A mail survey was used to investigate 5-year trends in Japanese mothers' reports of their 3-year-olds' cognitive, psychomotor, and social developmental attainment. Findings indicated significant decreases in all domains, not attributable to changes in family structure, although scores were higher among children in nuclear families than in extended…

Describes the "Playing for Keeps" project of maintaining a comprehensive, categorized database summarizing current knowledge on play. Presents selected findings and information about: child development theories, studies about the developmental benefits of play, investigations into why play is useful for children, and documentation of the…

Describes positive aspects of Denmark's "class teacher" system wherein the same group of students, evenly divided by sex, remain together with the same teacher from grades 1 through 9. Includes description of testing, school and classroom discipline, and group work. Compares Danish schools with American schools. (PKP)

Describes how infants and toddlers learn to use action, object, picture, and word symbols, and offers suggestions for educators and caregivers to facilitate symbol use. Discusses how adults can introduce books to young children and enhance the symbolic aspect of the care and education program. (KB)

The relationship between the development of object permanence and early words was studied in three young boys, two totally blind from birth and one severely visually impaired. Subjects acquired early words within the age range for sighted children but their word usage was different. The two blind children were delayed in their development of…

Examines the progress of seven children, ages three to five years old, in the acquisition of written language. Relates findings to suggestions for types of writing experiences to provide in preschool programs. (PCB)

In a screening of 847 children (ages 6-10), 203 children were identified as showing a voice deviation. Five years later, 22 percent of the available children originally identified as having a voice disorder still showed a voice disorder. Results indicated that some children's voice disorders are not eliminated through maturation alone. (Author/JDD)

Examined relationships among intelligence, gender, social maturity, and school readiness in first-grade elementary school students (N=125). Determined school readiness was related to intelligence and sex but not to social maturity. Found social maturity to be related to sex and intelligence. (Author/ABL)

Performance on items in intelligence and achievement tests can be represented in terms of child development and information processes. Research is reviewed on item performance that supports developmental and information processing effects, particularly in children. Some suggestions regarding item development are made. (Author/TJH)

Discusses the history of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research and the functions and research projects of its Early Childhood Unit. Discusses the relationship between research and practice in early child development and education within the context of the council's early childhood work. (RJC)

It is proposed that today's basic elementary/secondary curriculum must include multilingual and multicultural education as part of the intellectual, individual, and social development of the child. The experiences of Europe, especially Italy, with bilingual education are used to illustrate this concept. (Author/MSE)

Discusses issues which concern children born to families in developing countries. Focuses on: (1) population impact on children; (2) family planning; (3) infant feeding; (4) oral rehydration therapy and immunizations; and (5) education. (RJC)

This paper addresses the unevenness of the existing knowledge base on development and individual differences, and presents a structural model diagraming organismic and environmental influences on development. The model identifies sets of conditions which can result in gifted performance, the development of giftedness, and the maintenance of…

Investigates the development of understanding of quantity in 36 children with Down's Syndrome. Findings confirmed similarities in sequence of development between Down's Syndrome children and nonretarded children. Down's children who received training recognized conservation of continuous and discontinuous quantity. (RJC)

Studied the early development of exploratory behavior in 99 infants of 2-5 months. Results show that there are significant changes in spontaneous multimodal exploration of a novel object between 2 and 5 months. (RJC)