This paper examines conceptual issues and research evidence related to the effects of day care on infants. Examples of cultural relativism in child development are used as the basis for arguing that there is no fixed list of parental behaviors that can be counted on to meet children's psychological needs. American cultural values and the resultant…

This paper briefly reviews criticisms directed against the Montessori method, and summarizes results of a survey of primary school teachers using the Montessori method in regular classrooms. Eight teachers, teaching daily in regular public school classrooms and enrolled in the Montessori Teacher Training Program of Buffalo on Saturdays, were asked…

In same-age peer-tutoring, the tutor's role carries more status than the tutee's, and assigning the more competent pupil to tutor is more status congruent (equitable) than the reverse; both facets of status should therefore promote achievement and satisfaction in peer tutoring. A series of studies, involving first a simulation then actual tutoring…

Teachers of young children affect not only their ability to speak correctly but also the way they learn to think. Since children view the world in different ways depending on cultural heritage as well as individual perception, and since different experiences require differing ways of thinking and differing ways of expression, it is important for…

Assessment techniques for young severely retarded children are analyzed through identification of skills underlying such common tasks as building with blocks, completing puzzles, and putting pegs in pegboards. Examples are given of four mathematics assessment tasks from a standardized instrument for reasoning and problem solving. Described are the…

Up to the present, no studies have been done in the area of child language in Mexico. The Center of Linguistic and Literary Studies of the Colegio de Mexico carried out an empirical investigation of the language of six- to seven-year-old Mexican children. This paper presents, in preliminary form, some partial results of the investigation,…

Neuropsychological research on the effects of hemispherectomy-the excision of one of the cerebral hemispheres-in children and adults adds to knowledge about the division of labor between the left cerebral hemisphere, which specializes in language and verbal cognitive functions, and the right hemisphere, which specializes in nonlanguage functions.…

Research during the first two years of this project indicated that television alone can be an effective medium for teaching complex conceptual behaviors, some more than others. The major task during the third year was to develop and test the efficacy of parental intervention procedures to augment televised skill instruction. Subjects were three-…

This longitudinal study attempted to assess how environmental factors affect the development of competence, as defined by White, by delineating in detail the everyday environmental transactions of a group of children from age 1 to 3. The key questions of this research were: (1) Are certain experiences encountered by the young child in his everyday…

The development of perceptual, cognitive, and affective perspective taking and empathy was investigated in 96 kindergarten through third-grade children. Cognitive perspective taking was found to increase between second and third grades. Affective perspective taking, in situations controlling for the likelihood of the subjects' projecting their own…

This paper presents a discussion, based on current research, of what can be done to help children achieve the highest level of cognitive development (Piaget's formal operations). The four factors which Piaget found to be involved in cognitive development are discussed in relation to recent research. These factors include: (1) organic growth and…

This paper suggests a variety of learning experiences for parents to provide for their young children from birth to age 5. The introduction stresses the need for many kinds of verbal communication between parents and child and presents a discussion of crying behaviors and the importance of reading to children. Talking and listening activities are…

This report discusses the relationship between bilingualism and mental development of bilingual children. After a review of the relevant literature, a specific study is described. The linguistic background of 648 children from 29 schools, age 10 through 12 inclusive, was measured with the Welsh Linguistic Background Scale. General intelligence was…

Question-answer interactions were chosen as an effective means of investigating the effect of the linguistic environment on language development. Research was reviewed indicating that the improvement in question and answer performance of a maturing child is based on the advancement of both his linguistic and cognitive abilities and that the adult…

The development of 10 preschool children who attended the Southeast Kansas Demonstration Child Development Center was compared with the development of 10 preschool children who did not attend a child care center to ascertain the value of the center's program. Both groups were tested with the Denver Developmental Screening Test at the beginning and…