Replies to Gholson's commentary (PS 522 655) on the article by Coldren and Colombo in this monograph. Discusses limitations in the shift procedure methodology traditionally used in research on discrimination learning, and considers the use in future research of methodologies that can precisely decompose children's responses to feedback during…

Discusses two problems in the study by Blass and Ciaramitaro reported in this monograph: (1) whether the measurement of behavior states as "on-off" or "graded" captures a behavioral process or reflects the measurement itself; (2) whether the term "state" explains findings as a single function that may be better…

Notes two faulty aspects of the Reznick et al., twin study (PS 526 688): the expressive language measure at 14 months, which has practically no spread of item difficulty, as well as measures included to assess specific cognitive characteristics; and the notion of infant transition as it affects interpretation of the results. (HTH)

Suggests study by Kuhn and others (PS 524 345) is too ambitious and that the processes described are not wholly representative of developmental stages. Argues the methodology of study was progressive problem solving, and that experimenter's questions resulted in contrived stages. (JW)

Reviews issues of reliability (especially test-retest reliability) in newborn assessment, discusses predictive models based on newborn assessment, and presents information on modifications of the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale which may help in pursuing fruitful questions involving prediction of development. (Author/BH)

Discusses the role and limitations of the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale in the continuing effort to construct an adequate account of infant development. (BH)

Describes the conceptual model of newborn organization underlying the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). Argues that while the NBAS allows for the identification of an individual's behavioral repertoire, attempts to synthesize the resulting data have been plagued with difficulties. Briefly outlines an alternative model for…

Utilizes experimental results to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale as an instrument for measuring individual (rather than group) differences among infants and notes how these differences contribute to parent-infant interaction. (BH)

Criticizes Dorval and Eckerman (included in this issue) for their findings' lack of generality due to the artificial nature of the conversational groups studied. Also both age changes in the ability to plan large conversational units and the functions of particular kinds of turns within these larger units are left unexplored. (CB)

Examines secular trends in research on Afro-American children appearing in CHILD DEVELOPMENT between 1936 and 1980. A statistical analysis revealed dramatic changes in the frequency and type of research on this population, and identified some of the changing social issues and perspectives that are reflected in the research. (Author/BB)

Argues that using the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale outside the standard hospital setting introduces variations in the physical and social context that influence scores on some of the behavioral items. (Author/BH)

Discusses methodological problems of Sigman and Ruskin's longitudinal study. Questions whether determination of specificity, universality, and uniqueness is appropriately addressed by between-syndrome comparisons. Describes problems with group matching, offers a method of partially correcting them, and argues that group designs have limited…

Addresses questions about group comparisons and the extent to which the original Sigman and Ruskin study identified specific, unique, and universal deficits in autism. Considers the alternate methodology for measuring improvements in the performance of children with Down syndrome and autism. (JPB)

Discusses the structure, reliability, stability, validity and usefulness of the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) and the results of factor and regression analyses of data collected using the NBAS. (Author/BH)