Examined 18-month olds' intermodal and verbal knowledge about gender. Presented photos of adults or children paired with a female or male voice, or with gender labels. With adult pictures, subjects spent more time looking at pictures with matching voices than at those with mismatched voices. With children's pictures, subjects failed to match faces…

Compared mothers' play with infants with Down syndrome (DSC) and typically developing children (TDC) matched for mental or chronological age. Found that TDC mothers exhibited more object demonstrations with their developmentally younger children, who showed less object play. DSC mothers were more directive and supportive than mothers of younger…

Presents information from neuroscience which suggests that intelligence has a biological basis and may be physiologically identifiable in the future, noting that the critical time frame for intervening with gifted children may be even earlier than age 1-3 years, and adjustments may be needed to accommodate the precocious developmental time line…

Compared parents and nonparents to examine differences in the use of gender stereotyping to classify children's toys, and differences according to children's ages. Findings for 206 toys suggest that while toys are gender stereotyped for all age groups, there is more flexibility in gender stereotyping of toys for infants and toddlers. (SLD)

Two experiments used the preferential looking task to assess early word comprehension in 12- to 24-month olds. Results indicated that when target stimuli were named, 12-month olds displayed an increase in target looking for typical--but not atypical--targets, whereas 18- and 24-month olds displayed increases for both. (Author/KB)

Investigated the etiology of several measures of cognitive delay in over 3,000 pairs of 2-year-old twins, focusing on group-differences heritability for general and specific cognitive delays. Concluded that because the genetic and environmental origins of verbal and performance delays in infancy differ, they are better considered separately rather…

Notes that time-outs have become a preferred method for setting limits with preschool children, and illustrates why this method is not developmentally appropriate for use with toddlers. Suggests that caregivers should join young children at play, be alert for learning opportunities, and develop practices to minimize conflicts. (LBT)

Analyzed vocalizations/verbalizations from children acquiring English or French in later single-word period to identify trochaic bias. Found that neither language's vocalizations were exclusively trochaic. French/English differences in iambic productions and acoustic realization of accent were traceable to adult input. Distribution of trochaic and…

A methodological study of 33 2-year-olds shows that child speech occurs at about the same level in different settings (the familiar home vs. the unfamiliar laboratory), but that children speak more and in more differentiated ways with different people (mother vs. stranger). (Author/VWL)

Effects of adult contingent vocal imitation on vocal imitation skills of three young (26 to 29 months) children with mental retardation were investigated. All children vocally imitated in response to adult contingent imitation during training. There was minimal generalization to adult contingent imitation and elicited imitation prompts but…

Two experiments investigated factors affecting joint visual attention in 12- and 18-month-olds. Findings indicated that parental pointing at objects elicited more episodes of joint visual attention than looking alone. Although infants most reliably followed gestures to targets in front of them, even 12-month-olds followed gestures to targets…

Examined the relation between mothers' perception of their capacity for controlling infant crying and a later measure of compliance with parent requests by toddlers. Found that toddlers of mothers in the low and high illusion of control (overestimating of maternal control) groups were more likely to be highly defiant than were toddlers of mothers…

A study involving 48 hearing mothers and their 2-year-old children with and without hearing impairments found mothers with children with hearing impairments touched each other more and that, unlike hearing dyads, the presence of material hostility was related to a decrease in the number of maternal and child touches. (Contains references.)…

A literature review of seven articles published from 1980 to 1996 on the effects of parental participation in the intervention program for children with cerebral palsy found that most of the studies reported positive results, especially for child-related outcomes. Effects on parents were related to parental involvement in goal setting. (Author/CR)

Three experiments examined the relation between language acquisition and other symbolic abilities in 18- and 26-month-olds. Found that 18-month-olds spontaneously interpreted gestures, like words, as names for object categories. At 26 months, they spontaneously interpreted words as names and novel gestures as names only when given additional…