Comments on a study by Schacter and others which proposes that insights into why infants make the AB error can be gained by examining the errors of brain-damaged adults on similar tasks. (The B in AB has a line over it in the title and in the article meaning "A not B.") (PCB)

Investigated infants' integration of visual information across space and time. In four experiments, infants aged 12 months and 6 months viewed objects after watching light trace similar and dissimilar shapes. Infants looked longer at novel shapes, although six-month-olds did not recognize figures taking more than 10 seconds to trace. One-year-old…

Forty-six full-term and 54 high-risk preterm infants were tested at six, seven, and/or eight months of age (corrected age for preterms) on assessments of visual recognition memory and tactual-visual cross-modal transfer. Scores significantly predicted Stanford-Binet IQ scores. Stability coefficients attained the highest degree of predictive…

Visual behavior of infants was assessed with multiple discrimination tasks week to week from four to seven months of age. Task to task reliability was low, but attentional averages from week to week were reliable. Generally, infants with shorter fixations showed more novelty preferences, and infants' shift rate improved with age. (SKC)

Two studies found infants' scores on the Range of State Cluster of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale with Kansas Supplements to correlate significantly with visual discrimination performance at three months of age. The correlation with behavioral state organization contradicted the prediction that orientation scores would predict visual…

Children aged 14 and 24 months were shown television depictions of adults manipulating toys in novel ways. Infants at both ages showed imitation of television models, even after 24-hour delays. This deferred imitation has social and policy implications as it suggests that television viewing can potentially affect infant behavior and development…

Investigated the development of social referencing (children's looks toward parents, instrumental toy behaviors, affective expressions, etc.) in 40 infants aged 6-9, 10-13, and 14-22 months. Results indicated that looking behavior of younger children may function differently from that of older children, and social referencing involves a number of…

Studied the early development of inhibited approach through the observation of 48 infants. Subjects (aged 6.5, 10, and 13.5 months) were observed longitudinally as they reached for toys under high- and low-novelty/intensity conditions. Predictions that temperament would affect reaching behavior (with happy children reaching more quickly and…

Observed social interactions of 110 Embu children in rural Kenyan community bimonthly between 15 and 30 months of age. Found children who talked frequently, and whose vocalizations were responded to, performed better on assessment measures and showed more positive affect than children who had fewer social interactions or were carried a great deal.…

Studied interactions which are related to written language, attachment security, and emergent literacy between 45 mothers and their children, aged one-and-a-half to five-and-a-half years. Results suggest that mothers give reading instruction to small children by naming letters and well-known words which contain those letters. Mother-child…

Studies the interactional behavior between 64 mothers and their children aged two-four in relation to the mothers' internal models of relationships and select child characteristics. The results indicated that children's behavioral and developmental status and mothers' internal models were associated with dyadic behavior. (RJC)

Twenty children were observed at age four during free play at good and poor quality day care centers and again at age eight in triadic play sessions. Significant continuity was found between the four-year-olds' behavior in the day care centers and the children's functioning at eight years. (RJC)

Analyzes conflicts of 52 families observed during dinner. Findings suggest that family members frequently joined dyadic conflicts, they were equally likely to attempt to end or continue conflicts, they formed alliances half of the time, and their intervention strategies were related to the patterning and outcome of the conflicts. (RJC)

Investigates factors of social influence strategies employed by 195 children aged 11-15 and 114 mothers. Girls reported more frequent use and success of strategies anticipating noncompliance and boys more frequent use and success of autonomous strategies. Mothers reported differential reinforcement of boys' and girls' strategies. (RJC)

Explores the factors associated with expected outcome of emotional expression and likelihood of expression among 125 first-, fourth-, and sixth-grade children. Results suggest that socialization practices tend to be directed towards the suppression of sadness among males. (RJC)