Humans are adapted to spontaneously transfer relevant cultural knowledge to conspecifics and to fast-learn the contents of such teaching through a human-specific social learning system called "pedagogy" ( Csibra & Gergely, 2006). Pedagogical knowledge transfer is triggered by specific communicative cues (such as eye-contact, contingent reactivity,…

Mothers read stories to their children (N = 41) aged between 3.3 years and 5.11 years old, and children then completed two false-belief tasks. One year later, mothers read a story to 37 of those children who were also given four tasks to assess their advanced understanding of mental states. Mothers' early use of cognitive verbs in picture-book…

Joint attention is often referred to as a triadic relation between self, other and object. Young children with autism show deficiencies in the use of joint attention behaviors. Individual differences may be expected, and they may be determined by the children's cognitive development or the characteristics of the relationship of the child with the…

This science brief reports on a study that identified the effects of different experiences on critical periods of learning during early brain development. The study found that the presence of corticosterone in a part of the brain called the amygdala determined whether a normally painful experience was learned as an attractive or fearful event.…

Learning of class inclusion by 5-year-olds in response to empirical and logical explanations of an adult's answers was examined. Contrary to the view that young children possess an empirical bias, 5-year-olds learned more, and continued learning for longer, when given logical explanations of correct answers than when given empirical explanations.…

Perinatal asphyxia occurs in approximately 1-6 per 1000 live full-term births. Different patterns of brain damage can result, though the relation of these patterns to long-term cognitive-behavioural outcome remains under investigation. The hippocampus is one brain region that can be damaged (typically not in isolation), and this site of damage has…

This document defines memory as a complex, interactive process that is a prerequisite for all higher learning. Without intact memory skills, a host of disorders may ensue ranging from mild learning problems to disorientation and helplessness (Lezak, 1983). Because of the pervasive and central role memory plays in people's lives, school…

The development of ordering and correspondence operations, under varying degrees of the presence of length cues to number, was studied in 91 preschool children. Findings are interpreted in terms of the young child's difficulty in separating and coordinating the dimensions of length and number. (Author/ED)

In this paper conceptual and methodological issues in the analysis of developmental sequences are discussed. Conceptually, the reconstruction of the logic of acquisition calls for the use of task or structure analysis. Methodologically, it calls for an individual-oriented approach, the use of statement calculus for formulation of the postulated…

In an effort to bring together some general findings on empathy in children, the author attempts to answer these questions: (1)what is empathy? (2)under what conditions is empathy likely to occur? (3)what types of judgements appear to be involved in an empathic response? Presented at American Psychological Association, New Orleans 1974. (Author)

Paper, revised for publication, presented at a Symposium on Heredity and Environment (AERA, New York City, Feb. 16, 1967)

A cognitive-developmental approach to reading instruction for preschool children is presented in this document. Common misunderstandings about reading instruction are discussed, and examples of young children's reading readiness are used to illustrate how developmental readiness, self-motivation, and the influence of an appropriate learning…

This paper draws together briefly theories and knowledge from research in morphology and cognitive psychology, as well as some hypothetical information from traditional psychiatry, to show the ramifications of play in children's development. Play is defined as any of a wide variety of behaviors through which an individual attempts to discover what…