This article investigates the early emergence of reason-giving. Toddlers are sensitive to disagreements, and they can track several kinds of informational access, such as visual perception. We investigated whether young children use these skills (a) when assessing whether providing reasons is needed and (b) when selecting appropriate behaviors to…

In this article, Ajay Chaudry and Heather Sandstrom review research on child care and early education for children under age three. They describe the array of early care and education arrangements families use for infants and toddlers; how these patterns have changed in recent decades; and differences by family socioeconomic status, race, and…

A fundamental question in developmental science is how brains with and without language compute numbers. Measuring young children's verbal reactions in Spain and Finland, we show that, although there is a general arithmetic ability for small numbers that is shared by monkeys and preverbal infants, the development of such initial knowledge in…

Despite U.S. world leadership in research in child healthcare and development, in all the statistical indicators of children's well-being the United States lags well behind most advanced industrialized societies. This book discusses U.S. public policy issues concerning the healthcare and development of children under age three. Studies are cited…

This document reviews a number of recent studies written in French that investigate the nature of communication between 2-year-old infants and others. The review includes three parts. The first part focuses on studies aiming to constitute a behavioral catalog of the child. Characteristically, these studies offer a posteriori interpretations of…

This theme issue of the Bernard van Leer Foundation's "Newsletter" is devoted to approaches to working with disadvantaged children up to 3 years of age. An introduction describes the crucial period from before birth to 3 years, noting that although the mother's body provides the an essential part of the environment, other easily…