Improving the Awareness to Toddlers' Initial Emotional Experiences in Kindergarten with Virtual Reality

We used Virtual Reality (VR) technology to simulate a toddler's first few days' experiences in a daycare and improve the caregiver's understanding of their state of mind. The virtual worlds were developed in accordance with some well-known toddler's thinking modes, and emotional states. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the caregiver's awareness to the emotional experiences that the toddler undergoes in the first days in kindergarten improves through a VR simulation of a toddler's world. The participants in this study were 40 (female) caregivers who work with infants aged 6 months to 4 years old in private daycare. The findings indicate that experiencing a virtual world that reflects the real world of children improves, to some point, the caregiver's awareness to the emotional experiences that the toddler undergoes in her/his first days in a kindergarten or daycare. Amélioration de la vivacité d'esprit lors des premières expériences émotionnelles des jeunes enfants du kindergarten grÂce À la réalité virtuelle. Nous avons utilisé la technologie de la réalité virtuelle (RV) pour stimuler les expériences des premiers jours des jeunes enfants dans une garderie et pour améliorer la compréhension de leurs états d'esprit par l'éducatrice. Les mondes virtuels ont été concus en accord avec les modes de pensée bien connus et les états émotionals de ces jeunes enfants. Le but de cette recherche était d'étudier si la conscience par l'éducatrice des expériences émotionelles subies par le jeune enfant durant ses premiers jours au kindergarten s'améliore par une stimulation (RV) faisant partie du monde du jeune enfant. Il y eut no éducatrices participantes qui travaillaient avec des enfants Âgés de 6 mois À 4 ans en garderie privée de jour. Les résultats montraient que l'expérience d'un monde virtuel qui est le reflet du monde réel de l'enfant améliore dans une certaine mesure chez l'éducatrice la compréhension des expériences emotionelles que le jeune enfant subit lors de ses premiers jours en kindergarten ou en garderie. Das Verbessern der Wahrnehmung erster emotionaler Erfahrungen von Kleinkindern in Kindergärten mit Hilfe von Virtual Reality. Wir verwendeten Virtual Reality- (VR) Technik, um die Erfahrungen der ersten Tage eines Kleinkinds in einem Tagesheim zu simulieren und um damit das Verständnis der “Tageseltern" für die geistige Verfassung der Kleinkinder zu verbessern. Die virtuellen Welten wurden unter Beachtung gut bekannter Kleinkinder-Denkmodi und emotionaler Einstellungen entwickelt. Das Ziel dieser Studie war, zu untersuchen, ob das Einfühlungsvermögen der Tageseltern für die emotionalen Erfahrungen, die das Kleinkind in den ersten Tagen im Kindergarten macht, durch eine VR-Simulation “Welt eines Kleinkinds" verbessert wird. Die Teilnehmer dieser Studie waren 40 Tagesmütter, die mit zwischen 6 Monaten und 4 Jahre alten Kindern in privaten Tagesheimen arbeiten. Die Befunde zeigen, dass die Erfahrungen über eine virtuelle Welt, die die wirkliche Welt von Kindern reflektiert, bis zu einem Grad das Einfühlungsvermögen der Tageseltern für die emotionalen Einflüsse verbessert, die das Kleinkind in seinen ersten Tagen in einem Kindergarten oder Tagesheim erlebt. with his social setting, struggles to formulate attitudes and aims, and shape appropriate behaviour (Raviv and Katznelson, 1986).     

Being a parent's eyes and ears: emotional literacy and empathy of children whose parents have a sensory disability

Children of parents with sensory disability may feel that their experience helped nurture their sense of empathy. The study was designed to examine the connection between parents’ sensory disability (visual disability to blindness and hearing disability to deafness) and the empathy and emotional literacy of their non‐sensory‐disabled children. Participants were 77 children aged 7–17 – 37 children of parents with a sensory disability and 40 children of parents with no such disability. Questionnaires to check empathy and emotional literacy were accompanied by a demographic questionnaire. Findings revealed that levels of empathy and emotional awareness of others (a measure of emotional literacy) were higher among children of parents with a sensory disability than among children of parents without a disability. The results expand the literature on that subject and shed light on the important issues of empathy and emotional literacy in families with disability.     

Clock drawing in developmental dyslexia

Although developmental dyslexia is often defined as a language-based reading impairment not attributable to low intelligence or educational or socioeconomic limitations, the behavioral manifestations of dyslexia are not restricted to the realm of language. Functional brain imaging studies have shed light on physiological differences associated with poor reading both inside and outside the classical language areas of the brain. Concurrently, clinically useful tests that elicit these nonlinguistic deficits are few. Specifically, the integrity of the dorsal visual pathway, which predominantly projects to the parietal cortex, remains underinvestigated, lacking easily administered tests. Here we present the Clock Drawing Test (CDT), used to test the visuoconstructive ability of children with and without dyslexia and garden-variety poor readers. Compared to typically reading children, many children with dyslexia and some garden-variety poor readers showed significant left neglect, as measured by the distribution of figures drawn on the left clock face. In the poor readers with dyslexia, we observed spatial construction deficits like those of patients with acquired right-hemisphere lesions. The results suggest that in some children with dyslexia, right-hemisphere dysfunction may compound the phonological processing deficits attributed to the left hemisphere. The CDT provides an easy opportunity to assess skills known to be associated with right-hemisphere parietal function. This test can be easily administered to children for both clinical and research purposes.     

A vigilante serial killer as ethics educator? An exploration of Dexter as a tool for moral education in the professional domain

This study aims to inform the discussion over the proposed merit of morally ambiguous dramas as a tool in moral education in the professional domain, by providing insight into student groups’ moral evaluations of Dexter. In-depth interviews (N = 61) were conducted among a diverse sample of law and (developmental) psychology students. The results demonstrate differences in moral evaluations, according to the degree of ‘professional’ experience. Remarkably, law students follow the unlawful reasoning of vigilante killer Dexter instead of their own moral make-up; yet slowly develop a professional, strict procedural, point-of-view during their education. Conversely (developmental) psychology students ground moral evaluations instantly in professionalism, but proceed from an idealistic to a more realistic and nuanced point-of-view. To fully reach its potential as a launch pad for discussing professional predicaments, we recommend that Dexter is incorporated later in the curriculum after both student groups have had more experience in the field.