This investigation evaluated a group of 20 8-month to 2-year-old culturally disadvantaged children who were given a 1-year structured educational program as a means of environmental intervention. The program involved language training, conceptual training, and sensory-motor training. The study is the first phase of a longitudinal study to…

This study showed the effectiveness of two parent education programs designed to increase young children's sustained attention to verbal stimuli. Forty 18- to 24-month-old children and their mothers served as subjects under three different conditions: Full Treatment Program of home training, home visits, group meetings for mothers, and curriculum…

This report discusses the relationship between the fields of early childhood education and developmental psychology. A historical overview focuses on the early influence of Freud's psychoanalytical principles on early childhood education. Developmental psychologists became involved with ECE on a large scale in the 1960's, encouraged largely by the…

This text is a series of readings designed to introduce the student to scientific research on children. Choice of material for inclusion was based on: (1) the provision of a wide selection of the developmental literature, its origins and growth; (2) the presentation of examples of empirical research, and (3) the selection of articles representing…

An overview is presented of the Guided Self-Analysis System for Professional Development (GSA) for teaching young children. The GSA system and programs are reviewed along with staff involvement, staff responsibilities, the emphasis on flexibility, change in the classroom, and implementation procedures. The GSA early childhood program is then…

The Pre-Kindergarten Component, part of the Language Development Component funded under Title I of the Elementary Secondary Education Act of 1965, served 677 four-year-olds in 21 Title I schools. The design of the component was based on the assumption that many pre-school disadvantaged pupils have underdeveloped potential in many areas necessary…

A detailed program for the development of pre-reading visual perceptual skills in young children is presented which provides benefits to both teacher and child due to its scope and flexibility. The program is primarily visual-motor, providing at the same time experiences in language and concept development. The prescribed sequence of lessons…

If the question of what it is that is innate is simply left as some kind of human learning potential, this position, representative of the nativist philosophy, does not differ radically from that of behaviorists. The latter position holds that a human being starts out with a mind which is basically empty and receptive to, subject to, and the…

Paralinguistic and kinesic expression begin at birth and are essential to the development of language. Rhythm, for example, a suprasegmental event, appears to be present at birth or prior to birth. The relationship of physiology to communication is evident in the observations of extra-linguistic aspects of communication, such as movement, the use…

A longitudinal study of three children examined the relation between object permanence and language development. (Author/NCR)

Explores the underlying knowledge that children have about the relationship between the structure of requests and the relative status of speakers and listeners. Shows that the three age groups (preschoolers, 5-year-olds, and 10-year-olds) could systematically differentiate the requests by means of syntactic directness or semantics. (HOD)

Suggests that variations in the quality and type of infant care, in institutional and other settings in different cultures and social classes, can have influences on the long-term development of the child's rate, level, and type of cognitive development. (HOD)

This study elucidates specific contextual factors important to decentration. Verbal utterances of 24 dyads of children (aged 6) and adults while communicating in a standardized problem-solving situation were analyzed according to egocentric versus decentric language categories and compared to child-child dyads. (Author/BS)

Discusses the value of tool-use activities to help toddlers develop emerging skills, experience creative expression, and understand means-end relationships. Provides examples of opportunities for using objects as tools, including language acquisition, self-help activities, dramatic play, sensory experiences, and object manipulation. (DST)

The causal relationship between metaphonological skills (sound blending and segmentation) and reading/spelling was investigated in two studies of first graders. One tested causal models using data from a longitudinal study of 46 dyslexics and 44 control children. The other studied the effects of metaphonological training versus general language…