The notion that vitamins, minerals, and other "supplemental" nutrients profoundly change behavior, mood, and intellect has origins as old as recorded history. Research has indeed suggested connections between nutrient deficiencies and behavior problems, but correlations are not the same as causality. This "Abell Report" is an…

In Paraguay conditions for rural children living in poverty are often difficult. At least 14% of children age 5 years and younger show moderate to severe physical stunting (UNICEF 2009). More than half of the children in primary school have repeated at least one grade by the time they complete the sixth grade. Rural families living in poverty, who…

Current preschool learning guidelines, created in response to NCLB requirements, focus on three areas of human development in an effort to ensure that preschoolers are ready for kindergarten. This study examined four New England states' preschool learning guidelines, looking at how each detailed its support for preschoolers' development. The…

Adults who report having had high-quality relationships with their parents during childhood have better overall mental health and are at decreased risk for mental disorders compared with those who report low parental relationship quality. Researchers have predominantly focused on the relationship with the mother, oftentimes excluding the unique…

Long before babies understand words, they understand touch. The first experience of compassion infants receive is gentle, caring touch, which gives a strong message, especially when accompanied by eye contact and a soft tone of voice. The kind of relationship a compassionate caregiver strives to develop with an infant creates attachment, an…

New discoveries in neuroscience suggest that school readiness interventions might come too late if they start after the child is three years old. Many of the skills needed to succeed in school are shaped during a baby's interactions with his or her caregivers. Unfortunately, the level of support and resources provided for new mothers and their…

ZERO TO THREE's "Parenting Infants and Toddlers Today" survey presents an opportunity to explore areas where African American, Hispanic, and White parents may differ in their perceptions of infant development. The article highlights some of the differences in these racial and ethnic groups, such as parents' understanding of early social and…

Quality preschool education enhances the social, cognitive and language development of children. Children in an enriched environment are more likely to be emotionally secure, self-confident and proficient in language use. Preschool settings where staff have higher qualifications demonstrate higher-quality education and provide children with better…

Objective: To examine prospectively the emergence of behavioral signs of autism in the first years of life in infants at low and high risk for autism. Method: A prospective longitudinal design was used to compare 25 infants later diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with 25 gender-matched low-risk children later determined to have…

In early childhood, there is a developmental transition in spatial memory biases. Before the transition, children's memory responses are biased toward the midline of a space, while after the transition responses are biased away from midline. The Dynamic Field Theory (DFT) posits that changes in neural interaction and changes in how children…

Prior research has documented associations between hours in child care and children's externalizing behavior. A series of longitudinal analyses were conducted to address 5 propositions, each testing the hypothesis that child care hours causes externalizing behavior. Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child…

Interpersonal touch has been little studied empirically as an indicator of parent- and peer-child intimacy. Undergraduate students (n = 390) were studied using a questionnaire survey regarding the frequencies of interpersonal touch by father, mother, same-sex peers, and opposite-sex peers during preschool ages, grades 1-3, grades 4-6, and grades…

Aims: To investigate markers of risk status that can be easily monitored in resource-limited settings for the identification of children in need of early developmental intervention. Methods: Eighty-five children in Kilifi, Kenya, aged between 2 and 10 months at recruitment, were involved in a 10-month follow-up. Data on developmental outcome were…

The effectiveness of behavioural intervention programs for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders was addressed by a meta-analysis, which reviewed 14 studies. The findings suggest that the behavioural programs are effective in improving several developmental aspects in the children, in terms of their treatment gains, and also relative to…

To bridge the social-reasoning focus of developmental research on irony understanding and the pragmatic focus of research with adult populations, this cross-sectional study examines 5-, 7-, and 9-year-olds' (n = 72) developing understanding of both social-cognitive and social-communicative aspects of discourse irony, when compared with adults (n =…