Psychologists have long debated the role of early experience in social and cognitive development. However, traditional approaches to studying this issue are not well positioned to address this debate. The authors present simulations that indicate that the associations between early experiences and later outcomes should approach different…

Few studies have investigated how preschool and primary school interact to influence children's cognitive development. The present investigation explores German children's numeracy skills between age 3 (1st year of preschool) and age 7 (1st year of primary school). We first identified the influence of preschool experience on development while…

Mothers read stories to their children (N = 41) aged between 3.3 years and 5.11 years old, and children then completed two false-belief tasks. One year later, mothers read a story to 37 of those children who were also given four tasks to assess their advanced understanding of mental states. Mothers' early use of cognitive verbs in picture-book…

Investigates the relationship between 24 children's experiences in their second year, their mental and emotional disposition before and after the second year, and their motivational competence. Type and quality of experience were related to mental and emotional disposition. (RJC)

Illustrates the use of a Piagetian-influenced research strategy in overcoming existing methodological problems in human experience research and presents illustrative data on human early experience research which has so far yielded inconsistent data. (GO)

This report is a summary statement about a broad-based longitudinal study being conducted by Head Start. It concerns the effects of early school experiences on over 1800 disadvantaged children, ages 4 to 8, and their families who live in four poverty areas. The report (1) raises basic questions about the nature of education, learning, and…

An extended longitudinal study compared cognitive development in children adopted from Romania before 24 months and in United Kingdom adoptees with an additional sample of Romanian children adopted after 24 months. Findings indicated that there was considerable catch-up among late-placed Romanian children but they exhibited lower cognitive scores…

This investigation evaluated a group of 20 8-month to 2-year-old culturally disadvantaged children who were given a 1-year structured educational program as a means of environmental intervention. The program involved language training, conceptual training, and sensory-motor training. The study is the first phase of a longitudinal study to…

Does early child care hinder or enhance infants' and toddlers' social and cognitive development? This longitudinal study investigated whether: (1) child care is related to qualities of mother-child interaction and the child's cognitive and language development in the first 3 years of life; (2) the child care environment interacts with the home…

A 5-year longitudinal study of infant day care programs in New York City is described. Emphasis is on the effects of day care on the child and family, particulary with regard to mother-infant separation. The study is large scale (involving 550 children and families), and it focuses on service-oriented programs that have been developed in the past…

THE EXTENSION OF THE CONCEPT OF READINESS INTO EDUCATION EARLIER IN THIS CENTURY RESULTED IN STUDIES WHICH CONCLUDED THAT CHILDREN ARE NOT READY TO READ UNTIL A MENTAL AGE OF 6.5. BUT ACTUAL RESEARCH ON PRESCHOOL READING WAS, AS OF 1957, EXTREMELY LIMITED. TWO LONGITUDINAL STUDIES WERE UNDERTAKEN TO REMEDY THIS LACK. BOTH STUDIES SOUGHT TO…

THE OBJECTIVE FOR THIS STUDY WAS TO FOSTER PREKINDERGARTEN CHILDREN'S DEVELOPMENT THROUGH A PERSONALIZED PROGRAM BASED ON ASSESSMENTS OF EACH CHILD'S DEVELOPMENTAL SKILLS, USING NEW TESTS AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ADAPTED TO INDIVIDUAL NEEDS. OF FOUR EXPERIMENTAL CLASSES, THREE FOCUSED ON AN AREA OF WEAKNESS (MOTOR, AUDITORY-LANGUAGE, OR…

Examined how child care experiences related to cognitive and language development from birth through age 3. Found that care quality was modestly related to cognitive and language outcomes, after adjusting for several factors. Cumulative experience in center-based care related to better outcomes than did experience in other care. Children in…

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…

This 5-year study involved the design, development and evaluation of a combined day care and parent guidance program for infants and preschool children, and included comparisons between participants' development from 6 months to 5 years of age and the development of a group of similar children reared entirely at home. Major elements of the parent…