This comprehensive "Handbook" focuses on the most used polytomous item response theory (IRT) models. These models help us understand the interaction between examinees and test questions where the questions have various response categories. The book reviews all of the major models and includes discussions about how and where the models…

Investigated effects of a year-long home intervention with a sample of preterm infants randomly assigned to one of three groups: developmental intervention, parent/infant intervention, and a no-treatment control. A full-term no-treatment control was also used. Findings confirm earlier studies and demonstrate changes in behavior and behavioral…

Temperament and attachment, as defined by Bowlby and his followers, are fundamentally different constructs, and research guided by the attachment perspective cannot meaningfully be assimilated to the temperament construct. Qualitative aspects of relationships simply cannot be reduced to individual behavioral dimensions. (RH)

Experimental group mothers reported significantly greater self-confidence and satisfaction with mothering and more favorable perception of infant temperament than did control group mothers. Differences between children on cognitive scores became significant at 36 and 48 months of age, when the experimental group caught up with normal children. (RH)

Examines 95 parents' reports of relations between infant termperament and parental psychological conditions, as well as familiy characteristics of socioeconomic status, birth order, and infant gender. (HOD)

Two studies examined possible effects of four modes of infant care on child behavior exhibited later. Modes included care at home by the mother, at home by a relative or sitter, at a sitter's home, and in a group care center. First, a longitudinal study assessed children at 2 years of age on a wide array of personality and cognitive measures. A…