The language of twins allows researchers in language development to examine acquisition in a unique environment. Researchers investigating the nature-nurture controversy, the order of acquisition, and other linguistic features find the twin situation particularly interesting because of the children's shared genetic makeup and environment. A…

A study investigated whether children expect color similarity to be less important than form similarity in object label extensions. Twenty 2-year-olds and 20 3-year-olds were asked to sort objects similar in either color or form in two different situations: (1) the "No Label" condition where children were asked to help the puppet put objects that…

A series of studies demonstrates that preschool, preoperational children deal effectively with tasks by anticipating the likelihood of their success and failure. They manifest these expectations in their behavior: in their decision time for making predictions, in the distributions of these predictions, and in their approach to particular tasks.…

Because language delay tends to persist, is predictive of later learning problems, and is closely associated with psychiatric disorders, it is important to identify language delay as early as possible. In this study, language delay at age 2 was investigated in 502 children who attended physicians. Language assessment is not routinely carried out…

The purposes of this longitudinal study were: (1) to see whether it was possible to discern direct or indirect effects of mothers' and fathers' functioning on their 2-year-olds' cognitive, social, and psychomotor adaptations, and (2) to examine separately the relationships between parent functioning and the adaptations of first and later born…

This paper presents the history of parent education in the United States and describes a mother-toddler program designed to help young mothers acquire knowledge and skills in child rearing through modeling, counseling and discussion. Included are reviews of current methods of education for child rearing, the need for programs to aid young parents,…

The report summarizes the first year of the Toddler Research and Intervention Project, a research program to devise and evaluate different aspects of educational intervention with children, ages 1-4 years, with moderate to severe development problems (primarily mental retardation). Described are the children who composed the intervention group,…

Early intervention programs provide early stimulation and therapy for young children with disabilities. However, no specific age guidelines have been established for starting early intervention, and the pressure to make an immediate commitment to an early intervention program can overwhelm parents. Program options and decision-making strategies…

This study, which uses the organizational perspective, synthesizes major contributions to the examination of symbolic development in abused children. Focuses on the interrelationship between and the impact of maltreatment on children's cognitive, socioemotional, and linguistic development. (RWB)

Presented observational and descriptive data on the attachment and sensitivity between mothers and teachers and children with severe disabilities. Attachment data from mothers and teachers were obtained for four children with severe disabilities. (Author/RWB)

Examines the influence on children's social development of variation in the quality of child care environments. Findings suggest that overall quality, caregiver-child verbal interactions, and director experience were each highly predictive of the children's social development in day care. (Author/RWB)

Describes a pilot study, involving 48 institutionalized infants and toddlers, which aimed to treat iron deficiency anemia and to discover other factors contributing to the problem. Results indicate improvement in cognitive development after the administration of iron among three groups, while no significant differences were observed in psychomotor…

Addressing methodological limitations, Study One compared parent-child interactions of normal and language-delayed children; Study Two investigated whether mothers adjust the length of their utterances to the child's ability to comprehend or to produce language; Study Three probed interactional variables associated with variations in the…

Discusses the extent to which certain key aspects of functioning in two-year-old children in 46 families, followed from mid-pregnancy to two years, are anticipated by pre-birth parent personality and marital characteristics, and how these characteristics interact with postbirth development. (Author/DR)

Explores the ability of 5 children aged 1 month to 30 months to initiate and maintain topics of conversation. The data demonstrate that at the beginning of development children simply attract attention to themselves as the topic of conversation and that later, as their interests broaden, their topic repertoire expands. (Author/SED)