Children sometimes make "scale errors," attempting to interact with tiny object replicas as though they were full size. Here, we demonstrate that instrumental tools provide special insight into the origins of scale errors and, moreover, into the broader nature of children's purpose-guided reasoning and behavior with objects. In Study 1, 1.5- to…

The ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others develops remarkably early in infancy. At birth, infants demonstrate an early understanding of the thoughts and feelings of others by sharing emotions with their caregivers. These early affective exchanges subsequently facilitate the development of a more complex awareness of others,…

Argues that the operating characteristics of perceiving and remembering provide a foundation for progress on detailing the processes through which knowledge is realized in real-time tasks and in detailing the processes of developmental change. Includes three examples to illustrate how forming developmental hypotheses in terms of perceiving and…

Extends William James' classification of phenomenalistic reality (PR) and analyzes PR using empirical data available in developmental psychology; focuses on the relation of PR to a human subject; to rational constructions; and to the idea of truth. Concludes that the development of phenomenalistic reality is qualitatively different from the…

TO IMPROVE THE DEVELOPMENTAL RATE OF CULTURALLY DEPRIVED CHILDREN, A PRESCHOOL PROGRAM WAS OFFERED WHICH CONSISTED OF A PLANNED SEQUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULATION BASED ON THE THEORY THAT COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT PROCEEDS THROUGH MOTOR-PERCEPTUAL-SYMBOLIC PHASES. SEVENTY-TWO DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN WERE DIVIDED INTO THREE MATCHED GROUPS. GROUP A…

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a three-part volume on the psychology of child personality development. In part one, the author shows that psychology is one of the most important scientific disciplines on which education is based, particularly because of its contribution to the scientific planning of…

The development of two temperamental characteristics--the tendency to approach (uninhibited) and the tendency to avoid (inhibited) unfamiliar events--may be partially controlled by genetic predisposition. Discusses the results of a study indicating that the level of motor responses and crying in response to unfamiliar stimuli in four month olds…

In all of his published work, Jean Piaget never abandoned his original theoretical framework for the understanding of human development. This framework insists that intelligence is essentially a biological phenomenon; its development is best understood as the development of a sophisticated and highly successful adaptation device. This device…

In order to determine the cognitive development of Navajo children in terms of Piagetian conservation of number, mass, and continuous quantity, 168 Navajo children at seven different age levels from 5 to adult were presented with a series of three conservation tasks. The tasks consisted of a standard object and an equivalent object that could be…

Some of the major changes that have influenced the field of child development since the last edition (1964) are presented in this edition. The book is divided into six parts, each with an introduction that summarizes what is important in the various domains of child development. Part One, The Grand Systems, is intended to give the reader a solid…

This is the fourth in a series of technical research reports by Harvard Project Zero which study artistic creation and comprehension as a means toward better art education. This particular study examines children's sensitivity to musical styles. Twenty children at age levels ranging from 6 through 19 years participated in the study which measured…

Harvard Project Zero provides a series of technical research reports which study artistic creation and comprehension as a means toward better art education. The emphasis of the research is to improve art education through a better psychological understanding of symbol systems and media of art and through better understanding of the perceptual,…

This book summarizes theory and discusses major issues pertaining to child development in the early childhood years. Chapter I provides an introduction to the conceptual framework and major theories of child development. Chapter II deals with motor, sensory, and perceptual development. Chapter III focuses on the cognitive-developmental theory of…