Prosocial behavior in early childhood is a precursor to later adaptive social functioning. This investigation leveraged mother-reported, physiological, and observational data to examine children's prosocial development from age 2 to age 4 (N = 125). Maternal emotion socialization (ES) strategies and children's parasympathetic regulation have each…

The words "routine" and "ritual" are sometimes used interchangeably. Yet there are some important differences. Routines are repeated, predictable events that provide a foundation for the daily tasks in a child's life. Teachers can create a predictable routine in early childhood settings for infants and toddlers, and they can individualize those…

Evidence which suggests that pretend activities become increasingly independent of the presence of realistic objects is examined in this paper. Results of research on pretend behavior in children 1 1/2 - 2 years of age are described and analyzed. Striking changes in pretend behavior are shown to occur during the second year of life. Pretend play…

This study examines the degree to which young children are influenced by the familiarity of an adult participant in their pretend play with toys which vary in resemblance to highly prototypical objects (e.g., cup-like cups or doll-like dolls). A group of 29 children, mean age 21 months, was divided into two experimental groups balanced by sex; 15…

Designed to explore (1) developmental changes in exact and partial imitation of manual and facial movements, (2) model differences, and (3) gesture differences, this study observed infants at 2, 12, and 24 weeks of age. A hypothesis is proposed that links early nonselective behaviors and attributed imitation to emergence of imitative behavior…

This nine-unit curriculum translates current scientific research on early brain development into practical suggestions to help early childhood professionals understand the reciprocal link between caregiving and brain development. The curriculum was created and extensively field-tested by the Erikson Institute Faculty Development Project on the…

Compares patterns of friendship in infants, toddlers, and preschool children who attended either a child-care center or a program for emotionally disturbed children. Younger children had fewer and more stable friendships; emotionally disturbed children limited friendships to single partners. Complexity of social interaction increased most within…

The study involving 147 infant-mother pairs explored the relationship among infant temperament, maternal concern, and adjustment during early infancy, and the stability of these variables over time. (Author/SBH)

A sample of ten abused toddlers ranging in age from one to three years and ten matched controls from families experiencing stress were observed during social interactions with caregivers and with peers in their day care settings. (JMB)

In the four studies reported, facial expressions of emotion are considered to be not merely responses indicative of internal states; they are also stimulus patterns that regulate the behavior of others. Results indicated that one-year-old infants seek out and use maternal facial expressions to monitor behavior. (Author/DST)

The dyadic controls of the social interchange patterns of 12- to 42-month-olds (N=27) with their different social partners is the focus of this study. (Author/MP)

Assessment of the prelinguistic behaviors of 43 deaf children (ages 8 to 49 months) of hearing parents in Israel found only partial resemblance to the theoretical model of prelinguistic communication in hearing infants. Unique interrelationships among pointing and early noncommunicative behaviors were found with no correlation between use of…

Combines and examines evidence from two longitudinal studies of infant and family development to determine whether experience of extensive nonmaternal care in the first year is associated with heightened risk of insecure infant-mother attachment and, in the case of sons, infant-father attachment. (Author/RWB)

Over a 14-month period, infants who were initially 10 months old were intermittently allowed to play with three sets of graduated objects presented in disarray. All of the infants acquired the ability to completely organize the materials. The infants exhibited patterned behavior in their organizing practices when they individualized objects by…