of childhood OCD and explores the role of teachers in the identification, referral and management of students with OCD.

This paper reports information from three separate large-scale surveys of students' spelling achievement in South Australian schools. The data were collected over a period of twenty-six years. Changes in spelling standards are discussed, with particular reference to the possible impaa that changes in teaching methods may have on children's spelling ability. The instrument used for testing was the South Australian Spelling Test (SAST).