Children learn words in a social environment, facilitated in part by social cues from caregivers, such as eye-gaze and gesture. A common assumption is that social cues convey either perceptual or social information, depending on the age of the child. In this review of research on word learning and social cues during early childhood, we propose…

The goal of prompting a child is to prevent him or her from making errors while learning a new skill, and to decrease the amount of time it takes to learn the new skill. As a child shows improvement in performing the skill, adults can fade the amount of assistance provided until the child reaches his or her level of independence. Several prompting…

The field of developmental psychology has produced abundant theory and research about the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development of children; however, to date there has been limited use of this wealth of knowledge by developers creating games for children. This chapter provides an overview of key theoretical observations and…

What high expectations people place on their infants and toddlers who are just beginning to understand this great big world and all of its complexities! In an attempt to ensure that growth and learning occur, the fundamental needs of infants and toddlers are often pushed aside as people rush the young child to achieve the next developmental…

In this article we argue that current theories on socioemotional development during infancy need to be reconceptualized in order to account for cross-cultural variation in caregiver-infant interaction. In line with the cultural-historical internalization theory of emotional development (Holodynski & Friedlmeier, 2006) and the ecocultural model of…

Research suggests that early self-regulatory difficulties among high-risk newborns can lead to poor interactional difficulties and negative long-term cognitive and social-emotional outcomes if not identified and treated early. This article describes why an individualized, developmentally supportive, relationship-based program, such as the Newborn…

Every child is different. Some have difficulty expressing their ideas verbally. Some struggle to get along with peers or follow classroom routines. In each case, however, one thing is the same: improved learning and behavior requires strong self-regulation skills. Children develop foundational skills for self-regulation in the first five years of…

Children begin forming social and emotional intelligence at birth. They need the support of a caring adult at first, and then later interactions with peers, in order to encounter the experiences that will guide their brain development in the social and emotional domains. With the help and input of others, children begin to understand, express, and…

Three-year-olds were given a search task with conflicting cues about the target's location. A ball rolled behind a transparent screen and stopped behind one of four opaque doors mounted into the screen. A wall that protruded above one door provided a visible cue of blockage in the ball's path, while the transparent screen allowed visual tracking…

The preschool years are a critical period for the development of food preferences and lifelong eating habits. Between the ages of 2 and 5, children become increasingly responsive to external cues, such as television commercials that use popular cartoon characters to advertise foods, candy in supermarket checkout aisles, and fast-food restaurants…

Devon is a bright, engaging 22-year-old with a proud sense of accomplishment. He believes that while people encounter obstacles during their lives, these obstacles can be overcome with motivation and perseverance. Devon says people simply need to identify what they value, set goals and move beyond the obstacles. Devon has been faced with multiple…

In a study of the ability to reconstruct the times of past events, 86 children from 4 to 13 years recalled the times of 2 in-class demonstrations that had occurred 3 months earlier and judged the times of hypothetical events. Many of the abilities needed to reconstruct the times of events were present by 6 years, including the capacity to…

The authors of this article describe how infant massage can promote attachment and greater attunement between very young children and their parents. Infant massage instructors teach parents how to understand babies' states of arousal so they can read and respond appropriately to their cues. The authors detail the process of teaching infant…

In this article, the author discusses two strategies--visual cues (modeling) and verbal cues (short, accurate phrases) which are related to teaching motor skills in maximizing learning in physical education classes. Both visual and verbal cues are strong influences in facilitating and promoting day-to-day learning. Both strategies reinforce…