Discusses Piagetian stages of infant development during the first two years of life. Describes activities that caregivers can use to foster infant capabilities at each developmental stage. (BB)

Cardinality responses are affected by both the direction and nature of the elements in the counting sequence. Error analysis suggests six stages in the acquisition of cardinality. Although there appears to be a developmental dependency between counting and cardinality, this relationship is not significant in all cases. (RH)

Examined long-term relationship of 31 older couples and looked at second half of life cycle of marriage. Findings suggest that developmental relationship tasks are important to the changes and adjustment which couples must work through during successive stages of old age. (NB)

This study found no significant relations between junior high school students' (n=50) prior alternative frameworks on energy and their cognitive levels of operation. Significant differences in learning outcomes were achieved by students (n=29) who had higher cognitive level scores. The extent to which students succeeded in learning the energy…

Investigated how learners' developmental readiness interacted with instruction in second language (L2) acquisition. Researchers pretested francophone children (age 11 to 12) on their knowledge and use of English questions, determined their developmental stages, then exposed them to numerous English questions in class. Posttesting indicated that…

Provides a model of the domains of preliteracy development that contains four components: an orthographic, phonological, meaning, and context processor. The relationship of subskills to prereading activities and later reading is discussed. Developmental progressions for various preliteracy skills are identified, and methods of assessing…

Two studies examined whether 4- to 8-year olds use social comparison (SC) for self-appraisal before temporal comparison (TC). Found that even 4-year olds rated themselves higher after doing better versus worse than another person and explained their ratings in terms of SC. Children in TC conditions attended only to their last outcomes; comparisons…

Explored relationships between second graders' multidimensional self-concepts (SC) and their teachers' beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). Survey data indicated that neither beliefs about traditional practices nor about developmental practices predicted any dimension of SC for girls. Beliefs about traditional practices…

Analyzes accreditation for early childhood education programs in the context of two major schools of thought: "academic" learning versus "developmentally appropriate" learning. Suggests that the accreditation criteria of the National Association for the Education of Young Children be integrated with those of the North Central…

States that theories of intellectual development offer writing teachers productive ways to analyze student writing; help students develop strategies for improving their writing processes; and consider the implications of writing assignments. Finds that frameworks posited by Jean Piaget and by others contribute useful ways of understanding why…

This article discusses the importance of learning to define a word. It provides a brief background on the contribution of the definitional skills to communication and school success, information on children's development of definitions, and teacher and family strategies for enhancing young children's definitions in relation to other skills.…

Discusses five Montessori insights about children's development as they relate to family and school life: independence and autonomy, community and socialization, interest in culture and morality, preadolescents' apprenticeship for adulthood, and adult acceptance of the evidence of change. Notes that underlying dynamics of home and school are alike…

This article offers guidelines to help young children who are deaf move through six developmental stages of learning to write: (1) observing writing; (2) scribbling and drawing; (3) communicating writing to others; (4) requesting assistance in writing; (5) copying writing; and (6) beginning to write independently. (DB)

Describes Erikson's theory of developmentally appropriate curriculum and the eight stages of the life cycle. Provides brief descriptions of these stages and some possible professional applications that early childhood educators can use in pursuing professional development. (MOK)

Describes the application of positive youth development principles to challenges faced by adolescent females in South Africa. A mainline, Euro-centric theory, Erikson's life stages (1963), is compared with the Circle of Courage model based on Native American Tribal wisdom. The differences and correlation in these approaches are explored through…