How can we use insights from cutting-edge science to improve the well-being and long-term life prospects of the most vulnerable children in our society? This is both a critical challenge and a powerful opportunity to affect the trajectories of millions of children in the United States and around the world. It is a question of particular importance…

Museum educators often think about what they want children to take away with them from museum visits. But at least as important is what children bring to these visits. Research in developmental psychology shows that children and adolescents progress through a sequence of ways of understanding knowledge and knowing--understanding that lies at the…

Reveals conclusions of an analysis of developmental psychology textbook information about television and children. Reports variability in the amount and type of information presented. Suggests that the amount of information presented has declined in recent years. Expresses concern for the textbooks' scant coverage of the effects of television on…

In families with two working parents, fathers make important contributions to children's early language skills. Results from a new study by FPG Child Development Institute show that children whose fathers' vocabulary was more varied when they were two, had greater language skills at age three. Mother's vocabulary was not found to have a…

A former Fellow briefly describes in this presentation at a symposium "Scholars Working in Congress: The Impact of the Congressional Science Fellowship Program on the Field of Child Development" the knowledge/skill-based and socialization-based approaches designed to teach developmental psychologists to operate as professionals at the…

Illustrating major points with specific examples (including a "Doonesbury cartoon), the main article faults schools' organizational efficiency and educators' ignorance of child development for forcing young children to work beyond their developmental readiness. An inset article presents the 19th century kindergarten as a haven for children to grow…

How Piaget's theory of developmental stages affects the musical ability of children at different ages is important for the music educator to understand. The following developmental stages are discussed: sensorimotor period, preoperations period, concrete operations period, formal operations period, and creative stage. (RM)

This book provides a comprehensive clinical-developmental framework for understanding and treating behavior problems in early childhood. Examining the developmental tasks and transitions that young children face in cognitive, social, and family contexts, the book helps readers distinguish between typical, age-appropriate behaviors and those that…

This paper addresses the unevenness of the existing knowledge base on development and individual differences, and presents a structural model diagraming organismic and environmental influences on development. The model identifies sets of conditions which can result in gifted performance, the development of giftedness, and the maintenance of…

This set of newsletters presents a developmental perspective on gifted students from preschoolers to adolescents. Included are such regular columns as "The Hidden Gifted Learner,""Parenting the Gifted,""Instructional Strategies,""Creative Ventures and Encounters,""The Reading Room" (a book review column), "Personality Plus,""Adolescent…

Discusses a developmental approach to children's library services in which the communication element is essential to successful programing and reader's advisory, both of which provide opportunities for using communication techniques that are meaningful in the pattern of a child's intellectual development. The stages of development are outlined.…

From earliest infancy, a typically developing child imitates or mirrors the facial expressions, postures and gestures, and emotional behavior of others. Where does this capacity come from, and what function does it serve? What happens when imitation is impaired? Synthesizing cutting-edge research emerging from a range of disciplines, this…

The multiple intelligence theory is based on cultural contexts, biological analysis, developmental theories, and a vertical theory of faculties. Seven intelligences are identified: linguistic, logical mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. The theory's educational implications are described,…

This book is intended to help educators understand how students learn and what teachers can do to foster student achievement. It explains how diverse developmental needs, such as lack of self-esteem or cultural alienation, can be at the root of a student's learning difficulties. Case studies illustrate the ways educators can assess and resolve…

Examines the relationship between music and human development. Gives an overview of research on children's musical responses. Says music educators can create an environment where children can develop musical knowledge and skills. Urges more longitudinal research like Harvard University's Project Zero where characteristics of developmental stages…