There is evidence that IQ tends to be higher in those who were heavier at birth or who grew taller in childhood and adolescence. Although these findings imply that growth in both foetal and postnatal life influences cognitive performance, little is known about the relative importance of brain growth during different periods of development. We…

This paper presents autoassociator neural networks. A first section reviews the architecture of these models, common learning rules, and presents sample simulations to illustrate their abilities. In a second section, the ability of these models to account for learning phenomena such as habituation is reviewed. The contribution of these networks to…

This paper reports on the development and use of several tools designed to sensitize caregivers to the fact that infants are very different from one another and that caregiving needs to be tailored to the styles and needs of each child. Four approaches were used: (1) having caregivers rate the infants regularly on a small number of rating scales…

This book addresses the critical issues, as well as contemporary approaches, used to deal with the developmental, social, intellectual, and coping problems of low-birthweight infants and their families. Following an introduction by I. E. Sigel, the chapters are: (1) "Past, Present, and Future Directions in Research on the Development of…

A longitudinal study was conducted at the Frank Porter Graham Center NC to explore the use of educational day care and related services as a mechanism for preparing socially disadvantaged children for success in later public schooling. Infant children of mothers who met a criterion score on a high risk index were randomly assigned to either an…

Despite considerable work concerning relationships between cognition and language in the second year of life, these relationships remain obscure. Clarification depends on resolution in at least three major areas. First, studies should be expanded beyond the scope of cognitive prerequisite models that have been difficult to conceptualize and that…

Provided in this annual report, the 10th of a series, are the texts of four papers presented at a preconference workshop on new directions for infancy research. The papers focus on the middle European contribution to infancy research, main themes in European research on infant perception and cognition, an innovative therapeutic approach to…

A federally funded research report, titled "The Development of a Program in Orientation and Mobility for Multi-Handicapped Blind Infants" by Randall Harley et al., is briefly summarized in this one-page abstract. The report discusses the development of the "Peabody Mobility Kit for Infants," a package of assessment and training…

A group of clinically depressed mothers and their infants were studied to ascertain effects of mothers' emotional condition on children's behavior and development. Participants in the study were 29 families with an infant believed to be at psychiatric risk. Maternal depression was assessed at the time of family intake with the Center for…

The report reviews assessment guidelines developed for visually impaired infants (birth-24 months). Project staff examined research on the assessment of infants with vision loss and identified material relevant to their needs. Following a review of existing assessment tools, guidelines were prepared in the following areas: social competence,…

The paper details the impact of blindness and visual impairments on young children's development. Specific developmental risks are examined for the following areas (sample difficulties in parentheses): body awareness (delayed concept of object permanence), motor development (lack of incentive to explore and resultant delay in purposeful movement),…

This paper presents an overview of the development of play in children from 9 to 34 months of age, focusing specifically on those aspects of play which occur with sufficient consistency to function as markers for judging developmental progress in clinical populations of young children. A procedure for assessing the sophistication of spontaneous…

Since educational deficiencies do exist in disadvantaged children, the emphasis should be on prevention so that compensation need not play the major role it does today. Preschool programs are being effected in primary schools, nursery schools, community centers, and even private homes. The controversy is no longer whether or not such programs can…

This short guide offers simple, inexpensive activities which parents can use to help their children with motor and cognitive development. The activities are keyed to certain age levels: months 0-6, 6-12, 12-18, 18-24, and years 2-3, 3-4, 4-5. The program builds skill on skill so that the child will experience constant success in carrying out…

This volume consists of reports of individual studies and surveys of research work on mother-infant interactions. It is divided into two parts. The first section presents a wide range of studies on mother-infant relations as exhibited in the behavior of animals. The second part, concerning human behavior, includes studies on the natural history of…