Explores how fairy tales address socio-emotional challenges children face during their socialization. Applies a structural theory of fairy tales to three literary versions of the Cinderella story. Suggests that the combination of simplicity of form and complexity of content makes the fairy tale a powerful tool for perception of and reflection on…

Reports on the results of a two-year longitudinal study of mother-infant dyads (N=23) observed during a free-play session when infants were six and eight months of age. Children were assessed for language and intellectual outcomes during the second and third years of life. This information may help school professionals design effective strategies…

Explores use of tests with more- vs. less-precise age norms to identify disabilities in preschool children. Standard scores associated with the same raw score shifted gradually across age groups on tests with more precise norms, and shifted more dramatically on tests with less precise norms. Indicates that many preschool tests have norm tables…

This study interviewed 39 mothers of young children with autism of whom 19 reported their children had experienced developmental regression, especially in verbal and non-verbal communication and social skills. Mean age of regression was 24 months. There was little difference between children who regressed and those who did not in maternal…

Two studies examined understanding of notational representation among 3- to 5-year-olds. Children solved problems when shown cards with a picture or word indicating identity or a quantity indicator. In the easier condition, children had difficulty solving the problems as a function of their familiarity with the notation, suggesting weaknesses in…

Early childhood educators should take advantage of attention on assessment to design appropriate systems. Proper assessments should enable more reflective teaching, honor children's full range of development, and provide safeguards to children from unnecessary assessment or misuse of assessment data. Issues include what standards to measure, what…

Discusses the computation and application of various epidemiological measures of effect in educational and developmental research. Reviews issues related to the use and interpretation of the risk-ratio, the odds-ratio, and the logistic regression odds-ratio and examines community-level measures of effect. (SLD)

The saccadic eye movements, generated during a visual oddball task, were compared for 10 autistic children, 10 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, 10 dyslexic children, and 10 typically developing children. Several abnormal patterns of saccades were found in the autistic group. (DB)

Investigates qualitative differences in prekindergarten children's visual representations of sound. Reports finding differences in representations among three developmental groups. The more advanced groups associated visual materials with sound and borrowed from other domains to create analogies for sound. Discusses connections to previous…

Studies qualitative changes in preschool children's invented notations following extensive musical instruction. Reports that the invented notations of 50% of the children changed after music instruction, showing a progression from scribbles to enactive to melodic. Notes that no results about why notations changed can be drawn from this descriptive…

Investigates the influence of socio-affective context on the interactive modalities surrounding problem-solving discussions conducted with 8-year-old children. Results suggests that reciprocal friendship facilitates collaboration and the organization of collective work. Discusses two rival hypotheses of socio-affective proximity and…

Parents must help their children understand the meaning of good decision making. Children who are accustomed to making all the decisions grow up with no understanding of legitimate authority. Understanding appropriate ways to handle issues of empowerment, authority, and age-appropriate decision making are relevant to children of all ages. A…

Discusses trends leading to the Society for Research in Child Development's acceptance of applied and social policy research in its journal "Child Development": (1) reconciliation of basic and applied research; (2) the call for social responsibility by prominent developmentalists; and (3) efforts by psychologists to serve the public…

Examined the psychometric properties of a social competence scale for school-age children. Factor analyses identified two moderately correlated competence aspects, Prosocial Orientation and Social Initiative. Scale showed reliability across one year, and concurrent and predictive validity in interrater agreement; also corresponded with observed…

Investigated the ways 0-6 year-old children express their altruism, particularly the feelings and actions making up the altruistic behavior in this period of development, based on parent reports. Found that children behave altruistically almost from birth, with a great variety of this feeling from 2-4 years old, mostly expressed toward loved…