Infants exposed to a set of artificially-created face stimuli having distinct mean and modal prototypes showed a pattern of behavior predicted by category abstraction models. Infants appeared to abstract, at the time of learning, a feature-count summary of the category displayed. (Author/RH)

This rejoinder to McCall (Volume 56, 217-218) discusses the differences in viewpoint with respect to the relationship between models and theory, the notion of "direct" tests of propositions, and the use of measures of explained variance to evaluate model performance. (Author/BE)

Findings confirmed that newborns turn toward laterally presented sounds, habituate with repetition, recover to novel sounds, and extend demonstrations of recovery to discrepant stimuli. Recovery was found to be a curvilinear function of degree of discrepancy. Newborns systematically turned away from redundant stimuli. (RH)

Reviews Greenough, Black, and Wallace's (1987) conceptual framework for understanding the effects of early experience and sensitive periods on development, and illustrates the applicability of their model with recent data on the consequences for animals and human infants of the acquistion of self-produced locomotion. (BN)

Challenges the typical treatment of causal effects in longitudinal data, arguing that models should be conceptualized and tested in ways that directly reflect prior assumptions as to the trait- or state-like nature of the variables. Examples demonstrate that meaningful longitudinal studies of state variables can be conducted without assuming their…

Move sequence analysis revealed that, when presented with problems having subgoals difficult to order, 40 preschoolers between 45 and 70 months of age (1) tended to avoid backup; (2) were sensitive to incremental progress toward a goal; and (3) searched moves ahead for a goal. None of several indices of performance were reliably correlated with…

Examines several issues concerning Gilligan's and Kohlberg's models of moral orientations and Kohlberg's model of moral stages in a longitudinal study of 233 subjects aged 5 to 63 years. Results revealed few violations of the stage sequence over the two-year longitudinal interval. (RJC)

The role of experience in the developing brain is considered. A categorization scheme based upon the type of information stored and the brain mechanisms involved in storing the information is proposed. Experience-expectant and experience-dependent information storage are differentiated. (BN)

This review draws together research by developmentalists on parents' ideas about parenting and development, and research in social psychology on attitudes, schemas, and social categorization. (PCB)

Provides an introduction to loglinear analysis of cross-classification tables, including tables with nominal and ordinal variables. Compares the chi-square test of independence with the loglinear model of independence. Reviews the advantages and overall strategy of loglinear modeling. Each model discussed is applied to data from the developmental…

Temperament and attachment, as defined by Bowlby and his followers, are fundamentally different constructs, and research guided by the attachment perspective cannot meaningfully be assimilated to the temperament construct. Qualitative aspects of relationships simply cannot be reduced to individual behavioral dimensions. (RH)

Reveals that different aspects of the environment differentially contributed to variability in communication performance of one-year-old infants. Findings support the environmental specificity hypothesis and underline the need to consider physical environmental parameters when investigating environmental influences. (Author/RH)

Infant temperamental difficulty was strongly related to mothers' level of postpartum depression, both directly and through the mediation of parenting self-efficacy. Social support appeared to function protectively against depression, primarily through self-efficacy. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed. (Author/RH)

Discusses both the advantages and difficulties of using nonlinear modeling in the context of a model used to study the relations between parental warmth and control and preschool children's competence. (HOD)

Acquiring the norm of altruism is conceived as a three-step process involving presocialization, awareness that others value altruistic behavior, and internalization of the norm. The present studies investigated how first-, second-, and third-grade children attain the second step. Attainment, occurring around second grade, was a function of…