Reviews research since the beginning of the 20th century in the field of childrens' mental development and relates this research to current attempts in Europe and the United States to modernize elementary education. (DB)

A developmental view of program evaluation is offered that suggests that each stage requires a different purpose and method. This perspective is illustrated in a description of evaluation procedures used to assess a child development program for adolescents. (Author/MLF)

The positiveness of 147 elementary students' self-concept and self-esteem remained stable across grades for physical maturity and peer relations but showed a dramatic decline for academic success and school adaptiveness. Only academic success and self-esteem correlated with achievement, with these correlations increasing across grades. (Author/RL)

Provides data incongruent with Piaget's idea of a concrete operational stage. Shows no clear-cut termination of preconceptual thinking and no simultaneous conceptual development in the three content areas (number, space, and time). (Author/RL)

Discusses differences in results of factor analyses of ten diverse samples which have been studied using the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). Concludes that a single common factor structure accounts for the intercorrelations among NBAS items. (Author/BH)

A selection of books and pamphlets which parents and beginning caregivers may find useful in expanding their knowledge of young children. (Author/HS)

Children have an innate ability to like and produce music, and elementary teachers have a responsibility for developing this aptitude. (MB)

Teaching procedures designed to improve children's divergent thinking abilities were administered to two classes of 9- and 10-year-old children, one formal and one informal. Results suggest that appropriate teaching procedures can play a significant part in enhancing children's divergent thinking abilities, particularly verbal abilities.…

This paper supports the contention of a previous paper that child language cannot be analyzed as if it were adult language. Meanings and interpretations of child language can be mistaken if observed from the adult viewpoint. Assumptions of child meaning based on the situation or action will be most accurate. (CHK)

Outlines the stages of prosodic development that children follow from the beginning of word acquisition through the end of the second year of life. How these stages can be used to provide a model for treatment when working with children who display delayed phonological development is addressed. (Author/CR)

Two studies documented gender differences in preschool children's responses to situations of vulnerability. Children playing with same sex friends showed no sex differences in time responding to vulnerability; some sex differences were noted in response type. Children's preferences for vignettes representing categories of response to the same…

Reviews major themes emerging from family research and describes directions for future research. Finds strong support that whole-family functioning and quality of coparenting relationship add uniquely to individual differences in children's adaptation. Future research directions include extending research across diverse samples, increasing…

Used writing tasks recorded on a computer-monitored XY tablet to differentiate between normal variations in psychomotor development and dysgraphia in 16 young children. Found that control of spatial accuracy, not allograph retrieval or size control, discriminated dysgraphic children from others. Poor writers were less accurate than proficient…

Parents and grandparents of children with autism, between the ages of 36 months and 78 months, evaluated the children's adaptive functioning. Results indicate that each family member's perception of the child correlated significantly with those of the other respondents. However, fathers' ratings significantly differed from those of the paternal…

Dabrowski's theory that sensitivity and intensity are characteristic of the psychological makeup of young gifted children was investigated in a qualitative study with five gifted children (ages 4 through 6). The study found the five overexcitabilities postulated by Dabrowski were manifested in the children's classroom and home behaviors. (DB)