Tested the generalizability of the specificity model of environmental action to the domain of mastery motivation in infants. Found that the specificity model successfully predicted that aspects of the environment uniquely related to dimensions of mastery motivation, and that infant sex and temperament mediated the relation of environment to…

Results of a study of 10- and 11- month-old infants support Piaget's hypothesis that practical, action-based knowledge during infancy is involved in achievement of spatial understanding and that the experience of self-initiated locomotion contributes to spatial development. (Author/NH)

Describes two studies in which young children were shown pictures that represented sound with postures and contexts, with conventions, and with combinations of information. Shows that the different types of pictorial representation of sound were not equivalent in their ability to evoke a correct interpretation. (HOD)

Investigates preschoolers' knowledge of counting principles by examining their ability to discriminate between features essential for correct counting and features typically present but unessential. Skill in executing the standard counting procedure was found to precede knowledge of the underlying principle. (Author/AS)

Attempts to identify deficits in object knowledge specific to the autistic syndrome. Examines the correspondence between sensorimotor and play behaviors and language in mentally retarded and normal children. Determines whether these correspondences are different for autistic, mentally retarded, and normal children.(Author/AS)

Examines modification of mother-child instruction as a function of age of learner in middle childhood (six versus eight years). Instruction and learning were compared on two tasks designed to simulate school and home activities. Results show more intense instruction of all kinds for the younger children in the school task. (RH)

Investigated whether and how children age 5 to 7 employed counting to measure and integrate the duration of two events, which were accompanied by metronome beats for half the children. The rhythm enhanced use of counting in younger children. By age 7, most counted spontaneously, using sensible counting strategies. (SKC)

Examines the development of conceptual preference for complementary versus taxonomic relationships in children, 3 to 17 years of age. The triads procedure was used with picture pairings familiar to the younger age group. The data revealed a preference for complementary pairs for all age groups. (Author/BB)

A go/no-go conditioned head-turn paradigm was used to examine the abilities of 6- and 12-month-olds to discriminate changes in temporal grouping and their perception of absolute and relative timing information when listening to patterns of white-noise bursts. (Author/RH)

Investigates how feedback from a listener helps kindergarteners attend to message quality and how such feedback affects speaking and listening skills. Results indicate that kindergarteners learn to assess message adequacy by observing listeners flounder with inadequate messages.(Author/AS)

Examines the ability of 30 normal and 30 learning disabled children across a three-year period to understand a sequence of instructions, communicate the steps in a sequence to others, and rephrase their verbal messages through a referential communication task. (HOD)

Examines the relations of levels of task engagement to investigation and visual attention in data from 30-month-old children. Finds significant correlations between task and other mastery behavior. Postulates task engagement as valid assessment of mastery behavior. Suggests the motivation for young children's play is acquisition and mastery of…

Investigates the developmental differences in spatial exploration and memory, depending on the purposes for which children six- to seven- and eight- to nine-years-old explored the space. The results suggest that children's knowledge of large-scale space is tailored to the purpose of acquiring such information. (Author/BB)

Full-term and preterm infants who had participated in studies of cross-modal and intramodal transfer at 12 months of age were seen at older ages to assess the predictive validity of these early measures for later cognition. (Author)

Sequences of mastery behavior were analyzed in a sample of 67 infants 6 to 12 months old. Authors computed (a) frequencies of six categories of mastery behavior, transitional probabilities, and z scores for each behavior change, and (b) transitions from a mastery behavior to positive affect. Changes in frequencies and similarity in organization…