Psychoanalytic, social learning and cognitive-developmental theories are evaluated in terms of their usefulness in explaining sex role acquisition. A model that attempts to integrate the most significant features from each theoretical position is proposed. (Author/EB)

In this article particular attention is paid to research directly or indirectly relevant to child development programs and supplemental child care. Emphasis is given to the integration of findings, the identification of unaddressed questions, and methodological problems. (MS)

A portion of the Child Care Cost, Quality, and Outcomes study finds that quality of center-based care was positively related to preschool children's concurrent cognitive and socioemotional development. More advantaged children are not necessarily buffered from effects of poor quality care. In addition, stronger positive effects of child care…

Uses clinical case studies showing autistic children's fascination with and understanding of machines, family studies focusing on occupations of fathers and grandfathers of children with autism or Asperger Syndrome, and experimental evidence using picture-sequencing methods to identify physical or intentional causality to show that children with…

Asserts that play is closely tied to cognitive, socioemotional, and physical development. Defines play and gives reasons for its importance in early childhood education, using Parten's (1932) and Smilansky's (1968) categories of play, along with Vygotskian and Piagetian play theories. Discusses the teacher's role as facilitator of classroom play.…

A critical and comprehensive review of a variety of research programs investigating students' thinking and beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing leads to the identification of nine theoretical and methodological issues that need to be resolved in future research on epistemological theories. (SLD)

Examined claim that associations between emotional responses to maternal separation and cognitive performance would change with cognitive development over the first year. Emphasized the measurement of separation and reunion distress. Found that emotional responses and cognitive performance may be linked by individual differences in self-regulation…

Studied whether disturbances in mothers' metabolism (N=139) during pregnancy may exert long-range effects on neurobehavioral development of singleton progeny. Examined detailed pregnancy and perinatal records of mothers who experienced diabetes in pregnancy and intelligence tests of their offspring, administered at ages 7 to 11 years. All…

A study examined rates of labor induction using pitocin in 41 boys with autism and 25 matched controls with either typical development or mental retardation. There were no differences in pitocin induction rates as a function of either diagnostic group (autism vs. control) or IQ level (average vs. subaverage range). (Contains references.)…

The developmental trend from overall-similarity to dimensional-identity classifications is explained by a quantitative model. The model provides good qualitative fits to the extant data. Three experiments examining classifications in 120 2- to 8-year-olds and in 20 undergraduates support specific new claims of the model. (TJH)

Relevant orientation and mobility (OM) skills for visually impaired infants foster sensory, motor, and conceptual development. OM personnel need to consider alternative teaching models, personnel preparation needs, sensory aids issues, and research issues. (DB)

This review of Head Start literature evaluates long-term effects of Head Start on students' overall academic success. Research bears out the idea that Project Head Start has strong immediate effects on the cognitive and socioemotional development of young children. (RJC)

Purposes a semiotic model for analyzing messages of the cinematic medium in film and television, and demonstrates its applicability to the study of children's comprehension of these messages. Highlights include the effects of visual and temporal features on comprehension; film and photography; and cognitive-developmental factors in comprehension.…

Four experiments investigated children's ability to notice and remember events in which the acquisition of factual information occurs. Results indicated that children tend to report they have known newly learned information for a long time, suggesting that children have some understanding of knowledge acquisition, but not at the level of adults.…

Examined the nature of perceptual classification in children and young adults. Found that most children attend selectively to one stimulus dimension when making perceptual classification judgments. Suggests that this developmental trend does not appear to be a holistic-to-analytic shift but rather a trend toward greater consistency in following a…