A developmental study of the acquisition of Russian colour terms.

We report a study of the acquisition of colour terms by Russian children which had two main aims: first, to test Berlin & Kay's (1969) theory of colour universals using acquisition order as a measure of basicness; and secondly, to see if the two BLUE terms of Russian are genuinely basic. Two hundred children aged from three to six-years-old were tested on three colour-tasks--colour term listing, colour term production and colour term comprehension. To a reasonable approximation, the order of colour term acquisition was in accord with Berlin & Kay's theory, but the data are also consistent with the weaker claim that primary terms tend to be learned before derived terms. On balance the data were consistent with Russian exceptionally, having an extra term for the BLUE region. But, the two BLUE terms--goluboj 'light blue' and sinij 'dark blue'--were confused more often than other pairs of terms even by the five- to six-year-old sample.

A developmental study of the acquisition of colour terms in Setswana.

We report a study of the acquisition of colour terms by speakers of Setswana, the language of Botswana in Southern Africa. This was carried out as a test of Berlin & Kay's theory of colour term universals, on a language with less than the maximum complement of eleven basic colour terms, and in order to document changes in Setswana under the impact of economic development. Seventy-seven five- to nine-year-olds were studied on two colour tasks: elicited lists and colour naming. In general the data were consistent with Berlin & Kay's theory: the rank order of frequency of correct use of colour terms was similar to the order of the Berlin & Kay hierarchy; and primary colour terms were offered more frequently and were more likely to be used correctly than secondary colour terms. The use of English colour terms was prevalent, especially amongst the younger groups, but they functioned as substitutes for Setswana terms, rather than as a means to fill the vacant basic colour term slots.

Cerebral-palsied children's interactions with siblings--II. Interactional structure.

The interactions between 64 cerebral-palsied children and their siblings were compared to those of matched control dyads. Disabled children displayed pronounced deficits in initiating and directing social interactions. Their siblings, regardless of their age or birth order, took on the leadership role and maintained the positive but controlling stance which was also displayed by mothers of the disabled. Though hierarchical organization allowed the disabled dyads to function effectively, the siblings failed to experience the frequent challenges and the close, reciprocal style of interaction developed by control dyads.

Cerebral-palsied children's interactions with siblings--I. Influence of severity of disability, age and birth order.

Sixty-four Greek cerebral-palsied children, aged 2-13, and their siblings were observed in a semi-structured play situation at home. Compared to matched control dyads, disabled children were passive and lacking in assertiveness, while their siblings were correspondingly more directive. Interaction in disabled dyads was predominantly hierarchical in nature with disabled children assuming the role of the younger child regardless of age or birth order. Control dyads were more egalitarian, with members taking turns in initiating the interaction. Maternal intervention was higher in disabled dyads, particularly among younger groups where social skills were poorly developed.

La langue et les Lèvres: cross-language influences on bimodal speech perception.

Previous research in speech perception has yielded two sets of findings which are brought together in the present study. First, it has been shown that normal hearing listeners use visible as well as acoustical information when processing speech. Second, it has been shown that there is an effect of specific language experience on speech perception such that adults often have difficulty identifying and discriminating non-native phones. The present investigation was designed to extend and combine these two sets of findings. Two studies were conducted using six consonant-vowel syllables (/ba/, /va/, /alpha a/, /da/, /3a/, and /ga/ five of which occur in French and English, and one (the interdental fricative /alpha a/) which occurs only in English. In Experiment 1, an effect of specific linguistic experience was evident for the auditory identification of the non-native interdental stimulus by French-speakers. In Experiment 2, it was shown that the effect of specific language experience extends to the perception of the visible information in speech. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for our understanding of cross-language processes in speech perception and for our understanding of the development of bimodal speech perception.

Children's conception of the continuity of parenthood following divorce.

By means of doll play children aged between 4 and 14 years were interviewed to establish whether they believed that parental status continued beyond divorce. Three levels of understanding were identified: unquestioned assertion, without justification, of the inviolate nature of parenthood; belief that continuity of parenthood, following divorce, was conditional upon place of residence, positive affect toward the children involved or subsequent marital status; recognition of the permanence of parental relationships accompanied by differentiation of relationship and role. Children whose parents were known to be divorced tended to show more mature levels of understanding than children from intact nuclear families.

Utilization of static and kinetic information for depth by young Malawians.

The utilization of static and kinetic information for depth by Malawian children and young adults in making monocular relative size judgments was investigated. Subjects viewed pairs of objects or photographic slides of the same pairs and judged which was the larger of each pair. The sizes and positions of the objects were manipulated such that the more distant object subtended a visual angle equal to, 80% of, or 70% of the nearer object. Motor parallax information was manipulated by allowing or preventing head movement. All subjects displayed sensitivity to static information for depth when the two objects subtended equal visual angles. When the more distant object was larger but subtended a smaller visual angle than the nearer object, subjects tended to base their judgments on retinal size. Motion parallax information increased accuracy of judgments of three-dimensional displays but reduced accuracy of judgments of pictorial displays. Comparisons are made between these results and those for American subjects.

Auditory-visual coordination in neonates.

Neonatal oculomotor behavior was observed under various conditions of visual and auditory stimulation. In 1 experiment babies were observed tracking a moving visual target with their eyes. Such tracking was uninfluenced by the addition of sound to the visual target, nor was it disrupted by the presence of a stationary auditory stimulus. The presentation of a moving auditory stimulus alone was not sufficient to elicit reliable tracking responses. In a second experiment, neonates failed to show ocular orientation toward a laterally presented sound. These findings are interpreted as illustrating the relative independence of auditory and visual perception during the neonatal period.

Space perception in early infancy: perception within a common auditory-visual space?

Human infants aged I to 7 months were exposed to modifications of the normal spatial relationship between their mothers' face and voice. There was no evidence that such modifications were experienced by the infants as violations of a preexisting expectancy for face and voice to occupy the same spatial location.