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Visual exploration paradigms involving object arrays have been used to examine salience of social stimuli such as faces in ASD. Recent work suggests performance on these paradigms may associate with clinical features of ASD. We evaluate metrics from a visual exploration paradigm in 4-to-11-year-old children with ASD (n = 23; 18 males) and typical development (TD; n = 23; 13 males). Presented with arrays containing faces and nonsocial stimuli, children with ASD looked less at (p = 0.002) and showed fewer fixations to (p = 0.022) faces than TD children, and spent less time looking at each object on average (p = 0.004). Attention to the screen and faces correlated positively with social and cognitive skills in the ASD group (ps < 0.05). This work furthers our understanding of objective measures of visual exploration in ASD and its potential for quantifying features of ASD.

Academic buoyancy (AB) is the ability to overcome minor academic setbacks. However, although it seems as though teachers would be well placed to comment on this characteristic in students, no teacher-report measure of AB exists. This study evaluates a teacher-report version of the widely used, student-report, Academic Buoyancy Scale (ABS). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the unifactorial nature of the Teacher Academic Buoyancy Scale (TABS), and the scale showed excellent internal reliability. However, while there was some evidence for the criterion-related validity of the TABS, it showed very poor convergent validity with the ABS. It also correlated better with academic achievement than should theoretically be the case for a measure of AB. Further, AB estimates from the two measures were moderated by demographic characteristics: teachers rated girls and those not facing adversity as more buoyant, but the opposite was the case for self-reports. In sum, this study suggests a significant disjunction between teacher- and self-reports of AB, and that teacher estimates of AB are likely to be affected by salient, non-AB-related, student characteristics.

Mental rotation (MR) is the ability to transform a mental representation of an object so as to accurately predict how the object would look from a different angle (Sci 171:701-703, 1971), and it is involved in a number of important cognitive and behavioral activities. In this review we discuss recent studies that have examined MR in infants and the development of MR across the first year after birth. These studies have produced many conflicting results, yet several tentative conclusions can be reached. First, MR may be operational in infants as young as 3 months of age. Second, there may be sex differences in MR performance in infancy, in general favoring males, as there are in children and in adults. Third, there appear to be multiple influences on infants' MR performance, including infants' motor activity, stimulus or task complexity, hormones, and parental attitudes. We conclude by calling for additional research to examine more carefully the causes and consequences of MR abilities early in life.

A cognitive construct that is important when solving engineering design problems is executive control process, or metacognition. It is a central feature of human consciousness that enables one "to be aware of, monitor, and control mental processes." The framework for this study was conceptualized by integrating the model for creative design, which illustrates the co-evolution of the problem and solution spaces during engineering design problem solving, with executive control processes such as planning, monitoring, and evaluation. According to Maher, Poon, and Boulanger (1996), whenever engineers are solving design problems, their problem and solution spaces co-evolve with an interchange of information between the two mental spaces. This study investigates if there are differences in the cognitive process of mechanical engineering students and professional mechanical engineers as they use executive control processes (i.e., planning, monitoring, and evaluation) in the problem and solution spaces while solving an engineering design problem conceptually. The findings from this qualitative study confirm previous findings of other studies and provide useful insights about the executive control processes of student and professional mechanical engineer designers. Three conclusions were drawn from the findings: (1) That expert planning and monitoring is driven by propositions, while the novice planning and monitoring is influenced by analogical comparisons; (2) That mental representations are used mostly when the engineering student and professional engineers are monitoring their design solutions, and the professional engineers are more balanced than the students in their use of analogies and propositions; and (3) That evaluation plays a larger role in the solution space of professional engineers, while engineering students do more planning in the problem space. The findings indicate that the engineering students did more planning than the professional engineers. (Contains 4 figures and 2 tables.)

This study investigated the mental representations of student and professional engineers while they solved an engineering design problem. The intent was to gain a deeper insight into the differences that exist in the cognitive processes of engineering students and professional engineers as they use mental representations (i.e., propositions, metaphors, and analogies) to solve the engineering design problem. A comparative case study of engineering students and practicing engineers was conducted. A purposeful, maximum variation sampling process was used. Maximum variation sampling, a special type of purposeful sampling, entails the "selecting of cases that illustrate the range of variation in the phenomena to be studied". The results of this study paint a picture of how four professional engineers differ from six engineering students in their use of mental representations on a conceptual engineering design task. Three major conclusions are drawn from the findings: (1) The use of mental representations, such as propositions, analogies, and metaphors, in the different mental spaces is important in engineering design; (2) Different from novices, experts rarely employed propositions or analogies in their problem space; and (3) Expert engineering designers differ from novice engineering designers on their use of within-domain analogies, between-domain analogies, heuristics, and formulas. (Contains 8 figures and 1 table.)

Although there are many reasons why students dropout of college courses, those reasons may be unique for students who are enrolled in an online program. Issues of isolation, disconnectedness, and technological problems may be factors that influence a student to leave a course. To understand these factors, an online survey was developed to collect data from students who dropped out of an online program. Logistic regression analysis was used to compare various factors between those who persist in the program and those who dropout. The results, based on the dropouts from three cohorts in an online graduate program, show that demographic variables do not predict likelihood of dropping from a program. Instead, the students' reasons for dropping out of an online program are varied and unique to each individual. Recommendations for further study are incorporated in the conclusions. (Contains 1 figure and 6 tables.)

The integration of online technologies in educational practice is rendering new opportunities for teaching and learning. It is known that instructors who have taught fully online courses have acquired new skills and have had the opportunity to implement novel pedagogical practices in the online environment. However, it is unclear whether direct exposure to fully online teaching facilitates the integration of technology in traditional classrooms. This qualitative investigation examined the transfer of four experienced faculty members' pedagogical practices from online to face-to-face teaching. Results of this case study show that (a) the instructors' online teaching experience influenced their perceptions and understanding of online pedagogical strategies, and (b) the transfer of pedagogical strategies back to the classroom is a complex process influenced by the instructors' teaching style, satisfaction with working in the online environment, and the similarity of content and context between online and face-to-face courses. These findings have the potential to inform innovations in faculty training and development and to promote further research in this area. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)

This article features the University Council for Workforce and Human Resource Education, a nonprofit organization representing leading United States universities that offer graduate programs in career and technical education (CTE) and human resource development (HRD). The mission of the Council is to be a recognized force in shaping the future of CTE and HRD through improving the policy and practices of education in the United States toward the betterment of individuals and the larger society. The universities represented by UCWHRE are considered world leaders in the area of workforce development and human resource education. While they are natural competitors for students and external funding, they have traditionally worked closely together for over 30 years to collectively develop the next generation of leaders that are prepared to solve problems related to achieving a professional, productive, and competent workforce. The authors discuss the history, purpose and activities of the University Council for Workforce and Human Resource Education.

Some cognitive abilities exhibit reliable gender differences, with females outperforming males in specific aspects of verbal ability, and males showing an advantage on certain spatial tasks. Among these cognitive gender differences, differences in mental rotation are the most robust, and appear to be present even in infants. A large body of animal research suggests that gonadal hormones, particularly testosterone, during early development could contribute to this gender difference in mental rotation. Also, substantial evidence supports an influence of socialization on mental rotation performance. The present study investigated the relationship of two types of factors, early postnatal testosterone exposure and parental attitudes about gender, to mental rotation performance in 61 healthy infants (29 males, 32 females). We measured salivary testosterone at two time points: 1-2.5 months of age and 5-6 months of age. Infants' mental rotation performance and parents' attitudes about gender were assessed at 5-6 months of age. As predicted, testosterone concentrations were significantly higher in boys than girls in early infancy (d = 0.54), and boys performed significantly better than girls on mental rotation (d = 0.64). A significant positive correlation between testosterone at age 1-2.5 months and mental rotation was found only in boys (r = 0.50, p = 0.01). A significant negative correlation between parents' gender-stereotypical attitudes and mental rotation performance was found only in girls (r = -0.57, p = 0.002). These findings suggest that the early postnatal testosterone surge (also known as "mini-puberty") may have organizational influences on mental rotation performance in boys, and that parents may influence their daughters' mental rotation abilities beginning very early in life.

The focus of research in technology education has evolved throughout its history as the field changed from industrial arts to technology education (Spencer & Rogers, 2006). With the move to technology education, the field has begun to broaden its focus to better understand the teaching, learning, curriculum, and policy implications of preparing the next generation of technological thinkers. Although a complete "paradigm shift" may not have occurred completely within all technology-oriented programs (Sanders, 2001), the current emphasis on engineering within technology education indicates a need to examine and assess the status of technology education research over the past 10 years to identify strengths and areas that need to be addressed in order to guide the field into the future. The purpose of this study was to assess the quality and characteristics of the research that has been published within the field of technology education between 1997 and 2007. More specifically, this study was designed to determine the types of research conducted within the technology education field, including the research focus, methods, primary data sources, and data types. The following questions were explored to accomplish this purpose: (1) What types of research have been conducted in technology education over the past 10 years?; (2) What research methods have been most commonly used in technology education research over the past 10 years?; and (3) What types of people and data have been the focus of research in technology education over the past 10 years? A driving motivation for this study was to explore the extent to which technology education research conforms to Shavelson and Towne's (2002) "guiding principles" of scientific inquiry, and to gauge the alignment of technology education research with the current national trend toward a "gold standard" for educational research methods. Answers to these questions provide insight into the degree to which recent technology education research aligns with the "gold standard" for educational research. (Contains 6 tables.)

Debates surround whether high-tech or low-tech jobs are fastest growing and whether technology increases or decreases skill requirements. Technology education can aid productivity improvement by reinforcing academic content, enhancing higher-order skills, and promoting active involvement with technology. (SK)

Although traditional student enrollment is declining, the nontraditional segment of students is growing. This enrollment pattern will require recruitment strategies that speak directly to the adult learners. There is robust adoption of social media use by individuals and by organizations for marketing purposes. Social media marketing includes specific details related to the unique characteristics of social media channels. This article details how to create a social media marketing strategy for professional and continuing education programs.

Background: We evaluated early pragmatic language skills in preschool-age siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and examined correspondence between pragmatic language impairments and general language difficulties, autism symptomatology, and clinical outcomes. Methods: Participants were younger siblings of children with ASD (high-risk, n = 188) or typical development (low-risk, n = 119) who were part of a prospective study of infants at risk for ASD; siblings without ASD outcomes were included in analyses. Pragmatic language skills were measured via the Language Use Inventory (LUI). Results: At 36 months, the high-risk group had significantly lower parent-rated pragmatic language scores than the low-risk group. When defining pragmatic language impairment (PLI) as scores below the 10th percentile on the LUI, 35% of the high-risk group was identified with PLI versus 10% of the low-risk group. Children with PLI had higher rates of general language impairment (16%), defined as scores below the 10th percentile on the Receptive or Expressive Language subscales of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, relative to those without PLI (3%), but most "did not" evidence general language impairments. Children with PLI had significantly higher ADOS scores than those without PLI and had higher rates of clinician-rated atypical clinical best estimate outcomes (49%) relative to those without PLI (15%). Conclusions: Pragmatic language problems are present in some siblings of children with ASD as early as 36 months of age. As the new "DSM-5" diagnosis of Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD) is thought to occur more frequently in family members of individuals with ASD, it is possible that some of these siblings will meet criteria for SCD as they get older. Close monitoring of early pragmatic language development in young children at familial risk for ASD is warranted.

Five- and 3-month-old infants' perception of infant-directed (ID) faces and the role of speech in perceiving faces were examined. Infants' eye movements were recorded as they viewed a series of two side-by-side talking faces, one infant-directed and one adult-directed (AD), while listening to ID speech, AD speech, or in silence. Infants showed consistently greater dwell time on ID faces vs. AD faces, and this ID face preference was consistent across all three sound conditions. ID speech resulted in higher looking overall, but it did not increase looking at the ID face per se. Together, these findings demonstrate that infants' preferences for ID speech extend to ID faces.

Temperament atypicalities have been documented in infancy and early development in children who develop autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The current study investigates whether there are differences in developmental trajectories of temperament between infants and toddlers with and without ASD. Parents of infant siblings of children with autism completed the Carey Temperament Scales about their child at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of age. Temperament trajectories of children with ASD reflected increases over time in activity level, and decreasing adaptability and approach behaviors relative to high-risk typically developing (TD) children. This study is the first to compare temperament trajectories between high-risk TD infants and infants subsequently diagnosed with ASD in the developmental window when overt symptoms of ASD first emerge.

Infants are able to map linguistic labels to referents in the world by tracking co-occurrence probabilities across learning events, a behavior often termed "cross-situational statistical learning." This study builds upon existing research by examining infants' developing ability to aggregate and retrieve word-referent pairings over time. 16- and 20-month-old infants (N = 32) were presented with a cross-situational statistical learning task in which half of the object-label pairings were presented in immediate succession (massed) and half were distributed across time (interleaved). Results revealed striking developmental differences in word mapping performance; infants in both age groups were able to learn pairings presented in immediate succession, but only 20-month-old infants were able to correctly infer pairings distributed over time. This work reveals significant constraints on infants' ability to aggregate and retrieve object-label pairings across time and challenges theories of cross-situational statistical learning that rest on retrieval processes as successful and automatic. (Contains 2 figures.)

Three-dimensional (3D) object completion, the ability to perceive the backs of objects seen from a single viewpoint, emerges at around 6 months of age. Yet, only relatively simple 3D objects have been used in assessing its development. This study examined infants' 3D object completion when presented with more complex stimuli. Infants ("N" = 48) were habituated to an "L"-shaped object shown from a limited viewpoint; then they were tested with volumetrically complete (solid) and incomplete (hollow) versions of the object. Four-month-olds and 6-month-old girls had no preference for either display. Six-month-old boys and both sexes at 9.5 months of age showed a novelty preference for the incomplete object. A control group ("N" = 48), only shown the test displays, had no spontaneous preference. Perceptual completion of complex 3D objects requires infants to integrate multiple, local object features and thus may tax their nascent attentional skills. Infants might use mental rotation to supplement performance, giving an advantage to young boys. Examining the development of perceptual completion of more complex 3D objects reveals distinct mechanisms for the acquisition and refinement of 3D object completion in infancy. (1 table, 4 figures, and 1 footnote.)

Previous studies have revealed that young infants can distinguish between displays of possible or impossible figures, which may require detection of inconsistent depth relations among local line junctions that disrupt global object configurations. Here, we used an eye-tracking paradigm to record eye movements in young infants during an object discrimination task with matched pairs of possible and impossible figures. Our goal was to identify differential patterns of oculomotor activity as infants viewed pictures of possible and impossible objects. We predicted that infants would actively attend to specific pictorial depth cues that denote shape (e.g., T-junctions), and in the context of an impossible figure that they would fixate to a greater extent in anomalous regions of the display relative to other parts. By the age of 4 months, infants fixated reliably longer overall on displays of impossible versus possible cubes, specifically within the critical region where the incompatible lines and irreconcilable depth relations were located, implying an early capacity for selective attention to critical line junction information and integration of local depth cues necessary to perceive object coherence. (Contains 2 figures.)

We recently proposed a multi-channel, image-filtering model for simulating the development of visual selective attention in young infants (Schlesinger, Amso & Johnson, 2007). The model not only captures the performance of 3-month-olds on a visual search task, but also implicates two cortical regions that may play a role in the development of visual selective attention. In the current simulation study, we used the same model to simulate 3-month-olds' performance on a second measure, the perceptual unity task. Two parameters in the model--corresponding to areas in the occipital and parietal cortices--were systematically varied while the gaze patterns produced by the model were recorded and subsequently analyzed. Three key findings emerged from the simulation study. First, the model successfully replicated the performance of 3-month-olds on the unity perception task. Second, the model also helps to explain the improved performance of 2-month-olds when the size of the occluder in the unity perception task is reduced. Third, in contrast to our previous simulation results, variation in only one of the two cortical regions simulated (i.e. recurrent activity in posterior parietal cortex) resulted in a performance pattern that matched 3-month-olds. These findings provide additional support for our hypothesis that the development of perceptual completion in early infancy is promoted by progressive improvements in visual selective attention and oculomotor skill. (Contains 7 figures.)

We know that early experience plays a crucial role in the development of face processing, but we know little about how infants learn to distinguish faces from different races, especially for non-Caucasian populations. Moreover, it is unknown whether differential processing of different race faces observed in typically studied monoracial infants extends to biracial infants as well. Thus, we investigated 3-month-old Caucasian, Asian and biracial (Caucasian-Asian) infants' ability to distinguish Caucasian and Asian faces. Infants completed two within-subject, infant-controlled habituation sequences and test trials as an eye tracker recorded looking times and scanning patterns. Examination of individual differences revealed significant positive correlations between own-race novelty preference and scanning frequency between eye and mouth regions of own-race habituation stimuli for Caucasian and Asian infants, suggesting that facility in own-race face discrimination stems from active inspection of internal facial features in these groups. Biracial infants, however, showed the opposite effect: An "own-race" novelty preference was associated with reduced scanning between eye and mouth regions of "own-race" habituation stimuli, suggesting that biracial infants use a distinct approach to processing frequently encountered faces. Future directions for investigating face processing development in biracial populations are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 2 footnotes.)

We investigated oculomotor anticipations in 4-month-old infants as they viewed center-occluded object trajectories. In two experiments, we examined performance in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) dynamic occlusion displays and in an additional 3D condition with a smiley face as the moving target stimulus. Rates of anticipatory eye movements were not facilitated by 3D displays or by the (presumably) more salient smiley face relative to the 2D condition. However, latencies of anticipations were reduced, implying that 3D visual information may have supported formation of more robust mental representations of the moving object. Results are interpreted in a context of perceptual constraints on developing cognitive capacities during early infancy. (Contains 2 figures.)

The authors offer an exploratory glimpse into the perceived effectiveness of learning approaches presently being used to teach students about sustainability in a business school setting. Sustainability is a topic of growing importance in business and business education. Using teaching approaches generated through self-reports related to the Principles for Responsible Management Education, a student population was used to determine which of these learning approaches are perceived as most effective. Students perceived sustainability to be important for businesses, and agreed that they would prefer to work for a company that embraces sustainability as a core value. (Contains 5 tables.)

Young infants perceive an object's trajectory as continuous across occlusion provided the temporal or spatial gap in perception is small. In 3 experiments involving 72 participants the authors investigated the effects of different forms of auditory information on 4-month-olds' perception of trajectory continuity. Provision of dynamic auditory information about the object's trajectory enhanced perception of trajectory continuity. However, a smaller positive effect was also obtained when the sound was continuous but provided no information about the object's location. Finally, providing discontinuous auditory information or auditory information that was dislocated relative to vision had negative effects on trajectory perception. These results are discussed relative to the intersensory redundancy hypothesis and emphasize the need to take an intersensory approach to infant perception.

Reduced responsiveness to joint attention (RJA), as assessed by the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS), is predictive of both subsequent language difficulties and autism diagnosis. Eye-tracking measurement of RJA is a promising prognostic tool because it is highly precise and standardized. However, the construct validity of eye-tracking assessments of RJA has not been established. By comparing RJA an eye-tracking paradigm to responsiveness to joint attention during the ESCS, the current study evaluated the construct validity of an eye-tracking assessment of RJA for 18-month-old infant siblings of children with autism. Relations between measures of RJA and concurrent language skills and autistic symptomatology were assessed. Correlations between measures of ESCS RJA and eye-tracking RJA were statistically significant, but few relations between either ESCS or eye-tracking assessments of RJA and language or symptoms were observed. This study establishes the construct validity of eye-tracking assessments of RJA.

Infant eye tracking is becoming increasingly popular for its presumed precision relative to traditional looking time paradigms and potential to yield new insights into developmental processes. However, there is strong reason to suspect that the temporal and spatial resolution of popular eye tracking systems is not entirely accurate, potentially compromising any data from an infant eye tracking experiment. Moreover, "best practices" for infant eye tracking, such as knowing which software tool enhances experimental flexibility, remain to be determined. The present investigation was designed to evaluate the temporal and spatial accuracy of data from the Tobii T60XL eye tracker through the use of visual latency and spatial accuracy tasks involving adults and infants. Systematic delays and drifts were revealed in oculomotor response times, and the system's spatial accuracy was observed to deviate somewhat in excess of the manufacturer's estimates; the experimental flexibility of the system appears dependent on the chosen software. (Contains 7 figures.)

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between students' emotional intelligence, social bond, and their interactions in an online learning environment. The research setting in this study was a 100% online master's degree program within a university located in the Midwest of the United States. Eighty-four students participated in the study. Using canonical correlation analysis, statistically significant relationships were found between students' emotional intelligence, social bond, and the interactions that occurred naturally in the educational setting. The results showed that students' ability to perceive emotion by facial expression was negatively related to the number of text and audio messages sent during synchronous interaction. Additionally, the ability of students to perceive emotion was positively related to peer bonding. Lastly, students' bond to their online program was associated with management type interaction during synchronous discussion sessions. Several implications for online learning practitioners and researchers are discussed. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)

Statistical learning--implicit learning of statistical regularities within sensory input--is a way of acquiring structure within continuous sensory environments. Statistics computation, initially shown to be involved in word segmentation, has been demonstrated to be a general mechanism that operates across domains, across time and space, and across species. Recently, statistical leaning has been reported to be present even at birth when newborns were tested with a speech stream. The aim of the present study was to extend this finding, by investigating whether newborns' ability to extract statistics operates in multiple modalities, as found for older infants and adults. Using the habituation procedure, two experiments were carried out in which visual sequences were presented. Results demonstrate that statistical learning is a general mechanism that extracts statistics across domain since the onset of sensory experience. Intriguingly, present data reveal that newborn learner's limited cognitive resources constrain the functioning of statistical learning, narrowing the range of what can be learned. (Contains 2 figures.)

Drawing upon philosophical virtue theory (Kreeft, 1986; MacIntyre, 1984; Meilander, 1984; Pieper, 1966), as well as its growing psychological support (Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Vitz, 1990), we designed a pilot intervention for a small group of adolescents in an academic day-treatment program at a juvenile justice center. J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" novels were used to facilitate virtuous character development in group discussions and journaling exercises. Self-report ratings of seven virtues were obtained at pretest and posttest with the Youth Virtues Scale, a modified version of Cawley, Martin, and Johnson's (2000) Virtues Scale. Teachers also provided a global rating of virtuous behavior. Engaged students were significantly more likely to report improvements in charity and fidelity than students who did not invest in the program; fortitude and prudence approached significance. Engaged students also showed more teacher-rated changes in virtuous behavior. We discuss the development of the intervention, qualitative findings around ethical issues, study implications, and recommendations for future research.

Mental rotation involves transforming a mental image of an object so as to accurately predict how the object would look if it were rotated in space. This study examined mental rotation in male and female 3-month-olds, using the stimuli and paradigm developed by Moore and Johnson (2008). Infants were habituated to a video of a three-dimensional object rotating back and forth through a 240 degree angle around the vertical axis. After habituation, infants were tested both with videos of the same object rotating through the previously unseen 120 degree angle, and with the mirror image of that display. Unlike females, who fixated the test displays for approximately equal durations, males spent significantly more time fixating the familiar object than the mirror-image object. Because familiarity preferences like this emerge when infants are relatively slow to process a habituation stimulus, the data support the interpretation that mental rotation of dynamic three-dimensional stimuli is relatively difficult--but possible--for 3-month-old males. Interpretation of the sex differences observed in 3- and 5-month-olds' performances is discussed. (Contains 3 figures.)

From birth, infants detect associations between the locations of static visual objects and sounds they emit, but there is limited evidence regarding their sensitivity to the dynamic equivalent when a sound-emitting object moves. In 4 experiments involving thirty-six 2-month-olds, forty-eight 5-month-olds, and forty-eight 8-month-olds, we investigated infants' ability to process this form of spatial colocation. Whereas there was no evidence of spontaneous sensitivity, all age groups detected a dynamic colocation during habituation and looked longer at test trials in which sound and sight were dislocated. Only 2-month-olds showed clear sensitivity to the dislocation relation, although 8-month-olds did so following additional habituation. These results are discussed relative to the intersensory redundancy hypothesis and work suggesting increasing specificity in processing with age.

How do infants learn to perceive the backs of objects that they see only from a limited viewpoint? Infants' 3-dimensional object completion abilities emerge in conjunction with developing motor skills--independent sitting and visual-manual exploration. Infants at 4.5 to 7.5 months of age (n = 28) were habituated to a limited-view object and tested with volumetrically complete and incomplete (hollow) versions of the same object. Parents reported infants' sitting experience, and infants' visual-manual exploration of objects was observed in a structured play session. Infants' self-sitting experience and visual-manual exploratory skills predicted looking at the novel, incomplete object on the habituation task. Further analyses revealed that self-sitting facilitated infants' visual inspection of objects while they manipulated them. The results are framed within a developmental systems approach, wherein infants' sitting skill, multimodal object exploration, and object knowledge are linked in developmental time. (Contains 2 tables, 4 figures and 1 footnote.)

In simple tests of preference, infants as young as newborns prefer faces and face-like stimuli over distractors. Little is known, however, about the development of attention to faces in complex scenes. We recorded eye-movements of 3-, 6-, and 9-month-old infants and adults during free-viewing of clips from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (an animated film). The tendency to look at faces increased with age. Using novel computational tools, we found that 3-month-olds were less consistent (across individuals) in where they looked than were older infants. Moreover, younger infants' fixations were best predicted by low-level image salience, rather than the locations of faces. Between 3 and 9 months of age, infants gradually focused their attention on faces. We discuss several possible interpretations of this shift in terms of social development, cross-modal integration, and attentional/executive control. (Contains 1 table and 5 figures.)