Children ages 1 1/2 to 3 years were tested to determine their comprehension of the terms "in,""on," and "under." It was found that children who listened to a pretest story involving the objects to be used in the study showed markedly better comprehension of the terms than children not exposed to the pretest activity.…

Examines questions related to whether children with severe learning disabilities go through the same developmental stages as children without such problems, or whether they develop along different lines. Explores the "delay" versus "deviance" issue in relation to linguistic development in children with Down's syndrome. Looks…

Two studies examined the development of children's knowledge of the situations that provoke emotion. English and Dutch (Study 1) and Nepalese (Study 2) children were presented common emotional terms and asked to describe situations likely to provoke each emotion. In both cases, the determinants suggested by the children indicated that children…

Analysis of naturalistic data identified features of adult-child talk which occurred frequently at school but rarely at home. One of these features--question sequences intended to elicit an answer--was used in an intervention study and was found to promote young children's understanding of ambiguity in verbal messages. (PCB)

With reference to Chinese language and its unique orthography, evidence for language-related differences in manners of information processing is reviewed. These differences include visual form perception, manipulation of numbers, and memory versus manipulation and elaboration of verbal information. (Author/RH)

Three-year-old children and their families were observed during a dinner time situation in which all family members were present. Study results suggest how the mealtime experience, filled with information concerning sex-role behavior, social manners and habits, and interpersonal relations between parents and children, is a central multifaceted…