Examined the effects of hunger on the hand-mouth (HM) behavior of a group of newborn infants. Found that significantly more mouth opening before contacts to the mouth than those to the face occurred before but not after feeding, suggesting some link between HM behavior and hunger state. (MDM)

Analyzed 20 test items for evidence of concordance for samples that included at least 120 pairs of identical twins and 85 pairs of same-sex fraternal twins at ages 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Also computed within-pair correlations for the total number of Piagetian-equivalent items passed. (Author/SDH)

Tests 242 newborns exposed prenatally to low levels of polychlorinated biphenyls from maternal consumption of contaminated lake fish. The Brazelton Neonate Scale was used to assess behavioral outcomes. Contaminated fish consumption predicted motoric immaturity, poorer labeling of states, a greater amount of startle, and abnormally weak…

Adolescents and young adults with developmental dyslexia and matched normal and disabled controls were asked to tap in time to a metronome at three rates by moving the index fingers of both hands in unison, in rhythmical alternation, or in more complex bimanual patterns. Dyslexic subjects showed significant deficits on asynchronous, but not…

Multiple regression analyses of data from 449 children indicated statistically significant relationships between moderate levels of prenatal alcohol exposure and increased errors, increased latency, and increased total time on the Wisconsin Fine Motor Steadiness Battery and poorer balance on the Gross Motor Scale. (RH)

When 2,142 students in Grades 3, 7, and 11 were tested on 6 motor tasks, performance decrements resulting from fatness were found for boys and girls equally and constantly across the grades. Boys exhibited progressively greater performance superiority across grades. However, for specific tasks, an age-related decrease was found in degree to which…

Infants were tested for unimanual handedness at weekly intervals for a 14-week period beginning with the week of onset of duplicated syllable babbling. Group analyses indicating effects of sex and/or birth order on fluctuations and date review for individual infants suggested considerable variability across infants in occurrence and/or timing of…

Results supported the hypothesis that alcohol-related performance decrements would be observed in the vigilance and motor activity task performance of four year olds, even after adjusting for the effects of nicotine, in children whose mothers were generally not alcoholics but only social drinkers of varying amounts. (Author/AS)

Studied the early development of exploratory behavior in 99 infants of 2-5 months. Results show that there are significant changes in spontaneous multimodal exploration of a novel object between 2 and 5 months. (RJC)

Three experiments examined infants' perceptions of their own leg movements as presented to them via online video that varied the spatial orientation and directionality of movement. The infants looked significantly longer and generated significantly more leg activity while looking at the view displaying a left-right inversion than while looking at…

Describes observer-based technique for assessing auditory capacities of infants from three to 12 months of age. This technique, referred to as the Observation-based Psychoacoustic Procedure (OPP), combines features of the Forced-choice Preferential Looking Technique and of the Visual Reinforcement Audiometry. Pure-tone detection and frequency…

Two experiments examined developmental changes in accuracy of judgments about physical abilities in primary school children and college students. Subjects were asked to complete four physical tasks with and without benefit of practice. Found that children overestimated their physical abilities, individual differences in overestimation related to…

Two experiments examined problem solving in 16-month-olds' adaptive locomotion (crossing bridges of varying width with/without handrail). Findings indicated that toddlers attempted wide bridges more than narrow ones. Attempts on narrow bridges depended on handrail presence. Toddlers had longer latencies, examined bridge/handrail more closely, and…

Examined the role of same-sex peer interactions in influencing early school competence and the degree to which effortful control (EC) moderated these relations. Results indicated that EC, measured at the end of the Fall semester, moderated the relations of children's same-sex play to their school competence, measured at the end of the following…