Profoundly retarded 3-10 year olds (N=24) were divided into three groups: two cognitive training programs--object permanence or means-end--and language only. Results of pre- and posttests revealed that the cognitive training approaches were successful in enabling the majority of Ss to learn to use speech. (CL)

Comparisons of age and test score correlations, comparisons of cross-sequential means, and trends of means for diagnostic subgroups and normal controls suggest developmental delay for all measured skills at all ages for autistic and schizophrenic children. Findings also suggest a trend for steady prepubertal cognitive skill development, followed…

The relationship of the Uzgiris and Hunt Scales of Sensorimotor Development with six of the Adaptive Behavior Scale (ABS) domains and the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language (REEL) Scale was investigated with 76 severely profoundly retarded children (mean age 6 years). Results were generally consistent with prior theory and research. (Author/CL)

Examined effects of direct intervention on language learning. Using a toy manipulation task, 18 children aged 3;6 to 4;6 were systematically taught linguistic structures beyond their developmental grasp. Solid improvement was found in the experimental conditions; no significant improvement was noted in control conditions, showing that the language…

The present studies were designed to test the role of descrepancy between existing cognitive structures and current input and the amount of pleasure derived from successful processing of that input with respect to children's appreciation of humor. (Author/SB)

A nursery school teacher shares some of her collection of spontaneous language phrases of preschoolers, and shows how they reflect the characteristics of what Piaget calls the natural reasoning processes of young children. (CS)

Author brings together from some major sources what we know about metaphor and suggests some questions for systematic study concerning children and metaphor. (Editor)

Research supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation; reports results of experiments in general cognitive development of children tested for their comprehension of the words more'' and less'' (RS)

Existing data on metalinguistic skills are reviewed and then grouped according to the cognitive strategies children appear to employ in resolving metalinguistic tasks. (Author/MP)

Obstacles confronting deaf students in language development are considered. American Sign Language is distinguished from English in terms of grammar, inflection and syntax, and context. The impact of deafness on language acquisition and cognitive development is examined. The importance of auditory feedback and verbal reinforcement is emphasized.…

The lack of significant differences in the number and kind of attributes ascried by blind and sighted Ss seemed to contradict the notion that tactually based information yields only partial, fragmented, or nonintegrated information. (Author)

Study 1 explored associations between multiple measures of language and symbolic gesture development across ages 3 and 4; Study 2 measured more finely which aspects of language relate to the symbolic representation of actions with objects, and explored associations between symbolic gesture and general intellectual ability. Results showed…

Compares the many-perspectives account of lexical acquisition--which proposes that children learn to take alternative perspectives along with the words they acquire--to the one-perspective account--which proposes that children are at first able to use only one term to talk about an object or event. Provides evidence from a variety of sources that…

Reed believes the proper study of psychology is not mind or stimulus-response phenomena but ways animals (including humans) encounter the world. In this view, animals are seen in environmental and evolutionary contexts; a fundamental concept is not mind or behavior but affordance or what environments offer animals; and new topics, such as…