Since subthreshold autistic social impairments aggregate in family members, and since attentional dysfunctions appear to be one of the earliest cognitive markers of children with autism, we investigated in the general population the relationship between infants' attentional functioning and the autistic traits measured in their parents.…

Typically developing (TD) infants could capitalize on social eye gaze and social contexts to aid word learning. Although children with autism disorder (AD) are known to exhibit atypicality in word learning via social eye gaze, their ability to utilize social contexts for word learning is not well understood. We investigated whether verbal AD…

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of using music and/or sign language to promote early communication in infants and toddlers (6-20 months) and to enhance parent-child interactions. Three groups used for this study were pairs of participants (care-giver(s) and child) assigned to each group: 1) Music Alone 2) Sign Language…

Many studies have examined language acquisition under morphosyntactic or semantic inconsistency, but few have considered "word-form" inconsistency. Many young learners encounter word-form inconsistency due to accent variation in their communities. The current study asked how preschoolers recognize accent-variants of newly learned words.…

Language acquisition is a process embedded in social routines. Despite considerable attention in research to its social nature, little is known about developmental differences in the relative priority of certain social cues over others during early word learning. Employing an eye-tracking paradigm, we presented 14-month-old infants, 24-month-old…

Face recognition difficulties are frequently documented in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It has been hypothesized that these difficulties result from a reduced interest in faces early in life, leading to decreased cortical specialization and atypical development of the neural circuitry for face processing. However, a recent study…

Experiences that occur during the earliest years of life critically impact children's abilities to learn, move, and interact with others. This is especially true for children with severe sensory and multiple disabilities, for whom physical, communicative, cognitive, social, and emotional developmental domains are deeply intertwined. In recognition…

Since the enactment of the "Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975" ("EHA"), Public Law (P.L.) 94-142 and its successor statute, the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA"), the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education (secretary) (and her predecessor, the commissioner of…

This report reviews and analyzes California policies that are designed to support early learning in children from birth through age five years. The analysis is limited to early childhood (EC) education-related programs and supports that are likely to directly affect children's cognitive and social development. The information in the report comes…

Research has previously shown a gap of near 0.5 of a standard deviation (SD) in cognition and language development between the top and bottom household wealth quartile in children aged 6-42 months in a large representative sample of low- and middle-income families in Bogota, using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. The gaps in…

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the impact of a school health module on the breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes of middle school students. Method: A convenience sample of 39 middle school students received education related to breastfeeding and completed a pre-test and a post-test. The School Survey on Breastfeeding…

Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,364), the present study supports an agentic perspective; it demonstrates that mothers' depressive symptoms in infancy predict children's poor first-grade cognitive functioning because depressive symptoms…

The current longitudinal study examined the role of cumulative social risk on children's theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning (EF) across early development. Further, we also tested a cascade model of development in which children's social cognition at 18 months was hypothesized to predict ToM and EF at age 4.5 through intermediary…

As reading to children plays an important role in language development, primary caregivers are often encouraged to read to their children from a very young age. However, little is known about the age at which such reading should start. The linguistic skills of 104 children were assessed shortly before school entry. Their parents were asked how old…

A primary aim of the neuropsychological revolution has been the mapping of what has come to be known as executive function (EF). This term encompasses a range of mental processes such as working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility that, together, regulate our social behavior, and our emotional and cognitive well-being. In this…