Constructing a Joint Story-Writing Space: The Dynamics of Young Children's Collaboration at Computers

This study explored kindergartners' and first graders' collaborative processes to understand the nature of peer collaboration and the learning opportunities afforded by peer discourse. Data were drawn from 6 dyads who participated in a computer writing project for 2 school semesters. Children's videotaped interactions were analyzed with the focus on understanding how children's collaborative roles and patterns changed over time. Examination of video data and children's computer products revealed that (a) children's interaction patterns changed from a more independent style toward a more integrative style, as shown in their distribution of control over mouse and keyboard and in the written outcomes of their collaboration; (b) a shift in role patterns emerged across repeated instances of peer collaboration so that children began alternating the roles of leader and observer, and less competent children began carrying out more important tasks; and (c) the computer served as an object of reference for children to sustain their interaction and stay on task.     

Young children's play qualities in same-, other-, and mixed-sex peer groups

This research examined how children's play varied as a function of the sex of the child, the sex of the play partner, and whether they played in dyads or groups. Children (mean age = 52 months) were observed during their free play. Data revealed that boys' same-sex play was more active-forceful, further from adults, and more stereotyped than girls' play, and that this pattern was generally exaggerated in groups versus dyads. Children rarely played only with children of the other sex (other-sex peers), but about one fourth of their interactions involved children of both sexes (mixed-sex peers). Compared with same- or dyadic other-sex play, mixed-sex play was more likely to occur near adults, and was intermediate in active-forceful and stereotyped activity choices. Findings confirmed that children's experiences in peer groups vary depending on the sex of the child and sex of play partners.     

The mediating effect of task presentation on collaboration and children’s acquisition of scientific reasoning

There has been considerable research concerning peer interaction and the acquisition of children’s scientific reasoning. This study investigated differences in collaborative activity between pairs of children working around a computer with pairs of children working with physical apparatus and related any differences to the development of children’s scientific reasoning. Children aged between 9 and 10 years old (48 boys and 48 girls) were placed into either same ability or mixed ability pairs according to their individual, pre-test performance on a scientific reasoning task. These pairs then worked on either a computer version or a physical version of Inhelder and Piaget’s (1958) chemical combination task. Type of presentation was found to mediate the nature and type of collaborative activity. The mixed-ability pairs working around the computer talked proportionally more about the task and management of the task; had proportionally more transactive discussions and used the record more productively than children working with the physical apparatus. Type of presentation was also found to mediated children’s learning. Children in same ability pairs who worked with the physical apparatus improved significantly more than same ability pairs who worked around the computer. These findings were partially predicted from a socio-cultural theory and show the importance of tools for mediating collaborative activity and collaborative learning.     

Mediated activity in the primary classroom: girls,boys and computers

Seven and 9-year-old children (n=120) worked in same or mixed gender pairs on a language-based computer and non-computer task, and their styles of social interaction were compared. At both ages, mixed gender pairs showed more assertive and less transactive (collaborative) interaction than same gender pairs on both tasks. When collaboration broke down, boys on the computer task and girls on the non-computer task dominated assertive interaction in mixed gender pairs, whereas in same gender pairs both children were equally assertive. The mediational role of the computer and the social dynamics that frame its use are discussed.     

Children's Conceptions of Information Communications Technology

This study draws upon qualitative data to examine children's understanding of computers and how they work. The study involved interviewing a sample of 10 and 11 year old pupils in two primary schools. The results showed that children who have experience of ICT in the home as well as the school have a better understanding of the computer system and its functions. These children drew analogies of computers to related activities. Those with no computer access at home had limited knowledge of what computers are used for.     

Parental responses to sibling conflict: the effects of development and parent gender

Mothers' and fathers' responses to their children's spontaneous sibling conflicts were observed using a wireless microphone system. Eighty-eight two-child, two-parent families participated in three home observations. Secondborn children were 3 to 5 years of age and firstborn children were 2 to 4 years older. Associations between parents' enactment of three categories of conflict management strategies (passive nonintervention, child-centered management, and parental control) and sibling interaction quality varied according to children's ages, gender of the monitoring parent, and type of strategy used. Passive nonintervention was highly associated with the occurrence of subsequent conflict. Younger sibling dyads, in particular, behaved more antagonistically when their parents did not intervene. In contrast, older sibling dyads were less involved and less close when their mothers intervened in any way. Results suggest that relatively younger sibling dyads may benefit more than older dyads from parental intervention.     

The effects of computers on children's social development and school participation: Evidence from a randomized control experiment

Concerns over the perceived negative impacts of computers on social development among children are prevalent but largely uninformed by plausibly causal evidence. We provide the first test of this hypothesis using a large-scale randomized control experiment in which more than one thousand children attending grades 6–10 across 15 different schools and 5 school districts in California were randomly given computers to use at home. Children in the treatment group are more likely to report having a social networking site, but also report spending more time communicating with their friends and interacting with their friends in person. There is no evidence that computer ownership displaces participation in after-school activities such as sports teams or clubs or reduces school participation and engagement.     

Social contexts of learning literate language: The role of varied, familiar, and close peer relationships

Two prominent theories in evolutionary biology have stressed the role of social contexts in the evolution of primate cognition. One theory holds that cognition evolved in the context of individuals having to keep track of their interactions with a variety of conspecifics. In the other theory, cognition evolved in the contexts of familiar and close social relationships. In this paper, we present two experiments examining the effects of varied, familiar, and close social contacts on preschool children's literate language and story re-reading. We hypothesized, based on developmental evolutionary theory, that closeness, in the form of increased familiarity and friendship, would maximize children's expression of emotional terms, conflict/resolution cycles, collaborative responses, literate language, and story re-readings. In Study 1, children were exposed to one of two conditions. In the more familiar condition, initially unfamiliar children interacted with the same peer across four separate observations. In the less familiar, varied condition, a focal child interacted with a different unfamiliar peer on four separate occasions. Consistent with predictions, children in the more familiar condition increased their use of emotional terms and literate language and story re-reading with time. In Study 2, a familiar group (as defined in Study 1) was compared with children in bestfriend dyads. As predicted, friends outperformed familiar peers initially, but between-group differences decreased across time while children's performance in the familiar group increased across time. Results are discussed in terms of the role of familiarity in the evolution of cooperation and cognition.     

Talk and the Development of Social Understanding

Our theme is that parent-child talk about the mental world plays a central role in the development of children's social understanding. This view is supported by Wittgenstein's argument that public criteria are necessary for learning the meaning of mental state terms. We propose that children, mainly in talk, learn the patterns of interaction that are criterial for the use of mental state terms. Two examples of empirical research illustrate this proposal. The first, a qualitative analysis of how criteria for psychological terms are displayed in mother-child talk, revealed that criteria were variously displayed and were presented in temporal, cause and effect sequences. The second, a quantitative analysis of key elements for understanding false beliefs present in mother-child talk, compared dyads in which children Failed (N = 14) or Passed (N = 10) false belief tests. In both Fail and Pass dyads, mothers elicited the vast majority of elements but produced about the same number as children. Only Pass children produced elements without mothers eliciting them. There were no instances of child-elicited/mother-produced elements. Overall, Fail children were less competent at recognizing and commenting on important aspects of a situation of false belief. We conclude that the development of talk and social understanding are inextricably intertwined.     

Inclusion of Mobility‐Impaired Children in the One‐to‐One Computing Era: A Case Study

In recent times many developing countries have adopted a one‐to‐one model for distributing computers in classrooms. Among the various effects that such an approach could imply, it surely increases the availability of computer‐related Assistive Technology at school and provides higher resources for empowering disabled children in their learning and communicating abilities. New environments are created in which technology is no more a specific solution, but a matter of fact. This article describes three case studies involving children from Uruguayan special schools undergoing integration projects in mainstream schools. The children could count on a computer technology which did not mark them as “those who need some different tools,” but as special users of the same tools as the rest of the students.     

Fathers' coping resources and children's socioemotional adjustment among children with learning disabilities

This study examined a cumulative model of vulnerability and protective factors at the individual level (children's attachment relationships with father and children's sense of coherence) and at the family level as manifested by fathers' coping resources (fathers' sense of coherence, fathers' active and avoidant coping strategies) in helping to explain differences in socioemotional and behavioral adjustment among children at the age 8 to 12 years with learning disabilities (LD) and or with typical development. The sample included 205 father-child dyads: 107 fathers and their children having LD and 98 fathers and their children with typical development, from the same public elementary schools. Preliminary analyses indicated significant group differences on all the children's measures as well as on fathers' avoidant coping strategies. Path analysis examined the multidimensional risk model for the LD and non-LD groups. The study found a high fit between the theoretical model and the empirical findings as well as a different pattern of relationship between the model's components for the two populations studied. Discussion focuses on understanding the unique value of vulnerability and protective factors at the individual and family levels on children's well-adjusted functioning.     

Influence of purpose of an interaction on adult-child planning

Abstract

This study examined whether the purpose of an interaction influences the process and outcome of adult-child planning. Planning interactions of 40 mothers and their 3;6 to 5;6 years-old children, who were either told prior to the interaction or not of subsequent independent planning by the child, were compared. Results indicate that when dyads were aware of the later independent planning, mothers and children shared more responsibility than when dyads were not aware. Older children who planned in dyads that were aware of the later independent trial planned more in advance when planning alone that older children who planned in dyads that were not aware of the later independent trial or younger children in either Awareness condition. These patterns suggest that the puspose of adult-child interaction, in conjunction with child-age, are important influences on how joint problem-solving unfolds     

Playing with Computing Technologies in the Home

Since the 1980s there have been a number of studies that investigate the use of computers in homes. Many of these focused on the adults or adolescents in the family. Few studies have focused on children, particularly those between the ages of five and twelve. If children of these ages were included in a study they were usually situated within a study of the family and its dynamics, and often their experiences were viewed through the eyes of the adults in the family. The study described in this paper is unique in that the children's perceptions, beliefs and practices were the major focus and the children themselves were the informants. The study investigated children's computer experiences within their homes and their perceptions and beliefs about a range of issues associated with these experiences. The focus in this paper is on the range of computer activities in which children engaged. The major finding was that children's activities, whether game playing, other leisure-related activities or work-related activities, involved 'playful' interactions with the computer which led to exploratory approaches to learning about both the computer and the task itself. © 1999 IFIP, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers     

Problem Solving, Contention, and Struggle: How Siblings Resolve a Conflict of Interests

In a laboratory setting, 48 sibling dyads age 4 and 6 or 6 and 8 years negotiated the division of six toys. Findings revealed that, in general, children reached divisions while using a preponderance of constructive problem-solving strategies, rather than contentious tactics. The degree of conflict of interests and the quality of sibling relationships predicted the children's use of problem-solving and contentious negotiation strategies, and was related to the types of resolutions achieved. Dyads experiencing low conflict of interests resolved their differences quickly. High conflict of interests coupled with positive relationships and constructive negotiation resulted in longer negotiations and creative, agreeable resolutions. High conflict of interests coupled with more negative relationships and destructive negotiations resulted in children's failures to reach agreement. Developmental differences indicated that older siblings within the pairs took the lead in negotiation, and benefited slightly more from the divisions. Furthermore, children in older dyads were more sophisticated and other oriented in their negotiations.     

The development of sex role stereotypes in the third year: relationships to gender labeling, gender identity, sex-typed toy preference, and family characteristics

The onset and development of preschoolers' awareness of sex role stereotypes, gender labeling, gender identity, and sex-typed toy preference were explored in 26-, 31-, and 36-month-old children. Gender labeling, gender identity, sex-typed toy preferences, and awareness of adult sex role differences were observed in significantly more 26-month-old children than would have been expected by chance. Verbal gender labeling was observed in a majority of 26-month-olds, while verbal and nonverbal gender identity were observed in a majority of 31-month-olds. Nonverbal gender labeling and awareness of adult sex role differences were observed in a majority of children by 36 months. No evidence of awareness of sex differences in children's toys was found in the majority of children at any age. Awareness of sex role differences in children's toys was not related to awareness of adult sex role differences. Brighter children were more aware of adult sex role differences. Sex-typed toy preference was not related to awareness of sex role differences but was related to gender identity. Predictors of sex role development included the mothers' employment, and the father's personality traits, attitudes toward women, and sex-typed activities in the home. Implications for theories of early sex role development are discussed.     

Mother-child interactional patterns in high-and low-risk mothers

Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the extent to which mother-child interactional patterns in high-and low-risk (for child physical abuse) mothers were similar to patterns observed in physically abusive parents.Method: Ten high-risk and 10 demographically similar low-risk mother-child dyads were studied. Trained observers coded maternal-child interaction patterns in the home during five 1-hour periods using the Standardized Observation Codes system.Results: As expected, high-risk mothers made fewer neutral approaches to their children, displayed more negative behaviors toward their children, and made more indiscriminant responses to their children's prosocial behavior. Expected risk group differences were not found in the number of neutral instructions or positive responses, albeit the proportion of positive responses out of the total number of positive and negative responses was higher for low-risk mothers. After control for educational differences, risk group differences remained in the rates of neutral approaches and the number of indiscriminant behaviors made in response to children's prosocial behaviors.Conclusions: The observational data indicated that high-risk mothers display some behaviors similar to those observed in physically abusive mothers. The finding that high-risk mothers made more indiscriminate or noncontingent responses when reacting to their children's prosocial behavior is consistent with a coercive model of child physical abuse.     

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.     

Cognitive social learning mediators of aggression

This research explored links between aggression in elementary school children and 2 classes of social cognitions that might influence children's decisions about whether to behave aggressively. Aggressive and nonaggressive children (mean age 11.3 years) responded to 2 questionnaires. One questionnaire measured children's perceptions of their abilities to perform aggression and related behaviors (perceptions of self-efficacy), and the other measured children's beliefs about the reinforcing and punishing consequences of aggression (response-outcome expectancies). Compared to nonaggressive children, aggressive subjects reported that it is easier to perform aggression and more difficult to inhibit aggressive impulses. Aggressive children also were more confident that aggression would produce tangible rewards and would reduce aversive treatment by others. There were negligible sex differences in perceived self-efficacy for aggression but large sex differences in anticipated social and personal consequences for aggression, with girls expecting aggression to cause more suffering in the victim and to be punished more severely by the peer group and by the self. It was concluded that children's knowledge of their capabilities and children's knowledge of the consequences of their actions are factors that need to be taken into account by cognitive models of aggression.     

2～5岁幼儿游戏的年龄特点研究

本研究采用现场观察与录像追踪观察的方法。对2—5岁幼儿在娃娃家、建构区两种游戏背景下发生的游戏行为进行了研究。结果表明：随着年龄的增长，幼儿游戏的社会性发展水平和认知发展水平逐步提高，但会受到游戏情境的显著影响；幼儿的游戏行为没有明显的性别差异；同伴互动能推动幼儿的游戏进程。