A study of 44 infants who suffered asphyxia during the perinatal period examined the influence of perinatal asphyxia on the maturation of auditory pathways by serial recordings of the brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP). The general maturational course of the BAEP following asphyxia was similar to a control group. (Author/CR)

Examined preschool children's inferences about the likely appearance of a target figure based on information about the figure's occupation or personality traits. Without explicit gender-category information, girls' performance on gender-consistent and gender-inconsistent trials was equivalent; boys performed better on same-sex attributes. With…

Two experiments examined the origins of joint visual attention in 6- to 11-month-olds with a training procedure. Results indicated that joint visual attention does not reliably appear prior to 10 months; from about 8 months, a gaze-following response can be learned; and simple learning is not sufficient as the mechanism through which joint…

Two experiments used object-manipulation tasks to examine whether one- to two-year-olds form superordinate-like categories by attending to object parts. Findings indicated that 14- and 18-month-olds behaved systematically toward categories with different, but not matching, parts. Without part differences, none formed superordinate categories.…

A study investigated the efficacy of texture fading in the treatment of food selectivity displayed by four children (ages 2-5). Successful treatment involved the gradual addition of higher textures based on results of periodic probes. Food acceptance and swallowing were reinforced, while food refusal and expulsion were placed on extinction.…

A study involving 55 children with a language impairment and 76 with normal language investigated the heritability of auditory processing impairment in same-sex twins (ages 7 to 13, selected from a sample of 37 pairs). Although correlations between co-twins were high, lack of significant difference between monozygotic and dizygotic twins suggested…

The 1997 European Council of International Schools Statistical Survey shows that women comprised 43% of 1,242 senior administrators. Only 20% were heads or directors. Four senior female administrators interviewed had haphazard career paths, positive informal mentoring experiences, and major domestic responsibilities. (10 references) (MLH)

Describes cortical visual impairment (CVI) as a complex condition that is not an eye condition but a brain condition. Cautions practitioners that children with CVI do not exhibit similar behaviors, that a single approach does not work for all children, and that treatment is a dynamic process. (CR)

Investigates the effect of movement instruction on beginning instrumentalists' steady beat perception, synchronization, and performance. Finds that a group receiving movement instruction did not perform significantly better than a control group at perception but did perform significantly better at synchronization and performance. Notes low,…

Twenty-three children (ages 10 to 12) with language impairment and 46 typically achieving adults participated in two auditory lexical-decision tasks evaluating effects of phonological opacity on word recognition. Findings indicated that the language-impaired children were less able than controls to identify phonologically opaque…

This study compared the lexical mapping (acoustic-phonetic analysis) stage of auditory word recognition in 21 children (mean age 8 years 9 months) with specific language impairments (SLI) with children matched for either chronological age or vocabulary. The SLI children performed comparably to control groups on all dependent measures related to…

Compared the mismatch-negativity (MMN) component of auditory event-related brain potentials to explore the relationship between phonological short-term memory and auditory-sensory processing in 7- to 9-year olds scoring the highest and lowest on a pseudoword repetition test. Found that high and low repeaters differed in MMN amplitude to speech…

Examined abilities of 3- to 16-year olds and adults to resist interference during the processing of two auditory dimensions of speech--the speaker's gender and spatial location. Found that the degree of interference from irrelevant variability in either dimension did not vary with age. In the presence of conflicting task-irrelevant information,…

Responds to David Butler's discussion of aural training in music education. Emphasizes the need for more music educator involvement in aural-skills instruction and more research on aural-skills acquisition. Places Butler's discussion within the historical context of the past 30 years of music education philosophy. (DSK)

The Auditory Continuous Performance Test (ACPT) was evaluated with 12 children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 11 children without ADHD. The study found that the ACPT has acceptable specificity but very low sensitivity and thus cannot currently be recommended as a screening test for ADHD. (Author/DB)