Few experimental studies investigate the mechanisms by which young children develop sex-typed activity preferences. Gender self-labeling followed by selective imitation of same-sex models currently is considered a primary socialization mechanism. Research with prenatally androgenized girls and non-human primates also suggests an innate male…

Considerable evidence indicates that shape similarity plays a major role in object recognition, identification and categorization. However, little is known about shape processing and its development. Across four experiments, we addressed two related questions. First, what makes objects similar in shape? Second, how does the processing of shape…

This study assessed whether two persons with developmental disabilities would be able to actively perform simple occupational activities by controlling their favorite environmental stimulation using battery-free wireless mice with a newly developed object location detection program (OLDP, i.e., a new software program turning a battery-free…

The February 2011 National Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) conference marked its tenth annual event. During the opening plenary, speakers looked back and described the progress and accomplishments of past years. They highlighted activities of the various federal agencies, medical organizations, and individuals who helped move EHDI…

As adults, we know that others' mental states, such as beliefs, guide their behavior and that these mental states can deviate from reality. Researchers have examined whether young children possess adult-like theory of mind by focusing on their understanding about others' false beliefs. The present research revealed that 10-month-old infants seemed…

During the first half of the 2nd year of life, infants struggle to use phonemic distinctions in label-object association tasks. Prior experiments have demonstrated that exposure to the phonemes in distinct lexical forms (e.g., /"d"/ and /"t"/ in "daddy" and "tiger", respectively) facilitates infants' use of phonemic contrasts but also that they…

This research study examines the impact of the level of state tax code progressivity on selected children's health outcomes. Specifically, it examines the degree to which a state's tax code ranking along the progressive-regressive continuum relates to percentage of low birthweight babies, infant and child mortality rates, and percentage of…

The prediction of conduct problems (CPs) from infant difficulty and parenting measured in the first 6 months of life was studied in a sample of 267 high-risk mother-child dyads. Stable, cross-situational CPs at school entry (5-6 years) were predicted by negative infancy parenting, mediated by mutually angry and hostile mother-toddler interactions…

Contrasting results have been reported regarding the phonetic acquisition of bilinguals. A lack of discrimination has been observed for certain native contrasts in 8-month-old Catalan-Spanish bilingual infants (Bosch & Sebastian-Galles, 2003a), though not in French-English bilingual infants (Burns, Yoshida, Hill & Werker, 2007; Sundara, Polka &…

Breastfeeding, additional children, and partner relationship predicted postpartum depression among 59 Latinas who had an infant who was 6 months old or younger. The most powerful predictor was conflict with partner. Counselors working with Latinas experiencing postpartum depression should explore the partner relationship, particularly relationship…

Background: People are increasingly using the Internet and social networking sites for behavior support. Almost no literature exists exploring the utility of these sites for supporting breastfeeding behavior. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which blogs are currently being used to support breastfeeding behavior.…

Two experiments investigated the way acoustic markers of prominence influence the grouping of speech sequences by adults and 7-month-old infants. In the first experiment, adults were familiarized with and asked to memorize sequences of adjacent syllables that alternated in either pitch or duration. During the test phase, participants heard pairs…

Face processing development is negatively affected when infants have not been exposed to faces for some time because of congenital cataract blocking all vision (Le Grand, Mondloch, Maurer, & Brent, 2001). It is not clear, however, whether more subtle differences in face exposure may also have an influence. The present study looked at the effect of…

Because fathers are clearly important to family well-being, including fathers in services for families seems a straightforward idea. How hard can it be? Yet across health, education, and welfare services it is still mothers who attend and engage on behalf of their infants and children. The Family Action Centre, located on the east coast of…

Research has shown that the care and education of infants and toddlers is an under-represented area in early childhood teacher education. This is also the case in Australia, meaning that pre-service teachers have few opportunities for learning about infants and toddlers and thus tend to have limited theoretical and practical knowledge about…