This paper introduces and gives a report of the first of a series of studies concerned with the developmental aspects of information processing. The experiments are concerned chiefly with how repeated visual encounters influence infants' attentional preference for what is familiar or unfamiliar and how infants' preference can be affected by…

This study examined how change occurs in infant gestural communication. Five infants were videotaped once a week from 10 to 12 months and twice a week from 12 to 15 months during play sessions with their mothers in a laboratory playroom. These sessions consisted of 10 minutes of a structured play context in which infants were seated at a table at…

Studies the effects of mothers' presence and absence on two infants from birth to two years. (AJ)

Research supported in part by OEO Headstart Subcontract No. 1410 with Michigan State University Headstart Evaluation and Research Center.

Evaluates the degree to which the social-referencing perspective provides a valid explanation of some features of infant behavior. (MP)

Deals with biologically based sex differences in early childhood. Strategy is to assume that the earlier a particular behavioral difference appears in the life cycle, the more likely it is influenced by biological factors. Such biological influences may lead to differences in fear, cognitive functioning and variability between boys and girls.…

This interim report is part of a longitudinal study of developmental behavior designed to determine whether infants from culturally disadvantaged homes have different developmental patterns than infants from advantaged homes. Twenty six culturally disadvantaged infants were individually evaluated on the Bayley Scale of Infant Mental and Motor…

Sixty-five Kikuyu infants were developmentally evaluated (Bayley Test) at two-month intervals during the first year of life. Precocity was demonstrated for mental as well as motor test performance. Familial economic status was positively related to infant performance. Social and demographic variables contributed at least 25% to test score…

An investigation of the short term stability of infants' responses to strangers was conducted. Ss were 60 randomly chosen full-term family-reared infants, 30 boys and 30 girls, selected to fit into three age groups of 8, 10 and 12 months. The experimental design was such that the order of first, second, and third visits was counter-balanced…

Evidence which suggests that pretend activities become increasingly independent of the presence of realistic objects is examined in this paper. Results of research on pretend behavior in children 1 1/2 - 2 years of age are described and analyzed. Striking changes in pretend behavior are shown to occur during the second year of life. Pretend play…

This demonstration study examines the affective reactions of infants when they imitate or fail to imitate play behavior modeled by an adult. Subjects were twenty-four 18-month-old and twenty-four 24-month-old male and female infants. Each infant visited the laboratory twice with an inter-session interval of 48 hours. At each session, the infant…

This volume consists of reports of individual studies and surveys of research work on mother-infant interactions. It is divided into two parts. The first section presents a wide range of studies on mother-infant relations as exhibited in the behavior of animals. The second part, concerning human behavior, includes studies on the natural history of…

Reviews different approaches used over the past two decades to study early behavioral development in infants. Reviews research in areas as physical and cognitive development and the role of adult caretakers. (BD)

The Mental Development Scales: Birth to Three Years are instruments designed to assess developmental levels of young children within a setting familiar to the child. They (1) provide a greater understanding of child behavior and development, (2) serve as a basis for planning an individualized curriculum for each child, and (3) furnish the means…

This paper offers some ideas on the types of behavior that can be considered precursors to language and that also lay the foundations for logic, mathematics, physics, etc. The paper posits the problem of whether a theory of language must be formulated before one can formulate a theory of language acquisition, or whether the reverse is true. The…