Second and third graders and fifth and sixth graders were tested in a very large, unfamiliar environment to determine the relation of their knowledge of an abstract reference frame to performance on a spatial inference task. (HOD)

Describes three experiments that examined how children (4- to 11-year-olds) use their knowledge of the attributes of living things to infer whether particular objects are alive. (HOD)

Examines children's understanding of what variables and relations are important in problem structures, and their use of these variables and relations in problem solving. (HOD)

Investigates a proposed four-stage developmental sequence that describes how children explain changes in sad and angry feelings and how their ability to understand is related to their theories of how feelings change. (HOD)

The validation of the developmental Mokken scale for seriation was discussed. It was shown that the observed scale was invariant for different samples from previous research. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that a selection of two seriation tasks on the scale accounted for 76.4 percent of the explained variance. (Author/DWH)

Line drawings depicting expressive qualities that were created by subjects aged from 4 to 20 were examined to trace the development of expressivity. Results document a developmental trend from initial ability to produce abstract expression toward production of more complex multidimensional types of expression and increasing integration of…

Compares the manipulative exploration of objects of 30 nine-month-old preterm infants with that of 20 nine-month-old full-term infants. Although no difference between the preterms and the full terms was noted, a high-risk preterm subgroup manipulated objects less. A relationship was found between manipulative exploration at nine months and later…

Reviews studies of face-recognition memory and considers implications for assessing the dependability of children's performances as eyewitnesses. Considers personal factors (age, intellectual differences, and gender) and situational factors (familiarity of face, retention interval, and others). Also identifies developmental questions for future…

The Parents as First Teachers project successfully teaches Missouri parents to enhance their children's cognitive development. The project recruited 300 first-time parents in its first year, then provided them with educational support and guidance during their children's first three years, while monitoring the children's progress. (PGD)

To assess Feuerstein's Learning Potential Assessment Device's (LPAD) ability to identify deficient cognitive functions, Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices were administered to 176 elementary/junior high students--25 percent were rescored--and 12 complete LPAD reports from a university educational clinic were reanalyzed. Correlations were…

Reviews a study's findings on children's (N=267) knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward animals and natural habitats. Research results indicate that existence of three stages in the development of children's perceptions of animals. Major differences in age, sex, ethnicity and urban/rural residence were also noted. (ML)

Considers the divergent paths taken by research in cognitive development and research in social-emotional development, arguing that studies of socialization need to become more developmental. Discusses meanings of development that may affect the socialization process. (Author/CI)

A survey of over 300 10-year-olds belonging to the four major Israeli religious groups revealed differences in the degree to which children of different religions had internalized the Western scientific concept of death. It appears that the concept of death in childhood develops as a cognitive process influenced by environmental factors. (KH)

Studies the language and visuo-spatial skills of preschool children with past histories of lead poisoning. Suggests that specific behavioral sequelae exhibited by such children may be predicted by the factor of their age at the time of lead ingestion. (AS)

Results of two studies suggested that acquisition of route mapping during the preschool years provides a means of organizing spatial information and internal representations necessary for successful problem solving in general. (Author/RH)