Imperative and declarative performative behavior was examined in 20 nonretarded and 15 Down's syndrome children and adults (7 to 54 years old) operating at two stages of sensorimotor intelligence. In both groups, more advanced types of perfomative behavior were generally associated with a higher sensorimotor stage. (Author)

Three experiments examined preschoolers' and adults' understanding of distinctive semantic functions of adjectives and count nouns. Found that 4-year olds and adults, but not 3-year olds, who heard the adjective version (e.g., "a blue bird") were more likely than those who heard the count noun version ("a bluebird") to choose…

Four studies examined whether 16-month-olds' responses to true/false utterances interacted with their knowledge of human agents. Findings suggested that infants are developing a critical conception of human speakers as truthful communicators and that infants understand that human speakers may provide uniquely useful information when a word fails…

The study compared the use of language functions and language interactions in a structured setting with normal and language-disordered preschoolers. Language disordered children performed less appropriately on the average across all measures and the difference between groups was greater at younger ages. (Author/DB)

Suggests that Goad & Ingram's (1987) argument in favor of a cognitive model of phonological development failed to recognize the uniqueness of each individual's neural and vocal structures, ignored documented variability in the phonetic patterns of prelexical infants, and inexplicably assumed that inter-child variability implied the operation of…

Major events in the maturation of the central nervous system (CNS) are reviewed relative to milestones for communication, speech, language, and cognition. Early insults to the CNS and their neuropsychological consequences are discussed. The role of patterns of myelination and dendritic branching to evolving stages of language and cognition are…

A conceptual framework of cognitive growth is sketched and a mathematical model of cognitive growth is presented with the conclusion that the most plausible model is a model of logistic growth with delayed feedback. The model is transformed into a dynamic systems model based on the logistic-growth equation. (SLD)

Twelve two year olds were taught novel count nouns for related but unfamiliar objects. Children's interpretation of the relations between the nouns was mediated by the similarity of the objects, a result that suggests that, by age two, children have the conceptual and lexical abilities necessary for establishing hierarchical relations. (LB)

A longitudinal study examined the role of a mapping system in 2-year olds' learning of color and size words. Results indicated that the children acquired color maps in a characteristic order and showed a different acquisition pattern for size words. Results suggest that learning word associations may promote color-word acquisition; learning color…

The ability to attribute false beliefs by 155 deaf children (ages 5 and 8) grouped by communication mode and parental hearing status was compared to that of 39 hearing children (ages 4 to 6). Effective representational abilities were demonstrated by deaf children of deaf parents, whereas those with hearing parents appeared delayed, with…

Tested 59 three-year olds three times over seven months to assess the contribution of development of theory of mind and language to one another. Found that earlier language abilities predicted later theory-of-mind test performance (controlling for earlier theory of mind), but earlier theory-of-mind did not predict later language-test performance…

Purpose: This tutorial is intended to inform readers about the development of theory of mind (understanding of mental states) and to discuss relationships between theory of mind and language development. Method: A narrative review of selected literature on language and theory of mind is presented. Theory of mind is defined, and commonly used…

Cognitive and language skills of 39 siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) and 39 siblings of typically developing children (SIBS-TD) at ages 4, 14, 24, 36, and 54 months were compared. Twelve of the 39 SIBS-A revealed a delay in cognition and/or language (including one child diagnosed with autism) compared to only two SIBS-TD. Developmental…

Toddler toy play evolves in a predictable manner and provides a valid, nonverbal measure of cognitive function unbiased by social behaviors. Research on prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) indicates that exposure to stress in utero results in developmental deficits. We hypothesized that children exposed to high objective PNMS from a natural disaster…

Survivors of preterm birth have a high incidence of neurodevelopmental impairment which is not explained by currently understood brain abnormalities. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the neurodevelopmental abilities of 2-year-old children who were born preterm and who had no evidence of focal abnormality on conventional MR…