Two experiments examined infants' reliance on object shape versus color for word generalization to animate and inanimate objects. Infants were taught labels for either novel vehicles or novel animals using preferential-looking procedure or an interactive procedure. Results of both experiments indicated that infants limited their word…

Describes the theoretical orientations that frame current understanding about the development of self and the social processes that may shape it. Components of the self are discussed, and current thinking about their development in infancy and toddlerhood is described. The role of temperament is also addressed. (Author/CR)

Examines the range of forces affecting the supply and demand side of adoption. Maintains that demographic trends and social, technological, and economic factors bearing on adoption seeking and relinquishment will be critical factors, with important implications for adoption policy and practice. (Author/KB)

This study explored to what extent perinatal morbidity is a risk factor for maltreatment through review of the medical charts of 206 children, ages 0-3, who had been referred to child protective services based on either prenatal findings of maternal inadequacy or postnatal findings of child maltreatment. Perinatal complications were associated…

A review of the development of self and empathy in infancy in general is followed by discussion of atypical development, noting that autistic children have a general deficit in development of empathic capacity and physical and representational sense of self. Specific interventions to enhance the development of both sense of self and empathic…

Parents actively learned skills in sensitive responding to infant cues in an 8-week training group for parents of infants with developmental delay. Comparison of 12 participants and 5 controls on self-report pre-test/post-test measures indicated the intervention resulted in decreases in dysfunctional parent-child interactions, parental distress,…

This article suggests the need to embed social skills intervention within the more general context of long-term early intervention efforts that promote all dimensions of developmental performance. Results from former clients of the LEAP program are discussed and demonstrate evidence of sustained growth and development over nearly two decades.…

Highlights three longitudinal studies examining the hypothesis that attachment security during infancy influences individual differences and adult representations of attachment. Notes that attachment security was significantly stable in two studies, with discontinuity in all three studies related to negative life events and circumstances.…

Assessed attachment security in 60 white middle-class infants at 12 months and conducted Adult Attachment Interview 20 years later. Found that 72 percent of infants received same attachment classification in early adulthood. Forty-four percent of infants whose mothers reported negative life events changed attachment classifications by adulthood,…

Examined relations between infant security of attachment, negative life events, and adolescent attachment classification in sample from the Family Lifestyles Project. Found that stability of attachment classification was 77 percent. Infant attachment classification predicted adolescent attachment classification. Found no differences between…

Maintains that the preceding studies extend a long line of research demonstrating the coherence of individual development in attachment security. Notes that the studies clarify that attachment security can be stable from infancy through early adulthood and that changes in security are meaningfully related to changes in the family environment.…

Both deaf and hearing mothers (N=23) were observed in videotaped face-to-face interactions with their infants (also either deaf or hearing) and maternal touching behavior was coded for intensity, location, and type. Deaf mothers were especially responsive to tactile needs of their deaf infants. However, hearing mothers of deaf infants also…

This review of the effects of contingency experience on development and data from a model intervention program provides evidence demonstrating how basic technology can be used to teach young children with developmental disabilities that the environment is responsive and controllable and to promote positive attentional, emotional, and motivational…

A survey of 388 early intervention programs for hearing impairments found the number of children in the first year of life who are enrolled is lower than those enrolled in their second and third years and that parent-centered intervention and child-centered intervention is offered in the majority of programs. (Contains references.) (CR)

This article presents information about the auditory and speech development of infants with normal hearing and those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Methods of assessing hearing, evidence of auditory learning prior to birth, behavior assessment procedures, hearing aid use, and early identification and speech development are discussed. (Contains…