Purpose: This study examined whether monolingual German-speaking preschool children with developmental language disorder (DLD) were facilitated by the presence of case-marking cues in their interpretation of German subject and object "welcher" ("which")-questions, as reported for their typically developing peers. We also…

Provided 2- and 2.5-year-olds with partial visual information about a ball's path as it moved toward a hiding place. Found that both age groups were equally proficient at tracking the ball as it rolled behind a transparent screen with 4 opaque doors, but 2.5-year-olds were more likely to reach to the correct door when asked to find the ball.…

Investigated the relative effects of developmental level and domain-specific knowledge on 4- to 9-year-olds' ability to identify and make similarity decisions about objects based on haptic or tactile information. Found that older children explored models more exhaustively, found more differentiating features, and made fewer errors than younger…

Four experiments compared 4-year-olds' understanding of pretense to that of 3-year-olds or adults. When shown pictured items, 4-year-olds understood that only animates pretend, but 3-year-olds sometimes claimed that inanimates pretend. When shown actual items, even 4-year-olds sometimes claimed that inanimates pretend, especially when adults…

This study compared 3- and 5-year-olds' reports of a true or false play interaction following repeated interviews. Findings indicated age-related improvements in performance. Three-year-olds questioned repeatedly about a false event made more errors in response to specific questions than their age-mates questioned about false details of a true…

Examined in 2 studies the ability of 2- and 3-year-olds to learn to use tools via imitation. Found that when shown a correct solution to a tool-using task, all children managed at least a partial solution. When shown an incorrect followed by a correct solution, 2-year-olds produced a partial solution and most 3-year-olds produced a full solution.…

Two experiments examined relation between age-related changes in retention and age-related changes in the misinformation effect. Found large age-related retention differences when participants were interviewed immediately and after 1 day, but after 6 weeks, differences were minimal. Exposure to misleading information increased commission errors.…

Evaluated the effects of stimulus complexity and rule usage on a visual perspective-taking task administered to preschoolers, first, third, and fifth graders, and adults. Errors decreased with age, and more errors occurred with the more complex visual arrays. Very young children could not reliably match a photograph to a physical array. (Author/RH)

Compared 3- and 5-year olds' recall of a pediatric examination in verbal versus enactment interviews. Found that children in the enactment condition provided more spontaneous, elaborate reports than did children in verbal interview. Enactment produced increased errors by 3-year olds one week after examination, by both age groups after six weeks.…