The brain undergoes profound development across childhood and adolescence, including continuous changes in brain morphology, connectivity, and functioning that are, in part, dependent on one's experiences. These neurobiological changes are accompanied by significant changes in children's and adolescents' cognitive learning. By drawing from studies…

Lev Vygotsky maintained that historical and cultural aspects of development started from the point at which humans could first be distinguished from apes. It is critical to consider the dialectical relationship between the individual and the cultural environment in which the child actively masters cultural behavior. Interaction with others…

Several different methodological approaches that have been used in studying language in children with autism are outlined. In classic studies, children with autism are compared to comparison groups typically matched on age, IQ, or mental age in order to identify which aspects of language are uniquely impaired in autism. Several methodological…

In 2 studies, subjects between 7 and 16 years of age indicated predictions for the water level in a tilted container or the position of a plumb line. Found that sex differences were evident at all ages; task performance improved with age according to a discrete stage process; and task performance was determined by field effects and rule strategy.…

Discusses some general-causal assumptions of current neo-Piagetian research and compares them with those of French European developmentalists with regard to individual differences, developmental stages, and methodology. Discusses the developmental unfolding of mental attentional mechanisms. Highlights developmental theory problems for the…

Data used to support Spearman's hypothesis have been incorrectly and inconsistently reported and do not support the claim that African-American-white differences in intelligence are not environmental in origin. Deaf children should not be considered a single population with respect to linguistic deprivation. (SLD)

Presents two chain-of-choices models, one for adoptive parents and one for birth parents and adoptees, as possible frameworks within which to consider the role of individual differences, choices, and selections in understanding the process of adoption and adoption outcomes. Discusses the research and practice implications following from the…

Individual differences in academic success were investigated in a geographically defined whole-population sample of very preterm children with a gestational age of less than 32 weeks or a birth weight of less than 1500 gm. The sample consisted of 264 very preterm children (75.6% of German-speaking survivors) and 264 controls matched for gender,…

Current knowledge and practice relating to young children's aesthetic development and education are reviewed in this state-of-the-art report. Beginning with a brief section highlighting theoretical problems and approaches to the psychological study of aesthetic response, the review subsequently describes three common strategies used in aesthetic…

Using "Patterns of Childrearing," by Sears, Maccoby and Levin (1957) as a starting point, this paper touches on the schism between developmental and social psychology and attempts to assess the progress of research in social development during the past quarter century with respect to five major perspectives that are at once evolutionary,…