Uses findings from Seattle Longitudinal Study of adult cognitive development to assist discussion of event history analysis. Illustrates its application to data involving changes of states in individual behavior related to human aging. Describes hazard functions which permit assessment of future decline risk and prediction as to when individual…

Visual behavior of infants was assessed with multiple discrimination tasks week to week from four to seven months of age. Task to task reliability was low, but attentional averages from week to week were reliable. Generally, infants with shorter fixations showed more novelty preferences, and infants' shift rate improved with age. (SKC)

Cluster analysis of data from 166 children with autistic spectrum disorders revealed 4 subtypes with differences in behavioral and cognitive areas. The four subtypes include a typically autistic group, a low-functioning group, a high-functioning group (Asperger syndrome/schizoid), and a hard-to-diagnose group with mild/moderate retardation and a…

A growing body of evidence indicates that for some children, early incidences of challenging behaviors are predictors of later difficulties. These incidences of challenging behaviors may predict mental health issues, social adjustment issues and/or increased challenging behaviors that will impede school success and impact transition to adult life…

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

Describes factor analysis of preschool children's play behavior, as measured by the Smilansky-Parten play matrix. Varimax rotation solution suggests three factors: Dramatic-Constructive Play, Solitary Behavior, and Functional-Constructive Play. Study suggests that these factors represent constructs of preschoolers' play. (Author/RWB)

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

Examined the effects of prenatal drug exposure on adopted children's behavior, temperament, health, and school adjustment by comparing the experiences of 3 cohorts of children: (1) 320 drug-exposed children; (2) 456 children who were not drug exposed; and (3) 620 children whose drug exposure was unknown. Two years after placement no significant…

Assessed the relationship between temporally distant antecedent events (TDEs) and the frequency and function of aggressive and out-of-seat behaviors occurring in school. Results were consistent with previous literature that describes certain antecedent events as establishing operations. Discussion includes how these events interact to alter the…

This presentation deals with the topic of ethnic/racial identity development, acknowledging the importance of recognizing the multicultural component in identity formation. The literature has pointed to several areas that are central to effective prejudice-prevention and prejudice-reduction programming, among them an emphasis on cognitive…

A path model of genetic and shared family environmental transmission was fitted to general cognitive ability data from 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old adopted and nonadopted children and their parents to assess the etiology of longitudinal stability from infancy to early childhood. (HOD)

Administered The Matching Familiar Figures Test to 45 seven- and eight-year-olds to assess the relationship between cognitive style and temperamental variables such as distractibility, persistence, and mood. (HOD)

Examines the relationship between visual attentiveness, search behavior, and duration of independent mobility for 56 eight-to ten-month-old infants when presented with three versions of the Piagetian Stage IV object permanence task. (HOD)

Childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect have both immediate and long-term effects. Different types of abuse have a range of consequences for a childs later physical and psychological well-being, cognitive development, and behavior. This article discusses what is known about the long-term consequences of childhood victimization and the…