Early Intervention and Mediating Processes in Cognitive Performance of Children of Low-Income African American Families
Margaret R. Burckinal, Frances A. Campbell, Donna M. Br yant, Barbara H. Wasik, and Craig T. Ramey

This longitudinal study of 161 African American children from low-income families examined early multiple influences, including early childhood interventions and characteristics of the child and family, on longitudinal patterns of children's cognitive performance measured between 6 months and 8 years of age. Results indicate that more optional patterns of cognitive development were associated with intensive early educational child care, responsive stimulating care at home, and higher maternal IQ. In accordance with a general systems model, analyses also suggested that child care experiences were related to better cognitive performance in part through enhancing the infant's responsiveness to his or her environment. Maternal IQ had both a direct effect on cognitive performance during early childhood and, also, an indirect effect through its influence on the family environment.

Available From:
Child Development, October 1997, Volume 68, Number 5, Pages 897-907.

Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on Neuropsychological Functioning.
By Kris Kaemingk and Andrea Paquette.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can have devastating effects on cognitive and adaptive function. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is one of the leading causes of mental retardation in the Western world. Studies focusing on the cognitive and adaptive function of individuals with FAS and fetal alcohol effects are reviewed, followed by a summary of findings from prospective longitudinal studies of PAE. These are considered in light of brain-behavior relations and results of animal studies of PAE. There is converging evidence that PAE adversely impacts response inhibition, visuomotor abilities, and visual memory.

Available From:
Developmental Neuropsychology, (1999), Volume15, Pages 111-140.

Give and Take: The Development of Conventional Infant Gestures.
By Daniel S. Messinger and Alan Fogel.

To understand the development of nonverbal communication, the manual gestures of 11 infants between nine and 15 months of age were observed while they played with their mothers several times a month. Infants were more likely than their mothers to request objects and less likely to respond to requests for objects, suggesting a relatively acquisitive style of interaction. The proportion of infant request that involved a vocalization rose with age, suggesting that infants increasingly use vocalizations to emphasize instrumental communications. Infants gazing at mother was most likely during offers that infants initiated without a preceding maternal request. When infants gestured and gazed at mother, they also tended to smile. Unsolicited offers involving gazing at mother and smiling appear to index self-initiated, positive social contact. The results help distinguish between instrumental and social approach functions of nonverbal conventional communication.

Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, (1998), Volume 44, Page 566-590.

Why and How Working Women Choose Child Care: A Review with a Focus on Infancy.
By Elizabeth Pungello Puhn and Beth Kurtz-Costes.

Over half of mothers of infants in the United States are employed outside the home at least part-time, and most of these women must arrange for infant child care. Although many researchers have explored the effects of child care on children’s development, less is known about why and how working mothers choose infant child care. Research in this area is greatly needed because high-quality, affordable, infant child care is not widely available in United States at present. Thus, parents must carefully search for and select their child care economic resources and low availability of high-quality care mother’s child care choice behaviors. We review this research within the context of a theoretical model that relates such behaviors to the environmental context (e.g., child care availability), maternal beliefs related to child care (e.g., child care preferences), child factors (e.g., temperament), and demographic characteristics of the mother. We conclude with recommendations for future research in this area and a discussion of public policy considerations.

Developmental Review, (1999), Volume 19, Pages 31-96.

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