Examines research findings on the resilience of infants and toddlers raised in poverty and stress. Describes the personal and environmental resilience characteristics of infancy and toddlerhood that are related to later resilience in middle childhood and adulthood. Highlights research findings significant for policymakers and caregivers, offering…

Examines the weak relationship between structural and functional brain development. Maintains that variability is the basic characteristic of normal development, and that involves the ability to construct pluriform strategies and to select the proper strategy in any particular situation. Argues that McGraw recognized intra- and inter-individual…

Three experiments explored 5- and 7-month-olds' intermodal coordination of proprioceptive information produced by leg movements and visual movement information specifying these same motions. Results suggested that coordination of visual and proprioceptive inputs is constrained by infants' information processing of the displays and have…

Two experiments tracked infants' eye movements to examine use of word-initial information to understand fluent speech. Results indicated that 21- and 18-month-olds recognized partial words as quickly and reliably as whole words. Infants' productive vocabulary and reaction time were related to word recognition accuracy. Results show that…

Explored relation of biological and psychosocial risk factors to infant development among pregnant women who had pregestational diabetes, gestational diabetes, or were nondiabetic. Found that infants of diabetic mothers scored lower on the Bayley Scales at 1 year and revealed fewer positive and more negative behaviors than infants of nondiabetic…

Notes that infant curriculums involve every aspect of child development and should be appropriate for the individual child. Highlights characteristics of ideal curriculums, and provides guidelines for assessment of child and curriculum, and of communication regarding curriculum. (LBT)

Responds to Needham and Baillargeon's criticisms and offers an alternative resolution of the conflicting results between the laboratories regarding abilities of infants less than 12 months to use property/featural information for object individuation. Maintains that kind concepts are acquired as infants approach their first birthday and that…

Ecological contributions to attachment transmission were studied in a sample of 64 adolescent mother-infant dyads. Maternal sensitivity was assessed when infants were 6 and 10 months old, and infant security was assessed at 15 and 18 months. Maternal attachment state of mind was measured with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) after the 1st…

Sixteen mother-handicapped infant pairs participated in a study which found that mothers of severely handicapped babies did not attribute less communication to infants' behavior than did mothers of mildly handicapped infants. Through the process of adaptation, mothers' attributions of communication were influenced by factors besides the infants'…

Three mothers of handicapped children were taught to imitate their child's behavior; subsequently the number of mands displayed by the mothers during play sessions were measured. Results showed increases in the percentage of sample intervals during which mothers imitated their children and showed that, as imitations increased, mands decreased.…

Presents studies on primates and human infants suggesting that maternal depression may predispose the infant to chronic depression. Findings also suggest that the effect of early separations from the mother may provide a model for reactive depression in the infant. (Author/BB)

Offers evidence supporting a model of bidirectional effects: the mother initiates maltreatment, but both mother and infant sustain the situation by their behaviors. Maltreated infants did not differ from controls in congenital characteristics, but displayed deviance in learned behavior patterns. Infants showed behavioral improvement after…

Adults' ability to track a moving target was examined in two experiments in order to compare their performance with that of very young infants. Results indicated that (1) adults'"overshoot" errors resembled those reported for young infants; and (2) adults had problems tracking a moving target which unexpectedly changed direction. (Author/DB)

Piaget's theory of space perception is presented in the format of a hypothetico-deductive system. Eleven hypotheses regarding infants' space perception are defined, and Piaget's evidence for each is summarized. Presuppositions underlying the arguments are explicated. Critical notes are inserted and general conclusions are briefly discussed.…

Discusses the realtionship between toddler behavior and quality child care, and compares the care given to 18-month-old children in home care and center care situations. (CM)