This study, involving 48 children and adolescents with Down's syndrome, found that chronological age and mean mental age collectively accounted for much of subjects' variability in vocabulary comprehension and syntax comprehension, with total passes on a hearing screening accounting for additional variability. (Author/DB)

Six Hong Kong preschoolers with Down syndrome who attended a center-based educational intervention program were assessed and matched on age, mental age (MA), and IQ. Three of the preschoolers also attended regular preschools two days per week. After a year, the children who also had attended regular preschool had higher MA and IQ. (Author/CR)

This study assessed theory of mind understanding in children with congenital profound visual impairment (CPVI): children who have had no access to visual information throughout development. Participants were 18 children with CPVI and no other impairments, aged between 5 and 11 years, and 18 children with normal vision, matched individually on…

Data on typically developing children suggest a link between social interaction and language learning, a finding of interest both to theories of language and theories of autism. In this study, we examined social and linguistic processing of speech in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing chronologically…

Three studies examined proximity and contact behaviors (behaviors generally thought to be indicative of attachment relationships) in young autistic children. The first study examined the behavior of 32 young autistic children and children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) in a "strange situation" paradigm using four…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine uneven early development in premature infants. A multiple regression analysis was performed in which birth weight, length of gestation, length of assisted feeding, and length of ventilation were used to predict the descrepancy between a child's Psychomotor and Mental Scale scores on the Bayley…

The literature on the moral judgment and moral development of mentally retarded individuals is reviewed. The relative contribution of mental age, chronological age, cognitive functioning, social experience, and environmental factors to the moral characteristics of this population is discussed. (Author/RM)

The study examined whether the development of receptive language lags behind nonverbal cognitive development in school age persons with mental retardation. Results indicated that the relationship between receptive language and mental age varied across mental age levels, linguistic forms, and individuals at the same mental age for listeners with…

When administered to 34 infants with handicaps, Bayley Scale mental age scores were an average of 2.1 months higher than Estimated Developmental Ages (EDA's) calculated from the Uzgiris and Hunt Scales. The EDA's were significantly and positively related to Bayley mental age, and sensorimotor play emerged as the best single correlate. (Author/JDD)

Thirty children (under 24 months of age) referred to an early intervention program were administered 3 developmental assessments. Although the Griffiths' Mental Development Scales correlated well with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Battelle Developmental Inventory, the Griffiths' age equivalents were considerably higher than the…

Evaluation of 17 children with autism at the ages of 6 to 15 and then again at ages 13 to 25, suggested that, for the majority of people with autism, there may be little development of a theory of mind. For a minority, development may extend to the equivalent of a 3- to 4-year-old level by the teenage years. (JDD)

Forty-nine children (ages 8-17) with mental retardation recognized facial expressions less accurately than did subjects without retardation who were matched on chronological age. Mental age-matched groups showed no differences in accuracy at a younger mental age, but a difference was found at an older mental age. (Author/JDD)

The Mayes Motor Free Compilation (MMFC) assesses mental ability in young (under age 2) children with motor disabilities. This study evaluated the concurrent validity of the MMFC by administering it and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development to normal children. Findings suggest that the MMFC provides a valid estimate of mental age, even without…

The intellectual model of Jean Piaget asserts that individuals pass through a series of various intellectual stages as they mature. Human development is categorized into four basic stages: (1) sensory motor stage, which lasts from birth to about eighteen months; (2) preoperational stage, lasting from eighteen months to about seven years; (3)…

Sixteen individuals with autism and sixteen with Down's Syndrome, aged 10-29, were matched for verbal mental age. The groups' scores did not differ on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. However, the adaptive skills of Down's Syndrome individuals kept pace with mental age, while the skills of autistic subjects did not change. (Author/JDD)