Quantitatively describes the gait development of a group of African children to determine how pattern changes would relate to growth and maturation. A total of 65 children from the Gusii tribe of southwestern Kenya, ranging in age from 13 to 69 months, were selected for study. (Author/RH)

Investigates the developmental sequence of learning to transform objects into agents and recipients of action in early symbolic play. Each of 48 children (from 14 to 25 months old) demonstrated initiative pretending after an adult modeled agent and recipient substitutions in pretending to talk on the telephone. (Author/CB)

To document movement patterns and to examine developmental interrelationships, the ontogeny of rooting, lip, lateral tongue, mouth opening, biting, and Babkin reflexes and the development of emerging chewing behaviors were observed in two normal infants over a period from 1 week to 35 weeks of age. (Author/RH)

Examined consistency in behavioral state organization for 30 fetuses and neonates. Assessed heart rate pattern and presence or absence of eye and gross body movements during sleep, finding quiet sleep (QS), active sleep (AS), and indeterminate states in nearly identical proportions. Duration of enclosed QS epochs provided only stable measure of…

Study is an initial effort at determining the sequence and developmental level at which children first use a variety of situational variables in making decisions concerning the appropriateness of various types of aggressive responses. (Authors)

Decribes age trends in television viewing time and visual attention of children and adults videotaped in their homes for 10-day periods. Shows that the increase in visual attention to television during the preschool years is consistent with the theory that television program comprehensibility is a major determinant of attention in young children.…

Maintains that the "getting into shape" hypothesis of explaining the inverted-U distribution of exercise play across age is likely incorrect. Argues that the biological study of human physical activity play, as recommended by Pellegrini and Smith (1998), will reveal whether physical activity play represents an example of…

Investigates the influence of infant-mother attachment patterns on the development of peer interaction between the toddler and preschool periods. Notes that, in an initial encounter with an unfamiliar peer, attachment patterns appear to be related more to the child's attractiveness as an interactive partner than to the child's own active interest…