Intellectual engagement (IE) refers to enjoyment of intellectual activities and is proposed as causal for knowledge acquisition. The role of IE for cognitive development was examined utilizing 2-year longitudinal data from 112 ninth graders (average baseline age: 14.7 years). Higher baseline IE predicted higher baseline crystallized ability but…

Evidence from twin studies points to substantial environmental influences on intelligence, but the specifics of this influence are unclear. This study examined one developmental process that potentially causes intelligence differences: learning to read. In 1,890 twin pairs tested at 7, 9, 10, 12, and 16 years, a cross-lagged…

A review of the research on the effects of day care shows that high-quality, center-based day care: (1) has neither salutary nor deleterious effects on children's intellectual development; (2) is not disruptive of children's emotional bond with their mothers; and (3) increases children's interaction, both positive and negative, with their peers.…

Infants from low socioeconomic status families were randomly assigned to either an instructional day care program designed to prevent socioculturally caused mental retardation or to a nonintervention control group. The effects of these environments were then compared for fetally malnourished infants in terms of later intellectual functioning and…

Estimates confluence model of intellectual development for a within-family sample of 321 children from 101 transracial adoptive families. Mental ages of children and their parents and birth or adoption intervals were used in a nonlinear least-squares estimation procedure to obtain children's predicted mental ages. Results suggest efficiency of the…

Explains that from a prediction standpoint the confluence model is not very efficient. Very modest increments in accuracy are associated with family configuration variables once chronological age is covaried. Suggests that the major postulates of the theory be tested directly, within individuals and with longitudinal data. (Author/AS)

Normal, first-born children of two-parent, self-supporting families (N=60) were divided into three groups at birth: control, mothers receiving a specific language stimulation program, and both parents receiving the program simultaneously. Infants whose parents received simultaneous training exhibited the greatest gain over 4 1/2 months in Bayley…

Examined the origins of high general cognitive ability (g) in twins who were participating in the MacArthur Longitudinal Twin Study. Formed high g groups from the 19th percentile and above at each age. Results suggested increasing genetic influence and increasing genetic stability from 14 to 36 months and substantial genetic influences with…

Studied the sleep state organization and EEG patterns at term date in 53 preterm infants as an index of the maturity and integrity of neurophysiological organization that may have implications for their later development. (HOD)

The effects of father absence on educational achievement and intellectual development of 6- to 11-year-old children were investigated by employing a nationally representative sample of 5,493 father-present and 616 father-absent children from the Health Examination Survey of the National Center for Health Statistics. (Author/RH)

Assesses comprehension of the mental verbs "remember" and "forget" among three-, four-, five-, and seven-year-old children by having the child judge whether or not toy characters in different situations remembered or forgot. (Author/RH)

Examines consequences of family poverty for child development, noting evidence that deep or persistent poverty early in childhood adversely affects children's ability and achievement. Argues that although the 1996 welfare reforms spurred many welfare-to-work transitions, their time limits and sanctions are likely to deepen poverty among some…

Critically reviews research since 1972 on maternal deprivation. Topics discussed include: the development of social relationships and the process of bonding; critical periods of development; links between childhood experiences and parenting behavior; influences on parenting; and possible reasons why so many children do not succumb to deprivation…

Explores age differences (6 to 22 years of age) in conceptions about the nature of the skills required by verbal and nonverbal (abstract) intelligence tests. (HOD)