For the first time in twenty years the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS, 2009) is considering changes to federal regulations governing research. The Common Rule provides the basis for government regulations and Institutional Review Boards (IRB). Proposed changes will have a significant impact on Institutional Review Board…

We present a domain-general framework called "constrained attentional associative learning" to provide a developmental account for how and when infants form concepts for animates and inanimates that encapsulate not only their surface appearance but also their movement characteristics. Six simulations with the same general-purpose architecture…

Reports a series of studies conducted to investigate possible differences in the exploratory manipulation and play behavior of human infants 7-1/2- 11-1/2 months of age as a function of the attributes of the stimulus, the familiarity of the subject with the stimuli, the age and sex of the infants, and individual differences. (Author/CS)

Examines secular trends in research on Afro-American children appearing in CHILD DEVELOPMENT between 1936 and 1980. A statistical analysis revealed dramatic changes in the frequency and type of research on this population, and identified some of the changing social issues and perspectives that are reflected in the research. (Author/BB)

The cognitive learning of children is explored in four studies: (1) Alphabet Reading, (2) Learning Reading Units and Classical Concept Formation, (3) Counting Learning and Counting Learning Mediated by Verbal-Response Chains, and (4) Writing Learning, Imitation, and the Cognitive-Learning Acceleration. (NH)

This study concerns the onset and early development of wariness in human infants. The data suggest positing a hierarchy of aversive reactions, from distress reactions to acquired fears. (Author/GB)

Initial experiment demonstrated operant acquisition of an instrumental hand-pulling response in 4-8-month-old infants; the effect achieved with contingent, noncontingent, delayed reinforcement, and the suppression, recovery, and facilitation effects of noncontingent stimulation are discussed. (Author)

This essay reviews empirical evidence that suggests that emotion type and emotion intensity are associated with distinct and independent patterns of frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in infants. The role of the frontal lobe and related brain systems in emotion expression and regulation is also discussed from a developmental…

A reanalysis of recent clinical research suggests that three different neural processes or brain mechanisms may underlie the regulation of emotion: (1) contralateral disinhibition of cortical centers; (2) ipsilateral disinhibition of subcortical centers; and (3) excitation of specific subcortical or neocortical centers. (MDM)

This essay discusses the evaluation of the relationship between the nervous system and emotion regulation, introducing vagal tone as a measurable organismic variable that contributes to individual and developmental differences in the expression and regulation of emotion. (MDM)

This essay discusses the similarities between animal behavior and human attachment behavior demonstrated by infants and their mothers. The provision of warmth, the tactile and olfactory stimulation of the mother's physical interactions, and the oral sensory and absorptive consequences of nursing are found to provide specific and independent…

This essay reviews research on mother-infant roles during early interactions and how these serve to foster the development of infant emotion regulation. It provides illustrations of the ways in which physical unavailability (resulting from hospitalization or other separation) and emotional unavailability (resulting from mental illnesses such as…

Examines ways in which individual differences in emotion regulation may be influenced by children's attachment experiences. It argues that individuals characterized by the flexible ability to accept and integrate both positive and negative emotions are generally securely attached, whereas individuals characterized by either limited or heightened…