The early childhood educational field has garnered attention with initiatives to foster skill acquisition in young children prior to kindergarten entry. These initiatives, in conjunction with the rigorous demands of curricular reform and a burgeoning accountability movement, invoke questions regarding the adequacy of the instruments used to assess…

This volume overall provides a compelling description of what respect entails and how it functions and emerges in childhood and adolescence. This construct requires further conceptual clarification and study across cultures. The strength of this volume lies in its cultural perspective and diverse empirical approaches.

Cocaine use during pregnancy is a high-risk indicator for adverse developmental outcomes. Three levels of intervention (center, home, and primary care) were compared in a full service, birth to age 3, early intervention program serving children exposed to cocaine prenatally. Data were collected on 130 children from urban, predominantly poor,…

Although consistent nurturing relationships with significant adults are taken for granted by most of us as a necessity for babies and young children, this commonly held belief is not often put into practice. Pioneers, such as Erik Erikson, Anna Freud, and Dorothy Burlingham, revealed that to "pass successfully through the stages of early…

Background: Williams syndrome (WS) and Down syndrome (DS) are two neurodevelopmental genetically based disorders which exhibit mental retardation with a unique cognitive profile. Naming in individuals with WS and DS has been investigated in several studies, with results indicating that the performance of children with WS and DS is at a similar…

Child care research is traditionally interested in the effects of the child care experience on child development. This article examines a different question: Who shapes state child care policy in the United States? The study, based on 49 states, shows that contrary to expectations, women's political representation, governor's party affiliation,…

Predictors of adolescent functioning were studied in an ethnically diverse sample of girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 140) and age- and ethnicity-matched comparison girls (n = 88) who participated in naturalistic summer programs during childhood. Over a 5-year follow-up (sample retention = 92%; age range = 11.3-18.2…

The developmental trajectories of behavioral control and resiliency from early childhood to adolescence and their effects on early onset of substance use were examined. Behavioral control is the tendency to express or contain one's impulses and behaviors. Resiliency is the ability to adapt flexibly one's characteristic level of control in response…

Eighty children with disabilities enrolled in a nationally distributed set of inclusive preschool programs participated in this study. The average age of the participants was 3.9 years, and 60% were male. The children exhibited a range of disabilities and developmental levels. Using a mixed-method approach, the authors established quantitative…

This paper provides the opportunity to understand children's behavior from a memory viewpoint. For the last three decades, cognitive developmentalists have been asking the question, "what develops in children's memory?" Four answers to this question are presented, complete with explanations, examples, and possible applications where appropriate.…

The author investigated whether adverse effects of single parenthood not observed in 6-7-year-old NLSY (National Longitudinal Study of Youth) children might emerge when they reached 12-13 years of age. Outcomes included mathematics, reading, vocabulary scores, and behavior problem ratings. Little or no evidence of systematic negative effects…

This article reviews the empirical evidence relating to the development of early solitary object and parent-infant play in typical infants and children diagnosed with autism. Findings indicate that there may be both qualitative and quantitative differences in early play; however, the need for more longitudinal studies is stressed. (Contains…

"Let's Think!" is a cognitive acceleration programme aimed at developing thinking in children aged between 5 and 6. "Let's Think!" was described in "PSR" 69 (Robertson, 2001) using the acronym CASE @ KS1, as it was known before publication by NFER-Nelson. Since then, "Let's Think!" has spread beyond the…

Participants in this study were 66 British toddlers who were observed at home with familiar peers on two occasions, six months apart. The majority of toddlers spoke to their peers, with short sequences of conversation emerging after the age of 24 months. The use of possessive pronouns emerged between 18 and 24 months of age and consolidated over…

This study assessed theory of mind understanding in children with congenital profound visual impairment (CPVI): children who have had no access to visual information throughout development. Participants were 18 children with CPVI and no other impairments, aged between 5 and 11 years, and 18 children with normal vision, matched individually on…