Infant learning. A study to appear in the March/April issue of Child Development has shown that younger babies (of around 10 months) learn words by associating a parent's spoken words with objects that interest them, rather than objects that the parent is referring to. However, as babies get older, they begin to pay more attention to what the parent is referring to when learning a word. (The birth of words: Ten-month-olds learn words through perceptual salience; Children's earliest words stem from what interests them.)

Preschool. Education Minister Julie Bishop is proposing that all four year olds receive education in a preschool or childcare centre with trained staff. As things stand, roughly 90% of children already attend a preschool in most states, except NSW in which 60% attend. (Preschool plan for all 4-year-olds; Govt wants four-year-olds at preschool.)

Cheating. A study commissioned by the Times Higher Education Supplement has found that 33% of university students admit to cheating by copying ideas from friends, books or the internet. However, only 3% said they copied text word-for-word. Males admitted to cheating more frequently than females. (One in three students cheat, survey finds.)