An unusual case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy is reported. A mother with a psychiatric record of behavior disorders and family dysfunction perpetrated the ingestion of foreign bodies (for example, earrings, a screw, sewing needles) on a 10-month-old infant with a history of prematurity, repeated visits to emergency rooms, and nonjustified…

Two studies examined relationships between play and other developmental domains. Found that play was correlated with adaptive and fine motor skills at 12 months and with language at 20 months. Between 14-36 months, play was correlated with all Mullen Scale of Early Learning subtests. Language expressive and visual expressive scales predicted play…

Twelve- and 18-month-olds played with 2 adults and 2 new toys. For a third toy, one adult left the room while the child and other adult played with it. This adult returned, looked at the 3 toys, expressed excitement, and asked "Can you give it to me?" Infants at both ages were able to do so, suggesting that 1-year-olds understand other persons as…

Examines onset, atrophy, and possible interaction of a set of patterns in the speech of a child acquiring French and English. Examines how data bear on the question of whether the bilingual child has two distinct production phonologies from the earliest stage. Tests recent claims consonant harmony patterns. (Author/VWL)

Explored the effect of person familiarity and parental involvement on 3.5-month-old infants' sensitivity to the dynamic emotion expressions of others. Found that infants looked differentially at mothers' expressions but not at those of fathers or unfamiliar adults, and that parent-child involvement significantly influenced infants' developing…

In order to shed light on the needs of children with cortical visual impairments, normal visual development of infants is described. Infant preferences for motion, faces, and black-and-white patterns are explained. Colors useful in stimulating vision development and the time needed for exposure to visual stimuli are discussed. (CR)

In one experiment, sucrose arrested crying and reduced heart rate and gross activity in 2-week-olds but was ineffective in calming 4-week-olds unless accompanied by eye contact. In a second experiment, for 4-week-olds who received sucrose without eye contact or water with eye contact, the reduction in crying was modest and not sustained.…

Parents sang a song once to their infants and once in a simulated setting. The song's pitch was higher and tempo slower for infant-directed than simulated singing. Listeners of varying child care experience, musical background, and culture were able to identify which version was infant-directed. Listeners who rated parents' emotional engagement…

Examined development of displaced reference in four deaf children who used homesign and in 18 hearing children. Found that deaf children referred to the nonpresent less frequently and at later ages than hearing children, both groups followed similar developmental paths. Deaf children evoked the nonpresent by generating novel gestures, modifying…

Suggests several factors to account for the onset of infant-adult joint attention initiated by the infant, and identifies several consequences of infants' understanding of others as intentional subjects, such as verbal development and infants' role in their own enculturation. Contends that infants learn referential gestures not only by imitation…

Used a genetic design to investigate association between physical aggression and language development in 19-month-old twins. Found a modest but significant correlation between aggression and expressive vocabulary. Substantial heritability was found for physical aggression. Quantitative genetic modeling suggested that the correlation could not be…

This review examines empirical and theoretical work in three eras--infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood--and for each era, describes the structure of dyadic synchrony in interactions involving children and their caregivers, primarily mothers, as well as offers speculation about its developmental function for the child. Issues for future…

Reviews research concerning language acquisition in infants, particularly the acquisition of syntax. Topics of discussion include the problem of language acquisition, theories of language acquisition, and the progression from competing hypotheses to mutually reinforcing theories. (RJC)

Children with secure attachments at 12 and 18 months of age were found to be more empathic and prosocial toward others as preschoolers. (PCB)

Compared American and Japanese maternal speech to three-month-old infants. Observations showed that U.S. mothers were more information oriented than Japanese mothers, and that Japanese mothers were more affect oriented, using more nonsense, onomatopoeic sounds, baby talk, and babies' names. Differences are attributed to culture-specific…