This study evaluated the impact of a parenting intervention on children's cognitive and socioemotional development in a group of caregivers and their 21-to-28-month-old children in a low-income South African township. A randomized controlled trial compared an experimental group (n = 70) receiving training in dialogic book-sharing (8 weekly group…

Using nationally representative samples of 45,964 two- to nine-year-old children and their primary caregivers in 17 developing countries, this study examined the relations between children's cognitive, language, sensory, and motor disabilities and caregivers' use of discipline and violence. Primary caregivers reported on their…

The condition of deafness presents a developmental context that provides insight into the biological, cultural, and linguistic factors underlying the development of neural systems that impact social cognition. Studies of visual attention, behavioral regulation, language development, and face and human action perception are discussed. Visually…

Examined development of displaced reference in four deaf children who used homesign and in 18 hearing children. Found that deaf children referred to the nonpresent less frequently and at later ages than hearing children, both groups followed similar developmental paths. Deaf children evoked the nonpresent by generating novel gestures, modifying…

Young children in poor communities are spending more hours in nonparental care because of policy reforms and expansion of early childhood programs. Studies show positive effects of high-quality center-based care on children's cognitive growth. Yet, little is known about the effects of center care typically available in poor communities or the…

Examined cognitive and socioemotional development of 733 children from age 4 until age 8 as a function of quality of their preschool experiences. Found evidence that care quality has a modest long-term effect on cognitive and socioemotional development at least through kindergarten. Classroom practices related to language and academic skills. The…

Two studies explored how mothers and preschoolers talk and reason about events in which biological and nonbiological objects change in size. Analysis of conversations indicated that although mothers discussed events primarily in domain-specific ways when using the term growth, they exhibited some domain blurring in explanations to preschoolers.…

Examined relationships between quality of center-based child care and infant cognitive and language development. Subjects were 79 African American 1-year-olds. Found that quality of infant care positively correlated with scores on standardized assessment of cognitive development, language development, and communication skills. Quality of care in…