Three experiments examined the early development of three- to five-year-old children's analysis of spatial patterns. Found that the youngest children segmented out simple, well-formed, spatially independent parts and used simple relational structures to bind these parts together, whereas older children constructed forms that included increasingly…

Presents a mathematical model of the development of reaching behavior in infants, along with the results of two experiments that showed that infant movements could be decomposed into the underlying submovements using a principled method; and the angular error in infant reaches matches the form and magnitude of error assumed by the model. (MDM)

Thirteen infants were presented with a moving object under two lighting conditions to investigate the role of vision in early reaching. Infants were tested twice, at 5 and 7.5 months of age. The results suggest that proprioceptive feedback and sight of the target allowed for successful reaching with limited visual information, even in relatively…

Compared the postural responsiveness of seven-, eight-, and nine-month-old infants. Results indicated greater use of optic flow for postural control after a self-produced locomotor experience. Infants with endogenous (creeping) or artificial (walker) self-produced locomotor experience responded to portions of the optic flow field, whereas…

Examines the influence of socialization figures (parents, friends), emotion type (anger, sadness, physical pain), age, and gender on 66 second-grade and 71 fifth-grade children's reasons for and methods of affect expression. Found that girls reported using verbal means to communicate emotion, whereas boys cited mildly aggressive methods. (MDM)

Examined relationships between social contingency in mother-child interaction and the social competence of 47 two-year-olds from low-income families. Found that social contingency was related to children's use of self-regulatory strategies but not to empathic responsiveness. Child negative emotionality and gender contributed to explanations of…

Introduces a special section of five articles that highlight new collaborative research opportunities for developmental psychologists and other biomedical researchers. Such research has focused on the transition from fetus to newborn, evaluation of early toxin exposure, and the behavioral phenotype associated with genetic syndromes. (MDM)

Examined methodological issues related to the detection and evaluation of behavioral toxicity in infants and children, focusing on the selection of appropriate variables and strategies to control for confounding, sampling strategies and the problem of "overcontrol" for confounding; and the evaluation of dose-response relations and thresholds. (MDM)

Discusses the use of new statistical procedures in a study of the enduring effects of prenatal alcohol exposure upon the neurobehavioral development of some 500 children born in 1975-76. Explains how the Partial Least Squares (PLS) methodology can summarize the data powerfully while avoiding familiar inferential pitfalls. (MDM)

Discusses the Human Genome Project and the identification of Fragile X Syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental retardation. Fragile X Syndrome is caused by an abnormal gene on the bottom of the X chromosome. Examined the phenotype of Fragile X Syndrome in males and females and the spectrum of learning difficulties caused by the…

Summarizes research on the development of behavior before birth, focusing on studies where fetuses were exposed to stimuli that mimic features of the neonatal environment, such as milk and an artificial nipple. Notes that these stimuli reliably evoke responses from fetal subjects, including behavior such as the stretch response and the oral…

Examined the social goals and beliefs involved in adolescent peer relationships among 266 ninth-grade students. Factor analysis of questionnaire responses identified relevant goals (intimacy, nurturance, dominance, leadership, popularity, and avoidance) and beliefs (sincerity, status, responsibility, caring, entertaining, and toughness) concerning…

Investigated links between experimentally assessed social understanding and naturalistically observed verbal communication between friends among 38 young children. Found that performance on social understanding tasks was significantly associated with connected communication between friends. (MDM)

Examined the racial attitudes of 122 Euro-Australian children toward Euro-, Asian, and Aboriginal Australians across the 5-/6-, 7-/9-, and 10-/12-year age groups. Found that the middle group had fewer negative attitudes toward Aborigines than the older and younger groups. Notes the influence of environmental and cognitive factors in the…

Two studies examined the connection between peer relationships and children's perception of security in the child-mother relationship among fifth and sixth graders. Found that children who viewed their relationship with their mother as more secure were significantly more accepted by peers and had more reciprocated friendships than children who…