Learning to Individuate: The Specificity of Labels Differentially Impacts Infant Visual Attention

This study examined differences in visual attention as a function of label learning from 6 to 9 months of age. Before and after 3 months of parent‐directed storybook training with computer‐generated novel objects, event‐related potentials and visual fixations were recorded while infants viewed trained and untrained images (n = 23). Relative to a pretraining, a no‐training control group (n = 11), and to infants trained with category‐level labels (e.g., all labeled “Hitchel”), infants trained with individual‐level labels (e.g., “Boris,” “Jamar”) displayed increased visual attention and neural differentiation of objects after training.     

Visual processing of pictures and letters in alphabet books and the implications for letter learning

Alphabet books as studied in this research typically highlight one letter per page combined with a depiction of a word that begins with the letter (e.g., a bear illustrates B). This study tests whether children’s letter knowledge improves as a result of alphabet book sharing and how the visual processing of pictures and letters affects learning from repeated alphabet book readings. The study is designed as a randomized control trial in which participants were assigned to one of two experimental groups (N = 30) or a control group (N = 15). Half of the experimental group received version A in which the letters A–L were illustrated with anthropomorphic figures and the letters M–Z with objects. Half received version B in which the letters A–L were illustrated with objects and the letters M–Z with anthropomorphic figures. Mean age of the children was 57.6 months (SD = 3.6). While sharing the alphabet book we registered children’s eye movements in the first and fourth (last) reading session. Alphabet book reading stimulated letter knowledge although the make-up of the alphabet book moderated the effects. Relatively more visual attention to pictures of anthropomorphic figures interfered with learning letters from alphabet book sharing. Visual attention to letters also predicted letter knowledge and learning. Only a small part of each letter attracted children’s attention and the briefer their fixations on this distinctive area, the more letters they knew at the pretest and were able to learn from alphabet book sharing.     

Visual–motor symbol production facilitates letter recognition in young children

Previous research has suggested that handwriting letters may be an important exerciser to facilitate early letter understanding. Experimental studies to date, however, have not investigated whether this effect is general to any visual–motor experience or specific to handwriting letters. In the present work, we addressed this issue by testing letter knowledge using three measures in preschool children before and after a school-based intervention. Participants were divided into four training groups (letter-writing, digit-writing, letter-viewing, digit-viewing) that either wrote letters or digits or viewed letters or digits, twice a week for 6 weeks. We hypothesized that the visual–motor experience of handwriting letters or digits would improve letter knowledge more than viewing experience and that this effect would not be specific to training with letters. Our results demonstrated that the writing groups improved in letter recognition—one component of letter knowledge—significantly more than the viewing groups. The letter-writing group did not improve significantly more than the digit-writing group. These results suggest that visual–motor practice with any symbol could lead to increases in letter recognition. We interpret this novel finding as suggesting that any handwriting will increase letter recognition in part because it facilitates gains in visual–motor coordination.     

The Measurement and Prediction of Teaching Efficiency

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of criterion level on the discrimination of highly confusable letters in beginning reading. Forty children were randomly assigned to four conditions. One-half of the subjects were exposed to simultaneous discriminations and the other one-half to successive discriminations. The groups were equally divided as to criterion level, i.e., four vs. nine consecutively correct responses. A verbal associates transfer task followed criterion on visual discrimination. The simultaneous mode produced fewer trials to criterion than the successive mode on visual discrimination but not on transfer. On successive discriminations, a criterion of four required fewer trials than a criterion of nine on visual discrimination but a significantly greater number of trials on transfer.     

Beginnings of Place Value: How Preschoolers Write Three‐Digit Numbers

Place value notation is essential to mathematics learning. This study examined young children's (4‐ to 6‐year‐olds, N = 172) understanding of place value prior to explicit schooling by asking them write spoken numbers (e.g., “six hundred and forty‐two”). Children's attempts often consisted of “expansions” in which the proper digits were written in order but with 0s or other insertions marking place (e.g., “600402” or “610042”). This partial knowledge increased with age. Gender differences were also observed with older boys more likely than older girls to produce the conventional form (e.g., 642). Potential experiences contributing to expanded number writing and the observed gender differences are discussed.     

Cross‐Cultural Differences in Children's Beliefs About the Objectivity of Social Categories

The present study compared 5‐ and 10‐year‐old North American and Israeli children's beliefs about the objectivity of different categories (n = 109). Children saw picture triads composed of two exemplars of the same category (e.g., two women) and an exemplar of a contrasting category (e.g., a man). Children were asked whether it would be acceptable or wrong for people in a different country to consider contrasting exemplars to be the same kind. It was found that children from both countries viewed gender as objectively correct and occupation as flexible. The findings regarding race and ethnicity differed in the two countries, revealing how an essentialist bias interacts with cultural input in directing children's conceptualization of social groups.     

Individual differences in RAN and reading: a response timing analysis

Thirty 8–11‐year‐old children were administered tests of rapid naming (RAN letters and digits) and reading‐related skills. Consistent with the hypothesis that RAN predicts reading because it assesses the ability to establish arbitrary mappings between visual symbols and verbal labels, RAN accounted for independent variance in exception word reading when phonological skills were controlled. Response timing analysis of different components of RAN digits and letters revealed that neither average item duration nor average pause duration were unique predictors of reading skill. However, the number of pauses on digit naming predicted unique variance in exception word reading. Moreover, better readers paused more strategically than poorer readers (e.g. more often at the ends of lines). We suggest that rapid automatised naming may in part reflect differences in strategic control that are a result of differences in reading practice and experience.     

Asking Children to “Be Helpers” Can Backfire After Setbacks

Describing behaviors as reflecting categories (e.g., asking children to “be helpers”) has been found to increase pro-social behavior. The present studies (N = 139, ages 4–5) tested whether such effects backfire if children experience setbacks while performing category-relevant actions. In Study 1, children were asked either to “be helpers” or “to help,” and then pretended to complete a series of successful scenarios (e.g., pouring milk) and unsuccessful scenarios (e.g., spilling milk while trying to pour). After the unsuccessful trials, children asked to “be helpers” had more negative attitudes. In Study 2, asking children to “be helpers” impeded children's helping behavior after they experienced difficulties while trying to help. Implications for how category labels shape beliefs and behavior are discussed.     

Infant Attention and Early Childhood Executive Function

Individual differences in infant attention are theorized to reflect the speed of information processing and are related to later cognitive abilities (i.e., memory, language, and intelligence). This study provides the first systematic longitudinal analysis of infant attention and early childhood executive function (EF; e.g., working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility). A group of 5‐month‐olds (n = 201) were classified as short or long lookers. At 24, 36, and 48 months of age, children completed age‐appropriate EF tasks. Infant short lookers (i.e., more efficient information processors) exhibited higher EF throughout early childhood as compared to infant long lookers, even after controlling for verbal ability (a potential indicator of intelligence). These findings are discussed in relation to the emergence of executive attention.     

Using visual support in preschool phonemic segmentation training

In an earlier training study we found that the use of visual support in phonemic segmentation training provided no additional value for poor readers and spellers from schools for children with learning disabilities, having problems segmenting speech (Kerstholt, van Bon & Schreuder 1994). Previous research (e.g., Hohn & Ehri 1983) suggests, however, that visual support – such as alphabet letters – does facilitate the segmentation teaching of preschoolers. Hence, it was expected that visual support would be beneficial in phonemic segmentation training only prior to formal reading and spelling instruction. The purpose of the present study was to test this expectation. One group of preschoolers was trained in phonemic segmentation with diagrams and alphabet letters as visual support, another group was trained without visual help. Results show the preschoolers to improve their phonemic segmentation, reading and spelling skill significantly. It made no difference, however, whether the children were trained in phonemic segmentation with or without the help of visual support. The findings of the present study and those of our earlier study indicate visual support to be useful in phonemic segmentation training only under certain conditions. It is suggested that differences in orthographic properties of the languages involved may explain the difference between the Anglo-Saxon studies that did show an additional effect of letters and a number of Dutch studies that did not.     

Alphabetic access route in beginning reading acquisition in Portuguese: The role of letter-name knowledge

The present study investigates Ehri's (Ehri & Wilce 1985; Scott & Ehri 1990) hypothesis that knowledge of the alphabet enables children to learn to read by processing and storing letter-sound relations in words. In particular, it examines whether letter-name knowledge facilitates the learning of spellings in which the names of one or more letters can be heard in the pronunciation of the words. Preschool children who could not read any word out of context were divided into two groups on the basis of their ability to name the letters of the alphabet: one group knew the names of the letters while the other did not. Both groups were taught to read two types of simplified spellings: visual spellings, that is, spellings whose letters did not correspond to sounds in the pronunciations of the words but which were visually more salient (e.g., X_QKO for the word cerveja), and phonetic spellings, that is, spellings whose letters corresponded to sounds in the pronunciation of the words (e.g., CRVA for the word cerveja). In all phonetic spellings, the name of at least one letter could be clearly heard in the pronunciation of the words. Results corroborated Ehri's hypothesis. The children who did not know the names of the letters learned to read the visual spellings more easily than the phonetic ones. On the other hand, the children who knew the names of the letters showed the opposite pattern, that is, they learned the phonetic spellings more easily than the visual ones.     

Making Sense of Number Words and Arabic Digits: Does Order Count More?

The ability to choose the larger between two numbers reflects a mature understanding of the magnitude associated with numerical symbols. The present study explores how the knowledge of the number sequence and memory capacity (verbal and visuospatial) relate to number comparison skills while controlling for cardinal knowledge. Preschool children’s (N = 140, M_{age-in-months} = 58.9, range = 41–75) knowledge of the directional property of the counting list as well as the spatial mapping of digits on the visual line were assessed. The ability to order digits on the visual line mediated the relation between memory capacity and number comparison skills while controlling for cardinal knowledge. Beyond cardinality, the knowledge of the (spatial) order of numbers marks the understanding of the magnitude associated with numbers.     

Learning While Testing

Abstract

This study investigated the performance of preschool and kindergarten children with visual discrimination exercises drawn from reading readiness materials prior to visual discrimination training. The exercises contained three sources of stimuli: representations of objects, letters, and words. Results indicate that many preschoolers and most kindergartners measured possess the skills necessary to successfully perform visual discrimination exercises. The 8s were able to discriminate representations of objects and letters equally well; however, word stimuli were significantly harder to discriminate than either representations of objects or letters. Results indicate that visual discrimination training should be provided to pre-readers on a selected basis.     

The Impact of Daily Discrimination on Sleep/Wake Problem Trajectories Among Diverse Adolescents

This study examines how everyday discrimination is associated with 6-day trajectories of sleep/wake problems, operationalized as sleep disturbance and daytime dysfunction, among 350 diverse adolescents (M_age = 14.27, SD = 0.61, 69% female; 22% African American, 41% Asian American, 37% Latinx; 24% multiethnic/racial; across participating schools, 72% of students eligible for free/reduced price lunch) in the Northeastern United States. Adolescents encountering discrimination experienced changes in sleep/wake problem trajectories (i.e., significant increases in same-day sleep/wake problems), whereas adolescents reporting no discrimination experienced no changes in trajectories (Cohen’s ds = .51–.55). Multiethnic/racial (compared to monoethnic/racial) adolescents experiencing everyday discrimination reported greater same-day sleep/wake problems, yet steeper decreases in sleep/wake problems suggesting stronger impact coupled with faster return to baseline levels.     

Structure mapping and relational language support children's learning of relational categories

Learning relational categories--whose membership is defined not by intrinsic properties but by extrinsic relations with other entities--poses a challenge to young children. The current work showed 3-, 4- to 5-, and 6-year-olds pairs of cards exemplifying familiar relations (e.g., a nest and a bird exemplifying home for) and then tested whether they could extend the relational concept to another category (e.g., choose the barn as a home for a horse). It found that children benefited from (a) hearing a (novel) category name in a relational construction and (b) comparing category members. The youngest group--3-year-olds--learned the category only when given a combination of relational language and a series of comparisons in a progressive alignment sequence.     

What is the effect of talking heads in educational videos with different types of narrated slides?

Video-based learning plays an increasingly important role and thus the optimal design of video-based learning materials attracts the attention of scientists and practitioners alike. In this context, producers of educational videos often include a talking head in their videos, although theory (e.g., cognitive theory of multimedia learning) also suggests potential disadvantages for this format. Since talking heads attract a lot of visual attention, further empirical research is necessary to investigate whether a talking head can hinder learning, especially presented next to graphic-based learning content. To address this research gap, we conducted two online experiments to investigate the effects of a talking head in educational videos with narrated slides (short slideshow lectures) on learning outcomes (i.e., factual knowledge acquisition) and participants’ subjective ratings of the learning material (e.g., perceived learning). In Experiment 1 (N = 96), we varied whether the instructor’s talking head was present or absent in the videos as a between-factor, and whether the visual content on the slides was graphic-based (pictures, diagrams, maps) or text-based (bullet points) as a within-factor (slide type). In Experiment 2 (N = 184), we additionally varied as a between-factor whether the contents appeared sequentially or statically all at once (presentation type). Our results showed that the talking head did not affect learning outcomes, regardless of slide type and presentation type of the videos suggesting that the inclusion of a talking head offers neither clear advantages nor disadvantages. Potential explanations for the findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Discrimination and Ethnic–Racial Identity: Understanding Direction of Effects Using Within- and Between-Person Analyses

Ethnic–racial identity (ERI) development and ethnic–racial discrimination are two salient experiences among adolescents in the United States. Despite growing awareness of the costs and benefits of these experiences individually, we know little about how they may influence one another. The current study examined competing hypotheses relating discrimination and components of ERI (i.e., exploration, resolution, affirmation) among a sample of Mexican-origin adolescent mothers (N = 181; M_age at Wave 1 = 16.83, SD = 1.01) across six waves of data. Findings revealed that within-person changes in discrimination predicted subsequent ERI resolution and affirmation; however, ERI did not predict subsequent discrimination. Between-person effects of discrimination on affirmation were significant. Our findings underscore the importance of discrimination experiences in shaping Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ normative developmental competencies.     

Target-defining features in a “people-present/people-absent” discrimination task by pigeons

Aust and Huber (2001) demonstrated that in apeople-present/people-absentdiscrimination task, pigeons actually attended to properties of the target (i.e., the human figure). The aim of the present effort was to specify what sort of information contained in the target was used for classification, as well as to investigate whether and in what way the target-defining features interacted. Six pigeons were trained in a go/no-go procedure to discriminate between color photographs characterized by the presence or absence of people. They were then presented with various types of test stimuli that contained some category-relevant features but lacked others. The results showed that properties related to target size and internal structure played an important role and that human silhouettes were insufficient for eliciting a people-present response. Furthermore, some properties of the human figure (e.g., hands/arms) made good predictors of the people-present category, whereas others (e.g., feet/legs or skin color) did not. Responses to test stimuli that belonged to the people-absent category but nevertheless contained some features normally typical for humans (e.g., nonhuman primates) provided evidence that various category-relevant features contributed to classification in an additive way. Taken together, the results suggest that the pigeons made use of a polymorphous class rule involving collections of differently weighted target features.     

The Superiority of Distributed Practice in Drill in Arithmetic

Abstract

Forty-three second and third grade non-readers who were diagnosed as having visual perceptual deficiencies were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received training in visual analysis, which included visual short-term memory, visual discrimination of letters and words, and remedial instruction. The control group received only remedial instruction. After seven months, there was no significant difference between the groups in visual perception or achievement of reading skills. However, there was a significant mean difference between pretest and posttest scores for both groups on all measures tested. Experimental subjects gained 8.9 months in reading achievement versus 9.2 months for controls, indicating that visual discrimination and visual memory of word training influenced the achievement of reading skills for this group to the same degree as did a remedial program without visual training.     

Stimulating preschoolers’ focus on structure in repeating and growing patterns

This study presents a patterning intervention for 5-year-olds, who were in their third year of preschool in Flanders (Belgium), with two key elements: A focus on the structure of patterns, and the inclusion of growing patterns (e.g., ABAABAAAB) in addition to repeating patterns (e.g., ABABAB). We evaluated the impact of this intervention on patterning and numerical ability in a quasi-experimental pretest-intervention-posttest design with a business-as-usual control group. The intervention consisted of a 20 week program with children in the patterning condition receiving weekly 30 min of patterning activities. After the intervention, the patterning group (n = 73) outperformed the control group (n = 74) on both repeating and growing patterns. We observed no transfer effect to children's numerical ability.