Weekly observations of 4 infants in a standard arm-extended reaching task demonstrated that the infants first reached at ages ranging from 12 to 22 weeks. Results suggest that the infant central nervous system does not contain programs that detail hand trajectory or muscle activation patterns; rather, these patterns are the consequence of the…

Seven infants were tested between the ages of 6 and 25 weeks to see how they would grasp objects presented in full light and glowing or sounding objects presented in total darkness. In all three conditions, the infants first grasped the objects at nearly the same time, suggesting that internal stimuli, not visual guidance, directed their actions.…

Fourteen five- and nine-month-old infants were presented with illuminated toys to reach for in total darkness. In half the trials, a luminescent marker was attached to the reaching hand. The nine-month olds reached just as accurately with or without the hand marker, whereas five-month olds were generally inaccurate and unaffected by the marker.…

A theory of infant skill acquisition was supported by observations, over a six-week period, of the bouncing activity of eight infants while they were supported in a harness assembly. Observed three stages of activity: an initial assembly stage, when movement was irregular and variable in period; a tuning phase of more periodic movement; a final…

Using a dynamic systems approach, examined the development of intralimb coordination over the first year of independent walking in three infants. Found that, in the first month of walking, there was much instability between the thigh and shank of the leg, but after three months infants appeared to have found an adult-like stable coordinative…

Examined the behavior of 8.5-month-old crawling infants and 14-month-old walking toddlers in ascending and descending sloping walkways. Both groups overestimated their ability to ascend slopes. Toddlers hesitated most before descending 10 and 20 degree slopes, whereas infants hesitated most before descending 30 and 40 degree slopes. (MDM)

After reviewing recent contributions to the field of motor development, suggests a pattern formation or dynamics approach to child development as an alternative to the conventional approaches emphasizing maturation (nativist), specific learning experiences (empiricist), cognitive stages (Piagetian), and strategies of encoding and retrieval…

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that the differences in infants' time of looking at a stimulus are due to infants' differential sensitivity to global and local visual information. Found that both long- and short-looking four-month-old infants were sensitive to both types of information. These results do not support the hypothesis. (MDM)

Results of 3 experiments indicated that 13.5- and 16.5-month-old children recalled multiple sequences after a 1-week delay. Without cues, the recall of 16.5-month olds was facilitated by familiarity and by enabling relations; only enabling relations aided the 13.5-month olds' recall. With verbal cues, the recall of 13.5- and 16.5-month olds was…

In 2 experiments, 15- and 21-month-old infants were presented with a target object and asked to select an object taxonomically or thematically related to the target object. The target object was introduced with or without a novel nonsense noun. Results indicated that novel nouns focused infants' attention on taxonomic relations. (MDM)

In three experiments, children were asked whether animals, plants, and artifacts that had been damaged could heal through regrowth and whether a person could mend them. Four-year olds realized that both animals and plants could regrow and that artifacts had to be fixed by humans. Three-year olds were less knowledgeable than four-year olds. (MDM)

In 2 experiments a total of 28 6-and 8-year olds and 9 adults were tested on a task that required making left-right directional judgments from various rotated orientations. The results supported the hypothesis that respondents who answered correctly performed imaginary rotations to correctly align themselves with the object. (MDM)

Data collected from 128 third through sixth graders over a 1-year period demonstrated that individuals with withdrawn social behavior, low peer acceptance, few or no friendships, and an internal-stable attributional style were more likely to have higher levels of concurrent and future loneliness than individuals not exhibiting these…

Fifth and sixth graders completed a sex role orientation measure, viewed a film portraying a child playing gender-appropriate games with members of the same sex or gender-inappropriate games with members of the opposite sex, and made judgments about the child. Subjects' judgments were influenced by the child's gender-related behaviors but not by…

Briefly describes types of studies included in this special issue on minority children. Discusses issues in research on minority children and ways in which this research can be encouraged. (PCB)