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…

Two studies are presented on expressive happy and sad drawings made by British 4- to 12-year-olds (n = 80 and 160, respectively) in which the drawings were assessed individually for the quantity and quality of expressive devices. Quantity was measured in the number of appropriate expressive content themes and formal properties evident in each…

It has been 20 years since Bever's (1982) and Strauss and Stavy's (1982) books on U-shaped functions in human development were published. The three target articles in this issue describe several old and new U-shaped functions and new theoretical explanations for their existence. In this article, the authors will comment on two aspects of U-shaped…

The publication and subsequent distribution and dissemination of "Birth to Three Matters, A Framework to Support Children in their Earliest Years" (DfES, 2002) marks a significant breakthrough in government recognition of the importance of the years from birth to three in shaping children's later learning. However, the Curriculum…

Considerable research illuminates the development of causal understanding. However, the research base is hardly a coherent whole. Some is based in research on children's understanding of particular science concepts. Some grows out of social psychology and considers how one attributes intentions and behaviors. Some comes from the developmental…

This article examines research that calls into question the soundness of current definitions of problematic infant sleep. Current research suggests that infant night wakings and signaling behaviors may be normative. Research is inconclusive on whether early sleep problems are predictive of later sleep problems. The article also describes research…

This article argues that a culturally approved style of nonverbal parent-infant interaction influences the unfolding parent-child relationship and the child's social development. The author, an anthropologist, compares parenting styles in the "low-contact" culture of the United States with parenting in the "high-contact"…

This is the second of two papers providing a critique of categorisation and of the biomedical interpretation of personal adjustment issues experienced by children and youth. Whereas the first paper (Stanley, 2006; published in "Kairaranga" earlier this year) appraised this approach from an array of theoretical vantage points, this paper…

Background: Debates about the developmental origins of adult face processing could be directly addressed if a clear infant neural marker could be identified. Previous research with infants remains open to criticism regarding the control stimuli employed. Methods: We recorded ERPs from adults and 3-month-old infants while they watched faces and…

Background: Childhood psychopathology is associated with both high and low levels of prosocial behaviour. It has been proposed that the development of prosocial behaviour shows emerging and consolidating individual differences as children grow older. The influences on these individual differences have not previously been examined in children and…

This review outlines key areas of research in relation to the following: the nature of father involvement; factors influencing involvement; the influence of fathers on children; and social policy developments. It reviews the practice oriented research which has emerged in the UK as engaging fathers has become part of the agenda for many child…

Assessment of the overarching self-regulatory mechanisms, or executive functions, in any age group is challenging, in part due to the complexity of this domain, in part due to their dynamic essence, and in part due to the inextricable links between these central processes and the associated domain-specific processes, such as language, motor…