Children who start school with strong language skills initiate a trajectory of academic success, while children with weaker skills are likely to struggle. Research has demonstrated that media and parent-child interactions, both characteristics of the home literacy environment, influence children's language skills. Using a national sample of…

Examined the effect of functional values of stimuli on orienting response elicitation. Subjects were 50 4-month-old infants and were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental conditions. Results suggested the importance of taking into account the functional value of stimuli when analyzing infant attention. (MOK)

Data from nearly 30,000 pregnant and third decade (20-29 years) mothers show that small infant size among teenage mothers is consistent with the mother's size and not directly related to early age at conception. Third decade mothers of comparable size give birth to infants with essentially the same characteristics and problems. (Author/GC)

Overviews vital statistics data, emphasizing differences in health status between the Black and White populations with respect to specific diseases and mortality. Discusses major causes of death among US Blacks. (GC)

Provides a mathematical model for comparing the infant mortality rates (IMRs) of different States to long-term trends. Presents separate analyses of white IMRs in 49 States and non-white IMRs in 30 States. Nine States had infant mortality trends less favorable than the national experience and 1981-83 rates more than 5% above the national average.…

Lists Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries with corresponding data on: area; agricultural area; population; labor force; unemployment rate; civilian employment; gross domestic produce; currency; imports; exports; consumer prices; industrial production change for 1983; infant mortality; public expenditure…

Discusses socioeconomic factors that lead to disproportionate rates of low birthweight and high infant mortality in the Black population. Calls for national policy efforts that would remove financial barriers to premedical care and provide adequate income support for all. (GC)

A children's social health index calculated from six aspects of social health indicates that the social health of children is deteriorating in the areas of infant mortality, child abuse, child poverty, teenage suicide, and high school dropouts. (SH)

Examines the ability of infants to track and anticipate the final orientation of an object. Subjects were infants ranging from an average of four months to eight months old. Three experiments, with the last one as control, were carried out. Concludes that infants show some rudimentary mental rotation from four months of age. (MOK)

Observed process quality in infant/toddler classrooms was compared in Germany (n = 75) and the USA (n = 219). Process quality was assessed with the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale(ITERS) and parent attitudes about ITERS content with the ITERS Parent Questionnaire (ITERSPQ). The ITERS had comparable reliabilities in the two countries and…

Presents statistics showing the diversity of economics in 24 countries. Tables include information on: agricultural area; population; labor force (percent females); agricultural/industry/services employment; gross domestic product; government expenditure and revenue; trade balance, imports/exports; consumer prices; infant mortality; animal…

Data from the Cantonese Communicative Development Inventory (CCDI) is used to review the phonological preferences of younger (16-22 months) and older (23-30 month) groups of children in the lexical items they are reported to be able to say. Analogous results to those found for English emerge from the Cantonese data: the younger group display…

The report presents results of a nationwide survey of schools for deaf persons regarding programing for parent-infant (PI) education. Among findings were that 94 schools (88 percent of respondents) reported programs for 1,901 hearing impaired children (Author/MC)

Examines demographic information about the status of young children around the world. Graphs nations with the largest populations of young children and highest percentage of their populations composed of young children in comparison to the aged, the percentage of regional populations under age 5 and over 64, and birth and infant mortality rates.…