When learning object function, infants must detect relations among features--for example, that squeezing is associated with squeaking or that objects with wheels roll. Previously, Perone and Oakes (2006) found 10-month-old infants were sensitive to relations between object appearances and actions, but not to relations between appearances and…

Early childhood educators use several learning centers in a classroom to target growth in different developmental areas, but as a preschool teacher, the author was always impressed by how children addressed multiple areas of development at the sensory table. Understanding that sensory experiences were important for preschoolers, the author wanted…

Recent research has shown that 2-year-olds fail at a task that ostensibly only requires the ability to understand that solid objects cannot pass through other solid objects. Two experiments were conducted in which 2- and 3-year-olds judged the stopping point of an object as it moved at varying speeds along a path and behind an occluder, stopping…

This article reports the first year results of a pilot study of 21 developmental milestones achieved by 82 visually impaired children in New York City. Some delays in visual-motor activities were found, as well as differences in the sequence of acquiring skills. Children with additional handicaps acquired milestones at a slower rate. (Author/DB)

The relationship between sensorimotor performance and communicative ability in 18 autistic children (40 to 108 months old) was studied. The children were administered the Means-End and Operational Causality scales from the Ordinal Scales of Psychological Development. In addition, the Ss were assessed on four measures of verbal and nonverbal…

Sports-related tool use abilities in children were investigated within a neo-Piagetian framework of development. The object was to establish whether development in the motor domain proceeds in a "stage-like" fashion. A model was developed which suggested how general and precise structural changes might manifest themselves in the sub-domain of tool…

Jean Piaget's theories about children's cognitive development are applied to the evaluation of childhood psychosis. Problems with the testing of such children are described, and results of a research project that used the Piaget-inspired Uzgiris and Hunt Ordinal Scales of Psychological Development to assess autistic children's cognitive processes…

Home movies of eight normal children and eight children later diagnosed as autistic were analyzed based on: (1) Piagetian criteria of sensorimotor development and semiotic functioning, and (2) developmental levels of action competencies. The age range covered was 4 to 42 months of age. The analysis showed that, from the second year of life, timing…

Research on the cognitive development of play skills in young handicapped children is reviewed, focusing on two Piagetian styles of play--sensorimotor (exploratory) and symbolic (pretend and dramatic). The review emphasizes developmental patterns, areas of deficit, and implications for intervention in various handicapped groups. (Author/JDD)

Down Syndrome children (N=229), aged 1-83 months, from Australia, Canada, and Germany were tested using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Test performances on the Bayley's Mental and Motor scales were not dissimilar, leading to the conclusion that young Down Syndrome children from different countries with relatively comparable standards of…

The Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is a home-based early intervention enrichment program for young Arkansas children and their parents. The program has six objectives: (1) to prepare 4- and 5-year-olds for kindergarten; (2) to develop the parent as the child's educator; (3) to increase parent awareness of educational and…

This handbook provides an overview of the development of young children with visual impairments and their educational needs. The first three chapters outline the developmental path followed by sighted children and contrast this with the lives of children who are visually impaired, introduce the professionals who commonly work with children who are…