Children look longer at a familiar object when presented with either correct pronunciations or small mispronunciations of consonants in the object's label, but not following larger mispronunciations. The current article examines whether children display a similar graded sensitivity to different degrees of mispronunciations of the vowels in…

This study compared the amount and style of maternal communication with toddlers and preschoolers while mother-child pairs watched TV, read books, and played with toys. We found that mother-child communication was less frequent and less verbally responsive when dyads viewed TV compared with when they read books, and in many cases, when they played…

Although labeling improves executive function (EF) performance in children older than 3 years, the results from studies with younger children have been equivocal. In the current study, we assessed performance in a computerized multistep multilocation search task with older 2-year-olds. The correct search location was either (a) not marked by a…

Sixty-five mothers reported on their toddlers' attention regulation and negative emotional intensity and provided information about the toddlers' empathy and aggression. Toddler concerned attention was also observed during a laboratory session as was mothers' discourse about mental states. Toddlers reported to have better attention regulation and…

Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to examine the concurrent validity and classification accuracy of 3 parent report measures of language development in Spanish-speaking toddlers. Method: Forty-five Spanish-speaking parents and their 2-year-old children participated. Twenty-three children had expressive language delays (ELDs) as…

The correct use of an affix, such as the English plural suffix, may reflect mastery of a morphological process, but it may also depend on children's syntactic, semantic, and phonological abilities. The present article reports a set of experiments in support of this latter view, specifically focusing on the importance of the phonological make-up of…

Children as young as two years of age are able to learn novel object labels through overhearing, even when distracted by an attractive toy (Akhtar, 2005). The present studies varied the information provided about novel objects and examined which elements (i.e. novel versus neutral information and labels versus facts) toddlers chose to monitor, and…

To identify the per-child cost of providing Part C services, the authors analyzed extensive statewide expenditure data in Hawai'i to determine the monthly and annual costs of providing early intervention services to infants and toddlers and their families. Identified were the costs of serving children with various numbers and percentages of delay,…

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation's (OPRE's) Division of Child and Family Development (DCFD) is responsible for research and evaluation related to Head Start programs, early childhood development, child care, child maltreatment, and child welfare services. OPRE's research in the area of child and family development focuses on young…

California has long been on the cutting edge of social and political change. This trendsetting continues today on issues from addressing climate change to supporting immigrant communities to ensuring equal rights for all. But, when reviewing the grades of this year's California Children's Report Card, it is difficult not to ask the question: why…

In the current article, we contrast 2 analytical approaches to estimate the relation of parenting to executive function development in a sample of 1,292 children assessed longitudinally between the ages of 36 and 60 months of age. Children were administered a newly developed and validated battery of 6 executive function tasks tapping inhibitory…

As part of a longitudinal study, infant/toddler pretend play development and maternal play modelling were investigated in dyadic context. A total of 21 children were videotaped in monthly play sessions with their mothers, from age 8 to 17 months. Child and mother pretend play frequencies and levels were measured using Brown's Pretend Play…

This study investigated the potential interrelationship between parental (maternal) and expert assessments of the expressive and receptive language skills of 12- to 18-month-old children. The language activities of 27 children were monitored by their mothers (MCDI scale: Lyytinen, 2000. "Varhaisen kommunikaation ja kielen kehityksen…

Children's talk about the mind has been scarcely studied in non-English speakers. For this reason, this longitudinal study documents age-related changes in German-speaking children's internal state language. At 24, 30 and 36?months, children were administered general language tests and their internal state vocabulary levels were obtained via…

Fostering healthy social and emotional development provides the foundation for school readiness in programs serving infants, toddlers, and their families. In this article, the author explores four key concepts that make the link between social and emotional development and early learning: 1) Cognitive and social-emotional development are…