The attainment of developmental milestones was examined and compared in 162 infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities, including Down Syndrome (n = 26), Cerebral Palsy (n = 19), Global Developmental Delay (n = 22), Premature birth (n = 66), and Seizure Disorder (n = 29). Toddlers in the Seizures Disorder group began crawling at a…

The etiology of developmental dyslexia remains widely debated. An appealing theory postulates that the reading and spelling problems in individuals with dyslexia originate from reduced sensitivity to slow-rate dynamic auditory cues. This low-level auditory deficit is thought to provoke a cascade of effects, including inaccurate speech perception…

To examine cultural contrasts in the ordered sequence of conceptual developments leading to theory of mind (ToM), we compared 135 3- to 6-year-olds (77 Australians; 58 Iranians) on an established 5-step ToM scale (Wellman & Liu, 2004). There was a cross-cultural difference in the sequencing of ToM steps but not in overall rates of ToM mastery.…

Using a new paradigm for measuring children's saving behaviors involving two marble games differing in desirability, we assessed whether 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds saved marbles for future use, saved increasingly on a second trial, saved increasingly with age, and were sensitive to the relative value of future rewards. We also assessed whether…

Exposure to severe air pollution produces neuroinflammation and structural brain alterations in children. We tested whether patterns of brain growth, cognitive deficits and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) are associated with exposures to severe air pollution. Baseline and 1 year follow-up measurements of global and regional brain MRI volumes,…

Non-word repetition (NWR) was investigated in adolescents with typical development, Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and Autism Plus language Impairment (ALI) (n = 17, 13, 16, and mean age 14;4, 15;4, 14;8 respectively). The study evaluated the hypothesis that poor NWR performance in both groups indicates an overlapping language phenotype…

Background: Research conducted on preterm children's linguistic skills has provided varying pictures, and the question of whether and to what extent preterm children are delayed in early language acquisition remains largely unresolved. Aims: To examine communicative and linguistic development during the second year in a group of Italian children…

This case study is an examination of the language development of a single pair of fraternal twins--one with a profound, sensorineural hearing loss who received simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants at 1 year of age and the other with normal hearing. The purpose of the study was to compare the twins' language development over time from 6 months…

Play and playgrounds provide essential experiences for young children's growth, development and enjoyment of life. However, such play experiences are now limited for many children due to excessive fear of risk, or "surplus safety". In this article, the authors examine the pervasiveness of surplus safety in the lives of young children.…

The recent increase in the availability of infant-directed video material (e.g., "Baby Einstein") and the corresponding increase in the amount of time that infants and toddlers spend viewing them have prompted concern among parents and professionals that these media might impede aspects of cognitive and social development. In contrast, supporters…

The present study examined whether younger and older children differ in the use of the goal-related information in a continuous performance task (AX-CPT), and if so, whether those age differences are due to the ability to represent and/or maintain goal information. Experiment 1 compared third- and sixth-grade children in their ability to transform…

Background: Emotion regulation involves intrinsic and extrinsic processes responsible for managing one's emotions toward goal accomplishment. Research on emotion regulation has predominantly focused on early developmental periods and the majority of emotion regulation research examining the pre-adult years has lacked a comprehensive theoretical…

We explored the perceptual structure of facial expressions of six basic emotions, varying systematically in intensity, in adults and children aged 7 and 14 years. Multidimensional scaling suggested that three- or four-dimensional structures were optimal for all groups. Two groups of adults demonstrated nearly identical structure, which had…

Background: Children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at high risk for developing significant anxiety. Anxiety can adversely impact functioning across school, home and community environments. Cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) are frequently used with success for children with anxiety symptoms. Modified CBT interventions…

Background: Deficits in joint attention (JA) and joint engagement (JE) represent a core problem in young children with autism as these affect language and social development. Studies of parent-mediated and specialist-mediated JA-intervention suggest that such intervention may be effective. However, there is little knowledge about the success of…