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…

Examines approaches which have been successful in creating a humorous atmosphere in a Montessori class for 2- and 3-year olds, and reviews research findings with various ages and cross-cultural comparisons that contribute to an understanding of the role of humor in children's natural development. (Author)

Examines possible neurological causes of the various indices of D attachment status. Describes a system of attachment categories and the criteria for assessing disorganized and disoriented behavior, pointing out which of these behaviors may result from neurological abnormalities. Suggests a strategy for differentiating neurological risk status…

Comparison of ages at which typically developing infants and infants with Down syndrome achieved vocal and motor milestones found that rhythmic behaviors (canonical babbling, hand-banging) were associated with each other and somewhat delayed in Down syndrome infants. Postural behaviors (stepping, standing, sitting, creeping) were also associated…

Defines the goals of social constructivism as providing a democratic and critical learning experience for students through the building of knowledge about self, school, everyday experience, and society. Reviews specific implications and practical applications of the philosophy. (TB)

The importance and relevance of longitudinal research in learning disabilities is addressed, including its value in verification of appropriate hypotheses concerning particular developmental patterns and debunking of misconceptions. Examples from various longitudinal studies are given. (DB)

Introduces eight articles on the effects of ethnic and political violence on child development and discusses the need for research in this area. Maintains that children who are exposed to ethnic and political violence are more likely to develop a variety of difficulties, including mental health disorders, behavior problems, sleep disturbances, and…

Reviews research that demonstrates that children in the one- to two-year age range are able to remember specific events over weeks and months. Recall is influenced by what young children are asked to remember, the number of times they experience events, and the availability of cues or reminders. (SLD)

Examined children's modification of their own retrieval processes in a cued recall task. Results suggested that monitoring and modification of retrieval processes should be distinguished and that monitoring is necessary but not sufficient for induction of an effective retrieval strategy. Results also had implications for understanding children's…

Proposes an amended timetable for the origins of joint visual attention and offers theoretical alternatives for the development of point. Includes discussions of the origins of intentionality, the emergence of joint attention, the transition to pointing comprehension, the signal cues of different joint-attention cues, pointing comprehension, the…

Notes that Nelson, Plesa, and Henseler's (1998) article addresses the issues of where social cognitive knowledge comes from, what form it takes, and whether "theory of mind" is an appropriate description of the social cognitive enterprise. Argues that researchers ought to get beyond the "theory" issue, and focus on the sources…

Maintains that Muller and Overton (1998) challenge the current Zeitgeist regarding infant cognitive development. Suggests that researchers reconsider infants as developing actors in a meaningful environment, not as born philosophers. Notes the need to explore processes underlying key transitions in infancy and the relation between action and…