Language exerts a powerful influence on our concepts. We review evidence documenting the developmental origins of a precocious link between language and object categories in very young infants. This collection of studies documents a cascading process in which early links between language and cognition provide the foundation for later, more precise…

Children from low-income environments are at increased risk of developing language delays which can negatively affect later academic and social outcomes. As children age, deficits between children with language delays and their typically developing peers continue to widen. In order to prevent future disabilities, efficient early language screening…

Behavioral and emotional problems are highly prevalent in early childhood and represent an important focus of practice for clinical child and pediatric psychologists. Although psychological or psychiatric disorders are not typically diagnosed in children under the age of 2 years, recent research has demonstrated the appropriateness of assessing…

Reflects on Needham's findings on infants' object recognition and segregation. Examines the role for perceptual bias in explaining infant performance, places Needham's studies in historical perspective, and assesses their theoretical significance. Discusses the merits of positing different kinds of information sources for object segregation, and…

Demonstrates the need for a process-oriented, constructivist approach to understanding infants' categorization abilities. Suggests that emphasizing the distinction between perceptual and conceptual categorization has been an obstacle to forging an approach. Proposes a more microanalytic consideration of features available to infants at different…

Summarizes findings on infants' capacity for object segregation. Maintains that infants can use featural and experiential information for segregation and individuation purposes long before 12 months of age. Disputes the claim that formation of object categories awaits early word learning, but acknowledges that language may play a key role in…

Calls for a process-oriented approach to study of categorization in infancy. Maintains that further understanding of infant categorization and its changes with development requires a more direct assessment of infants' category formation. Argues that two research directions will enhance understanding of categorization: (1) contextual variations on…

A review of the literature on biological and environmental effects of cocaine use suggests that the classification of infants and young children as prenatally cocaine exposed is neither descriptive nor predictive of behavior. The classification of behavior rather than labeling of the child is encouraged, as are partnerships with families of…

In four parts, this discussion describes characteristics of the thought of infants, preschool children, primary school students, and adolescents. Topics briefly addressed in part I, on the thought processes/capabilities of babies, concern sensorimotor thought without abstraction, the importance of physical exploration, the development of…