This study of 195 (108 boys) children seen twice during infancy (Time 1: 4.12 months; Time 2: 14.42 months) aimed to investigate the associations between and infant predictors of executive function (EF) at 14 months. Infants showed high levels of compliance with the EF tasks at 14 months. There was little evidence of cohesion among EF tasks but…

Describes two experiments that assessed young children's understanding of the characteristic uncertainty in the physical nature of random phenomena as well as the unpredictability of outcomes. (HOD)

Children of 18 months classified as secure or insecure/avoidant by means of the Ainsworth Strange Situation were observed at home and in a playgroup. Teachers and observers rated girls classified as insecure/avoidant as being more difficult to deal with and having more difficulty with peers than girls rated as securely attached. (PCB)

Examines whether the relationship between mothers' ratings on the Neonatal Perception Inventory of their one-month-old infants and social-emotional development at 4 1/2 years as reported for a Pittsburgh population could be demonstrated in a Seattle population. (MP)

Forty-six full-term and 54 high-risk preterm infants were tested at six, seven, and/or eight months of age (corrected age for preterms) on assessments of visual recognition memory and tactual-visual cross-modal transfer. Scores significantly predicted Stanford-Binet IQ scores. Stability coefficients attained the highest degree of predictive…

Examined the longitudinal predictability of spatial ability in late-adolescent females. No timing of puberty or lateralization effects were observed. These findings strengthen evidence that sex-related differences in spatial ability could be experientially determined and may help to focus the search for exactly how this occurs. (Author/GLR)

Assesses ability of infant tests to predict language and cognitive development and to detect infants at risk for developmental problems. The Bayley Mental Development Index was particularly capable of detecting infants at risk for developmental delay. The Caldwell Inventory of Home Stimulation identified home environment as a key factor in…

Addresses the utility of a noninvasive measure of cardiac vagal tone in predicting developmental outcome among infants at risk for cognitive disabilities. Results suggest that measurement of cardiac vagal tone may provide an important means for assessing risk in birth-stressed populations. (Author/RH)