Research indicates that early cognitive intervention typically yields short-term advantages for children and their parents. Long-term effects are not maintained unless: intervention sets off a chain of positive consequences, and the whole life span is taken into account. Long-term change efforts should incorporate familial and psychosocial…

Studied the play of 106 Zimbabwean children of 57-84 months to determine how they acquired necessary practical and intellectual skills. Home play activities were ideally suited to the cultural and economic environment of rural communities. (RJC)

Focuses on characteristics teachers must have to teach children in urban areas, the incorporation of the study of human development into teacher education, the process of training teachers to respond to students' culturally based intellectual skills, and expansion of the teacher education curriculum. (RJC)

Studies effects of public day care on 119 children 1-8 years old. Time of entrance into day care predicted cognitive and socioemotional development. Children in day care before age 1 were generally rated more favorably and performed better than did children with late entrance or home care. (RJC)

Addresses the debate over early childhood teacher training. Argues that teachers should be: (1) trained according to professional principles and methodologies of teaching children; (2) well-prepared in math, science, and language; (3) value work; (4) maintain high moral standards; and (5) remain open to new ideas. (DE)

Autistic children were tested on three tasks that were within the capability of three-four-year-old normal children and that involved the abilities to understand a mistaken belief, infer contents of a container from looking or not looking inside, and adjust answers to provide new information. (PCB)

Identifies four major assumptions that drive current psychological research on the reading comprehension process. Emerging evidence points to prior knowledge and cognitive and metacognitive processes as critical for the development of skilled reading comprehension, and suggests that instruction on the processes underlying comprehension can improve…

Intends to make the possible purposes of kindergarten education explicit in order to promote better conceptualization and research. History shows that the definition of appropriate kindergarten experience has changed over time. Different educational traditions lead to different conceptions of appropriate experience for kindergarten children. (RH)

Describes child-rearing and educational practices of Plains Indians, stressing importance of hunting, especially of buffalo. Examines early childhood rituals and general child-rearing practices as part of cultural education. Describes religious education of children. Stresses Indian educational methods as "informal" but "direct and…

The Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Revised (DIAL-R) and the Learning Accomplishment Profile-Diagnostic (LAP-D) were compared using 121 children in a Head Start Program. Results suggest that profile interpretations of the scales may not differentiate skill domains and that these scales may be indicative of general…

The concurrent validity of the Battelle Developmental Inventory was explored by correlating Battelle results with scores from the Bayley Scales in 30 infants with known or suspected disabilities. Both the pattern and strength of the obtained correlations support use of the Battelle to measure development in infants with handicaps. (Author/JDD)

A three-year study yielded data on the characteristics and progress of 44 preschool children with developmental delays of uncertain etiology. Findings support the use of traditional developmental tests for assessing developmental status. Analyses across time suggest that three assessments are needed before confident prediction is possible about…

Argues that, in practice, teaching is not restricted to technical views of child development produced by Piagetian theories, but draws upon a complex analogical network of experience-based images of childhood. Recognizes children as persons with a potent presence in adult lives, rather than as a univocal object demain for scientific study. (DMM)

Examined children's emotional and behavioral regulation and emotional and prosocial responses to a crying infant. Found that children who could regulate their arousal were unlikely to become distressed and more likely than other children to talk to and comfort the crying infant. Girls were more responsive and engaged in more active responses than…

Sixty-four mother-infant pairs were videotaped during structured episodes in which the mother challenged the infant to use her instrumentally to get access to or to operate a toy. At age 6 months the infants could use their mothers instrumentally in 36% of the episodes, increasing to 67% at 9 months and 78% at 13 months. (MDM)