Twenty infants, 12 weeks of age, were subjects in an experiment to test the effects of maternal behavior on their perceptual-cognitive development. Each mother and child were observed in a controlled naturalistic setting, every 10 seconds their various behaviors were recorded, and then the mother was interviewed. During an experimental session the…

This report is part of a comprehensive study of the cognitive, personal, and social development of disadvantaged children over the crucial period age three through grade three. The aims of the study are to identify the components of early education associated with children's development, to determine the environmental and background factors…

The hypothesis, that the importance of language to mankind lies not so much in the fact that it is the means by which we cooperate and communicate with each other as in the fact that it enables each of us, as individuals and in cooperation, to represent the world to ourselves as we encounter it, is presented. In infancy, the representation is made…

Investigates the drawing and copying skills of nine autistic and eight mentally retarded children matched for mental age. Results indicate a similarity of performance for the drawing tasks and significant differences concerning the copying. Discusses the specific functions performed better by the autistic children and provides illustrative…

Noting that beyond the individual variations among humans, there is a body of mental abilities common to every human being, this book examines the debate among researchers about the extent to which humans are "preprogrammed," and suggests a new scientific psychology of human development. By examining experimental data obtained from…

In all of his published work, Jean Piaget never abandoned his original theoretical framework for the understanding of human development. This framework insists that intelligence is essentially a biological phenomenon; its development is best understood as the development of a sophisticated and highly successful adaptation device. This device…

This practicum was designed to solve a problem related to the provision of a computer training component for students enrolled in an early childhood education teacher training program. Increasing pressures on graduates of the training program to integrate computers and educational software into programs for young children as well as the students'…

This 27-item bibliography represents the variety of articles added to the ERIC database from 1983 through 1988 on left-brain/right-brain research, theory, and application as it relates to classroom incorporation. Included are conflicting opinions as to the usefulness of left-brain/right-brain studies and their application in the learning…

The case for the inclusion of aesthetic education with the traditional basic courses of reading, writing, and arithmetic is examined. The following points are emphasized in regarding arts education as a basic: (1) Aesthetic experience is basic because it is a primary form of experience on which all cognition, judgment, and action depend. It is the…

The thesis presents a literature review of selected characteristics of learning disabled children and the relationship between these characteristics and reading. Thirty-three characteristics are discussed, divided into three categories: selected cognitive abilities, speech and language development, and selected behavioral and emotional-social…

In order to determine the cognitive development of Navajo children in terms of Piagetian conservation of number, mass, and continuous quantity, 168 Navajo children at seven different age levels from 5 to adult were presented with a series of three conservation tasks. The tasks consisted of a standard object and an equivalent object that could be…

This paper reports on a Santa Barbara, California study to determine the need for establishing a minimum age for bicyclists using the public roadways, examining the proposition that children below a certain age are developmentally unable to perform safely in traffic. Data on the disproportionate incidence of accident involvement among young…

The program activities, curriculum, and evaluation of the Pennsylvania Research in Infant Development and Education (PRIDE) Project are described in this report. The project is an educational effort to accelerate the development of children, 12-52 months of age, by providing developmentally enriching experiences in a controlled environment which…

Some very practical questions about how children learn the first language compel us to study brain functions and how these functions evolve. They also bring the studies of linguistics and neurology together. The purpose of this paper is to relate some of the research that describes language acquisition with the research about the early development…

Some of the major changes that have influenced the field of child development since the last edition (1964) are presented in this edition. The book is divided into six parts, each with an introduction that summarizes what is important in the various domains of child development. Part One, The Grand Systems, is intended to give the reader a solid…