Cognitive and language skills of 39 siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) and 39 siblings of typically developing children (SIBS-TD) at ages 4, 14, 24, 36, and 54 months were compared. Twelve of the 39 SIBS-A revealed a delay in cognition and/or language (including one child diagnosed with autism) compared to only two SIBS-TD. Developmental…

A number of studies (see Ethier, 1999) have shown that neglect has a deleterious impact on children's development. However, the effect of neglect on a child's internal representations of their family still needs to be investigated. The aim of this study was to examine the attachment patterns observed in a subsample of neglected children as…

Purpose: This study tests the hypothesis that toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) will show differences from contrast groups in preferences for attending to speech. Method: This study examined auditory preferences in toddlers with ASD and matched groups of (a) typical age-mates, (b) age-mates with nonautistic developmental disabilities,…

The activities and self-direction allowed after school provide children in different countries with distinct developmental opportunities that promote culturally valued orientations and outcomes. Fourth-grade children in Bulgaria, Taiwan, and the United States (countries with contrasting social values and expectations) reported their usual…

This study reports a replication of an earlier study by Kilbourne and Ginsberg (1980) which indicated the occurrence of a transition from predominantly coacting to predominantly alternating infant-mother vocalization patterns. In addition, the present study examined the modulating influences of nursing activity and mother's focus of attention upon…

Two studies suggested that measures of parenting behavior should be differentiated according to source of information (maternal report, interviewer rating) and the context (naturally occurring situation, structured situation). Study 1 used data from an interview portion of the JOBS Child Outcomes Study, whereby mothers and interviewers documented…

Research indicates that socioeconomic deprivation tends to retard psychological development in early childhood by approximately one-and-one-half-years. (Author)

Compares the importance of role taking and the logical operations stage of child development in predicting children's understanding of the purpose of television advertising. Research on children's comprehension of television commercials is briefly reviewed and the subjects of the study, as well as the study methodology, are described. (Author/JL)

Pre, post, and follow-up assessments showed that two tutoring programs (fantasy play tutoring and skill tutoring) had equal impact on the development of nursery school children's cognitive and linguistic development abilities. However, fantasy play tutoring showed a greater potential for maintaining or increasing social participation. (Author/MP)

Investigated fathers' influence on the socialization of children and how it may differ from that of mothers. Parents (N=128) responded to seven scales concerning parental role responsibilities. Fathers and mothers reported high agreement as to major parental role responsibilities for a male child, less agreement occurred for female children.…

Describes positive aspects of Denmark's "class teacher" system wherein the same group of students, evenly divided by sex, remain together with the same teacher from grades 1 through 9. Includes description of testing, school and classroom discipline, and group work. Compares Danish schools with American schools. (PKP)

The Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Revised (DIAL-R) and the Learning Accomplishment Profile-Diagnostic (LAP-D) were compared using 121 children in a Head Start Program. Results suggest that profile interpretations of the scales may not differentiate skill domains and that these scales may be indicative of general…

Social learning theory is evaluated from a historical perspective that goes up to the present. Sears and others melded psychoanalytic and stimulus-response learning theory into a comprehensive explanation of human behavior. Bandura emphasized cognitive and information-processing capacities that mediate social behavior. (LB)

Measures of both temporal and spectral parameters were computed to determine the extent of perseveratory coarticulation in the vowel-consonant syllables produced by 7- and 10-year-old children (n=9). Profoundly hearing-impaired speakers exhibited measurable but smaller effects of perseveratory coarticulation relative to the normally hearing…