Transition from crawling to walking and infants' actions with objects and people

Associations between infants' transition to walking and object activities were examined. Fifty infants were observed longitudinally during home observations. At 11 months, all infants were crawlers; at 13 months, half became walkers. Over age, infants increased their total time with objects and frequency of sharing objects with mothers. Bidirectional influences between locomotion and object actions were found. Walking was associated with new forms of object behaviors: Walkers accessed distant objects, carried objects, and approached mothers to share objects; crawlers preferred objects close at hand and shared objects while remaining stationary. Earlier object activities predicted walking status: Crawlers who accessed distant objects, carried objects, and shared objects over distances at 11 months were more likely to walk by 13 months.     

Mother- and father-reported reactions to children's negative emotions: relations to young children's emotional understanding and friendship quality

Mother- and father-reported reactions to children's negative emotions were examined as correlates of emotional understanding (Study 1, N = 55, 5- to 6-year-olds) and friendship quality (Study 2, N = 49, 3- to 5-year-olds). Mothers' and fathers' supportive reactions together contributed to greater child-friend coordinated play during a sharing task. Further, when one parent reported low support, greater support by the other parent was related to better understanding of emotions and less intense conflict with friends (for boys only). When one parent reported high support, however, greater support by the other parent was associated with less optimal functioning on these outcomes. Results partially support the notion that children benefit when parents differ in their reactions to children's emotions.     

Sex and age differences in young children's reactions to frustration: a further look at the Goldberg and Lewis subjects.

This study reports 1-year follow-up data on the children originally observed by Goldberg and Lewis in a barrier frustration situation. Changes in reactions to frustration over a 2-year time span were examined for age and sex differences. Regardless of sex, over the first 2 years of life, barrier frustration was responded to with a decrease in stress and an increase in problem-solving behavior. The data suggest that sex differences in success at coping with the frustration may change with age and may be dependent on what behaviors are considered to be more instrumental in solving the frustration. Sex differences related to behavior in the barrier frustration were highly age specific. As previously reported in Goldberg and Lewis, at 1 year of age boys cried less and made more active attempts to get around the barrier than girls. However, at 2 years of age, girls vocalized more for help from the mother and made more attempts at problem solving than boys.     

The pirate in the pump: children's views of objects as imaginary friends at the start of school

The main aim of this paper is to use a phenomenological approach (Merleau-Ponty, 1962. Phenomenology of Perception. Evanston: Northwestern University Press; Merleau-Ponty. 1968. The Visible and the Invisible: Followed by Working Notes. Evanston: Northern University Press) to contribute a new theoretical understanding of what imaginary friends mean for children in the context of starting school. The paper addresses the specific area of ‘object-friends’ and draws on examples from an empirical and consultative study of a small sample of five and six-year-old children’s everyday experiences of friendship in school. The paper argues that if practitioners consider embodiment approaches and listen attentively to the knowledge and information that children share about their imaginary friends, this could be used to nurture children’s early learning.     

Learning How to Learn: Parental ethnotheories and young children's preparation for school

This paper discusses one aspect of the findings from an ethnographic study of the ways in which four-year-old children learn, and are taught, at home and in their Reception class. The children were from two distinctive cultural backgrounds within the same urban neighbourhood: one-half belonged to UK ('Anglo') families, and one-half to families from Bangladesh. They were observed and assessed throughout their first school year, and additional data were collected from interviews with parents, practitioners and the children themselves. Analysis of the data suggested that one way of understanding the variation in the children's experiences was through the ethnotheories, or cultural belief systems, of their home communities--such as their parents' concepts of childhood, and their theories of intelligence and instruction. The paper argues that such differences in children's home preparation have consequences for their school experience, and carry implications for their school providers. The study of parental ethnotheories, therefore, may help to explain, and alleviate, the differences in school achievement of children from diverse backgrounds. However, accessing respondents' personal theories presents both ethical and methodological problems, particularly when the researcher is working with socially disadvantaged groups. La recherche dans les ethnothe´ories parentales, ou dans les syste ¤ mes de croyance culturels, peut contribuer a ¤ notre compre´hension de l'expe´rience scolaire diffe´rentielle et de l'accomplissement des enfants de classes diffe´rentes et de milieux culturels diffe´rents. Cependant, l'acce ¤ s a ¤ les the´ories personnelles des personnes interroge´es, que peut-etre ils sont inconscients de posse´der, pre´sente proble ¤ mes e´thiques et methodologiques, particulie ¤ rement quand les chercheurs travaillent avec des groupes qui sont de´savantage´s socialement. Cet essai pre´sente quelques de´couvertes d'une e´tude ethnographique sur les fac¸ons dans lequelles des enfants de quatre ans apprennent, et sont enseigne´s, a ¤ la maison et dans leur classe de re´ception. La expe´rience d'apprendre a ¤ la maison est diffe´rente pour chacun des 16 enfants, et dans chaque cas est forme´e par les croyances parentales -- en particulier leurs concepts sur l'enfance, et sur les ro´les des parents, et leurs the´ories sur l'intelligence et l'instruction. Ceux-ci refle ¤ tent partiellement la position des familles dans la communaute´ "anglo" ou bangladaise dans leur voisinage partage´. Quand les diffe´rences dans la pre´paration e´ducative des enfants a ¤ la maison sont comprises, il y a des implications e´videntes pour leurs pourvoyeurs d'e´ducation. La investigacio´n sobre las etnoteor L ´as paternales, o sea sobre los sistemas culturales de la creencia, pueden contribuir a nuestra comprensio´n de la experiencia diferencial escolar y del logro de los nin ¨ os de clases y or L ´genes culturales diferentes. Sin embargo, el acceso a las teor L ´as personales de los respondientes, que quizas ellos mismos no son conscientes de poseer, presenta problemas e´ticos as L ´ como tambie´n metodolo´gicos, particularmente cuando los investigadores trabajan con grupos socialmente desventajados. Este ensayo presenta algunas conclusiones de un estudio etnogra´fico sobre el modo en que los nin ¨ os de cuatro an ¨ os de edad aprenden, y se les ensen ¨ a, en casa y en su clase de recepcio´n. La experiencia de aprendisaje en el hogar es diferente para cada uno de los 16 nin ¨ os, y en cada caso esta´ formada por creencias paternales -- en particular sobre sus conceptos de nin ¨ ez, y el rol que juegan los padres, y de sus teor L ´as sobre la inteligencia y la instruccio´n. Estos conceptos reflejan en parte la posicio´n de las familias dentro de la comunidad 'Anglo' o banglades L ´ en su vecindario compartido. Cuando las diferencias en la preparacio´n educativa en el hogar de los nin ¨ os son comprendidas, hay implicaciones evidentes para sus proveedores de escuela.     

Using story dictation to support young children's vocabulary development: Outcomes and process

Creating opportunities for children to apply newly learned vocabulary in meaningful contexts is an important aspect of supporting vocabulary development. However, previous research has not adequately examined how this can be accomplished in preschool classrooms. To address this issue, we explored using story dictation to support preschoolers’ expressive vocabulary development. Thirteen children in a Head Start classroom were videotaped dictating a total of 38 stories. Scribed stories and videos of story dictation sessions were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively to examine the outcomes and process. Results indicated that children used and learned target vocabulary during story dictations, and that target word use increased in number and complexity over time. How the teacher supported story dictations and target word use is discussed.     

ADD students with and without dyslexia differ in sensitivity to rhyme and alliteration

Children with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and dyslexia (n = 82) made significantly more errors than normally reading children with ADD (n = 83) on a simple auditory test of phonological sensitivity to rhyme and alliteration (Bradley, 1984). A subgroup of children with dyslexia who were sensitive to rhyme and alliteration had higher scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) Spatial factor than a dyslexic subgroup who were phonologically insensitive. In multiple regression analyses, age-corrected phonological sensitivity scores contributed significantly to the prediction of both reading and spelling Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) scores, this beyond the contribution of WISC-R variables. Of interest for dyslexia subtyping theories, Spatial factor scores had a subtractive effect in these regression analyses.     

Neighborhood income and physical and social disorder in Canada: associations with young children's competencies

This study examined the association of census level, observational, and parent-reported neighborhood characteristics on the verbal and behavioral competencies of a national sample of Canadian preschoolers (N = 3,350). Children's verbal ability scores were positively associated with residing in neighborhoods with affluent residents and negatively associated with residing in neighborhoods with poor residents and in neighborhoods with low cohesion, even after controlling for family socioeconomic factors. Behavior problem scores were higher when children lived in neighborhoods that had fewer affluent residents, high unemployment rates, and neighborhoods with low cohesion, after controlling for family socioeconomic factors. These findings are discussed in light of neighborhood studies of children in the United States in the mid-1990s.     

Genetic and environmental processes in young children's resilience and vulnerability to socioeconomic deprivation

Some children exposed to socioeconomic (SES) deprivation are resilient and function better than expected, given the level of deprivation they have experienced. The present study tested genetic and environmental contributions to young children's resilience and vulnerability to SES deprivation. Children's resilience was assessed by the difference between their actual score and the score predicted by their level of SES deprivation in the E-Risk Study, an epidemiological cohort of 1,116 five-year-old twin pairs. Consistent with previous research, results showed that maternal warmth, stimulating activities, and children's outgoing temperament appeared to promote positive adjustment in children exposed to SES deprivation. Findings add new information by demonstrating that resilience is partly heritable and that protective processes operate through both genetic and environmental effects.     

From actors to agents to persons: the development of character representation in young children's narratives

This study addressed a puzzling discrepancy in existing research about when children achieve and manifest a mentalistic conception of the person. Narrative research suggests that children do not represent characters as mental agents until middle childhood, whereas social cognition research places this understanding at around 4 years. Using a theoretically informed typology, 617 stories were analyzed composed by 30 children participating in a storytelling and story-acting practice integrated into their preschool curriculum. Results indicated that children's representation of characters shifted from almost exclusively physical and external portrayals of "actors" at 3 to increasing inclusion of "agents" with rudimentary mental states at 4 and of "persons" with mental representational capacities by 5. The developmental trajectories of boys and girls differed somewhat.     

Universal, developmental, and variable aspects of young children's play: a cross-cultural comparison of pretending at home

Using longitudinal data from five Irish American families in the United States and nine Chinese families in Taiwan, in conjunction with an emerging body of evidence in the cultural psychology literature, we propose universal, culturally variable, and developmental dimensions of young children's pretend play. Possible universal dimensions include the use of objects, and the predominantly social nature of pretend play. Developmental dimensions include increases in the proportion of social pretend play initiated by the child, the proportion of partner initiations elaborated upon by the child, and caregivers' use of pretend play initiations to serve other, nonplay social functions. Culturally variable dimensions include the centrality of objects, the participation of specific play partners, the extent of child initiations of social pretend play with caregivers, the various functions of social pretend play in interaction, and specific themes. These findings raise the theoretical issue of how universal and variable dimensions of pretend play interact in specific communities to create distinctive development pathways.     

Substance use disorders in young adults with and without LD: predictive and concurrent relationships

This article reports on young people with and without learning disabilities (LD) and substance use disorders (SUD). Participants were assessed for LD at ages 12 and 19 and for SUD and psychiatric disorders at age 19. Participants with LD at ages 12 and 19 were more likely to develop an SUD or a psychiatric disorder compared to participants without consistent LD. Participants with LD at age 19 were more likely to have a concurrent SUD or psychiatric disorder compared to those without LD at age 19, while participants with LD at age 12 showed only a trend toward increased rates of SUD at age 19 when compared to participants without LD at age 12. Participants with and without LD did not differ in substance use, consumption levels, or onset history. In a multivariate model, adolescent LD was associated with a three-fold increased risk for SUD after behavioral problems and family structure had entered the model. Although these results provide some support for the notion that adolescents with LD are at increased risk for SUD, LD also appears to confer a general risk for adverse outcomes.     

Occupational and educational aspirations and attainment of young adults with and without LD 2 years after high school completion

A national longitudinal database was used to compare the aspirations and attainment of individuals with and without learning disabilities (LD) 2 years after high school completion. Analyses revealed that individuals with LD reported lower graduation rates, were more likely to aspire to moderate- (men) or low-prestige (women) occupations, and were more likely to be employed and less likely to be enrolled in some type of postsecondary education program than their nondisabled peers. High educational aspirations in Grade 12 and successful completion of an academic or college-prep high school program were equally important in predicting 2-year postsecondary status for adolescents enrolled in postsecondary education regardless of disability status. However, depending on disability status, different predictors were identified for individuals who were either employed or out of the workforce. These results point to a continued need for transition planning and support for young adults with LD and suggest ways in which professionals can anticipate and adjust for identified differences in aspirations and postsecondary attainment.     

Critical conversations with children's literature: how cultural and political vignettes (CPVs) support young readers

Young children today have greater access to culturally and politically sensitive information than at any other time in history. Although there are many positive aspects of children having greater access, negative consequences can also result, especially when they do not have sufficient structured and supportive opportunities to question, discuss and analyse the information they are receiving. Presently, teachers are faced with a multitude of intricate social phenomena in their classrooms, many of which leave them feeling apprehensive and unprepared. Some teachers of young learners need guidance, pedagogical practices and strategies to help their students address their questions and concerns about sensitive social issues in healthy, constructive ways that lead to positive, transformative action.     

Spelling consistency affects reading in young Dutch readers with and without dyslexia

Lexical-decision studies with experienced English and French readers have shown that visual-word identification is not only affected by pronunciation inconsistency of a word (i.e., multiple ways to pronounce a spelling body), but also by spelling inconsistency (i.e., multiple ways to spell a pronunciation rime). The aim of this study was to compare the reading behavior of young Dutch readers with dyslexia to the behavior of readers without dyslexia. All students participated in a lexical-decision task in which we presented pronunciation-consistent words and pseudowords. Half of the pronunciation-consistent stimuli were spelling consistent and the other half were spelling inconsistent. All three reader groups, that is, students with dyslexia, age-match students, and reading-match students, read spelling-consistent words faster than spelling-inconsistent words. Overall reading speed of students with dyslexia was similar to that of reading-match students, and was substantially slower than that of age-match students. The results suggest that reading in students with or without dyslexia is similarly affected by spelling inconsistency. Subtle qualitative differences emerged, however, with respect to pseudoword identification. The conclusion was that the findings were best interpreted in terms of a recurrent-feedback model.     

Metrical stress sensitivity in young children and its relationship to phonological awareness and reading

This paper reports two studies of young English‐speaking children's ability to cope with changes to the metrical stress pattern of spoken words and the relationship between this ability, phonological awareness and early reading development. Initially, 39 children aged 4 and 5 years were assessed on their ability to identify mispronounced words, including words that had their metrical stress pattern reversed. The children were significantly worse at identifying words that had their metrical stress pattern reversed than words that were mispronounced in other ways. The second study was a cross‐sectional comparison of 31 5, 6 and 7‐year‐old children's performance on the metrical stress reversal condition of the mispronunciation task. Measures of the children's written language skills and phonological awareness were also taken. The 7‐year‐old children outperformed the 5‐year‐olds on the metrical stress task. Performance on this measure was associated with most of the measures of phonological awareness and literacy, and was associated with rhyme awareness and spelling ability after age had been taken into account. Moreover, metrical stress sensitivity could account for variance in spelling ability after phonological awareness had been taken into account, and after vocabulary had been taken into account. This suggests that stress sensitivity may influence spelling development in a way that is independent of its contribution to phonological representations.     

Early literacy and parental writing mediation in young children with and without ADHD

The study compared early literacy of Israeli children aged five to six years with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), contrasted parental writing mediation in the two groups and tested the relations between parents’ mediation characteristics and children’s early literacy skills. Each of 62 parent‐child dyads (32 with ADHD) was videotaped at home while writing words. Videotapes were transcribed and analysed for mediation (specific writing task measures, emotional measures typical of problem‐solving tasks, and general measures of interactions). Children’s early literacy (word writing, letter knowledge and phonological awareness) was assessed at home. Results showed that children with ADHD already exhibited lower literacy achievements at ages five to six compared to their peers without ADHD. Parents of children with ADHD scored lower than parents of children without ADHD on the writing‐specific, emotional and general mediation measures. In both groups, the specific writing mediation measures correlated significantly with children’s early literacy. More emotional mediation measures correlated significantly with children’s early literacy in the ADHD than in the non‐ADHD group. Discussion focused on parent‐child writing interactions as a context of early literacy development among young children with ADHD.