Analysis of recent literature covering visual experiments with infants and young children documented a progression of visual functions in early development. (Author)

The study found that providing feedback and goals in an accelerating standards condition had a positive effect on the learning of eight retarded children (mean age 9 years) on a five-choice discrimination task requiring vocabulary and perceptual competence. (Author/DB)

Describes some of the common principles underlying the operation of the cortex in an effort to understand the human brain. Discusses the structure of the cortex, its specific areas, and its map-making abilities. Describes some of the recent discoveries about brain operation, development and functioning. (TW)

Investigates kindergarten children's ability to comprehend and appreciate cognitively-oriented humor. Conceptual development was measured by assessing children's responses to a liquid conservation task modeled after Piaget. Results fail to support previous theories and indicate that a majority of the children fully comprehended and were able to…

Argues against the theory of hemispheric dominance and discusses the dangers of developing an educational system based on the false assumptions of two-brain theories. (SRT)

Tests infants' dual-process performance (a process mediating response decrements called habituation and a state-dependent process mediating response increments called sensitization) on visual habituation-dishabituation tasks. (HOD)

Examines 3-month-old infants' perception of "camouflaged" forms that were only visible when moving. Shows infants effectively use kinetic information to organize visual input in higher-order structures. (HOD)

Second and third graders and fifth and sixth graders were tested in a very large, unfamiliar environment to determine the relation of their knowledge of an abstract reference frame to performance on a spatial inference task. (HOD)

Three experiments with observers aged 6 to 21 years of age examined the integration of shape information over successive glances. Results indicated age-related improvements in the sequential integration of shape information, both when integration occurs through successive glimpses over space and when information is separated only in time. (HOD)

Examines children's understanding of what variables and relations are important in problem structures, and their use of these variables and relations in problem solving. (HOD)

Research is reported which investigated the ability of four-month-old hearing infants to discriminate between gestures derived from American Sign Language. Findings show that infants possess the perceptual abilities to differentiate between signs that differ solely in terms of contrasts along a single underlying movement direction. (SED)

Five-, five-and-a-half-, and seven-month-old infants were tested for sensitivity to relative size as distance information. Infants viewed two equidistant, different-sized objects presented side by side and reaching was used as dependent measure. Findings revealing five-and-a-half- and seven- but not five-month-olds were sensitive to relative size…

Compares the response of preterm and full-term infants to moving objects presented with or without accompanying sound. Finds differences in attention and recognition between full-terms and preterms at three months of age. At six months of age only high-risk preterms showed different responses than full-terms, suggesting that they are at a…

The article reviews the role of the vestibular system, tactile system, kinesthetic system, visual system, balance, locomotion, body awareness, spatial system, mildline crossing, bilateral integration, form perception, and eye-food coordination in promoting an integrated motor base on which later learning is built. (CL)

To reverse the general decline in school performance, educationists must restructure learning experiences to balance the present fragmented and specialized linear processes with the sensory/spatial processes, so that an educational system commensurate with the neutral balance of both cerebral hemispheres might emerge. (MB)