Longitudinal data provide an encouraging base for further investigation of early individual differences in attentiveness and possible early precursors of later attention deficits. In the study, full-term and preterm children were observed at 1, 2, and 3.5 years in free play and in more structured situations. (RH)

Tested the hypothesis that development of secure attachments is predictable from synchronous, and insecure attachments from asynchronous interactions across the first year. Findings from 30 dyads (10 secure, 10 avoidant, 10 resistant) supported the hypothesis at one and three months, with synchronous interaction observed at significantly,…

Results indicate that seven-month-old infants are sensitive to the depth cues of linear perspective and texture gradients. Self-produced locomotor experience is not necessary for the development of sensitivity to static-monocular depth information. (RJC)

Investigated the quality of 5 mothers' interactions with facially deformed infants aged 17 weeks. Results revealed that mothers of deformed infants rated their parental and life satisfaction more positively and behaved in a less nurturant manner than did mothers of normal infants. (RJC)

Outlines the provisions of The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986 (PL99-457), which funds educational and family services programs for three- to five-year-old children with disabilities or substantial developmental delays. Suggests ways that child care advocates can help implement this law. (NH)

Focuses on the experimental designs and methodology of 15 studies, most of which used only part of the methodology for the experimental analysis of behavior. Argues that the failure to fully use available research technology may have contributed to researchers' failure to make experimental contact with the definition of reinforcement. (RH)

Proposes an interference explanation of data from dual-task studies of memory development. Dual-task data support the resources hypothesis that memory processes tax a common pool of cognitive energy, which has been variously called attentional, mental effort, and working-memory capacities. Suggests that dual-task deficits are instances of output…

Investigated infants' integration of visual information across space and time. In four experiments, infants aged 12 months and 6 months viewed objects after watching light trace similar and dissimilar shapes. Infants looked longer at novel shapes, although six-month-olds did not recognize figures taking more than 10 seconds to trace. One-year-old…

Investigated the development of social referencing (children's looks toward parents, instrumental toy behaviors, affective expressions, etc.) in 40 infants aged 6-9, 10-13, and 14-22 months. Results indicated that looking behavior of younger children may function differently from that of older children, and social referencing involves a number of…

Case management services for handicapped infants, required by Public Law 99-457, are reviewed from an historical perspective. Research on case management is described, and policy issues related to implementing case management in the context of early intervention are discussed. (Author/JDD)

Studied 16 six-month-old infants to determine whether they organized speech categories around prototypes. Infants correctly sorted novel stimuli over 90 percent of the time. Generalization to novel members of the category was significantly greater after exposure to the prototypical exemplar. (RJC)

Early intervention services provided to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families include case management. A historical framework for the concept of case management is presented, the role of the case manager in early intervention is explored, and competencies involved in the role are outlined. (Author/JDD)

In 1989, African Americans had an infant mortality rate about 2.2 times higher than Anglos, with little difference in the gaps for endogenous and exogenous mortality. The racial gap was related to differences in sociodemographic, maternal-health, and health-care factors, and was greater between high school graduates than between high school…

Examined the sex differences in physiological and behavioral stress reactivity among 36 healthy, full-term neonates after a mildly stressful behavioral assessment procedure. Salivary cortisol, heart rate change, Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale (NBAS) cluster scores, and behavioral states after the NBAS provided 100% discrimination between male…

Tested 13-, 16-, and 20-month olds' and 24- and 28-month olds' categorization of global- and basic-level object sets composed of prototypical and nonprototypical exemplars. Findings offer new information on the effects of prototypicality and on the process of differentiation of early global categories into more specific basic-level ones. (DR)