Infants can track small groups of solid objects, and infants can respond when these quantities change. But earlier work is equivocal about whether infants can track continuous substances, such as piles of sand. Experiment 1 ("N" = 88) used a habituation paradigm to show infants can register changes in the size of piles of sand that they…

The present study aimed to investigate whether perceptual completion is available at birth, in the absence of any visual experience. An extremely underspecified kinetic visual display composed of four spatially separated fragments arranged to give rise to an illusory rectangle that occluded a vertical rod (illusory condition) or rotated so as not…

This study compared cortisol concentrations yielded using three saliva collection methods (passive drool, salivette, and sorbette) in both in vitro and in vivo conditions, as well as method acceptability for a sample of children (n = 39) with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders. No cortisol concentration differences were observed between…

Happe and Loth (2002) describe word learning as a "privileged domain" in the development of a theory of mind. We test this claim in a series of experiments based on the Sally-Anne paradigm. Three- and 4-year-old children's ability to represent others' false beliefs was investigated in tasks that required the child either to predict the actions of…

Associative learning is critical to normal cognitive development in children. However, young adults typically outperform children on paired-associate tasks involving visual, verbal and spatial location stimuli. The present experiment investigated cross-modal odour-place associative memory in children (7-10 years) and young adults (18-24 years).…

The theory that children's development of strategies-of-science experimentation is a consequence of developments in theory of mind was examined with 72 children in grades one, three, and five. Ability to predict, explain, and affect the reasoning of a doll or cartoon character predicted performance in planning controlled experiments and in…

Considerable research illuminates the development of causal understanding. However, the research base is hardly a coherent whole. Some is based in research on children's understanding of particular science concepts. Some grows out of social psychology and considers how one attributes intentions and behaviors. Some comes from the developmental…

Discusses the importance of science education in early childhood education and describes different approaches in incorporating physics into the preschool curriculum. Provides examples of experiments and encourages parent participation in children's science activities. Concludes by looking at science as an equity issue and emphasizes that science…

Studied developmental differences in the search constraint heuristics used in scientific reasoning using 12 undergraduates, 20 community college students, 17 fifth to seventh graders (grade 6), and 15 third graders taught to use a programmable robot. Adults use domain-general skills that go beyond the logic of confirmation and disconfirmation.…