Describes the development of an experimental measure for assessing growth in expressive communication in children from birth to 3 years of age Results from a sample of 50 infants and toddlers assessed monthly for 9 months in indicated that the measure displayed adequate psychometric properties of reliability and validity and was sensitive to…

When imitated, toddlers were more likely to continue to act on an object; if continuing, repeat the same action on the object; generate games, especially imitation games, and look at their partner's face. These social influence processes are thought to operate naturally in peer interactions and contribute to the behavioral organization that…

The transition from slow to rapid word-learning was examined in a longitudinal study of 18 children. Results revealed that most children evidenced a prolonged period during which rate of acquisition increased, with most of the acquired words being nouns, while those who demonstrated gradual word-learning acquired a balance of nouns and other word…

In 3 experiments, 2 year olds imitated sentences that contained English or non-English functors (articles and verb inflections), and were controlled for suprasegmental and segmental factors. Children omitted English functors more often than non-English functors, thus indicating perceptual sensitivity to familiar elements. (RH)

Longitudinal data provide an encouraging base for further investigation of early individual differences in attentiveness and possible early precursors of later attention deficits. In the study, full-term and preterm children were observed at 1, 2, and 3.5 years in free play and in more structured situations. (RH)

Results of four experiments suggest that two-year-olds may be capable of forming inclusion relations when they hear a novel word for an object that already has a familiar name. (PCB)

Outlines the provisions of The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986 (PL99-457), which funds educational and family services programs for three- to five-year-old children with disabilities or substantial developmental delays. Suggests ways that child care advocates can help implement this law. (NH)

Early intervention services provided to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families include case management. A historical framework for the concept of case management is presented, the role of the case manager in early intervention is explored, and competencies involved in the role are outlined. (Author/JDD)

Tested 13-, 16-, and 20-month olds' and 24- and 28-month olds' categorization of global- and basic-level object sets composed of prototypical and nonprototypical exemplars. Findings offer new information on the effects of prototypicality and on the process of differentiation of early global categories into more specific basic-level ones. (DR)

Twenty-four- and 30-month-old children were presented with a picture that showed the location of a hidden toy and were then asked to find the toy. The 30-month olds, but not the 24-month-olds, were successful in retrieving the toy. Concludes that 24-month olds did not interpret the pictures as representations of reality. (BC)

Treatment of behavioral problems of 3 girls (ages 31-37 months) with Rett's disorder is discussed. Behavioral treatment using operant conditioning principles did little to alter the course of the disorder for these individuals. The one consistent improvement for the girls was a decrease in tantrums. (SW)

Assessed the relationship between sleep problems and temperament in 63 toddlers who had night-waking problems and 35 nonreferred toddlers. On the Toddler Temperament Questionnaire, night wakers showed lower sensory thresholds and less adaptivity than did controls. On the Parental Stress Index, night wakers were rated as more distractible, less…

Focuses on coparenting, spouses as partners or adversaries in parenting role, in families raising toddler sons. Reviews preliminary longitudinal research findings concerning nature of coparenting and contextual determinants of different types of coparenting alliances. Proposes coparenting processes to interact with marital and parent-child…

Long-term recall memory was assessed in 14- and 16 month-olds using a nonverbal method requiring subjects to reenact a past event from memory. The results demonstrated significant deferred imitation after delays of two and four months, and that the toddlers retained and imitated multiple acts. (MDM)

Children who interacted with a robot that spoke reciprocally to them uttered more speech that maintained the topic of conversation, and engaged in more verbally mediated social play than children who interacted with a randomly speaking robot. Gender differences in children's looking at their mother in the room were observed. (BC)