Year-old infants' play was scored within and outside joint attention with mother and when alone for four levels of maturity: stereotypical, inappropriate relational, appropriate relational, functional. Maternal sensitivity within joint attention was rated on two measures: following infants' interests and scaffolding infants' activities. Infants'…

To examine the influences of facial versus vocal cues on infants' behavior in a potentially threatening situation, 12-month-olds on a visual cliff received positive facial-only, vocal-only, or both facial and vocal cues from mothers. Infants' crossing times and looks to mother were assessed. Infants crossed the cliff faster with multimodal and…

Despite the known benefits of breastfeeding, many women do not breastfeed their infants or stop breastfeeding early. This study examines the effects of prenatal intention and initial breastfeeding experiences on breast-feeding initiation and duration among 1,665 U.S. women completing questionnaires on infant feeding practices. Outcomes included no…

This paper attempts to explore the nature and consequences of early trauma on the mental development of a 9-year-old boy I have called Luke. The traumatic event occurred within the context of a more chronic and ongoing trauma, which was due to the lack of receptive and containing parental figures. The combination of these two kinds of traumatic…

We examined whether mothers' use of temporal synchrony between spoken words and moving objects, and infants' attention to object naming, predict infants' learning of word-object relations. Following 5 min of free play, 24 mothers taught their 6- to 8-month-olds the names of 2 toy objects, "Gow" and "Chi," during a 3-min play…

A heterogeneous sample of infants with preterm histories and infants born full term participated in a study of declarative memory and rate of encoding, as measured in an imitation task and an examining task, respectively. Here we report the comparisons of the performances of infants born very preterm (27-34 weeks gestation) and moderately preterm…

Objectives: The aims of the pilot study presented here were to determine whether low income women were receiving compendious breastfeeding advice from their attending physicians. Design: This study assessed low income women's reports of physician breastfeeding advice using a newly designed Likert scaled survey based on the American Surgeon…

The present study examined infants' capability of extracting object unity in a stationary two-dimensional rod-and-box display. The infants were habituated to a centre-occluded rod and were afterwards tested with both a broken rod and a complete rod. The looking pattern of both female and male participants aged 8 months did not reveal the ability…

This article explores young infants' ability to learn new words in situations providing tightly controlled social and salience cues to their reference. Four experiments investigated whether, given two potential referents, 15-month-olds would attach novel labels to (a) an image toward which a digital recording of a face turned and gazed, (b) a…

Learn how to replicate a thoughtfully designed, developmentally appropriate learning environment--one in which young children are engaged in responsive, nurturing relationships with caregivers and peers. This book offers an intimate account of a typical day in such a setting. Age-specific chapters describe children's interactions with teachers…

This research brief presents the results of an extensive review of research studies to identify maternal and family antecedents (conditions and characteristics before and during pregnancy) of healthy infant and child outcomes. The researchers identified seven major categories of antecedents associated with a strong start in life: the mother's…

"Science Briefs" summarize the findings and implications of a recent study in basic science or clinical research. This brief reports on the study "Are there Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care?" (J. Belsky, D. L. Vandell, M. Burchinal, K. A. Clarke-Stewart, K. McCartney, M. T. Owen, M. T., and The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network).…

This book, updated since initial publication in 1989, offers explanations, practical tips, and encouragement for teachers and families of preschool children facing the excitement--and stress--of separation. Topics discussed include ambivalence about separation and attachment, the comfort of routines, understanding the child perspective, supporting…

This document presents an overview of the Revised SPP, submitted February 1, 2007, as it relates to the 2005-2006 Annual Performance Report Development, also submitted February 1, 2007. The original Part C, IDEA State Performance Plan (SPP) for Tennessee was developed in conjunction with and approved by the State's Interagency Coordinating…

This study examined solitary sleeping and co-sleeping arrangements in families with a young child. Data were obtained from questionnaires completed by two independent samples, one of mothers (N = 100) and one of fathers (N = 38) of preschool-aged children. Types of family sleep arrangements included children who slept in their own room from…