In this essay Amy Shuffelton considers Jean-Jacques Rousseau's suspicion of imagination, which is, paradoxically, offered in the context of an imaginative construction of a child's upbringing. First, Shuffelton articulates Rousseau's reasons for opposing children's development of imagination and their engagement in the sort of imaginative play…

Aim: To assess the relation between cerebellar volume and spectroscopy at term equivalent age, and neurodevelopment at 24 months corrected age in preterm infants. Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain was performed around term equivalent age in 112 preterm infants (mean gestational age 28wks 3d [SD 1wk 5d]; birthweight 1129g [SD 324g]).…

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are life-long developmental disorders characterized by impairments in the development of reciprocal social and communication skills, abnormal language development, and a restricted repertoire of behaviors and interests. While it has been known for some time that children with ASD can evince elevated rates of…

This study concerns the relationship between learning and play. On the basis of sociocultural theory, some ideas are put forward about how this relationship can be conceptualised in the context of goal-directed practice. Empirical data from primary school with children 6-8 years old are used to illustrate and discuss this conceptualisation. It is…

The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) is a nationally representative, internationally comparable household survey implemented to examine protective and risk factors of child development in developing countries around the world. This introduction describes the conceptual framework, nature of the MICS3, and general analytic plan of articles…

Previous research has shown that maternal overcontrol is related to higher levels of child anxiety. It has been theorized, though not empirically tested, that maternal overcontrol decreases child perceived competence and mastery, which increases child anxiety. The present study investigated this theory using a sample of 89 mother-child dyads…

Although the acquisition of a novel word is apparently rapid, adult research suggests that integration of novel and existing knowledge (measured by engagement in lexical competition) requires sleep-associated consolidation. We present the first investigation of whether a similar time-course dissociation characterizes word learning across…

The present study compared 6- to 9-year-old children's reports of their decisions to express anger, sadness, and physical pain; methods of controlling and communicating felt emotion; and reasons for doing so in response to hypothetical situations across three groups: old-city India (n = 60), suburban India (n = 60), and suburban United States (n =…

Very little is known about the use of gesture by children with developmental language disorders (DLDs). This case study of "Lucy", a child aged 4;10 with a DLD, expands on what is known and in particular focuses on a type of idiosyncratic "rhythmic gesture" (RG) not previously reported. A fine-grained qualitative analysis was carried out of video…

Very few studies have examined the cognitive advantages of bilingualism during the first two years of development, and a majority of the studies examining bilingualism throughout the lifespan have focused on the relationship between multiple languages and cognitive control. Early experience with multiple language systems may influence…

Experience engenders learning, but not all learning involves representational change. In this paper, we provide a dramatic case study of the distinction between learning and representational change. Specifically, we examined long- and short-term changes in representations of numeric magnitudes by asking individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) and…

There has been considerable debate over the ways in which children's early literacy skills develop over time. Using confirmatory multidimensional scaling (MDS) growth analysis, this paper directly tested the hypothesis of a cumulative trajectory versus a compensatory trajectory of development in early literacy skills among a group of 1233…

What kind of place is the home for the children of today's world where the tight working pace and schedules frame children's lives and transitions between home and day care? The primary significance and value of home is unquestionable for children's development and rarely have the adults stopped in order to listen to the children's thoughts about…

The present investigation explored the question of whether walking onset is related to infant language development. Study 1 used a longitudinal design (N = 44) to assess infant locomotor and language development every 2 weeks from 10 to 13.5 months of age. The acquisition of walking was associated with a significant increase in both receptive and…

Child sleep and adjustment research with community samples is on the rise with a recognized need of explicating this association. We examined reciprocal relations between children's sleep and their internalizing and externalizing symptoms using 3 waves of data spanning 5 years. Participants included 176 children at Time 1 (M = 8.68 years; 69%…