Purpose: The communication development of children adopted from China and Eastern Europe was compared by region of origin at 6 and 12 months after adoption. Method: Twenty children, recruited before or immediately following their adoption, participated in the study. Measures were collected between 2 and 6 months after adoption (Time 1) and between…

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of variations in presentation of play materials on social behaviour of 18- to 30-month-old children. The study group included 102 children attending infant and toddler classes in 14 public childcare centres in Israel. Play materials were presented to the children either in a suggestive manner…

This longitudinal study assessed whether maternal behavior and emotional tone moderated the relationship between toddler temperament and preschooler's effortful control. Maternal behavior and emotional tone were observed during a parent-child competing demands task when children were 2 years of age. Child temperament was also assessed at 2 years…

Almost 300,000 children in the United States from birth to 3 years of age are affected by a developmental disability. Disabilities have a lasting effect on a child's development and, in turn, may have a psychosocial impact on the child's family. In addition, the limitations of a child with a disability are often related to family members' stress,…

The current study reviewed all prior studies conducted on family home movies of infants who would be later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Out of 41 original reports found since 1975, we retained 18 studies (317 films, maximum), sorted according to their methodological design using a quality grid. In the first 2 years of life, signs…

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the language status of 120 young, Latino dual language learners living in poverty in the United States. Maternal language input and home language and literacy environments were examined with regard to language development at 24 and 36 months. Results suggested that even when combining English and Spanish…

Nearly half a million children in the United States are currently being served by the foster care system. Infants and toddlers represent the largest single group entering foster care. While these very young children are at the greatest peril for physical, mental health, and developmental issues and tend to spend the longest time in the foster care…

Current clinical diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) occurs between 3 and 4 years of age, but increasing evidence indicates that intervention begun earlier may improve outcomes. Using secondary analysis of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data set, the current study identifies early predictors prior to the diagnosis of…

This resource provides parents with widely held expectations for their child's development prior to kindergarten and ways parents can encourage their child's growth. Although a child's growth and development follows a general pattern, all children grow at different rates. Some children will be doing things earlier or later than others. There's no…

Solving formal analogy problems requires the identification of an initial term and the transformation that occurs between the initial two terms as well as the determination of the final term. Experiment 1 tested 24-month-olds' ability to determine final terms when they were shown the initial term and told the transformation that was to occur.…

This study examined whether young children are able to imitate a robot's goal-directed actions. Children (24-35 months old) viewed videos showing a robot attempting to manipulate an object (e.g., putting beads inside a cup) but failing to achieve its goal (e.g., beads fell outside the cup). In 1 video, the robot made eye contact with a human…

The relations of cumulative demographic risk and children's temperament to mothers' parenting behaviors were examined when children were 18 (T1, n = 247) and 30 (T2, n = 216) months of age. Mothers, nonparental caregivers (e.g., child care providers), and observers reported on children's temperament to create a temperament composite, and mothers…

We investigated whether 19-36-month-olds (1) differentiate mistakes from jokes, and (2) understand humorous intentions. The experimenter demonstrated unambiguous jokes accompanied by laughter, unambiguous mistakes accompanied by the experimenter saying, "Woops!", and ambiguous actions that could either be a mistake or a joke, accompanied by either…

In this essay, Susan Engel argues that curiosity is both intrinsic to children's development and unfolds through social interactions. Thus, it should be cultivated in schools, even though it is often almost completely absent from classrooms. Calling on well-established research and more recent studies, Engel argues that interactions between…

While effects of institutional care on behavioral development have been studied extensively, effects on neural systems underlying these socioemotional and attention deficits are only beginning to be examined. The current study assessed electroencephalogram (EEG) power in 18-month-old internationally adopted, postinstitutionalized children (n = 37)…