The offspring of mothers with epilepsy are considered to be at developmental risk during pregnancy from: (1) generalized maternal seizures (hypoxia); (2) teratogenicity of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs); and (3) adverse socio-familial conditions associated with having a chronically sick mother. Sixty-seven children of mothers with epilepsy and 49…

Examines the question of whether environmental factors restrict only the capacity to perform the type of tasks schools require, or if they inhibit the general capacity to learn. (NH)

Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Orthopsychiatric Association (Chicago, 1968).

AS PART OF AN EFFORT TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF THE BALTIMORE HEAD START PROGRAM ON COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT, CHILDREN ENROLLED IN THIS PROGRAM WERE GIVEN THE PEABODY PICTURE VOCABULARY TEST (PPVT) AND THE DRAW-A-PERSON (DAP) TEST AT THE START OF THE PROGRAM, AT ITS TERMINATION, AND WHEN THEY ENROLLED IN KINDERGARTEN. A CONTROL GROUP, DRAWN FROM THE…

Education of the child, including preschool education, has been and still is a topic of great concern to many people. Translation of this concern into constructive programs for early childhood education is a profound problem, one that is debated often and emotionally. There is a dichotomy between those who favor educational practices based on…

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…

Relates two strategies of compensatory education to the origins of educational deficits. (JM)

THIS HEADSTART STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE INFLUENCE OF NEUROLOGICAL FACTORS AND HOME ENVIRONMENT ON THE LANGUAGE AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISADVANTAGED CHILD. TWO DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CENTERS WERE USED. THE SUBJECTS WERE ABOUT 70 NEGRO PRESCHOOL CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES. THESE CHILDREN WERE GIVEN SEVERAL BATTERIES OF…

This report is the 2-year followup evaluation of a proposed 4-year grant, studying the effects of a sequential learning program on disadvantaged children. Four- and 5-year-olds (N=86) were matched on several developmental variables, with one group at each age entering the Learning to Learn Program at either the nursery or kindergarten level. The…

Results of several studies of cognitive and cultural correlates and determinants of early IE development are discussed, and some implications of the findings are pointed out. In studies of correlations between IE and intelligence test scores, results show that the scores increase regularly with age, from age 4 through 8, and there are fairly…

To produce and evaluate a language development program for culturally deprived preschool children based on characteristics of Piaget's theory of intelligence, a 6-week experimental study was carried out in Project Headstart, Starkville, Mississippi. Randomly-selected, 45 Negro Headstart enrollees made up three groups--two were taught the…

A reassessment of schools and education in general from the standpoint of the orthopsychiatrist, this volume attempts to answer a wide variety of questions such as: What does society expect from its educational institutions? What exactly is the educational experience and do we really mean to provide it for children? How can the schools best deal…

The Institute for Developmental Studies (IDS) is engaged in research aimed at specifying what the academic handicaps of deprived children are, what causes these handicaps, and what can be done to overcome them. This IDS report on their research and evaluation program is divided into two sections. The first, "Summaries of Basic Research, Applied…