Investigates developmental change in inter- and intrahemispheric transfer of tactile information in two experiments with 74 and 77 subjects aged 4, 6, 10, and 20 years. Results indicate a developmental improvement in inter- and intrahemispheric transfer of tactile information. (RJC)

The article stresses the importance of play and playgrounds for children's social, physical, and psychological development. It presents data from a national survey of the status and design of play equipment at elementary schools, suggests ways of making equipment safer, and offers basic principles of play center design. (CB)

Studied 40 first through third graders to determine whether they would donate more to a worthy cause after being exposed to a humorous situation or to a serious one. The difference in giving was not significant. (RJC)

Actual and theoretical cases are presented in which the Battelle Developmental Inventory was used in infant assessment. Age-related discontinuities reveal that, for children whose chronological age abuts one of the cut-off points between age categories, radically different summary scores can be obtained from one day to the next despite identical…

Despite obvious need, a strong, empirically based rationale, and a growing political will, the promised new era in childcare and early education has faced complex challenges. This article discusses inequity, discontinuity, and fragmentation in providing these services and explores some ameliorative strategies within a new policy context. Includes…

Two groups of infants were studied to demonstrate that changes in reaching are determined by the interaction of organismic and environmental constraints. The infants were placed in three different positions and observed for quantity and quality of reaching. Results indicated that both environmental constraints and growth contribute to reaching in…

Discusses the development of literacy and the influence of parents on a child's literacy; considers the effects of illiteracy on parental involvement in schools; describes the development of the Family Literacy Programs which address parents' and children's educational needs; and explains activities at the National Center for Family Literacy.…

This case study examined prosodic use in a normally developing child between the ages of 20 and 46 months. Conversational repairs were elicited to examine prosodic stress. Fundamental frequency, intensity, and duration of syllables were measured. Although the subject could repair stress errors, a clear pattern of the development of acoustic cues…

Four studies examined aspects of expressive behavior development in face-to-face mother-infant interactions. Found evidence of the morphological stability of discrete emotion expressions and that young infants respond differentially to positive conditions based on mother's interest and joy expressions and negative conditions based on sadness and…

A series of 4 experiments involving 96 infants aged 6 to 17.5 months examined their capacities to detect repeated target words in fluent speech. Taken together, study results indicate that some ability to detect words in fluent speech contexts is present by 7.5 months of age. (SLD)

Types of utterances (with locative action utterances specifically differentiated) were evaluated in a language-impaired child tracked between one year, six months and three years of age. Comparison with utterances in other children suggests the importance of such a fine-grained analysis in detecting semantic properties of child language…

This commentary discusses results and implications of the research reported by Goodman and others in this monograph. Topics include (1) long-term effects of testimony on children's adjustment; (2) witnesses' perceptions of justice in the legal system; and (3) the need for special procedures in child abuse cases. (BC)

This article addresses the unique assessment needs of young blind children and discourages dependence on standardized tests for this population. Principles of one assessment approach (involving observation; clinical examination of mobility, language, play, socioemotional development, and academic skills; and interviews with mother and social…

The article reviews studies on the assessment of rapid auditory processing abilities. Issues in auditory processing research are identified including a link between otitis media with effusion and language learning problems. A theory that linguistically impaired children experience difficulty in perceiving and processing low phonetic substance…

The LinkAges project engages elderly residents of the Dominican Republic in teaching three to six year olds, enhancing children's learning ability, fostering positive attitudes toward aging, and giving the elders opportunities to use their skills and transmit their cultural heritage. (SK)