Experiments investigated whether more elements in the upper part of a visual configuration influenced newborns' preference for face-like patterns. Findings indicated that newborns preferred nonface-like stimuli with more upper part elements over nonface-like stimuli with more lower elements, but did not prefer face-like over nonface-like stimuli…

Two studies used a comprehension task and an elicited production task to examine whether preschool children and adults appreciated the semantic properties of generic utterances. Findings indicated that in both tasks, 4-year-olds and adults treated generics ("bears live in caves") as distinct from both indefinites ("some") and universal quantifiers…

This study assessed cognitive processing speed among full-term and preterm infants when they reached 5, 7, and 12 months of age. Findings indicated that at all ages, preterms required about 20 percent more trials and 30 percent more time than full-terms to reach criterion on a novelty preference task. Among preterms, slower processing was…

This study examined classroom discourse as a predictor of changes one year later in kindergartners', first-graders', and second-graders' beliefs about their academic capabilities. Analyses revealed that changes over time in children's competence perceptions regarding their math and reading skills could be predicted from the types of statements…

This study investigated whether the process of representational change undergoes developmental change or different processes occupy different niches in the course of knowledge acquisition. Subjects--college, third-, and sixth-grade students--solved gear system problems over two sessions. Findings indicated that for all grades, discovery of the…

This longitudinal study of children from preschool through fourth grade examined code-related and oral language precursors to reading. Findings indicated that the relationship between code-related precursors and oral language is strong during preschool. During early elementary school, reading ability is predominately determined by kindergarten…

Two studies examined whether object names and functions act as cues to categories for infants. Findings indicated that both 14- and 18-month-olds were more likely to select the category match after being shown a novel category exemplar with its function than when given no additional cues. Only at 18 months did naming the objects enhance…

Two studies assessed the gaze following of 12-, 14-, and 18-month-olds. Findings indicated that infants at all ages looked at the adult's target more when the adult turned to the target with open eyes than when the adult turned with closed eyes. Additional evidence suggested that infants were not simply responding to adult head turning, but were…

Examined 2-year-olds' comprehension and production of novel nouns, verbs, or actions at 3 intervals after training conducted in massed or distributed exposures. Found that for comprehension, children learned all item types in all training conditions at all retention intervals. Production was better for nonverbal actions than for either word type…

This study compared perceptions of relationships with parents, best friends, siblings, and imaginary companions among 4-year-olds with invisible friends, object companions, or no imaginary companion. Findings indicated that parents afforded instrumental help, and siblings were associated with conflict. Real and imaginary friendship provisions were…

Two studies examined whether preschoolers use whole-part juxtaposition to accurately interpret novel part terms. Results confirmed that children do use juxtaposition to guide learning of novel part terms and that such use was not due to memory effects nor to recognition of the grammatical frame accompanying juxtaposition. Children readily used…

This study examined whether 4- to 8-year-olds considered knowledge prerequisites for pretending and drawing. Children were asked if an artist (actor) who did not know what something was, yet whose drawing (behavior) resembled it, was actually drawing it (pretending to be it). Children performed similarly on pretending and drawing questions.…

This research tested the hypothesis that young children's bias to generalize names for solid objects by shape is the product of statistical regularities among nouns in the early productive vocabulary. Fifteen- to 20-month-olds given intensive naming experiences with typical noun categories developed a precocious shape bias and showed accelerated…

Examined children's and adults' perceptions of facial stimuli that were either systematically exaggerated (caricatures) or de-exaggerated (anticaricatures) relative to a norm face. Found that all ages perceived caricatures as the most distinctive version and anticaricatures as least distinctive; the smallest effect was for 6-year-olds. Caricatures…

Three studies investigated the role of 8- and 10-year-olds' and adults' metacognitive monitoring and control processes for unbiased event recall tasks and suggestibility. Findings suggested strong tendencies to overestimate confidence regardless of age and question format. Children did not lack principal metacognitive competencies when questions…