Relates studies of the effects of pre- and post-natal and childhood malnutrition on physical and mental development. Discusses national and international nutrition problems and solutions. (DR)

Presents the procedures, results, and conclusions of two studies conducted to investigate the process of children separating from their mothers. The authors suggest that this kind of behavior has important biological and psychological consequences, among which are increased opportunities for learning and for adaptation to the environment, on the…

Develops a methodology for studying emotion socialization and examines the synchrony of mother and infant expressions to determine whether "instruction" in display rules is underway in early infancy and what the short-term effects of such instruction on infant expression might be. Sixty dyads were videotaped during play and reunion after brief…

Reports a longitudinal study of 187 children under the age of 14 who were discharged to a permanent home from temporary foster care. Interviews conducted with parents or caretakers focused on perceptions of the children's functioning and adjustment in the family and their needs for, and uses of, formal and informal support systems. (RH)

Describes the confrontation between organized women and male physicians at the 1930 White House Conference on Children. The encounter stemmed from the Sheppard Towner Act which initiated a pioneering federal effort to promote the health of mothers and children. It was a critical round in a recurring conflict. (Author/JAC)

To test D. Stampe's hypothesis about the development of phonological processes, 60 children (21 to 48 months old) were placed into groups based on mean length of utterance (MLU) and chronological age. MLU was found to be the best classification for describing the phonological processes. (Author/SEW)

Results of a statistical study of language in 30 infants suggest that two acquisition styles (nominal/pronominal and referential/expressive) are developing in parallel. Only for children heavily emphasizing one strategy can a distinctive style be determined. Results at 20 months were only partially predictive of performance at 28 months. (MSE)

Children aged 1;4-1;6 were asked common "what"-questions in four contexts. Gesture had a significant effect on the nonverbal components of their responses, while linguistic sophistication and type of question affected only vocal responses. It is suggested that gestural information is processed relatively independently of speech at this age. (MSE)

Experiment one tested 9- and 16-month-old children on a modification of Piaget's Stage IV object permanence task, examining infants' use of information from previous experiences with an object and from a recent hiding to locate a hidden object. In experiment two, two-, two-and-a-half-, and four-year-old children additionally received verbal…

The report presents evaluation findings for a three-year early intervention, home-based program in Vancouver, British Columbia, by comparing 12 served and 12 nonserved families with profoundly deaf children under age three. Results indicated that several families had more developmentally mature communication, lower stress, and higher quality…

Compares the interactions of teenage mothers and their infants with those of a group of older mothers and their infants. Data were gathered on the frequency and quality of mother/infant interaction in the laboratory and in the home, and effects of research intervention were explored. (RH)

A parent diary was used as part of an assessment of a 26-month-old severe-to-profoundly hearing-impaired child's expressive language. The diary data, which is appended, were used to obtain information about the child's expressive vocabulary, mean length of utterance, and verbal, semantic, and pragmatic performances. (Author/SEW)

Explores particulars that may partially account for the remedial influence on development of interactions between infants and caregivers. Videotaped interactions between 20 prematurely born toddlers and their mothers were described in terms of dyadic joint attention to features of the environment. (Author/RH)

The Parent Behavior Progression (PBP) was completed regularly over a two-year period by staff of a home based, relationship focused intervention program for handicapped and high risk infants. PBP ratings and trends in ratings for individual families were related to reliable, independent observations on an established measure of the home…

Twenty-nine child/caregiver pairs were observed in a public park without adults' knowledge. Interdependence of children's exploration and ability to walk, effect of age on frequency and length of explorations, and time spent by children of different ages in the vicinity of their caregivers are discussed. (Author/RH)