Examined recall by 14- to 32-month-olds for multistep event sequences experienced at 13 to 20 months. Found that within step-length groups, there were no age differences in the length of time over which memory was evidenced. With prompts by event-related props, age-related differences in memory appeared. Age-related effects were particularly…

Changes in mothers' strategies for eliciting verbal responses (EVR's) as a function of child age were investigated in this study. Seven mother-child dyads were observed in their homes when the children were 16, 21, 24, 30, and 34 months of age. Mother EVR's were coded according to syntactic form, type of cue for child response, and complexity of…

A longitudinal study, intended to produce a profile of the relationship between cognitive, social, and linguistic development in Danish children, had as subjects a boy and a girl aged 11 and 8 months, who were observed until they reached age 3. Naturalistic language used by the children and their parents, videotaped during regular visits, was…

Two longitudinal studies focused on naturally occurring conversations at home among (1) 18- and 24-month-old second-born children, mothers, and older siblings, and (2) first-born children 25 and 32 months old, mothers, and younger siblings. By two years of age most children referred to a range of feeling states in self and other, and discussed the…

Development of self-conscious emotions such as embarrassment are thought to depend on the emergence of a sense of self as distinct from other. This longitudinal and cross-sectional study sought to replicate the association between a self-referential visual self-recognition task and embarrassment, and to extend the understanding of the…

Explored fathers' specific contribution to their children's attachment representation at various ages. Found fathers' play sensitivity to be a better predictor of the child's long-term attachment representation than the early infant-father security of attachment. (Author)

In this longitudinal study, 60 mothers rated their toddler's personality traits concerning social relations and exploration of the physical and social world. Data showed that mothers of toddlers from older cohorts were more likely to have stable and consistent, but not more negative, perceptions of their child's personality over six months than…

Thirty-five mothers' experiences in parenting young children with disabilities (Down Syndrome, hearing impairment, and neurological impairment) were examined in this three-year longitudinal study. Results showed significant relationships between maternal stress and parenting experiences. Few differences across groups were noted. (Author/DB)

A longitudinal study investigated how a hearing child of deaf parents simultaneously acquired American Sign Language and spoken English. Neither of two unique properties of signed language (personal pronouns or "negative" sign markers) facilitated acquisition of English, suggesting that children's acquisition of grammar is relatively…

Reports that mothers' responsiveness to young infants' distress predicts language capacity at two years. Mothers' responsiveness to older infants' nondistress vocalizations predicts cognitive performance, perceived self-esteem, social competence, and family relations in preadolescents. (PCB)

Infants' habituation and mothers' encouragement of attention were assessed at 5 months. Toddlers' language comprehension, language production, and pretense play, and mothers' encouragement of attention, were assessed at 13 months. Examined the contributions of infant habituation and maternal stimulation to toddlers' cognitive abilities. (PCB)

The relationships of 441 children with their mother and preschool teacher were assessed and classified in 3 categories. Children in the secure relationship category had more responsive teachers than other children. Children in the ambivalent relationship category had more responsive teachers than children in the avoidant relationship category. (BC)

This study examined whether toddlers build a repertoire of words as integral sequences of gestures and then differentiate these sequences into their gestural and segmental components. Results demonstrate clear differences in duration and coordination of gestures between children and adults and a shift toward the patterns of adult speakers during…

Investigated young children's social interactions with a baby in a group care setting. Observations of young children as they responded to an infant revealed differences in comforting, sharing, and cooperation according to age and sex. Also, toddlers' social interactions with the infant increased after the infant reached 18 months of age, and…

Administered the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory to 25 bilingual (English/Spanish) and 35 monolingual children who were furnishing data for longitudinal study. Assessment of the degree of overlap between bilingual children's lexical development in their two languages showed that they developed early vocabulary at the same rate as…