Between 6 and 9 years of age, children's free associations shift from syntagmatic to paradigmatic relationships. "Syntagmatic relations" are words that are syntactically adjacent, thematically related ("summer-vacation"), or both; "paradigmatic relations" are words from the same grammatical class, taxonomic category…

HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) children during the preschool and early school ages may be at-risk for neurodevelopmental challenges due to in utero and perinatal exposure to HIV and/or antiretroviral (ARV) medications. HEU children and HIV-unexposed uninfected (HUU) children from the community were recruited and tested at 3 to 4 and 5 to 6 years of…

It is often argued that metacognition includes 2 components: monitoring and control. However, it is unclear whether these components can operate independently, or whether they always operate as part of a hierarchy. The current study attempts to address this issue. In Experiment 1 (N = 90), age-related differences were assessed to examine the…

It is often argued that metacognition includes 2 components: monitoring and control. However, it is unclear whether these components can operate independently, or whether they always operate as part of a hierarchy. The current study attempts to address this issue. In Experiment 1 (N 90), age-related differences were assessed to examine the…

Guided by two perspectives, one theoretical, and the other, methodological, we assume that social interactions provide organizing principles for transforming natural human growth into cultural development. From birth onward, the healthy child is primed to be "in transaction" with their caregivers, their surroundings, co-constructing the…

"Play school" is an icon of Australian children's television and an important part of Australian life--this programme, perhaps more than any other, has taken and continues to take centre stage in our living rooms and social worlds as young children. "Play school" is invested with an enormous amount of cultural capital and hence…

Two studies investigated the maintenance of focused attention in the first five years of life. Findings revealed changes over age in the way children concentrate and sustain attention spontaneously during free play. Results point to possible developments underlying the increasing duration of focused attention. (RH)

Claims that Matthews sees independence as moving freely and being able to function apart from the adult, leading to competence and cognitive development for life. Reiterates the importance of emotion, relationships, and the mother as the central part of the child's prepared environment. (MOK)

Two experiments tested Hasher and Zacks' (1984) age-invariance hypothesis of frequency memory, which proposed that frequency memory is fully developed when a minimal level of physiological maturation is reached (by two or three years of age). Participating in the first experiment were 24 subjects at each of three ages: 8 years, 11 years, and young…

Used a Partially Ordered Scaling of Items method to analyze block construction play in a replication of Innes and King-Shaw's 1985 study. Found several developmental pathways for block play, illustrating the web-like nature of conceptual development. Results suggest a contextual developmental approach to better acknowledge individual diversity in…

Investigated the proposition that two distinct factors involved in life span cognitive development are mental speed and coordination efficiency. Results show dissociable speed of processing and working memory functioning over the life span and age-related differential effects of coordinative demands. (ET)

Proposes an account of the development of temporal understanding, linking it with episodic memory development. Distinguishes between ways of representing time in terms of frameworks involved; describes perspectival and nonperspectival frameworks and those representing recurrent sequences or particular times. Describes emergence of new kinds of…

Examined analytic methods for describing children's social risk. Found that the individual-risk-variables approach provided better overall prediction of developmental outcomes at a particular age. The risk-factor approach provided good prediction of developmental trajectories with moderate to large sample sizes. The risk-index was useful for…

This study tested the hypothesis that maternal drinking early in pregnancy affects the development of the child's central auditory processing. A follow-up study of 167 children took place 6 years after their mothers participated in a survey concerning health and drinking practices during the early stages of pregnancy. Indications of problem…

Investigated the ability of young children to recognize themselves in delayed videotapes and recent photographs. Results suggested a significant developmental delay in young children's success on mark tests of self-recognition using delayed feedback as compared to live feedback, which may have important implications for characterizing the…