Examines claims about the role of object-sharing in development by describing development of !Kung infants' interest in objects and their caregivers' actions toward them when they are engaged in object-related acts. (PCB)

Examined the possibility of effects of pencil diameter on preschoolers' pencil management and performance. Each child used pencils of large or regular diameter to perform graphomotor tasks. There were no apparent differences in pencil management and performance related to pencil diameter. (Author/BB)

We report data from a group of patients with mild Alzheimer's disease on a range of tasks requiring either stored semantic knowledge about objects (e.g., naming object use) or the execution of action to objects (e.g., miming and using objects). We found that the patients were impaired at miming in response to objects, even when they could describe…

To clarify the nature of the social cognitive skills involved in preschoolers' reenactment of actions on objects, we studied 31- and 41-month-old children's reenactment of intended acts (''failed attempts'') in Meltzoff's [Meltzoff, A. N. (1995)]. Understanding the intentions of others: Reenactment of intended acts by 18-month-old children.…

The purpose of this sequence of a working paper intended for inclusion in a curriculum manual to be published in the future, is to provide the child with concrete experience, opportunities to represent things symbolically, and to learn the nature of symbols and how to read them. Examining objects, acting them out, and experimenting with them, the…

Results indicated that after partialing out CA and MA, number of years in the institution was negatively correlated with success in visually directed object manipulation, social imitation, and purposeful, constructive activities for 103 profoundly retarded residents. (Author/JMB)

Figures that undergo an implied rotation are remembered as being slightly beyond their final position, a phenomenon called representational momentum. Eight experiments explored the questions of what gets transformed and what types of transformations induce such representational distortions. (GDC)

Deferred imitation of object-related actions was studied at two ages, 12 and 18 months, to examine development of competence in observational learning. Three task categories were investigated: simple/single reiterative, and sequentially coordinated actions. Examination of partial successes at both ages was useful for suggesting phases in…

Discusses developmental changes in visual exploration and manipulative investigation among children from birth to six months, six to 12 months, and 12 to 36 months of age. Also discusses pretend play in terms of decentration, decontextualization, and integration. (RH)

Reports on results of the Developmental Hand Function Test administered to 28 educable mentally retarded and 34 normal 12-and 14-year-old girls to show that manual dexterity and functional had skills are compromised in the mentally retarded. (DS)

An experiment with 66 six-year-old children showed that children asked more and better questions about unfamiliar objects (toys) when they had been given an opportunity to manipulate them than when they saw only demonstrations of the toys. (NH)

Concludes that direct instruction and practice in following directions increase students' task performance ability and stresses the need to use intrinsically motivating materials in language arts developmental skills programs. Tables and bibliography. (RW)

Investigates the predictability of cognitive differences at 12 months from infant and maternal behaviors at 4 months. Overall, the results show that some individual differences in cognition may be predictable across the first year of life. (Author/RH)

Sixty children aged 2-3 to 5-6 were given four quantity tasks that tested their understanding of "more" and "same." Tasks involving a manipulative response were significantly easier than those involving a yes/no judgment. (Author/RH)

Results of a study of 38 preschool children observed and videotaped during performance on a jigsaw-puzzle task indicate that puzzle solutions accompanied by a high rate of verbalizations were judged as more proficient, solved with a high rate of puzzle-solving moves, and completed in a shorter period of time. (Author/RH)