Purpose: The Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) is a technological tool designed for comprehensive recordings and automated analysis of young children's daily language and auditory environments. LENA recordings play a crucial role in both clinical interventions and research, offering insights into the amount of spoken language children are…

Little is known about language development after late-to-moderate premature birth, the most significant part of prematurity worldwide. We examined minimal-pair word-learning skills in 18 eighteen-month-old healthy full-term (mean gestational age [GA] at birth = 39.6 weeks; 7 males; 100% Caucasian) and 18 healthy late-to-moderate preterm infants…

The objectives of this study were to describe, analyse and compare the sound environments to which deaf and typically hearing children between 3 and 18 months are typically exposed, and identify issues to support the development of guidelines for the use of radio aids in this age group. Thirty parents of children aged 3-18 months (14 deaf children…

This paper reports on a combined research-development project conducted in collaboration between researchers and preschool teachers in three Swedish preschools. The aim is to investigate how ongoing preschool activities may become the starting point for mathematics teaching in which toddlers are given the opportunity to distinguish necessary…

Knowing how children become oriented to imaginary play can help educators in centres better support development. But how this begins in the first years of life is not well understood. How toddlers transform through their imagination concrete objects (such as play accessories, figurines, and books) to become props in play (placeholders and pivots)…

Using a cross-sectional design, this study explored attachment insecurity and disorganization (assessed using the Strange Situation Procedure) in 90 toddlers (aged 14-24 months) with and without autism traits and assessed the associations between autism traits (severity and profiles) and both developmental level and attachment classification. Our…

Research Findings: The quantity and especially the quality of language that children are exposed to in early childhood (e.g. decontextualised and conversation-eliciting language) is linked to important developmental outcomes such as later school success. When caregivers refer to past or future events, they extend the conversation beyond the…

Young children engage with digital technologies from a very young age. Often this is considered detrimental to their social development as it is seen as a socially isolating experience. This paper presents the findings of an Australian Research Council funded research project that focused on what characterises infants and toddlers peer-to-peer…

This study presents data on the effectiveness of participatory training, called 'Improvement Groups', voluntarily adopted in four nurseries in Northern Italy to prevent episodes of violence by staff toward children. The interventions provided for the representation of problematic cases, experienced by participants, relating to factors of work…

The home environment is a significant factor that greatly influences the motor development of children. This study aims to examine the cultural adaptation validity and reliability of the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development (AHEMD-SR) for Turkish children aged 18--42 months. The study included 103 Turkish children (mean age =…

Children actively and selectively transmit information to others based on the type of information and the context during learning. Four- to 7-year-old children preferentially transmit generalizable information in teaching-like contexts. Although 2-year-old children are able to distinguish between generalizable and non-generalizable information, it…

Purpose: The Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) technology uses automated speech processing (ASP) algorithms to estimate counts such as total adult words and child vocalizations, which helps understand children's early language environment. This ASP has been validated in North American English and other languages in predominantly monolingual…

In this longitudinal study, we investigated the factor structure and stability of early-life temperament in a German sample, using three measures developed within Rothbart's psychobiological approach. Temperament was measured using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire Revised (IBQ-R) at the ages of 6 and 12 months, the Early Childhood Behavior…

There has been a major international focus on the education and care of toddlers. To date, empirical studies on adults' interactions in play with toddlers have focussed on the proximity of teachers, teachers' affective responses, and joint attention between adults and children in play. However, less attention has been given to the role of two…

Screening for autism in childhood has been advocated as a part of standard care. Challenges exist with screening implementation and performance of screening tools in clinical practice. This study aimed to examine the validity and feasibility of using the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F) for screening…