Examined conflict behavior of 50 3-year olds in day care centers to learn how and why adults become involved in children's conflicts. Found that adults were more likely to intervene when there was some physical activity involved in the conflict, and that this heading off of violence may inhibit children from learning to deal independently with…

Examined the feelings of mothers when temporarily leaving their infants--who were perceived to cry excessively--to other caretakers. Found through interviews that the mothers were anxious when separated from the infant, had an intensive perception of the infant's crying, and had difficulty sharing responsibility for the infant. (EV)

Examined associations among infant caregivers' training and the quality of care they provide. Found through observation and rating of 50 Caucasian female caregivers that as infant caregiver training levels increased, so did mean scores on some dimensions of quality, such as personal care routines and learning activities. (EV)

Compared regular and special early childhood education in the United States and Japan through videotaped observation and interviews. Found differences in the standardization of programs offered, adequacy of equipment and materials, class size and schedule, background of teachers, discipline, development of special needs programs, and emphasis on…

Examined parental satisfaction with and involvement in intervention services of Child Development Centre at City Hospital in Birmingham, England. Found general satisfaction, but also that parents want more of a role in the initial assessment meeting, welcome the chance to help decide upon service quality, and appreciate help with issues such as…

Compared preschoolers' and parents' reports of division of labor in single- versus dual-earner homes. Found that children with nonemployed mothers underestimated mother's responsibilities and overestimated sharing of caregiving by parents. Daughters in dual-earner families believed fathers engaged in more caregiving than parents indicated. All…

Examined the intellectual development of 74 preschool children for contributions of family size, birth order, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and parent-child relationships. Found that socioeconomic status and warmth of the father-child relationship made significant, positive contributions to children's intellectual development. Found support for…

Places the work of Lev Vygotsky within a historical context and describes the understanding of his work in the West. Outlines some key features of Russia's new "developmental education," which involves the translation of Vygotskian principles into pedagogy. Concludes by raising some implications and challenges of this work for thinking in the…

Collected data on natural rates of compliance of preschool children in day care centers. Found a mean rate of 84%. Also found that overall compliance increased with age, that children were more compliant to direct requests (of which teachers gave more) than to indirect or group requests, and that girls were not significantly more compliant than…

Describes a philosophical community of inquiry as a controlled, communal form of wondering that focuses on the larger meaning of human experience. Suggests that, using familiar stories as texts, and facilitated by a leader sensitive to young children's philosophical preoccupations and ways of thinking and talking, young children are both…

Used a children's story and interviews to compare how six-year-olds in three cultures conceptualize learning in their preschool environments. Found that Swedish and Japanese children who did not recall a coherent narrative relied on their own understanding of point of story rather than on words of story, whereas Chinese children looked for key to…

Notes that program evaluations have many dimensions and that systematic efforts to evaluate an enrichment or intervention program require much decision making. Discusses factors affecting choice of evaluation measure, focuses for evaluation measures, factors affecting data collection (including family variables, screening versus psychometric…

Preschool children received twice-weekly massages for five weeks. Compared to control children, the massaged children had better behavior ratings on mood state, vocalization, activity, and cooperation following massage on day one and throughout the study. Teachers rated their behavior more optimally, and their parents rated them as having less…

Focuses on the rights of special needs children in the schooling process. Outlines a number of laws that protect the educational rights of exceptional children, noting that, unfortunately, school systems often fail to provide all the services needed. Presents skills and strategies parents need to conduct advocacy on behalf of their children with…

Notes that many researchers have asserted maternal "sensitivity" as the key feature of interactions promoting "secure" attachment relationships. Reviews literature addressing the construct of sensitivity, highlighting the problem of definition and identifying the range of behaviors typically used as indicators of sensitivity. (HTH)