Reviews attachment research based on narrative assessments, noting that these assessments rely on subjective variables as well as working models as determinants of children's narrative productions. Reviews John Bowlby's ideas regarding the importance of parent-child verbal communications in attachment security. Reviews recent cognitive research…

Evaluated hypotheses examining the role of family characteristics prior to child-care placement in determining child-care use and later child adjustment with a sample of 189 infants and toddlers and their parents. Results provided preliminary support for the hypothesis that parent and child psychological, social, and health characteristics may…

Reviews five books: (1) "Modularity and Constraints in Language and Cognition" (Gunnar and Maratsos); (2) "Beyond Modularity: A Developmental Perspective on Cognitive Science" (Karmiloff-Smith"; (3) "The Self-System: Developmental Changes between and within Self-Concepts" (Oosterwegel and Oppenheimer); (4)…

This report addresses proficiencies, knowledge, and skills deemed necessary for 12 roles of the multidisciplinary team providing federally mandated services for deaf and hard-of-hearing children (from birth to 36 months of age). Roles include, among others, working with families, otological evaluation, provision/management of sensory devices, and…

The conversational interactions of 25 mothers and their 4.5-year-old children, who had been born preterm, were evaluated during a social problem-solving task. The subject mothers tended to approach the task as a vocabulary lesson, whereas comparison mothers tended to focus on the social negotiation aspect of the task. Possible explanations for…

The development of pointing, reaching, and other communicative gestures in 22 preverbal children with Down syndrome, ages 21 to 47 months, was studied in two contexts (referential/declarative versus instrumental/imperative) and with mothers versus agemates with Down syndrome. Considerations relating to delayed language development with this…

Explores the attitudes of 37 first-time fathers concerning the integration of parenting, employment, and nonparental child care, particularly as related to fathers' parental self-esteem, perceptions of support at the workplace and from their partner, and feelings about using child care. Time spent caring for infants was positively correlated with…

This essay discusses the similarities between animal behavior and human attachment behavior demonstrated by infants and their mothers. The provision of warmth, the tactile and olfactory stimulation of the mother's physical interactions, and the oral sensory and absorptive consequences of nursing are found to provide specific and independent…

Considers the bases of criticism of parent report as an index of their children's behavioral development and ways in which problems associated with parent report were addressed in the construction of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs). Examines the nature of responses elicited from parents as they complete the CDIs. (BC)

This study of family perceptions of early intervention services used a written survey (quantitative) completed by 539 parents of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers receiving early intervention services and in-depth, semistructured interviews (qualitative) with 12 parents. It found overwhelming satisfaction with most services, with some concerns…

Examines the correlates of premature death, infant mortality rates, and associated costs for African Americans using census and other government data. There is unimpeachable evidence to confirm the inferior health and survival rates of African Americans at all age intervals. (SLD)

Evaluates a project designed to provide information support to low-income, low-education, first-time fathers. Significant differences were found between fathers who were provided appropriate child-rearing information and those who were not. Following their babies' birth, fathers in the intervention group more accurately pinpointed the age at which…

Reviews five articles on infants and toddlers and the adults who care for them. Includes discussions of caregiver stability and attachment behavior; infants' sensory abilities; alternative public schooling for pregnant teenagers; and the psychosocial, behavioral, and developmental characteristics of toddlers prenatally exposed to cocaine. (DR)

This study examined communicative expressions used by and interactions between 10 blind infants (less than a year old) and their mothers. The videotaped observations suggested that sighted mothers need special educational and psychological support. The recordings, when replayed to mothers, provided them with useful feedback. (DB)

This overview reviews a program of interlinked cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations of the nature of cognitive development in infants and young children with Down's Syndrome. The research falls into three groupings: object concept studies, operant learning experiments, and IQ studies. Early results suggest a common learning style which…