Five experiments using the visual preference method (Expt I) and an infant-controlled habituation procedure (Expts 2-5) are described. Their aim was to examine the salience of movement, both rotation and translation, as a stimulus for new-borns, and to investigate under what conditions information about shape can be extracted from stationary and moving stimuli. A moving stimulus, whether rotating or translating, was found to be consistently preferred to an identical stationary stimulus (Expt I). Following habituation to one direction of rotation, no novelty preferences were found for the other direction of rotation (Expt 2); this suggests that clockwise and anticlockwise movements may be comparable for the new-born.The other experiments suggest that new-borns can extract shape information from stationary and moving stimuli, and can transfer what is learned to moving and to stationary stimuli (Expts 3 and 5). This transfer occurred when (a) the spatiotemporal changes caused by stimulus rotation were the same from habituation to post-criterion trials (Expt 3), and (b) orientation did not change (due to the use of translation movement) across conditions (Expt 5). There was no evidence that new-borns could transfer learning from stationary to rotating stimuli or vice versa (Expt 4).This demonstrates that new-borns can perceivea similarity between a stimulus when moving and when stationary, and suggests a degree of visual organization that is not usually attributed to the new-born: Expt 5 in particular suggests that the perceptual potential for identity constancy is present from birth.

Parents of 37 children with asthma (aged between three and five years) and of 37 healthy controls were interviewed about their involvement in everyday care, discipline practices, perceptions of their child and situations which were particularly stressful. There was little correlation between mothers' and fathers' preferences for different discipline practices. There was, however, greater agreement in their perceptions. Parents of children with asthma did not differ from those of healthy controls in discipline practices. However, children with asthma were perceived to be generally less healthy. Parents of those with asthma also reported a greater number of everyday situations to be stressful. These data do not support traditional assumptions that parents of children with asthma are more permissive or overindulgent. At least in this preschool sample, there was only limited indication of adverse effects of chronic disease on parenting practices.

SUMMARY 147 experienced teachers completed a questionnaire concerning their knowledge of and attitudes toward chronic childhood disease. On the whole, their knowledge of the causes and treatments involved was rudimentary. Teachers were especially concerned that they did not know how to deal with medical emergencies in the classroom, and about the repercussions for other children. The results identify the type of information teachers feel they most need in order to teach sick children, and should increase awareness among paediatricians of how difficulties in school can arise. RÉSUMÉ Cent quarante sept enseignants expéprimentés ont rempli un questionnaire concernant leurs connaissances et leurs attitudes vis à vis des maladies de l'enfance. Globalement, leurs connaissances des causes et des traitements des troubles variés étaient rudimentaires. Les enseignants s'inquiètent specialement à l'idée de ne pas savoir comment faire face aux urgences médicales dans la classe et des répercussions sur les autres enfants. Les résultats de l'étude permettent de préciser le type d'information dont les enseignants sentent le plus le besoin pour enseigner à des enfants malades et cela devrait accroitre la prise de onscience pour les pédiatres des difficultés qui peuvent survenir à l'école. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG 147 erfahrene Lehrer haben einen Fragebogen ausgefüllt, in dem sie über ihre Kenntnisse und über ihre Einstellung zu Erkrankungen im Kindesalter befragt wurden. Im allgemeinen waren ihre Kenntnisse über die Ursachen verschiedener Erkrankungen und über die Behandlung rudimentär. Sie waren insbesondere besorgt darüber, daß sie nicht wußten, wie sie mit medizinischen Notsituationen im Klassenraum fertig werden sollten und welchen Eindruck so etwas auf die anderen Kinder machen wiirde. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, welche lnformationen die Lehrer am meisten brauchen urn kranke Kinder zu uinterrichten und sie sollten bei den Kinderärzten zu einem besseren Verstandnis führen, wie es in der Schule zu Schwierigkeiten kommen kann.

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