“Helping” Versus “Being a Helper”: Invoking the Self to Increase Helping in Young Children

Can a subtle linguistic cue that invokes the self motivate children to help? In two experiments, 3‐ to 6‐year‐old children (N = 149) were exposed to the idea of “being a helper” (noun condition) or “helping” (verb condition). Noun wording fosters the perception that a behavior reflects an identity—the kind of person one is. Both when children interacted with an adult who referenced “being a helper” or “helping” ( 2 ) and with a new adult ( 3 ), children in the noun condition helped significantly more across four tasks than children in the verb condition or a baseline control condition. The results demonstrate that children are motivated to pursue a positive identity. Moreover, this motivation can be leveraged to encourage prosocial behavior.     

Everyday Statistical Reasoning during Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Motivational, General Ability, and Developmental Influences

Research on adolescent problem solving was extended into the domain of statistical reasoning and potential biases in reasoning. In Experiment 1, adolescents solved everyday reasoning problems dealing with the "law of large numbers" and the "intuitive analysis of covariance." In each problem, evidence was presented that portrayed each participant's dominant career goal favorably or unfavorably. In Experiment 2, adolescents and young adults were presented "law of large numbers" evidence that was goal-threatening, goal-enhancing, or goal-neutral. In both experiments, statistical reasoning could be used to discredit the evidence. Results indicated that (1) adolescents and young adults found goal-enhancing evidence more convincing than goal-neutral evidence which, in turn, was perceived more favorably than goal-threatening evidence; (2) statistical reasoning was more frequent on goal-threatening problems than on goal-neutral and goal-enhancing problems; (3) intellectual ability was unrelated to the biases in adolescents' reasoning; (4) verbal ability was linked to "law of large numbers" reasoning, but no cognitive ability was systematically correlated with "analysis of covariance" reasoning; and (5) law of large numbers reasoning of young adults was superior to that of adolescents, but young adults were no less biased in their reasoning than adolescents. The potential functions and consequences of adolescents' biased reasoning, the relation of everyday reasoning to general intellectual abilities, and the influences of motivation and depth of processing are discussed.     

Pre‐schoolers,print and storybooks: an observational study using eye movement analysis

This study used eye‐gaze analysis to determine the extent to which pre‐school children visually attended to print when looking at two storybooks, to contrast visual attention to print for a print‐salient versus a picture‐salient storybook, and to study individual differences in pre‐schoolers' visual preferences. Results indicated that pre‐school children infrequently attended to print: in a traditional picture‐salient storybook, 2.7% of their fixations focused on print and 2.5% of their time was spent looking in regions of print. The children fixated more frequently on print and spent more time looking in print regions when reading a print‐salient storybook, within which 7% of fixations focused on print and 6% of time was spent in print zones. Effect size estimates showed this difference to be consistent with a very large effect. Little variation in visual attention to print was observed across the ten children, and children's alphabet knowledge was not associated with the variance in children's visual attention to print. Educational implications are discussed.     

Overcoming Obstacles to Understanding and Solving Word Problems in Mathematics

ABSTRACT The trouble students have with solving word problems often comes from the difficulty in understanding the problem structure embedded in the problem text. This research was conducted to study the interactive effects of learner and instructional variables on understanding and solving word problems among Filipino‐English bilingual grade school students in the Philippines. The results showed better understanding and solution performance (1) when problems were written in the students’ first language, (2) when the problems were re‐worded to state more explicitly the relationship among the known and unknown quantities, (3) for students in higher levels of schooling and (4) for students with higher levels of academic achievement. The effects of re‐wording were mediated by the effects of the language; and the effects of language also varied between the highand low‐achievement students. In most cases where the students’ performance improved, the improvement seems to be due to better comprehension of the text (or fewer basic comprehension errors); except with the improvement due to re‐wording, which seems to be due to fewer misinterpretation errors. The results of the study provide further support for earlier findings, but also extend and modify the theoretical ramifications of the earlier findings and point to some important implications for educational practice.     

Children's Linguistic Difficulties in a Pitch Directionality Task Involving Cross‐modal Stimuli

Many children perform poorly on traditional tests of pitch discrimination which require them to identify the higher or lower of successive notes. It is proposed that linguistic ambiguity, inherent in the application of spatial terms to auditory domains, contributes to these difficulties. An experiment is reported which compares children's (aged 6 to 11 years) and adults’ recognition of pitch directions in conditions where consonant or dissonant visual cues are presented, with a condition in which only the sounds are presented. Younger children perform best when visual and auditory directions are consonant. Older children show evidence of superior performance in both visual conditions in comparison with peers tested in the audio‐only condition, suggesting that materials making the linguistic ambiguity salient may help promote their awareness of the auditory dimension. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for interventions to facilitate early musical education.     

Preliminary investigation of an early mental health intervention for Head Start programs: Effects of Child Teacher Relationship Training on children's behavior problems

Head Start teachers and their aides (n = 24) were assigned to either the experimental or active control treatment in this preliminary investigation on the effects of Child Teacher Relationship Training (CTRT) on 52 disadvantaged preschool children identified with behavioral problems. CTRT is based on the principles and procedures of Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT), a structured, time‐limited approach that trains young children's caregivers to be active participants in an early mental health delivery system. Analysis of pre‐ to mid‐ to posttest findings revealed that, compared to the active control, CTRT demonstrated a large treatment effect on reducing children's externalized behavior problems; furthermore, the between‐group difference over time was statistically significant. The statistical, practical, and clinical significance of findings provide preliminary support for CTRT as a developmentally responsive school‐based intervention for at‐risk preschool children exhibiting clinical levels of behavioral problems. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Role of Stimulus Novelty on Children's Inflexible Dimensional Switching

Children's ability to flexibly shift attention between different representational schemes was investigated using the dimensional change card sorting task. Across three experiments (N = 56 three‐year‐olds and N = 40 four‐year‐olds in 2 ; N = 14 three‐year‐olds in 3 ; and N = 14 three‐year‐olds in 4 ) the role of perceptual information on children's cognitive flexibility was investigated by manipulating different aspects of the task materials between pre‐ and postswitch phases. Better performance was observed when either task‐relevant (the color or shape of the images on the cards) or task‐irrelevant information (the background color or shape of the actual cards) was changed, with this improvement occurring when the changes were salient enough to induce a stimulus novelty effect.     

Causal Supports for Early Word Learning

What factors determine whether a young child will learn a new word? Although there are surely numerous contributors, the current investigation highlights the role of causal information. Three‐year‐old children (N = 36) were taught 6 new words for unfamiliar objects or animals. Items were described in terms of their causal or noncausal properties. When tested only minutes after training, no significant differences between the conditions were evident. However, when tested several days after training, children performed better on words trained in the causal condition. These results demonstrate that the well‐documented effect of causal information on learning and categorization extends to word learning in young children.     

The Effects of Paraphrasing Interventions on Problem‐Solving Accuracy for Children at Risk for Math Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine effectiveness of paraphrasing interventions on mathematics word problem‐solving accuracy in third grade children (N = 72) at risk for mathematics disabilities (MD). Three instructional conditions directed students’ attention through paraphrasing, via writing, to different propositions within word problems. Students were randomly assigned to one of four intervention conditions: paraphrase question propositions (restate), paraphrase relevant propositions (relevant) and paraphrase all propositions (complete) or an untreated control. A mixed ANCOVA indicated that paraphrasing relevant and complete propositions significantly increased posttest accuracy when compared to the control and restate condition. Results from the study provide support for the effectiveness of paraphrasing interventions that directs students to restate/paraphrase propositions of mathematics word problems relative to the control condition.     

Arithmetic word problem solving. Are authentic word problems easier to solve than standard ones? / Resolución de problemas aritméticos verbales. ¿Se resuelven mejor si se presentan como problemas auténticos?

This study analysed the effectiveness of presenting mathematical problems as ‘authentic’, which simulated the main aspects of situations in which students are usually involved. To do so, four independent variables were considered: level of mathematical difficulty (easy or difficult); rewording: standard problems (similar to those presented in textbooks), authentic and containing irrelevant situational information; mathematical ability (measured by means of the BADyG test); and reading comprehension level (measured with the comprehension task from the PROLEC-R test). The dependent measure was the success rate of a sample of 156 primary education children (grades four, five and six) in solving each kind of word problem. The results showed that the authentic versions of difficult problems were solved more successfully than other versions by students with high levels of mathematical aptitude and reading comprehension. That means that authentic wording is useful when children are able to understand the added information and have the mathematical knowledge necessary to interpret it.     

Paraphrasing Interventions and Problem‐Solving Accuracy: Do Generative Procedures Help English Language Learners with Math Difficulties?

This randomized control treatment study investigated the role of generative paraphrasing interventions on word problem‐solving (WPS) accuracy in English language learners (ELL) who were at risk for math difficulties (MD). One hundred and forty‐two third‐grade monolingual and English language learners were randomly assigned to either an untreated control group or one of three treatment conditions: paraphrase question (Restate), paraphrase relevant information (Relevant), and paraphrase all propositions (Complete). Results showed that the relevant treatment condition improved WPS accuracy for monolingual and ELL children's accuracy relative to the control and restate condition. There were, however, no positive advantages on the transfer measures (knowledge of problem‐solving components, calculation) for ELL children with MD. In addition, the magnitude of posttest outcomes on the problem‐solving measures was substantially smaller for ELL children with MD than for children without MD. Although the results overall support the notion that generative learning improves problem‐solving accuracy, ELL children without MD are most likely to benefit from its application.     

An evaluation of the Touch Math method for teaching addition to students with learning disabilities in mathematics

The present study was designed to determine if children with learning disabilities in mathematics could be taught three‐row, double‐digit addition problems using a dot‐notation method. Three children with learning disabilities in mathematics were selected for the study. Prior to the intervention, these students employed a combination of count‐all and count‐on strategies when solving addition problems and relied on concrete referents such as fingers or tallies. A multiple‐probe design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. The experiment consisted of a teaching phase where students learned to count the dots on numbers 1 to 9 in a specified pattern, and an intervention phase where students progressed through nine levels of addition problems. Results indicate that the three subjects were able to learn and apply the dot‐notation method successfully, and to retain the method from one‐and‐a‐half to four‐and‐a‐half months after completing instruction.     

Tracing the Cascade of Children’s Insecurity in the Interparental Relationship: The Role of Stage‐Salient Tasks

This study examined whether children’s difficulties with stage‐salient tasks served as an explanatory mechanism in the pathway between their insecurity in the interparental relationship and their disruptive behavior problems. Using a multimethod, multi‐informant design, 201 two‐year‐old children and their mothers participated in 3 annual measurement occasions. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that coder ratings of children’s insecure responses to interparental conflict from a maternal interview predicted observer ratings of their difficulties with stage‐salient tasks (i.e., emotion regulation, autonomy, resourceful problem solving) 1 year later after controlling for initial stage‐salient task performance. Stage‐salient task difficulties, in turn, predicted experimenter reports of children’s behavior problems 1 year later. Associations remained robust in the broader context of other pathways hypothesized in prevailing developmental cascade models.     

Contrasting Social and Cognitive Accounts on Overimitation: The Role of Causal Transparency and Prior Experiences

Three experiments (N = 100) examine the influence of causal information on overimitation. In Experiment 1, a transparent reward location reveals that the reward is unaffected by nonfunctional actions. When 5‐year‐olds observe an inefficient and subsequently an efficient strategy to retrieve a reward, they show overimitation in both phases—even though the reward is visible. In Experiment 2, children observe first the efficient then the inefficient strategy. The latter is always demonstrated communicatively, whereas the efficient strategy is presented communicatively (2a) or noncommunicatively (2b). Regardless of whether the efficient strategy is emphasized through communication or not, most children do not switch from the efficient to the inefficient strategy. Depending on the situation, children base their behavior on social motivations or causal information.     

Behaviour and adjustment problems of young developmentally delayed children

ABSTRACT

As part of an ongoing longitudinal study of developmental delay (DD), 35 six‐year‐old children with delays of unknown aetiology were assessed with measures of cognitive, language and educational competence. Their parents provided detailed information about their self‐help and personal‐social competencies, behaviour problems and temperament. As a group, the DD children evidenced high rates of behaviour problems, but there was considerable within‐group variability in intensity and pattern of problems. Low relationships were found between the intensity of behaviour problems and children's chronological age (CA), IQ, language level and self‐help competencies. The child variable most strongly associated with behaviour problems was temperament, or behavioural style.     

Difficult‐to‐manage Students: a survey of children who fail to respond to student discipline strategies in government schools

Previous studies of discipline problems in junior primary and primary schools have indicated that the majority of behaviour management problems both inside and outside classrooms can be attributed to relatively small numbers of children who persist in difficult‐to‐manage behaviour. This study explored particular aspects of these children's behavioural characteristics, as reported from the results of a survey of principals from the majority of junior primary and primary schools in South Australia. The data summarised propose a tentative profile of these difficult‐to‐manage children, together with findings concerning the impact their behaviours have on the school staff. Suggestions are offered for more effectively meeting the demands and needs of these children.     

The Multiple Faces of Visual Arts Education

This article identifies recent, mainly Nordic, research approaches to visual arts education. A concept map was developed as a heuristic tool in order to highlight salient traits and blind spots. Contemporary research typically has its origin either in education or in the art world, with an emphasis either on art as language or on art as text. These two dimensions were used to organise the studies and to select representative exemplars in different domains. The framework helped to chart the knowledge base of, and research approaches to, visual arts education. However, the result of blending subject matter and pedagogy tended to be a ‘mixture’ of viewpoints rather than emerging domains of subject‐specific pedagogical knowledge (Lee Shulman: an ‘amalgam’).     

American and Chinese Children's Evaluations of Personal Domain Events and Resistance to Parental Authority

A total of 267 five‐, seven‐, and ten‐year‐olds (M = 7.62), 147 in Hong Kong and 120 in the United States, evaluated hypothetical personal (and moral) events described as either essential or peripheral to actors' identity. Except for young Chinese in the peripheral condition, straightforward personal events were overwhelmingly evaluated as acceptable based on personal justifications. Children primarily endorsed compliance, but attributed negative emotions to actors when mothers forbade personal choices, especially when described as essential to identity. Conventional justifications declined among Chinese children and pragmatic justifications for these judgments increased with age for all children, as did judgments that personal events were up to the child. Rules were seen as more legitimate and events were seen as more up to mothers to decide for moral than personal events.     

Effects of diagnostic label,race, gender,educational placement,and definitional information on prognostic outlook for children with behavior problems

Across the United States, children with behavioral and emotional problems receive one of a variety of labels if they are determined eligible for special education services. Labels like SED, EBD, and BD can result in lowered or negative expectations that others have for these children. This study investigated the effects of label, child's gender and race, child's educational placement, and availability of definitional information on prognostic judgments for children with behavior problems. Three‐hundred‐sixty‐three undergraduate students enrolled in teacher education courses read a vignette and completed a prognostic outlook questionnaire. The questionnaire items asked for judgments about the likelihood of further behavioral disruption, the likelihood of developing and maintaining adequate interpersonal relationships, and requested an estimate of overall adjustment of the child. The vignette described an elementary school child with behavior problems and its content was held constant. Gender (boy vs. girl), race (African American vs. Caucasian), educational placement (receiving special education services full‐time through inclusion vs. self‐contained), diagnostic label (BD vs. EBD vs. SED) and definition of the disorders (present vs. absent) were varied. There was a label × race × placement interaction and a label × definition interaction for the behavioral disruptiveness dependent measure. Under the inclusion condition White children who had the SED or EBD label were rated to be significantly more likely to be disruptive than children with the BD label. For the 2‐way interaction when no definitional information was given children who had the SED label were rated more likely to be disruptive than children who had either the EBD or BD labels. There was also a significant gender × race × definition interaction on the overall adjustment measure. However, post hoc contrasts were not significant and no conclusions were drawn other than that the effect was minimal. There was a significant main effect of gender on the interpersonal relationships variable. Girls were judged as significantly more likely to develop appropriate interpersonal relationships with others than were boys. No other significant effects were noted. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Children's Understanding of One‐to‐one Correspondence in the Context of Sharing

The principle of one‐to‐one correspondence is involved in sharing objects by distributive counting. Understanding one‐to‐one correspondence has been inferred from preschool children's success in sharing. This inference is questioned on methodological grounds. Twenty‐four children, aged between 3#fr1/2> and 4#fr1/2> years, took part in a study which compared their judgements of shares in conditions where the shares were either visible or invisible, equal or unequal, and of either small or large numbers of heterogeneous or homogeneous objects. Children judged better when the shares were small and visible. Whether children typically develop an understanding of one‐to‐one correspondence first in the context of sharing and then in other contexts such as counting or using guidelines remains unknown, as studies of these other contexts typically expose children to a conflict between one‐to‐one correspondence and perceptual cues.