Joint attention (JA) is the purposeful coordination of an individual's focus of attention with that of another and begins to develop within the first year of life. Delayed, or atypically developing, JA is an early behavioural sign of many developmental disabilities and so assessing JA in infancy can improve our understanding of trajectories of…

In Germany, all-day care and all-day schooling are currently increasing on a large-scale. The extended time children spend in educational institutions could potentially result in limited access to nature experience for children. On the other hand, it could equally create opportunities for informal nature experience if school playgrounds have a…

This article offers interpretive perspectives on play as a cultural activity during middle childhood by contrasting two communities targeted for aid by external sport and play programs: a Chicago public housing community and a community of Angolan refugee camps. Ethnographic anecdotes, along with some survey results, demonstrate that aside from…

This paper focuses upon the developmental role of rough and tumble (R&T) play with particular attention to the narratives that children use to underpin such activities. A review of the literature suggests that current early years research and practice pays scant attention to children's outdoor free play activities. A piece of original research is…

Three studies of children's verb meanings examined the development of action categories and evaluated a model which posits that categories specific to self-action or observed action are extended to encompass both kinds of instances as children develop the ability to note parallels between themselves and others as initiators of action. (Author/BW)

Reviews selected literature on child development about children's symbol use in performance of spatial and mathematical tasks. Describes the musical development of a child over a period of 16 months and shows how principles of symbol use from outside music can guide interpretations of children's symbol acquisition. (CMK)

This paper reviews observational studies of infant-environment interaction during the first year of life. First, the utility of ecological and ethological perspectives for the assessment of organism-environment interactions is explored. Second, the observational research is categorized and discussed along methodological lines in terms of variable…

This literature review on the importance of play in the development of children focuses on play differences of exceptional children, methods of observing and assessing play, play interventions, the use of toys and playthings, the role of nonhandicapped peers in play, the physical environment for play, and the role of adults. The paper concludes…

Noting that while laboratory investigations of recordings of children's spontaneous verbal creations or repetitions of traditional forms in their natural play habitats have indicated that they do engage in systematic explorations of language structures in their play, this paper points out that there have been no investigations of whether such…

Examined are the interactions of parents and their children with developmental disabilities, focusing on the following aspects: social, emotional, language, communication, clinical, educational, and methodological. A partial listing of contents follows: "Determinants of Parent and Child Interactive Behavior" (Carl Dunst and Carol…

Reviews and summarizes the literature on developmental and behavior problems displayed by young children. Focuses on the definition and classification of problems found in family or child care settings, prevalence of problems as reported by epidemiological studies, and the relative stability of behavior problems from preschool to adolescence.…

Suggests the need for detailed study of (1) behavior-environment interactions and (2) interdependencies within behavioral repertoires. Examines systems theory as a paradigm for both interpreting dynamic interrelationships and examining the complexities of learning and adaption. Argues for noninterventive studies of individual children's…

Intended for teachers and others having responsibility for shaping language policy in the schools, this collection of invited, original articles is based on the belief that a teacher's task is not to "teach" children language but, rather, to create an environment that will allow language learning to occur naturally. The book is divided into four…