Development involves progressive changes in knowledge and abilities that occur across the life span. Current research on musical abilities suggests that the development of skills necessary for musicality begins in utero and continues through adulthood. Many of these skills, such as the ability to carry a tune, move in time to music, and respond…

This experiment tested how 18-month-old infants' prior experience with an object affects their imitation. Specifically, we asked whether infants would imitate an adult who used her head to illuminate a light-box if they had earlier discovered that the light could be illuminated with their hands. In the Self-Discovery condition, infants had the…

Children experience the most rapid rate of development during the first three years of life. It is well understood that high-quality learning experiences that begin early in life can promote young children's development and help reduce achievement gaps. The purpose of this literature review is to review the research on supporting access to quality…

The federal government provides child development, elementary and secondary education, and educational assistance to Indian children, in a federal school system and in public school-systems that predominantly receive state and local funding. The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) in the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) oversees the federally…

Prior research suggests that partnerships in early care and education have the potential to enhance the quality of care and offer comprehensive services to more children and families. This brief draws on data from the national descriptive study of Early Head Start-Child Care (EHS-CC) Partnerships to describe the activities partnerships engage in…

The IFSP is both a document and process for developing, implementing, and evaluating the supports and services delivered to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families eligible under Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA; 2004). Recently, researchers have defined IFSP quality based on five…

Research Findings: Two longitudinal studies are reported examining the effects of full-time day care in Mapuche and non-Mapuche families in Chile. First, the Magellan-Leiden Childcare Study (MLCS) used a sample of 95 mothers with children younger than 1 year old (n = 36 in day care). Second, we partially cross-validated our results in a large and…

Research highlights the vulnerability of Black mothers and their infants, who experience higher rates of stress, preterm birth, low birth weight, and infant mortality than other racial groups. This article describes the development and implementation of the Relationships and Parenting Support (RAPS) Program, a community-based, family-focused…

This article describes the European Portuguese MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories short forms, the first published instruments for the assessment of language development in EP-learning infants and toddlers. Normative data from the EP population are presented, focusing on developmental trends for vocabulary learning, production…

Background: Consistent with evidence from high-income countries (HICs), we previously showed that, in an informal peri-urban settlement in a low-middle income country, training parents in book sharing with their infants benefitted infant language and attention (Vally, Murray, Tomlinson, & Cooper, [Vally, Z., 2015]). Here, we investigated…

Most of the time, infants start life with all of the bioneurological- sensory resources and social/emotional readiness to begin their journey toward learning how to relate to their closest family members and, eventually, people in their wider world. Attachment, bonding, security, and an emotional home with significant, consistent caregivers are…

The concept of bidirectionality represents a process of mutual influence between parent and child, whereby each influences the other as well as the dyadic relationship. Despite the widespread acceptance of bidirectional models of influence, there is still a lack of integration of such models in current research designs. Research on…

Every child has the right to health, education and protection, and every society has a stake in expanding children's opportunities in life. Yet, around the world, millions of children are denied a fair chance for no reason other than the country, gender or circumstances into which they are born. The "State of the World's Children 2016"…

Alyssa Conklin-Moore discusses normalization in the child under three from several perspectives. She takes an extensive look at the child, including orienting parents to the Montessori environment, the child's entrance into the environment, addressing the sensitive periods, and fostering independence, contribution, and community. She reminds the…

Purpose: This research note explores the potential role of attention in mediating previously reported associations between language outcomes and prematurity. Method: As a follow-up investigation to Mahurin Smith, DeThorne, Logan, Channell, and Petrill (2014), we employed multilevel modeling to analyze longitudinal data on language and attention…