Reports two experiments in which eight patients with organic memory disorders exhibited a pattern of search behavior that resembled mnemonmic precedence--the ability to retrieve an object at an initial location, but not at a new location. (HOD)

An ecological method was used to assess the patterns of goal-directed behaviors of eight children with autism and eight chronological and mental age comparable children with Down syndrome. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative behavior coding indicated that children with autism exhibited shorter and less overlapping goal-directed behaviors,…

Recent experimental research is synthesized to identify distinctive biobehavioral characteristics of Down's Syndrome persons across their lifespan. It is argued that educational and other intervention programs have not demonstrated strong gains having significant durability or generalization. Recommended is an interactionist function-structure…

Examines the ability of six- and eight-year-old children to hide and recover 20 marbles in a large room containing 100 possible sites. Shows that children tend to concentrate activities in sections of the room and are sensitive to clusters of proximal sites. (HOD)

Explores children's understanding of a variety of interpersonal events, focusing mainly on the question of whether, and in what way, their conceptions of these events were heterogeneous or undifferentiated. (HOD)

Tests the ability of 43 children, ranging in age from 20 months to 40 months, to discriminate between pictures of boys and girls and male and female adults. Compares children who passed this gender-task with those who failed it on three behaviors most often categorized as sex-typed: toy choice, aggression, and peer playmate selection. (HOD)

Observed play of 52 toddlers with a set of socially stereotyped masculine, feminine, and neutral toys in a day care setting over 14 months to (1) determine the age at which toddlers consistently exhibit sex-stereotyped toy choices in a natural setting and (2) investigate relation of parents' expectations and the children's own knowledge of gender…

This study compared the linguistic, cognitive, and behavioral performance at 6-8 years of age of eight children born preterm and low birth weight (3-5 pounds) with that of 12 full-term peers. Quantitative analyses of performance profiles for all the children are provided. Findings found no significant differences between groups in linguistic,…

Describes two measures of gender salience, one assessing the use of the gender dimension in classifying new information and the other assessing its use in making affiliation choices. The developmental course of gender salience from age three to age seven and the relation between salience and sex-role development were examined. (HOD)

Observed a group of 46 children classified at 20 months as either behaviorally inhibited or uninhibited, and 18 children who were classified aa falling at neither extreme at 5.5 years of age, in contexts designed to evaluate behavior in social situations and heart rate, heart variability, and pupillary dilation to cognitive tasks. (HOD)

Explores the relations between temperament, communicative competence, and humor expression among four- and five-year-old nursery school children. Shows that ratings of communicative competence and various dimensions of temperament account for a significant proportion of the variance in the reported frequency of children's laughter and verbal and…

Reviews and integrates several aspects of peer interaction in the infant/toddler period. Reveals convergence between age-related changes in social skills and similarly timed cognitive developments. (HOD)

Compares the separation distress of 26 19-month-old Downs Syndrome infants in the Strange Situation with that of 43 normal infants who were observed at 12 1/2 and 19 1/2 months to assess whether Downs Syndrome infants responded more similarly to cognitively comparable normals than to age-comparable normals. (HOD)

Parents of 42 children (ages 2-32) with Lesch-Nyhan disease were questioned concerning the subjects' behavior patterns. Grouping of responses into nine categories of cognitive skills indicated that only one boy showed any significant cognitive impairment. Despite evidence of good cognitive and emotional skills, subjects were academically delayed,…

Examined the ability of three-year-olds, four-year-olds, kindergartners, and second graders to predict how certain internal and external conditions affect behavior. In two studies, a forced-choice procedure revealed that even the youngest group could predict the effect of various causes, while a third study examined more complex types of causal…