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…

Describes the play environment and the play behavior of children in Venice, Italy. (Author/RH)

Advocates a social relationship approach as the most appropriate way for teaching social studies to 5-year-old children. (Author/MP)

A child's very basic attempts at symbolic transformation hold the essentials of our aesthetic realms of experience: intersubjectivity and imaginative integration. These two essentials are a key in understanding the role of art in establishing meaning in our experiences. (Author/SJL)

Discusses the findings of a survey on what foods should be given to toddlers. Concludes that there is a need for greater awareness among rural mothers about child feeding and nutrition education. (JOW)

Reviews evidence for assertions related to the monotropism hypothesis and examines causal factors that might constrain the number of satisfactory caretaker relationships provided for young children. Two models of constraint derived from the earlier work of Bowlby and others are rejected; two models based on more recent theory are considered worth…

The authors of a research report (1999) on the diagnosis of stuttering in young children respond to a critical letter by questioning the accuracy, validity, credibility, and internal consistency of the letter writer's criticisms. The reply goes on to clarify the evaluation of stuttering-like disfluencies and single-syllable word repetitions in…

This letter critiques a research report (Ambrose and Yairi, 1999) on diagnosis of stuttering in young children, especially the methodological issues concerned with subject selection criteria that excluded borderline cases and the use of a weighting procedure to eliminate group overlap. Also noted is the failure to distinguish between stuttering…

This response to a letter (EC 627 691) critical of the authors' research report (1999) on the diagnosis of stuttering in young children defends their subject selection criteria, justifies their use of a weighted measure of stuttering-like disfluencies, and notes continuing disagreement concerning the difference between stuttering and disfluency.…

This article identifies characteristics and challenges encountered by families that include young children with autism. Emphasis is on three issues in providing needed support services: (1) enhancing family competence and confidence; (2) addressing support from a lifestyle perspective; and (3) arranging for stability and continuity in support…

The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child was founded to close the gap between what we know and what we do to promote the healthy development of young children. When scientific knowledge is ignored rather than used to inform early childhood policy and practices, our children pay a very high price. Council Chair Jack P. Shonkoff,…

In this paper we will show some of the results of research which took place in the Principality of Asturias (Spain). Its purpose was finding out the gender discourses used by nursery teachers. Although we will not provide an exhaustive list of all the conclusions reached so far, we will put forward one of the aspects which has been developed…

Learning to work and play well with others truly is a lifelong goal with a foundation in the early childhood years. Effective early childhood educators recognize that supporting children's social competence and teaching them academic skills are compatible rather than competing goals; each grows and benefits from advances in the other. Together,…

Perry and Winne (2006) describe their computer program, "gStudy", and argue that it facilitates valid measurement of self-regulated learning (SRL) over time. This commentary addresses the assumptions underlying this argument and raises additional validity questions regarding the use of this tool. These include issues related to the development of…

This paper draws on Judith Butler's notion of "gender melancholia" as conceived in "The Psychic Life of Power: Theories in Subjection," and Emmanuel Levinas' notion of the face of the other mobilized in Butlers' more recent work. In particular, I will focus on gender melancholia in order to consider why non-heteronormative…