Argues that corporal punishment is a part of the UK's culture which needs to be banned by the government, as it has been in other European countries. Finds that hitting is not a good way to teach children proper behavior, has nothing to do with good discipline, does not relieve parents, and causes domestic stress. (SD)

Explores specific characteristics of insecure-avoidant, secure, and insecure-ambivalent mother-infant dyads (N=82) in the context of sharing a picturebook. Results support the view that early literacy skills are connected to a fundamentally social process. The learning/instruction process depends on the affective dimension of the infant-mother…

A review of Dr. Weston Price's work on the nutritional practices of "primitive" peoples and their subsequent levels of physical development shows that animal fats and cholesterol are not villains but vital factors in the diet, necessary for normal growth, proper functioning of the brain and nervous system, protection from disease, and…

Research presented in this paper on the character of infant-directed speech and the nature of infant speech perception abilities from 6 to 12 months suggests that prosody contributes significantly to early analyses of child languages and assists infants in developing root processes of parsing. (104 references) (Author/CK)

This paper reviews findings from comprehensive early intervention studies with young children with autism and formulates questions that need to be answered to establish efficacious, accessible early treatment. Results suggest that intensive, very early treatment appears to lessen the debilitating effects of autism. Research questions involve…

Examines infants' sensitivity to word units in fluent speech by inserting one-second pauses either at boundaries between successive words or between syllables within words. Results indicate that, by 11 months, infants are sensitive to word boundaries, and that this sensitivity depends on more than prosodic information or prior knowledge. (65…

Examined continuity in parent-child relationships in a sample of German families. Traced connections between individual differences in a composite of markers of the parent-child attachment relationship system and later parent-child communications. Found that the composite modestly predicted variability in children's competence in forming…

Examined data on 900 European American children from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care to explore links between maternal employment during the child's first year and child cognitive outcomes. Found that maternal employment by the child's ninth month related to lower school readiness scores at 36 months, with more pronounced effects for certain…

A study compared 55 mothers who had been physically abused as children and 46 mothers who had not been, concerning their memories and descriptions of self, parents, babies, and significant others. Mothers who were abused had negative attributes pervading their memories and perceptions. A mother's positive view of self was associated with secure…

Examines the quality of infant and toddler care as a prerequisite for the emotional well-being of children. Offers suggestions on how day-care providers can work toward understanding and generously meeting infant needs: hold and mold; be a responsive reciprocal partner; enhance noticing skills; learn ages and stages; apply developmental theories;…

Examined claim that associations between emotional responses to maternal separation and cognitive performance would change with cognitive development over the first year. Emphasized the measurement of separation and reunion distress. Found that emotional responses and cognitive performance may be linked by individual differences in self-regulation…

Assessed association between length of maternity leave and quality of mother-infant interaction. Found a direct association between shorter leave and more negative affect and behavior; mothers with more depressive symptoms or who perceived their infant as having a difficult temperament, and with shorter leaves expressed less positive affect,…

Examined predictive relations between infant assessments and behavior problems at age 7 in a low-income sample. Found that disorganized infant attachment behavior and below average mental development at 18 months were associated with externalizing behavior at 7 years. Avoidant infant attachment behavior was associated with later internalizing…

An Australian study of 110 mother-infant dyads and 85 mother-toddler dyads in which the mothers were mentally ill evaluated the effectiveness of the Mother and Child Risk Observation (MACRO). Results found that MACRO offers a convenient framework for assessing risk and interpreting the impact of maternal mental illness upon children. (Author/CR)

The benefits and disadvantages in conducting universal infant hearing screening and in the transition of audiology from a master's to a doctoral level profession are discussed from an epidemiological point of view. Epidemiologic strategies which may inform decision making in these two important and controversial areas are presented. (Author/CR)