In a sample of 74 university students studying early childhood and pre-kindergarten education, researchers assessed the relationships between child development knowledge, complexity of reasoning about development, prior work experience with children, and teacher-preparation content courses and laboratory courses. There was no statistically…

This article identifies themes of continuity and change related to the well-being and development of infants and toddlers. The author describes several particularly striking changes over the last 25 years of research and practice in early childhood development. (1) The infant-family field has grown in many professions from a marginal area to a…

The quantity and quality of research into autism and related conditions have increased dramatically in recent years. Consequently we selectively review key accomplishments and highlight directions for future research. More consistent approaches to diagnosis and more rigorous assessment methods have significantly advanced research, although the…

Previous research by Lidster and Bremner (1999) on young children's ability to coordinate two dimensions has shown that performance on construction tasks (in which children have to give the correct coordinates for a point in space that is already known) is superior to performance on interpretation tasks (in which children are given a pair of…

The authors examined the developmental course of self-regulation in a cohort of children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The longitudinal sample included 646 children (48% girls; 52% boys; 36.2% Black, 23.4% Hispanic, 40.4% White) who were 4 to 5 years old in 1986 and who were followed up at ages 8 to 9 and ages 12 to 13. Levels of…

In this study, the authors investigated the relation between early social contingency experiences and infants' competencies to detect nonsocial contingencies. In this study of 87 three-month-old infants, the authors operationalized early social contingencies as prompt, contingent maternal responses and coded microanalytically on the basis of…

Pictorial space can be conceptualized as aggregate space (where figures compete for limited available space) or as axial space (where space is infinite and exists independently of figures). That these two kinds of space concepts follow a developmental sequence was tested by investigating size regulation mechanisms in 7- to 12-year-old children's…

The first three years of life are critical for children's development and well-being. The care of these very young children is highly specialised and challenging work. Challenges in meeting the unique and varied needs of infants and toddlers in group care are compounded by the generally poor conditions of employment experienced by staff. When…

This case study describes the play behaviors and social interactions of a preschool-age girl who is blind and has no additional disabilities. The data obtained from the assessment protocol indicated that although the participant was developmentally at or above age level in most domains, she demonstrated limited play behaviors and compromised…

Working with families is one of the most important aspects of being an early childhood professional, yet it is an area in which many educators have received little preparation (Nieto 2004). Teachers spend hours learning about child development, developmentally appropriate practices, health and safety, playgrounds, and play. At times it seems that…

Most Family Today share the care of their babies and toddlers with someone else--often an early childhood professional, a teacher, or a family child care provider. Each family and professional must learn to work and make decisions together to support the child's healthy development and to ensure the family's well-being. Although it is the norm for…

The purpose of this study is to examine the behavioral and developmental characteristics of children with inv(9). This case control study included 12 inv(9) subjects and 45 normal students. All of the subjects, together with their parents, underwent a psychiatric interview and parent questionnaire consisting of a Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).…

The following three short articles describe the stages children go through in order to understand they are not the center of the world: (1) "Mine! Mine!" (Carla Poole); (2) "I Want It Now!" (Susan A. Miller); and (3) "Let's Make it Together!" (Ellen Booth Church). Ideas for what teachers can do to help children through these stages are offered in…

This study sought to determine whether Korean young children exhibit distinct profiles of intellectual strengths and weaknesses based on Project Spectrum, and to find the working style differences of children among strength, no strength/weakness and weakness domains. Project Spectrum helped to find in which domains each child had strength and/or…

After the establishment of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, the implementation of the Convention became the obligation of the government of each country and the responsibility of every society. However, in reality, many infringements on the rights of children, both visible and invisible, exist not only due to starvation, insecurity and…