In his monumental research, although Piaget primarily relayed information about children's developmental stages of cognitive growth, Marian Marion goes on to discuss not only the developmental stages, yet focuses on how children think. In her textbook, "Guidance of Young Children", Marion conveys how teachers need to understand children and help…

Counters Lane and Pearson's assertion ("Merrill-Palmer Quarterly," v28, n3, p317-37, 1982) that younger children are less selective than older children because they are less able to inhibit responses to irrelevant stimuli. Suggests that increased efficiency in stimulus selection is associated with increased stimulus differentiation and…

Argues that although Feitelson, Tehori, and Levinberg-Green raise important questions about early education in general and early reading instruction in particular, one major question remains to be answered: What sort of programs should group settings for young children provide? (MP)

Argues that although Lane and Pearson ("Merrill-Palmer Quarterly," v28, n3, p317-37, 1982) provide an important review, critique, and attempt at integration across paradigms used to study the development of attention, a number of genuine problems still remain to be addressed in this area. (MP)

Contrasts Fodor's theory of children's Very Simple Theory of Mind, with the view that children's concepts cross-cut the adult conceptual system: young children do not distinguish between the state of affairs a belief is about and how this state of affairs is thought of, which puts a severe limit on their understanding of belief as distinct from…

This article presents calming activities and routines for children at different ages and stages. Honig discusses the different stages of arousal for children ages 0-2 and gives suggestions for ways to sooth fussy babies. Miller discusses calming activities and comforting environments for children ages 3-4, and recommends activities that require…

Compares concepts defining Kohlbergian stages of moral development with those associated with orders of hierarchical complexity determined with a generalized content-independent stage-scoring system. Finds that Kohlberg's sequence generally matches that identified with the scoring system and that contract and authority concepts match the concepts…

The first of the two discussions presented here, "Sleep Problems, Overtiredness and Overanxiety," describes sleeping behavior of children from birth to 3 years of age and considers situations that affect children's sleep. Topics briefly addressed include the physiology of sleep; developmental aspects of sleep patterns; the effect of lack…

Reports results of 14 studies on children's knowledge about thinking. Suggests that preschoolers appear to know that thinking is an internal mental activity that can refer to real or imaginary objects or events. However, preschoolers are poor at determining when a person is and is not thinking. This shortcoming is considerably less evident in…

Three different theory of mind tasks were conducted with 4- to 8-year-old Quechua peasant children in the Peruvian Andes. The study investigated the ways in which children in preliterate cultures think and the possibility that they think differently than children in literate cultures. The tasks included: (1) a false-belief task, which tested the…

Presents evidence that early and primary school learning exhibits features that previously were thought typical of adult learners only. Reconceptualizes child-centered primary education in light of theories on expertise, conceptual change, and epistemological development. Explores a theoretical approach to learning called progressive inquiry…

Discusses how parents can discipline their children successfully. Distinguishes between punishment, permissiveness, and discipline. Provides parents with guidelines on positive steps in disciplining their children with practices that are appropriate to the child's age and developmental level, especially infants, toddlers, and preschool children.…

Recent initiatives such as PL99-457 and Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) require school psychologists to broaden their knowledge base in areas critical to problematic development in early childhood. This mini-series is designed to assist school psychologists in provisions of collaboration with other health professionals to enhance efficacy…

Television's impact on children and the positive role of parents in moderating that impact is discussed in terms of: (1) the view that television has a largely negative impact on children; (2) the importance of television literacy; (3) ways in which parents are molding television's impact to their purposes; (4) variation in television's impact…