A Longitudinal Study of the Effect of Computers on the Cognitive Development of Low-Income African American Preschool Children

Research Findings: The current study examined the impact of daily classroom computer use on the cognitive development of preschool children in 14 urban Head Start classrooms. The sample consisted of 208 predominantly African American low-income children with a mean age of 48.8 months. A quasi-experimental design was used in which 7 classrooms had computers and 7 classrooms served as the control. Assessments were made at baseline and at 6, 12, and 18 months. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to assess differences between the computer and control groups on cognitive developmental trajectories. Children in the computer condition displayed significantly greater increases in quantitative development than did children from the control condition. Practice or Policy: Children’s access to computers at home and at school has become increasingly prevalent. However, there is still a substantial disparity in access to technology between different socioeconomic groups. The preschool years may offer a promising opportunity to close this gap in access; however, little is known about the impact of computers on the developing minds of children, particularly those from low-income African American families. Findings from the current study suggest that daily use of computer centers in the Head Start classroom may benefit quantitative outcomes for young children.     

The Development of Health Knowledge in Low-Income Mexican-American Children

Children growing up in poverty are at risk for various health problems. For low-income, Mexican-American children, these risks include obesity, diabetes, and accidental injuries, 3 conditions that can largely be prevented by healthy life-styles. Despite the potential for prevention through education leading to health-promoting behaviors, very little is known about the development of health knowledge in this population. The present study examined low-income, Mexican-American children's understanding of the relation between health behavior and health status in 3 areas: nutrition, hygiene, and safety. 79 children (41 boys, 38 girls) ages 4 to 8 years participated. Children's knowledge was assessed in a structured play situation conducted in a laboratory setting. Results revealed that children knew the least about the relation between food consumption and their health, and knew the most about beneficial and harmful practices in the areas of safety and hygiene. Age and gender differences were also significant, with girls and older children more likely to provide elaborate and complex rationales for their responses. Implications of the findings for understanding the role of cognitive development and experience in the development of health knowledge are considered.     

Early Intervention and Mediating Processes in Cognitive Performance of Children of Low-Income African American Families

This longitudinal study of 161 African American children from low-income families examined multiple influences, including early childhood interventions and characteristics of the child and family, on longitudinal patterns of children's cognitive performance measured between 6 months and 8 years of age. Results indicate that more optimal patterns of cognitive development were associated with intensive early educational child care, responsive stimulating care at home, and higher maternal IQ. In accordance with a general systems model, analyses also suggested that child care experiences were related to better cognitive performance in part through enhancing the infant's responsiveness to his or her environment. Maternal IQ had both a direct effect on cognitive performance during early childhood and, also, an indirect effect through its influence on the family environment.     

Shyness as a Factor when Assessing Children

Differences between shy and non-shy children were found on measures of speech in an assessment situation even when variation in vocabulary scores was statistically controlled. The findings have implications for understanding shyness and for practice in assessing shy children.     

儿童认知发展中的利用缺陷研究

首先介绍了儿童认知发展中利用缺陷的定义,然后通过对前人的研究文献的分析说明了利用缺陷存在的证据和儿童利用缺陷的发展特征。并从个体可获得的心理资源、背景知识、元记忆、对先前无效策略的抑制和包括智商、性别、温度、动机等的非发展性原因来揭示利用缺陷的影响因素。最后展望了将来可能研究的几个重要问题并简单的说明了利用缺陷对于我们教育的启示。     

Effects of Day-Care on Cognitive and Socioemotional Competence of Thirteen-Year-Old Swedish Schoolchildren

This is a follow-up study of an earlier one in which positive effects of early day-care experience were found on children's cognitive and socioemotional competence at age 8. 128 children were followed from their first year of life. At 8 and 13 years of age, 92% and 89% of the children, respectively, remained in the study. Most children could be classified according to age at first entry into day-care. Cognitive and socioemotional competence was rated by the children's classroom teachers. Hierarchical regression and path analyses were used in the statistical treatment of the data. It was possible to trace independent positive effects of age of entry into day-care as far as age 13. Children entering center care or family day-care before age 1 generally performed better in school when 8 and 13 years old and received more positive ratings from their teachers on several socioemotional variables. The path analyses indicated the following causal model: family characteristics, such as type of family, family's socioemotional status, and mother's educational level, influence the time of first entry into day-care. This variable, in turn, has consequences for children's competence at 8 and/or 13 years of age even after controlling for home background, child gender, and intelligence, which, of course, have their own effects. The effect of socioeconomic status was often mediated through age of entry into day-care.     

Parental Involvement as a Protective Factor During the Transition to High School

ABSTRACT

The authors investigated whether student-perceived parental involvement predicts improvement in academic, behavioral, and relational outcomes for low-achieving adolescents. With a sample of 59 racially diverse 9th-grade students, the authors measured 3 dimensions of parental involvement: direct participation, academic encouragement, and expectations for grades and attainment. Analyses revealed associations between 2 types of parental involvement and outcomes, which held after considering student gender and race. Students whose parents had higher expectations about grades and attainment had higher grade point averages and were rated as more academically engaged by their teachers. Students who reported that their parents were more academically encouraging experienced more care from their teachers. Results suggest certain types of parental involvement may be more effective than others in supporting low-achieving adolescents’ school performance.     

Cognitive and Neural Development of Individuated Self-Representation in Children

Processing the self-relevance of information facilitates recall. Similarly, processing close-other-related information facilitates recall to a lesser degree than processing self-relevant information. This memory advantage may be viewed as an index of the degree to which the representation of self is differentiated from representations of close others. To test developmental hypotheses concerning the self, this study examined the relation of memory for self- and mother-referentially processed information in participants age 7–13 years (Experiment 1: N  = 37; Experiment 2: N  = 14). Memory for words encoded with reference to oneself increases with age, relative to memory for words encoded with reference to one's mother. When used as an individual difference measure, the difference in self versus mother memory correlates with regions of the rostral anterior cingulate associated with affective salience.     

Cognitive Development of Chinese Urban Only Children and Children with Siblings

142 first- and 188 fifth-grade only children and children with siblings from the Beijing area were given 11 cognitive tasks to investigate the difference in cognitive abilities that may exist due to the special conditions resulting from the Chinese 1-child family planning program. Overall superiority of grade 1 only children over children with siblings appeared in cognitive abilities involving memory processes, language skills, and mathematics. No differences existed for perceptual tasks. However, the differences in cognitive abilities between only children and children with siblings at grade 5 were less prominent than at grade 1. The cognitive superiority of these younger Chinese only children over children with siblings may be explained by the fact that the fifth-grade only children were born before 1980 when the 1-child family planning program was not strongly enforced. Parents may have tended to treat these children and children with siblings alike. In contrast, the first-grade only children were born at a time of government policy intervention that resulted in special investment in these children by parents and elders, suggesting the possibility of a time-related cohort effect.     

Understanding Associations Between Low-Income Mothers' Participation in Education and Parenting

Maternal education is one of the strongest predictors of children's academic outcomes. One possible explanation for this is that more highly educated mothers more frequently engage in parenting practices that may promote children's later cognitive development; however, most of this evidence is correlational. This study uses Head Start Impact Study data (N = 1,953) to explore whether low-income mothers' participation in education affects their parenting practices and beliefs. Principal scores, which predict maternal educational participation based on covariates, were used for analysis. Principal score matching was used to identify mothers who we predicted participated in education because their children were randomly assigned to Head Start. We compared these mothers' outcomes to those of mothers we predicted would have participated in education if they were assigned to Head Start. For these mothers, participation in maternal education was associated with children watching fewer hours of TV, having more types of printed media at home, and more frequent participation in cultural activities, but it was not associated with a host of other parenting outcomes. Changing parenting is one potential pathway by which maternal educational participation may influence children's later academic outcomes.     

超常儿童的认知发展及其教育策略

超常儿童是世界各国教育界广泛注意的一个主题,特别是认知特点的研究更为大家所关心。当前,对超常儿童的认知发展研究主要集中于认知加工速度、知识基础、元认知和问题解决策略上。现在,超常教育领域也有许多要研究解决的问题,需要心理学界与教育界的通力合作。     

自闭症儿童认知发展研究的回溯与探索

对自闭症 (autism)儿童的研究已走过了近 60年的历史 ,对自闭症儿童的认知发展的研究也取得显著进展。在这些研究中 ,三大理论模式 ,即“认知语言障碍论”、“心理理论”和“情感认知障碍论”占有重要地位。本文试对上述主要理论及基于这些理论所作的研究作一综合性阐述与分析。同时 ,对这些研究给我们留下的未决的课题进行初步探索。     

国际上儿童青少年参与教育决策的发展及启示

国际上儿童青少年参与与其相关的教育决策,随着儿童权益运动的兴起而发展,伴随着对儿童青少年认知的转变、学校改进运动的实证研究和公民教育的实践需求而逐渐发展,形成了以Rudduck参与阶梯模式、Lundy公约解析模式为代表的参与范式,并在传统社会调研基础上积累起针对儿童青少年参与的技巧、策略和注意事项,其应用领域包括政策制定、公共服务、学校教育和家庭事务,为我国提供了观念转变、政策制定、模式探索、人员培训和研究深化等方面的借鉴和启示。     

皮亚杰的儿童心理发展观及教育启示

皮亚杰的儿童心理发展观是新课程改革的重要理论依据。文章对皮亚杰儿童心理发展观具体内容进行阐述,旨在为课程改革和教育实践提供启示和借鉴。     

Parenting as a Protective Process for School Success in Children from Homeless Families

The role of parenting as a protective process for school success was investigated among 59 African American children 6 to 11 years old from homeless families residing in a Minneapolis shelter. Reliable scores for three dimensions of parenting—parent-child closeness, parent involvement in education, and firm discipline—were derived from ratings based on interviews with parents while they were living at the shelter. After families had left the shelter, children's school success was assessed via three types of indicators: a) performance on a standardized achievement test; b) ratings of school records for the current school semester as well as cumulative school records; and c) teacher assessments of appropriate school behavior. Results suggested that good parenting may be protective for school success in these children. Close parent–child relationships and high parent involvement in the child's education were associated with school success in terms of school records of achievement and behavior in school. Parent's intellectual functioning, education level, psychological distress and firm disciplinary practices were unrelated to child academic success. Future research directions and implications for intervention are discussed.     

Parenting as a Protective Process for School Success in Children from Homeless Families

The role of parenting as a protective process for school success was investigated among 59 African American children 6 to 11 years old from homeless families residing in a Minneapolis shelter. Reliable scores for three dimensions of parenting—parent-child closeness, parent involvement in education, and firm discipline—were derived from ratings based on interviews with parents while they were living at the shelter. After families had left the shelter, children's school success was assessed via three types of indicators: a) performance on a standardized achievement test; b) ratings of school records for the current school semester as well as cumulative school records; and c) teacher assessments of appropriate school behavior. Results suggested that good parenting may be protective for school success in these children. Close parent-child relationships and high parent involvement in the child's education were associated with school success in terms of school records of achievement and behavior in school. Parent's intellectual functioning, education level, psychological distress and firm disciplinary practices were unrelated to child academic success. Future research directions and implications for intervention are discussed.     

The Sociopedagogical Resource of the Countryside as a Factor in Its Development

An analysis of the problem of the sociopedagogical resource of the countryside as a factor of its development in Russia shows that changes in rural areas have put at risk the future opportunities of young people. What is need is to harness all of the resources found in the village to the task of strengthening the upbringing and aspirations of rural youth.     

Beyond Rough and Tumble: Low-Income Fathers' Interactions and Children's Cognitive Development at 24 Months

Objective. The purpose of this investigation was to explore associations between father-child interactions and children's cognitive status in an underrepresented group of low-income, ethnically diverse families. Design. Participants were 65 inner-city fathers and their 24-month-old children (34 boys, 31 girls). Father-child interactions were videotaped for 10 min at home during semistructured free play, and mental scale scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development were obtained on children. The quality of father-child interactions was assessed using 14 Likert ratings of fathers (e.g., responsiveness, language quality, and intrusiveness) and 12 of children (e.g., play, participation, emotional regulation, and communication). Results. Factor analyses revealed 2 patterns of engagement in fathers (Responsive-Didactic and Negative-Intrusive) and 3 in children (Playful-Communicative, Social, and Regulated). Thirty-six children scored within normal limits on the MDI and 29 scored in the delayed range. Together, fathers' and children's factor scores explained more than 25% of the variance in children's performance on the MDI. Logistic regressions indicated that fathers with high scores on the Responsive-Didactic factor were nearly 5 times more likely to have children within the normal range on the MDI than were low-scoring fathers. Conclusions. These findings point to the importance of considering fathers' role in early cognitive development, particularly in low-income families in which children begin to exhibit significant declines in their second and third years. Positive father-child interactions appear to obviate cognitive delay.