It has been commonly held that "children suffer if their mother goes out to work". This research uses several studies--large scale longitudinal data--to look at the development of children whose mothers were employed when those children were very young.

Literature on age of entry into formal education is inconsistent at best in determining if early or late entry impacts the educational experience in positive or negative ways. The purpose of the current study was to add to the literature by examining the relationship between age of entry into formal education and participation in the Accelerated…

This dissertation is an empirical investigation of educational policies, practices and organizational settings that shape the schooling experiences of Chicago Public School (CPS) students. The first chapter, "Educational Choice and Student Participation: The Case of the Supplemental Educational Services Provision in Chicago Public…

Investigates the effect of presentation context, taxonomy, and age of child on mothers' choices of category names in object-naming tasks. Contextual factors had a primary role in determining mothers' selections of category names, and the three independent variables had a complex and dynamic effect on mothers' naming practices. (Author/CI)

Generation enhances memory for occurrence but may not enhance other aspects of memory. The present study further delineates the negative generation effect in context memory reported in N. W. Mulligan (2004). First, the negative generation effect occurred for perceptual attributes of the target item (its color and font) but not for extratarget…

Examines research in folkbiology (commonsense understandings of plants and animals) to argue that several lines of comparative research are needed to understand the acquisition of folkbiology in particular and conceptual development in general. Asserts that comparisons are needed between children and adults within a given society, between adult…

Examined stability of first graders' conceptions of personal prerogative at home and school and their responses to regulations. Found that children identified areas of prerogative at school and considered school to be more restrictive than home; were willing to cede authority to teachers for many personal issues, but reserved rightful decision…

Children who experience multiple transitions in family structure may face worse developmental outcomes than children raised in stable, two-parent families, and perhaps even worse than children raised in stable, single-parent families--a point denoted in much prior research. Multiple transitions and negative child outcomes, however, may be…

Investigates the relative influences of medium and context variables by comparing seven- and eight-year-old children's spoken and written explanations in varying contexts: a story task, a question task, a sentence completion task, and a whole sentence production task. Findings reveal the significant influence of context as compared to medium on…