This report summarizes research about development during the first 3 years of life. It highlights research in domains that are foundational for later school readiness and success, including: (1) perceptual, motor, and physical development; (2) social and emotional development; (3) approaches to learning; (4) language and communication; and (5)…

Learning increases neurogenesis by increasing the survival of new cells generated in the adult hippocampal formation [Shors, T. J. Saving new brain cells. "Scientific American," 300, 46-52, 2009]. However, only some types of learning are effective. Recent studies demonstrate that animals that learn the conditioned response (CR) but require more…

Examined the effect of functional values of stimuli on orienting response elicitation. Subjects were 50 4-month-old infants and were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental conditions. Results suggested the importance of taking into account the functional value of stimuli when analyzing infant attention. (MOK)

A group of 16 infants (ages 6 to 24 months) with Down's Syndrome (DS) were exposed to two operant learning tasks varying in control of reinforcement. Comparison with chronological and developmental age matched controls found DS subjects characterized by increasing adoption of counterproductive learning behaviors with increasing age. (Author/DB)

A longitudinal study, intended to produce a profile of the relationship between cognitive, social, and linguistic development in Danish children, had as subjects a boy and a girl aged 11 and 8 months, who were observed until they reached age 3. Naturalistic language used by the children and their parents, videotaped during regular visits, was…

This overview reviews a program of interlinked cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations of the nature of cognitive development in infants and young children with Down's Syndrome. The research falls into three groupings: object concept studies, operant learning experiments, and IQ studies. Early results suggest a common learning style which…

Five principles of learning for young children with handicaps (functioning below a developmental age of one year) are presented, with descriptions of strategies that can be used to facilitate ascendance to higher levels of cognitive-social-communicative functioning. The principles include frequent adult-child interactions, meaningful context for…

This paper reports results from two dissertation studies and several pilot and case studies examining the effects of early enrichment on children's language and cognitive development. Early enrichment in these studies included home visits with parents, typically beginning before the child reached 6 months of age, and continuing until the child was…