Theories of language acquisition have highlighted the importance of adult speakers as active participants in children's language learning. However, in many communities children are reported to be directly engaged by their caregivers only rarely (Lieven, 1994). This observation raises the possibility that these children learn language from…

This prospective study of the FIRST WORDS® Project examined restricted and repetitive behaviors in a sample of 55 toddlers at a mean age of 20 months who were later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Restricted and repetitive behaviors were coded using the Repetitive Movement and Restricted Interest Scales in two video-recorded observation…

Child Trends conducted a random assignment evaluation of the Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors program, one of the largest programs in the United States working with low-income Latino parents of children ages zero to five. Since it began in 2007, the program has served over 30,000 parents/families in 34 states. The evaluation study examined the…

Maternal emergent literacy practices during shared-reading interactions with 18-36-month-old toddlers were examined. The investigation of emergent literacy behaviours of both mothers and toddlers investigated included the examination of phonological awareness and written language awareness. Participants included 15 mother-toddler dyads from middle…

Over the more than 3 decades that it has taken "zero to three" to become a field--actually the coming together of many fields--reflective supervision has evolved as the centerpiece in the attainment of high-quality, effective practice. However, there is little research evidence to support reflective supervision or practice as being central to the…

To date, much of the research investigating maternal-child discourse has focused on the preschool period of children's development, with little attention paid to how these styles develop. The current study aimed to assess whether maternal elaborative discourse elements seen in preschool are also evident during the toddler years, and whether the…

Reports that infants in the second year of life can attribute false beliefs to others have all used a "search" paradigm in which an agent with a false belief about an object's location searches for the object. The present research asked whether 18-month-olds would still demonstrate false-belief understanding when tested with a novel "non-search"…

This study investigated the potential effects of cochlear implantation and age at implantation on maternal interactional sensitivity. Three groups of dyads were studied at two points over 1 year. The hearing aid (HA) group wore hearing aids throughout the study, the early cochlear implanted (ECI) group were implanted prior to 22 months of age, and…

Researchers have long been puzzled by the challenge English passive constructions present for language learners, with adult-like comprehension and production emerging only around the age of 5. It has therefore been of significant interest that researchers of other languages, including the Bantu language Sesotho, have reported acquisition of the…

The 2020 Pro-Kid Policy Agenda for California is the comprehensive roadmap at the state level to ensure that all children have the necessary supports to reach their full potential. California has an obligation to tear down the structural barriers to all kids, especially kids of color, from growing up healthy, safe, and ready for college, career,…

Lack of progress for improving the lives of kids is unacceptable. All children need stability and a path to opportunity. This is true for nearly half of California's children who live in low-income families, where caregivers struggle to afford the quality support and services they need for their kids. This is also true for the approximately…

Early childhood education and care is a multifaceted institution. Based on children's age, a number of different settings operate, which have usually two distinct aims. Kindergartens provide mainly education whereas day care centres provide care. Yet, in recent years, the need to establish programmes which provide both education and care to…

Background: Previous research on the etiology of ADHD symptoms suggests that neuropsychological differences may be present as early as birth; however, the diagnosis is typically not given until school age. This study aimed to (a) identify early behavioral and cognitive markers of later significant parent and/or teacher ratings of ADHD…

Gender segregation in early-childhood social play is a pervasive pattern in North America, and child-development scholars have suggested it is a human universal. But very few researchers have looked at gender segregation in small-scale societies, particularly those of hunter-gatherers, whom the authors here call foragers. The authors present their…

Recent studies suggest that there appears to be a similar developmental sequence in the understanding of mental states in both internal-state language and in standard theory-of-mind tasks. These findings suggest possible developmental relations between children's ability to talk and think about the mind. Two experiments investigated the concurrent…