European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 29, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                My amp parenting infants smarter than we thin knew York times at 7 months of age children can recognize a picture of a human face As More than just a combination of parts. Three months later they can understand How a car hits another in a cartoon. At 18 months they can comprehend the reasoning for each step in taking a Bath. These Are among the findings that Leslie b. Cohen a professor of psychology has made at the University of Texas in Austin a with the assistance,.he acknowledges of the More than 10,000 infants who have visited his office in the last eight years. Using a process called habituation that Cohen developed in the late 1960s, he and his counterparts at laboratories across the nation have discovered that infants learn much More rapidly than previously believed. It what we re discovering is that during the first year of life the  information is processed changes dramatically a Cohen said 1 a 10-Monttvold can t process peace on Earth or Good will toward men As a category unfortunately Many adults also can to but the ability to. Categorize is there very Early on Quot a a a in habituation researchers showed infants projected or computer images and then record the amount of time v that the child watches them. A a. ,. In one Experiment infants Are shown two imaginary animals until they Decorpe bored with the images. Various parts of the animals Are then switched to create a new animal. A. A a. A a a a a a if the child is immediately bored with the new image. Cohen has found then the infant is not yet Able to synthesize information to recognize a whole and still sees Only the parts of the old animals. A. -. Quot what you have to do is find a technique that shows you when babies put things together and i think that s what we be done Quot he said. With the help of More than 40 students Over the last several years Cohen has tested an average of 2,100 infants a year in the cubicles of his Laboratory. Cohen who has been working with infants for about 20 years said Quot you a think i Call a baby warehouse to be Able to gel so Many infants in  a. The most effective technique he said has been to read birth announcements in the City s newspaper and then Cail the parents. Quot it never ends Quot he said of the research. Quot every study always leads to two of three More  Quot Don t worry if child shows preference for one Parent by Marianne and Stephen w. Garber and Robyn Freedman Spizman Cox news service. A a a q my husband. Has travelled frequently a Ever since our 4-year-old daughter was a born. When he is in town he participates a in her discipline and tries to spend time with her. They have a great time when i am not around the minute i return she complains about How he brushes her Teeth or won / let her do things she wants to. When we Are both  she wants me to take care of All her needs. This is very frustrating and discouraging for her dad. What can we do a worried mom. Dear worried mom it is perfectly Normal for children to show preference for one Parent infants May 1 prefer the arms of the major care giver especially when they Are ill or fretful. Later a child May want to be Quot just like Mommy or daddy a still later As their identification with the same gender Parent comes to fruition they May vie for the attention of the opposite sex  these suggestions to even out the relationships a ignore comments. When you return Home and your daughter begins a Litany of complaints continue doing what you need to do. Or Tell her to Tell daddy what is bothering her. 1a equalize the opportunities. Review the interactions both of you have with your daughter. Dad should have both maintenance and entertainment opportunities. He can t build the relationship you seek during totally fun weekends or by Only bathing her. A follow through. When dad starts a task Don t. Intercede. Avoid making patronizing comments about dad  to Complete the Job. A reinforce cooperation. Praise your daughter s cooperation with dad and any positive statements she makes. The travelling  express his loss. Quot gosh that sounds like so much fun i wish i could have been with you too.�?�. A a a provide time for the adults to be together. Adults should make plans hire a Sitter and take some time for themselves. That will emphasize the notion that there Are Many capable people who have a role in taking care of the kids. A a a Sassy readers action line annual reconciliation of housing allowance a a. Someone have the courage to agree. A Ronald Diehl Lindsey air station Germany an action line letter regarding reconciliation of annual living quarters allowance left me agreeing with. Both the question and answer. I too find this Annua Drill time consuming but acceptable in order to Quot. Account for Federal dollars ,. Especially at a time of such a budgetary trauma. However i fail to understand Why i a civilian am a. Expected to account for dollars that i spend when my military neighbor is not. In this Case an Annua reconciliation Lor my neighbor a would recapture Many Federal dollars which have gone for an enormous excessive monthly Nebe Kosten property maintenance fees in Germany by the Way who gets to keep excess payments anyway a Don t get me wrong i believe the reconciliation is a fair requirement to ensure the efficient use of Federal funds. It would be fairer if we All suffered this inconvenience. Does a amp Page 16 the stars and stripes sgt. 1st class Michael Donohue staff finance non commissioned officer office of the Deputy chief of staff resource management Headquarters Usa eur and 7th army replies i la take your Challenge As i was involved in the decision making process that established the current procedures. Prior to the 1986 implementation of the current overseas housing allowance Oha program the department of defense inspector general studied the rent plus program the in report stated that the government and members of the armed services were losing Money through Over and underpayments. One major finding was that neither soldiers sailors and airmen nor the rent Pius program managers could define rent which is used As a basis of determining the allowance. Accordingly when Oha was implemented it was decided that rent would be defined As any Cost a service member must pay to occupy a dwelling unit. Therefore the. Nebe Kosten. Charged by a landlord is correctly included in rent in calculating Oha. A. A monday april 29, 1991 at the same time the Issue of annual reconciliations was discussed. I agree that it is time consuming and this exactly the reason the military departments do not do it. While there Are Only 7,000 department of the army civilian employees receiving la there Are 56,000 soldiers receiving Oha. The sheer numbers involved make reconciliation costly. Accordingly Dod agreed that there would be no reconciliation. Soldiers who do not spend their entire allowance May keep the difference while soldiers who spend More do so out of pocket Quot to write us. Readers action line is the readers a a court of last resort striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you Aie a question and Don / know where to turn for the answer write to readers action Bine co the stars and stripes. Apo 09211-4211. All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking  general interest to our readers