In the summer of 1899, [John] Dewey gave two series of talks at Honolulu High School on Tuesday and Friday evenings from 8:00 to 10:00. The first set of five lectures was entitled "The Life of the Child;" the second set, "Movements in Nineteenth Century Thought." The first talk of the lecture series was delivered on the evening…

This article is an autobiographical account of a remarkable childhood. In this essay, David Steiner, the Klara & Larry Silverstein Dean of the School of Education at Hunter College in New York, chronicles his early years and his road to Oxford. David is the son of George Steiner, the polymath who has scathingly denounced Western societies for the…

This paper was presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Santa Monica, California, March 25-29, 1969. (DR)

Following a review of research on the effects of early experience upon subsequent cognitive and intellectual development, an alternative Piagetian-based strategy for the study and evaluation of these concerns is presented. Using this paradigm, infants were observed naturalistically for one year. The observations were coded according to the four…

In this article, the authors explore the life history and home education of Lu Wei, a top student in the 2004 Guangdong Province College entrance examination. The authors argue that the following issues of Lu's home education played an important role in Lu's success: emphasis and nurture of intellectual development in the early years of life,…

Fifty-one children who had spent their first 2-7 years in institutions, and who had been visited previously at the age of 4 1/2 years, were reassessed at the age of 8. Seven children had never left the institutions, the rest had been adopted, fostered, or restored to their biological parent. (JB)

Reviews research on intellectual, emotional, and social development of children in day care. (RH)

Ronald C. Johnson argued that if early environmental stimulation or deprivation has a significant effect on intellectual ability, then individuals who are genetically identical and who are exposed to a common early environment should resemble one another more closely in IQ than similar individuals who have not shared a common environment. Johnson…

Based on the premise that the brain is a highly plastic, constantly changing entity that is powerfully shaped by experiences in childhood and throughout life, this book presents information on enriching childhood brain development. Each stage of childhood development is profiled, with the changes in the brain described and their implications for…

IT IS PROPOSED THAT MENTAL RETARDATION IS NOT NECESSARILY CAUSED BY A GENETIC FACTOR OR BY BRAIN INJURY, BUT MAY BE CAUSED BY THE CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH CHILDREN ARE RAISED. WHEN CHILDREN ARE LEFT IN PSYCHOSOCIALLY DEPRIVED HOMES, THEIR RATE OF DEVELOPMENT WILL TEND TO DECLINE. IF, AT AN EARLY AGE, THEY ARE PLACED IN A SCHOOL FOR A FEW…

Three major educational goals suggested for the child are: (1) that he learn to balance a concept of himself as both an individual and a group member; (2) that he became competent so that he will feel he can influence the events that affect his life; and (3) that he develop a positive sense of self-esteem. A transactional view of development and…

In this response to the critiques by Jensen and McVicker Hunt, we focus on the meaning of g, the permanence of effects produced by early education, and the educational significance of IQ gains produced by early education programs. New longitudinal data from our study presented. (Author/RD)

Critically reviews research since 1972 on maternal deprivation. Topics discussed include: the development of social relationships and the process of bonding; critical periods of development; links between childhood experiences and parenting behavior; influences on parenting; and possible reasons why so many children do not succumb to deprivation…

A review of research indicates that early (including prenatal) continuous exposure to music not only positively influences children's advancing musical aptitude but also generates and increases children's abilities in some components of giftedness, such as problem solving, risk taking, and creativity. (Author/CB)