During infant development, objects and their functions are learned by means of active exploration. Factors that may influence exploration include reaching and grasping ability, object properties and the presence of developmental disorders. We assessed the development of exploratory actions in 16 typically-developing (TD) infants and 9 infants with…

Infants born preterm have increased risk for learning disabilities yet we lack assessments to successfully detect these disabilities in early life. We followed 23 full-term and 29 preterm infants from birth through 24 months to assess for differences in and stability of learning abilities across time. Measures included the Bayley-III cognitive…

This study examined the developmental trajectories of executive function (EF) of children and adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Han Chinese. Five hundred and fifteen children and adolescents with ADHD and 249 healthy controls took part in this study. All of them were administered four EF tests capturing…

Executive functions are a set of high cognitive abilities that control and regulate other functions and behaviors and are crucial for successful adaptation. Deficits in executive functions are frequently described in developmental disorders, which are characterized by disadaptive behavior. However, executive functions are not widely examined in…

Possible links between lower birth weight, childhood diet, and learning in Taiwan are evaluated. The population representative Elementary School Children's Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan 2001-2002 and the national birth registry were used to examine school and social performance using the modified Scale for Assessing Emotional Disturbance…

This study investigates the Third Edition of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bayley-III) and: (1) early patterns of neurodevelopmental performance among preterm infants 8-12 months of age; and (2) correlations between known risk factors and neurodevelopmental outcome of preterm infants in this cohort. Mean Language Index (LI;…

Inhibition of inappropriate responses allows to shape the motor behavior accordingly to the context in which a subject acts and is an essential executive function. Inhibition has been poorly investigated in Down Syndrome (DS) patients. We tested, using a countermanding task, the inhibitory control in a group of DS patients and in a group of…

Previous studies show that deaf children have deficits in false belief understanding due to their language impairment. However, it is not clear whether deaf adults still have problems in advanced theory of mind (ToM). The present study examined deaf adults' performance on three aspects of advanced ToM. All of the deaf groups lacking mental state…

We review comparative studies of infant habituation and dishabituation performance focusing on preterm infants. Habituation refers to cognitive encoding, and dishabituation refers to discrimination and memory. If habituation and dishabituation constitute basic information-processing skills, and preterm infants suffer cognitive disadvantages, then…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of five variations of imagery and physical practice on learning of Basketball free throws in adolescents with mental retardation (AWMR). Forty AWMR were randomly assigned to five groups and performed a variation of practice: physical practice, mental practice, physical practice followed by…

The effect of developmental quotient on symptoms of inattention and impulsivity was examined among 198 toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders. There were two levels of developmental quotient: (1) low (less than or equal to 70; n = 80), and (2) typical (greater than 70; n = 118). Symptoms of inattention and impulsivity were assessed using 14 items…

This study explored the cognitive performance of children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and/or Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV. Participants were 62 children with ages between 9 years 8 months and 12 years 7 months. These children were placed into one of the…

The development of a person's ability to understand other's thoughts and feelings, so-called "theory of mind" (ToM), is subject to study. Children with communicative disabilities have exhibited problems in this respect, highlighting the role of language in the development of ToM. In this study, ToM was studied in children with cerebral palsy and…

The main goal of this cross-sectional study was to demonstrate that, in addition to a main change during childhood, the cognitive development of children with Down syndrome (DS) is characterized by interindividual variability in their cognitive functioning. Eighty-eight French children with DS took part in this experiment. They were divided into…

The current definition of Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) includes all visual dysfunctions caused by damage to, or malfunctioning of, the retrochiasmatic visual pathways in the absence of damage to the anterior visual pathways or any major ocular disease. CVI is diagnosed by exclusion and the existence of many different causes and symptoms make…