Mothers' actions are more enthusiastic, simple, and repetitive when demonstrating novel object properties to their infants than to adults, a behavioral modification called "infant-directed action" by Brand and colleagues (2002). The current study tested whether fathers also tailor their behavior when interacting with infants and whether this…

Twelve mothers were videotaped interacting with their children, aged 13 months, and 100 maternal utterances were coded for pragmatic intent. Prescriptives were coded as either changing or following the child's focus of attention. Results show that, given a joint focus, directing a 13-month-old's behavior can have beneficial effects on subsequent…

This collection of 14 essays focuses on the education of individuals with profound disabilities. The essays include: (1) "Individuals with Profound Disabilities: Definitions, Characteristics, and Conceptual Framework" (Les Sternberg); (2) "Creating Environments That Support and Enhance the Lives of All Individuals" (Lucille Zeph); (3) "Biomedical…