This case study traces responses of one child to a program of music experiences implemented in the toddler playroom of a day care center for 10 months. The program used three types of music experience: free music play, sociable music experiences, and music incorporated into caregiving routines. Findings highlight how music activities can enhance a…

Argues that Tomasello's (2000) interpretation of young children's conservatism in language production depends on questionable premises. Reviews evidence against the assumptions, showing that children learn item-specific facts about verbs and other lexical items. Asserts that researchers must explore the interactions of lexical and more abstract…

Children of Mexican American women, especially immigrants, have unexpectedly good birth weights. A study of 3,710 Mexican American, Black, and White children aged 3-4, who completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, found birth weight was not a powerful predictor of child cognitive development, nor did it explain pronounced racial and…

This study compared three methods for identifying non-mainstream dialect use: listener judgment ratings, type-based counts of non-mainstream pattern use, token- based counts. Correct dialect classifications were made for 88 to 97 percent of participants, although regression algorithms had to be applied to the type- and token-based results. For…

Evaluation of a developmentally based early intervention program for young children with autism in Scotland by comparison of treatment (n=14) and no-treatment (n=6) groups found treatment children improved significantly more than control group children on measures of joint attention, social interaction, imitation, daily living skills, motor…

Discusses objective knowledge and reality; objective experience and objectivity; objectivity without representation; and problems with constructivism. Argues that at issue with Muller, Sokol, and Overton's model is dispensability of the representation concept in an account of knowledge development during infancy. Concludes that a constructivist…

Examined psychometric properties of Assessment and Action Record (AAR) and compared outcomes of children cared for by a Canadian child-welfare agency and from a comparison group from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Found variable reliability and validity for individual AAR items. Children in care had worse outcomes than…

Argues that planners should design play areas based on children's physical, emotional, social, and intellectual needs. Specific playground planning goals are examined that address childrens' physical abilities, emotional development, and social and intellectual performance as well as help satisfy the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities…

Maintains that one future direction for cognitive development research involves a closer integration with knowledge about the developing brain. Presents a framework for analyzing and interpreting postnatal functional brain development. Discusses three contributing hypotheses, within which a variety of phenomena associated with the neural basis of…

Notes that scientists understand in greater detail the various anatomical and neurological changes that allow children to develop motor and sensory abilities. Explores how the research findings are calling into question the notion of prescribed developmental milestones. (HTH)

Explores the attachment relationship of fathers to their infant children. Highlights the ways fathers parent differently from mothers, and the positive effects on child outcomes of fathers' participation in caregiving. (HTH)

Explains why early interactions are so vital in teaching young children about themselves, their world, and success. Explores the function of internal and external motivation to development, and the importance of positive feedback to development of children's trust and self-confidence. (HTH)

The rapidly increasing number of camps in the 1910s through the 1920s led to the formation of camp directors' associations, the first nationally inclusive group being formed in 1924. An illustrative article from 1929, "The Future of Camping" (Edwin DeMerritte), discusses the mission and ethics of the camping profession and the role of…

Discusses whether teachers should consider individual students' learning styles when teaching, examining research on learning styles, explaining what people mean by learning styles, and noting why the notion of learning styles has such enduring popularity despite the lack of supporting evidence. Discusses test reliability and uses reading…

A study of developmentally matched children with autism (n=9), with Down syndrome (n=9), and typical peers (n=9) investigated play abilities. Although it was possible to distinguish the pattern of play behaviors of children with autism from the other two groups, symbolic play skills were not totally absent. (Author/CR)