Reviews a series of papers which report a sequence of experiments concerned with how repeated visual encounters with objects or patterns influence attentional preference for what is familiar of what is unfamiliar or novel. (WY)

In this study, changes in infant's attention to novel on familiar stimuli in novel and familiar environments as a function of age were examined. By 8 weeks, males fixated a novel stabile more if in a familiar environment while females fixated the novel stabile more if in a novel environment. (Author/WY)

Thirty-eight infants were observed interacting separately with their mothers and fathers in the home at seven and twelve months of age. Social initiative measures and reciprocal parental response measures adopted from Clarke-Stewart were used. The infants distributed their social initiative equally to both parents but made fewer initiatives when…

The reasons for obesity are identified and its prevention and treatment in children are described through discussions of infant care, eating habits, nutrition, exercise, and family support. (BJD)

The ethological hypothesis that "parental" caregiving can be elicited by certain physical characteristics of infants was investigated in three experiments. Results demonstrated that age-related changes in physical appearance can alter the verbally reported tendency to protect or cuddle others. (Author/RH)

Investigates the ability of four-, seven-, and ten-month-old infants to perceive and base novelty responses on correlations among perceptual attributes in a category-like context. In a habituation-dishabituation paradigm, ten-month-old infants clearly responded on the basis of the correlation among attributes, while four- and seven-month-old…

Studies designed to assess the efficacy of interventions with organically impaired infants in terms of how well the experimental designs used controlled for threats to interval validity were analyzed. The use of methodologically more rigorous designs in evaluation studies is recommended to prevent or ameliorate the adverse effects of…

Two experiments tested the effectiveness of familiar size as information for perceiving distance. In the first experiment, under monocular viewing conditions, adults judged the distances to large and small photographs of faces and to large and small checkerboard ovals equal to the faces in size. In the second, the same displays were presented to…

The cognitive skills required in pretend play and language were examined in two studies in which children imitated pretend-play behaviors and sentences. As hypothesized, the control of animate and inanimate components in play and language were significantly related. (Author/MP)

Places the current controversy concerning the adequacy of parental ratings of temperament into the larger perspective of personality issues, which have been hotly debated for the past two decades. (Author/MP)

Reports the results of a study of the psychometric properties of a questionnaire designed to measure parents' perceptions of their baby's temperament and suggests directions for refinement in the assessment of infant temperament. (MP)

Discusses theories on the acquisition of early learning. The author suggests that an infant's innate physiological reflexes cause him or her to respond to adults in a way that stimulates the adults to model and reinforce socially acceptable behavior and communication patterns. (AM)

Describes the development of one child's awareness of print and the stages he passed through while learning to read from birth to age two. (FL)

The contingency intervention system based upon an Apple II microcomputer is described and its application to three Down's syndrome infants and one premature infant is discussed. The use of the microcomputer as a behavioral microscope in infant intervention is examined. (Author/CL)