In this experiment, we used the deferred imitation paradigm to assess 24-month-olds' ability to use conceptual similarity to solve new problems after a delay. Infants in the experimental condition participated in four sessions that were each separated by 24 h. In Session 1, the experimenter modeled three target actions using one set of stimuli and…

Although human infants demonstrate early competence to retain visual information, memory capacities during infancy remain largely undocumented. In three experiments, we used a Visual Paired Comparison (VPC) task to examine abilities to encode identity (Experiment 1) and spatial properties (Experiments 2a and 2b) of unfamiliar complex visual…

During the first year of life, infants possess some of the key social--cognitive abilities required for success in a social world: Infants interpret others' actions in terms of their intentions and can use this understanding prospectively to generate predictions about others' behavior. Exactly how these foundational abilities develop is currently…

Wisconsin's infants and toddlers (defined as children less than three years old) are more than 200,000 in number. Seventy-one percent are white/non-Hispanic, and the largest minority group is Hispanic, at 12 percent. Black, Asian American, and American Indian infants and toddlers make up smaller percentages. To help states target policies related…

Over the course of the past three decades, largely due to advances in technology, there has been growth in the fields of early intervention (EI) and pediatrics for infants/toddlers with special health care needs (SHCN). This growth has also brought about a change in the relationship between pediatricians and EI service coordinators, creating an…

This list of tools was compiled to assist states and programs with identifying assessments that can be administered when the assessor cannot be in the room with the child. Those using this resource are encouraged to review the recent presentations about applying assessment principles to evaluation for eligibility remotely for Part C and Part B…

The current study replicates and extends the finding (Hamlin, Wynn & Bloom, 2007) that infants prefer individuals who act prosocially toward unrelated third parties over those who act antisocially. Using different stimuli from those used by Hamlin et al. (2007), somewhat younger subjects, and 2 additional social scenarios, we replicated the…

Recent theoretical approaches to infant development have highlighted the importance of exploratory actions to motor, perceptual and cognitive development in infancy. However, the performance of infants exposed to risk factors when exploring objects has been frequently overlooked as a variable of interest. The aim of this study was to review…

Along with nutrition, physical activity, and secure attachments, sleep is a basic requirement for a child's growth and brain development. Sleep is important for health and wellness, especially for growing infants and young children. Unfortunately, the amount of time children spend sleeping seems to be declining. If only sleep-deprived children…

Infants can track small groups of solid objects, and infants can respond when these quantities change. But earlier work is equivocal about whether infants can track continuous substances, such as piles of sand. Experiment 1 ("N" = 88) used a habituation paradigm to show infants can register changes in the size of piles of sand that they…

In this study, we addressed the question of the nature of the information needed by 13-month-old infants to understand another agent's intentions. In two experiments, an experimenter was either unable or unwilling to give a toy to an infant. Importantly, an implement (a gutter in which the toy could roll down toward the infant) was used to make…

It has been suggested that preverbal infants evaluate the efficiency of others' actions (by applying a "principle of rational action") and that they imitate others' actions rationally. The present contribution presents a conceptual analysis of the claim that preverbal infants imitate rationally. It shows that this ability rests on at least three…

Much of human communication and collaboration is predicated on making predictions about others' actions. Humans frequently use predictions about others' action mistakes to correct others and spare them mistakes. Such anticipatory correcting reveals a social motivation for unsolicited helping. Cognitively, it requires forward inferences about…

Previous research has established that infants are unable to perceive causality until 6 1/4 months of age. The current experiments examined whether infants' ability to engage in causal action could facilitate causal perception prior to this age. In Experiment 1, 4 1/2-month-olds were randomly assigned to engage in causal action experience via…

Children today are growing up in a digital world that is changing and advancing at an unprecedented rate. While some adults may struggle to keep up with new technological gadgets, we find our very young may be quite at ease with the use of digital technologies, even before learning to speak. This study builds on a foundation of family literacy…