Describes a comparative longitudinal study of the development of medically fragile infants who entered intervention programs at 3 and 18 months. Reports similar outcomes on functioning measures for the first two annual assessments but higher scores in the third year for infants who received intervention earlier. (BCY)

Two groups of 18-month-olds were exposed to a novel object labeled "dodo." The object was introduced when the infant's attention was focused either on the object or on another object. Infants in the group with attention on the object were more likely than the others to identify the dodo object in subsequent comprehension tests. (MDM)

Videotaped 12 breastfeeding mothers and their babies during breastfeeding sessions to investigate maternal-infant interactions occurring during breastfeeding sessions. Presents four case studies to examine differences in breastfeeding interactions, as well as benefits and disadvantages that breastfeeding provided different mother-child pairs. (MM)

This article presents various techniques for improving parent-child relationships during infancy and early childhood. It covers assessment of the parent-infant relationship and discusses interaction-focused intervention, which involves sensitivity to social cues, reciprocity, and enhancement of quiet states; and knowledge-focused intervention,…

Examination of the clinical records of 60 children with Down's Syndrome from 9 months to 9 years of age documented the order of emergence of sounds. Results indicated a wide range of ages for emergence of individual phonemes, revealing that norms and service delivery models established for typically developing children are inappropriate for use…

Sixty-four infants viewed side-by-side videotapes of toy trains (in four visual conditions) and listened to sounds at increasing or decreasing amplitude designed to match one of the videos. Results suggested that five-month olds were sensitive to auditory-visual distance relations and that change in size was an important visual depth cue. (MDM)

Demonstrates that conclusions drawn from statistics concerning racial disparities in income, infant mortality, sports participation, and other areas may be partly or wholly wrong, because disparities generally increase as conditions improve. Observes that flawed uses of statistics abound; points out some common errors in interpretation. (DM)

The study observed interactions of mothers and infants in the homes of 20 families with infants having cerebral palsy (CP) and developmental delay and 20 families of nonhandicapped infants. Among findings were that mothers of CP infants were more verbally and physically directive and engaged in fewer positive behaviors in their initiation and…

The Neurobehavioral Assessment of the Preterm Infant instrument was developed by means of pilot, exploratory, and validation studies. The validation study tested the generalizability of results for different cohorts, test versions, hospitals, and examiners. Seven stable functions were identified: motor development; scarf sign; popliteal angle;…

Notes that federal government has begun to set priorities on the needs of young children. Sees elementary school counselor as being involved in assessment process as the child prepares for the transition from home or early intervention programing to prekindergarten or kindergarten setting. Asserts that elementary school counselors need to become…

Reviews research on quantitative and qualitative indexes of play, and relationships between play and language. Finds consistent relationships between duration and level of play throughout early development, and parallel developments in play and language. Indicates that measures of spontaneous activity and habituation in infancy predict…

Mothers and fathers of 62 children were seen separately in the Strange Situation procedure, and their caregiving behaviors were separately assessed using several measures. Results revealed only one effect, that mothers of securely attached children were more responsive to their children than other mothers. (BC)

Mothers of secure one year olds were more sensitively responsive to their infants at one and four months and less rejecting at one and nine months than mothers of insecure infants. Mothers of insecure-resistant one year olds were less sensitively responsive to their infants at one month than were mothers of secure and insecure-avoidant infants.…

Used data from infants in operant head-turning procedure to examine effects of structure and redundancy of speech context on discovery of two target syllables. Clustering strategy, which presupposes basic element of perception and aggregates these elements to form units, may complement bracketing strategy, which presupposes endpoint cues and…

By applying the principles and methods of mechanics to the musculoskeletal system, new insights can be discovered about control of human limb dynamics in both adults and infants. Reviews previous research on how infants gain control of their limbs and learn to reach in the first year of life. (MDM)