According to models of differential susceptibility, the same neurobiological and temperamental traits that determine increased sensitivity to stress and adversity also confer enhanced responsivity to the positive aspects of the environment. Differential susceptibility models have expanded to include complex developmental processes in which genetic…

In bilingual literature, few studies have examined the processes of concept formation (CF); even fewer studies have discussed their developmental changes. This study explores language-cognition links and CF fractionation processes by comparing total and partial immersion programmes (TIPs and PIPs). Descriptive statistics (DS), correlational…

A new measure of temperament, Rothbart's Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), was used to compare children with attachments to objects and those without such attachments. Comparisons were used to determine whether temperament differences between children with and without a history of object attachment held for children with and without a…

Responds to calls for combining the ideas of Piaget and Vygotsky, discussing differences between the two perspectives. Notes that differences are found in underlying assumptions about the nature and process of development, philosophy, stages of development, developmental influences, and the integrity of cognitive structures. Suggests that, given…

Addresses the extent to which differences in Piagetian and Vygotskyan psychologies make their theories incompatible. Differences result from a Vygotskyan belief in a material primary cause for development; Piagetians do not hold this view. Explores this difference in perspective, concluding that, despite it, the two approaches are compatible. (JW)

A longitudinal study examined memory span at 5, 7, and 12 months in full-term and low-birth-weight preterm infants. Findings were similar for both groups: longer spans were more difficult, especially at younger ages, memory capacity increased over first year of life, there was marked recency effect for spans of 3 and 4 at all ages, and modest…

Ways in which the "field experience"--including both job-related activities and life-span developments--of adults affects the teaching of developmental psychology are examined. Psychological differences between traditional (18 to 22-year-olds) and adult students are studied. (Editor/LBH)

Identified persons who actively direct and influence the positive evolution of others by acting upon the environment. Selected individuals on the basis of service to the community and matched them with a comparison group. A comparative analysis indicated differences in education and personality characteristics in the selected "autoevolutionary"…

The goal of Individually Guided Education (IGE) is to produce high student achievement in terms of understanding, skills, and action patterns in various curricular areas, and to contribute to the healthy personal, social, ethical, and civic development of each student. A secondary goal is to promote higher job satisfaction in the school teaching…

Examined the relationship of environmental input to cognitive growth in language, spatial operations, concepts, and associative memory in children tested four times six months apart and differing in the amount of school input received. Found that children made greater growth over periods with greater amounts of school input for language, spatial…

Examined how child and family factors influence individual differences in the language development of African-American children between 18 and 30 months of age. Found that vocabulary and utterance length increased linearly. Children from more stimulating and responsive homes had larger vocabularies, used more irregular nouns and verbs, and had…

In order to better understand contributing factors of moral judgment development, gifted youth and college students were compared. Moral judgment development, ACT scores, attributional complexity, and descriptors of personality were assessed among 140 college students and 97 gifted youth. Important distinctions favoring the gifted sample were seen…

Examined autonomy and individuation levels within financial, residential, romantic, and family formation domains among 17- to 27-year-olds in a community-based longitudinal study. Found that subgroup differences related to family socioeconomic status, parental divorce, gender, or race were not generally attributable to educational enrollment. Both…

This monograph details the Notre Dame Parenting Project, a comprehensive longitudinal study of the lives of adolescent mothers and their children from pregnancy through the first 8 years of life, describing how their respective developmental trajectories are interwoven and linked to the social contexts in which they live. A total of 281…