IT IS PROPOSED THAT MENTAL RETARDATION IS NOT NECESSARILY CAUSED BY A GENETIC FACTOR OR BY BRAIN INJURY, BUT MAY BE CAUSED BY THE CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH CHILDREN ARE RAISED. WHEN CHILDREN ARE LEFT IN PSYCHOSOCIALLY DEPRIVED HOMES, THEIR RATE OF DEVELOPMENT WILL TEND TO DECLINE. IF, AT AN EARLY AGE, THEY ARE PLACED IN A SCHOOL FOR A FEW…

The concepts of front, back, and side may be easily understood in relation to an intrinsically fronted item, but with a nonfronted object they depend on situational or psychological cues. A study investigated a child's awareness of the front, back, and side of his own body and of fronted and nonfronted objects. Researchers hypothesized that a…

This longitudinal study of children's drawings is designed to indicate important aspects of the socialization process through analysis of changes in children's drawings. The Draw-A-Classroom (DAC) Test was administered to 100 students between 1961 and 1966. Data was available from a total of eight test administrations, given in the period between…

Shows a wide variety of task performance ability. Supports the hypothesis that the tasks require the use of the same or a unified set of cognitive processes. (RL)

Concludes that children have a far broader range of intellectual interests than has generally been recognized. Bringing them into contact with fields of knowledge, methods of inquiry in these fields, and the processes of logical reasoning at a time when they have a natural receptivity which can have a fundamental impact on their intellectual…

Developmental data on 612 home reared, Down's Syndrome children, from birth through 16 years of age, were collected over 20 years from an outpatient clinic for mentally retarded children and were statistically analyzed to ascertain normative times of motor, language and intellectual developmental behaviors. (Author/MC)

Reports a new body of longitudinal research concerning the role of malnutrition in retarded intellectual development. (JM)

Mothers were asked to predict their children's responses to standardized intelligence test items. Negative correlation was expected between inaccurate maternal knowledge of children's ability and degree of children's psychological development. False maternal predictions correlated - .80 with correct children's responses. Nearly all of the…

The development of formal operations in normal adolescents is briefly examined, and a discussion of the development of exceptional adolescents focuses on the following exceptionalities: retardation, blindness, deafness, and giftedness. Some directions for future research are considered. (DLS)

Gifted adults are recognized by society solely by their achievements, though the unusual developmental trajectory of the gifted creates an extraordinary experience of life at any age. The achievement orientation is now taking over gifted education and makes it difficult for the gifted to understand and honor the qualities of mind that make them…

Birth order effects on intellectual performance show both positive and negative results. Considers the intellectual aspects of siblings' changing environments, explaining that birth order and family size effects depend crucially on the age at which children are tested. Within-family data conceal patterns of aggregate effects that are revealed by…

Cardiac disease is the most common congenital defect in children, affecting between 3 and 10 in every 1000 live births. While significant advances in medical and surgical management have resulted in increasing numbers of survivors, it is also recognized that there is a growing population of children living with neurological impairment and lowered…

Employing a child-centered approach to the growth and development of children from birth to age 16, this book describes in detail the personal, social, and intellectual development of children as they progress from infancy through adolescence. It contains anecdotes and examples that capture the unique qualities of each age and stage of child…

This study compared the intellectual development, attachment to mother, peer interaction, and physical health of day care and maternal home care children. The results indicate that very young children who experience high quality group day care differ little from home-reared children. (JMB)