Studies seven experiences of 69 infants of 12 1/2 and 17 1/2 months in dyadic play with mothers, fathers, and first-borns. Mothers and fathers were more alike than different in the amounts of play experiences they created, and infants experienced a more enriched environment with parents than with first-borns. (RJC)

Investigated whether skills and knowledge might be transferred between hypermedia systems as is the case with conventional paper-based materials. Performances of students using a familiar hypermedia system and a relatively unknown system were compared. Results revealed no significant differences achieved in either levels of success or efficiency…

Responds to calls for combining the ideas of Piaget and Vygotsky, discussing differences between the two perspectives. Notes that differences are found in underlying assumptions about the nature and process of development, philosophy, stages of development, developmental influences, and the integrity of cognitive structures. Suggests that, given…

Addresses the extent to which differences in Piagetian and Vygotskyan psychologies make their theories incompatible. Differences result from a Vygotskyan belief in a material primary cause for development; Piagetians do not hold this view. Explores this difference in perspective, concluding that, despite it, the two approaches are compatible. (JW)

This research review identifies similarities in skill acquisition across the domains of reading and math disabilities, specifically addressing the sequence of skill development and the theoretical question of whether the disabilities reflect delays or deficits in cognitive development. The paper discusses the nature of differences between learners…

Used observations and theory of mind interviews to examine the impact of a program to increase the complexity of shared pretend play in 4-year-olds. Found that the amount and complexity of shared pretense increased for the play training group and performance on theory-of-mind tasks significantly improved for the play training group but not for the…

Two experiments examined impact of training in false belief understanding on 3-year-olds. Training involved encouragement of reflection on the event of various false belief scenarios, especially the protagonist's thoughts. Results suggested that task-specific strategies for close transfer posttest success were learned, rather than demonstrating a…

Reviews international research that documents how participation in early childhood programs influenced children's later development and success in school. The research shows participation in preschool promotes cognitive development and school success; program type matters little. Further, maternal employment and reliance on child care do not harm…

Examined analytic methods for describing children's social risk. Found that the individual-risk-variables approach provided better overall prediction of developmental outcomes at a particular age. The risk-factor approach provided good prediction of developmental trajectories with moderate to large sample sizes. The risk-index was useful for…

Three studies investigated 5- to 8-year-olds' ability to solve partitive division problems when presented with a concrete model of a problem. Children found it easier to solve problems in Grouping-by-Divisor condition than in Grouping-by-Quotient condition, although there was evidence of developmental improvement in tasks. Findings suggest that…

Two studies compared executive function performance of preschoolers with autism and control group matched on age, verbal ability, and nonverbal ability. Study 1 found no group differences on eight tasks. Autistic children initiated fewer joint attention and social interaction behaviors. Followup with subset of Study 1 children found that neither…

Examined changes from age 7 to 82 years in processes responsible for preparation and interference control underlying alternation between two tasks. Found a U-shaped function for switch costs, with larger costs for young children and older adults. Age-related variance in task-switching performance was partially independent from age-related variance…

Tested in two studies 4- to 7-year-olds' face recognition by manipulating the faces' configural and featural information. Found that even with only a single 5-second exposure, most children could use configural and featural cues to make identity judgments. Repeated exposure and feedback improved others' performance. Even proficient memories were…

Investigated 4-month-olds' responsiveness to others' affective expressions in the context of a peekaboo game. Found differential patterns of visual attention and affective responsiveness to happiness/surprise, anger, fear, and sadness. Findings underscore importance of contextual information for facilitating recognition of emotion expressions and…

This experiment examined delayed self-recognition in 24 2.5-year-old and 24 3-year-old children. Children were marked covertly with a sticker on their forehead while playing a game, after which their photograph was taken. When shown this photograph, the 3- but not the 2.5-year-olds reached to remove this sticker reliably. However, the older…