The Language Acquisition Device, or LAD, is related to reading and intellectual development in the first of five papers on cognitive and affective characteristics of exceptional children. A discussion of the intellectual processes involved in learning focuses on the developmental stages of Piaget. A report on a task force to discuss terminology…

Eight Head Start centers which used the Responsive Model program during the 1968-69 school year were assessed to determine cognitive development of children, teacher performance in the classroom, adequacy of physical facilities, administrative support and the interrelationship between these variables. Teachers were observed at the beginning and…

A series of discussions are reported concerning the applicability of Piaget's ideas to special education. They are contrasted and compared with other approaches to educating the exceptional child ranging from behavioral modification to the Montessori classroom. Participants included Joachim F. Wohlwill, Francis P. Connor, Donald S. Baer, Thomas J.…

In a discussion of psychological development separate sections are devoted to (1) biological and cultural influences on development, (2) development in infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence, (3) physiological foundations of behavior, (4) motivation and cognitive development, (5) intellectual development, (6) imagination and…

The utilization of non-professional personnel as language teachers was investigated using forty residents and an equal number of controls who were matched on the variables of CA, IQ, and Language Age (mean CA 13.28 and mean IQ 33). Two former psychiatric aids were trained as language developmentalists by classroom experiences, informal discussions…

This paper presents suggestions and guidelines for planning creative outdoor learning environments and experiences for young children. The discussion focuses on the fact that children learn more readily and develop better physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially when their play is allowed to be creative and innovative in nature. The…

In this study, preferences for activities with people vs. objects were examined in preschool children and related to two kinds of intellectual abilities. Children with high object orientation were expected to be relatively advanced in organizing and classifying physical objects. In contrast, children with high people orientation were expected to…

The present report is the fourth of a series concerned with mental functioning and its development in early childhood. The study attempted to discover whether the same children tested at intervals of one or more years showed similar development in thinking ability from age to age. Longitudinal test protocols were obtained for 92 children at 3…

Although the controversy surrounding beginning reading instruction has often centered on the age at which it should be begun, i.e., at the ages of 5, 6, or 7, the position was taken in this study that by the time the child reaches these ages, it is too late for optimum development of reading readiness. As a part of a larger study, groups of…

This is a report of the therapeutic unit developed under the auspices of Head Start for the education of atypical low income children who cannot be contained in regular Head Start classrooms. The primary objective for this first year descriptive phase was to determine if the teaching staff could work productively with six pupils who presented a…

A reading improvement program for student teachers was designed to help them to (1) understand the reading process, (2) secure fundamental reading skills, (3) read critically and comprehend aesthetic aspects of certain types of reading materials, (4) integrate and apply problem solving skills, and (5) understand the importance of vocabulary to…

Teachers can help students develop abilities to enable them to read subject-oriented materials with better understanding. The purpose is not to conduct a lesson in reading comprehension, but to establish purposes for reading, develop word competency, search for surface and deeper meanings, and evaluate information and ideas gained through reading.…

The major objectives of this study were: (1) to determine if there were measurable differences in autonomy between Mexican-American and Negro children, (2) to determine the effects of three different preschool intervention programs upon the development of autonomy in Mexican-American and Negro children, and (3) to determine the relationship…

The present study was designed to (1) investigate the changes in the structure and organization of mental abilities during childhood and adolescence of 514 students as sampled by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (5 to 15 years) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (16 to 18 Years) and (2) interpret, and possibly modify, the…

The annotated bibliography on early childhood psychosis (infantile autism, childhood schizophrenia, and related disorders) contains 424 entries (books, journal articles, conference and research reports) dating from 1964 through the first 6 months of 1970, which pertain to theory, research, and treatment. Number of entries for each subject is noted…