This study investigates the importance of object function (action-object-outcome relations) on object individuation in infancy. Five experiments examined the ability of 9.5- and 12-month-old infants to individuate simple geometric objects in a manual search design. Experiments 1 through 4 (12-month-olds, N = 128) provided several combinations of…

Tested two competing hypotheses explaining infants' failure to search for an object in a new hiding place: (1) that the concept of object is not yet differentiated from the concept of place, and (2) that difficulties in spatial localization are responsible for the search failure. (Author/JMB)

Examines the ability of infants at various age levels between three and nine months to discriminate between their mother and a stranger, and relates such ability to the infants' developmental quotient at age nine months. (Author/MP)

An account of studies conducted by author and others concerning Piaget's view of object concept development in infants. (HS)

Summary scores for behaviors rated on Bayley's Infant Behavior Record were obtained by summing sequential ratings for same-sex twins participating in a longitudinal study. Composite scores were calculated for two behavioral clusters - one composed of behaviors related to primary cognitions and the other of behaviors related to extraversion.…

Age differences in play were examined cross-sectionally in children at 7, 9, 15, and 10 months of age. (BRT)

This study investigated the cognitive and behavioral functions associated with iron deficiency anemia in infants and toddlers and the short-term effects of therapy on such behaviors. Subjects were 24 iron deficient and anemic infants, 9 to 26 months old. The subjects were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. The Bayley Scales of…

Presents a study of the development of self-recognition in infants from 6 to 24 months of age. The development of self-recognition is compared to the development of object permanence. (BD)

The influence of age, sex, representational detail of objects (prototypicality) and adult play suggestions on children's progression of pretend behaviors was studied. A checklist was developed and utilized for coding the responses of 20 children (10 males, 10 females), to objects judged to be high and low prototypical by 12 adults. Children ranged…

Presents a study of decalage between object permanence and person permanence. Decalage was influenced by environmental as well as stimulus factors with infants tested between 6- and 81/4-months/of-age. (BD)

This study explored the relationship between the mother-infant interaction and the concurrent perceptual-cognitive and intellectual status of the infant. One hundred and eight-nine 12-week-old infants were given a battery of perceptual-cognitive tasks, including the Mental Developmental Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales, the Corman-Escalona Scales…

Attempts to determine whether infants' performance in two search tasks is related to their entry into Stage 6 of object permanence development (thereby testing Piaget's claim that only Stage 6 infants possess the capacity for representation). (BD)

The purpose of this paper was to examine whether a pediatrician in well child care could promote mother-child interaction in the infant's first 6 months of life, and whether this intervention could affect the infant's cognitive development. Thirty-two mothers and their healthy, first born infants were followed by one pediatrician at 2, 4, 8, 15…

Proposes a model for cognitive development and the development of self efficacy in infancy. Examines the effects of two intervention programs in which caregiver responsiveness and amount of stimulation are varied. Subjects were 100 nine-month-old infants from working class families. (BD)

This demonstration study examines the affective reactions of infants when they imitate or fail to imitate play behavior modeled by an adult. Subjects were twenty-four 18-month-old and twenty-four 24-month-old male and female infants. Each infant visited the laboratory twice with an inter-session interval of 48 hours. At each session, the infant…