Taking Shape: Supporting Preschoolers' Acquisition of Geometric Knowledge Through Guided Play

Shape knowledge, a key aspect of school readiness, is part of early mathematical learning. Variations in how children are exposed to shapes may affect the pace of their learning and the nature of their shape knowledge. Building on evidence suggesting that child‐centered, playful learning programs facilitate learning more than other methods, 4‐ to 5‐year‐old children (N = 70) were taught the properties of four geometric shapes using guided play, free play, or didactic instruction. Results revealed that children taught shapes in the guided play condition showed improved shape knowledge compared to the other groups, an effect that was still evident after 1 week. Findings suggest that scaffolding techniques that heighten engagement, direct exploration, and facilitate “sense‐making,” such as guided play, undergird shape learning.     

Infants Segment Continuous Events Using Transitional Probabilities

Throughout their 1st year, infants adeptly detect statistical structure in their environment. However, little is known about whether statistical learning is a primary mechanism for event segmentation. This study directly tests whether statistical learning alone is sufficient to segment continuous events. Twenty‐eight 7‐ to 9‐month‐old infants viewed a sequence of continuous actions performed by a novel agent in which there were no transitional movements that could have constrained the possible upcoming actions. At test, infants distinguished statistically intact units from less predictable ones. The ability to segment events using statistical structure may help infants discover other cues to event boundaries, such as intentions, and carve up the world of continuous motion in meaningful ways.     

Deconstructing Building Blocks: Preschoolers' Spatial Assembly Performance Relates to Early Mathematical Skills

This study focuses on three main goals: First, 3‐year‐olds' spatial assembly skills are probed using interlocking block constructions (N = 102). A detailed scoring scheme provides insight into early spatial processing and offers information beyond a basic accuracy score. Second, the relation of spatial assembly to early mathematical skills was evaluated. Spatial skill independently predicted a significant amount of the variability in concurrent mathematical performance. Finally, the relation between spatial assembly skill and socioeconomic status (SES), gender, and parent‐reported spatial language was examined. While children's performance did not differ by gender, lower SES children were already lagging behind higher SES children in block assembly. Furthermore, lower SES parents reported using significantly fewer spatial words with their children.     

Skype Me! Socially Contingent Interactions Help Toddlers Learn Language

Language learning takes place in the context of social interactions, yet the mechanisms that render social interactions useful for learning language remain unclear. This study focuses on whether social contingency might support word learning. Toddlers aged 24–30 months (N = 36) were exposed to novel verbs in one of three conditions: live interaction training, socially contingent video training over video chat, and noncontingent video training (yoked video). Results suggest that children only learned novel verbs in socially contingent interactions (live interactions and video chat). This study highlights the importance of social contingency in interactions for language learning and informs the literature on learning through screen media as the first study to examine word learning through video chat technology.     

On Tilting at Windmills While Facing Armageddon

Since the 1960s, numerous articles, special features, symposia, and conferences have raised perceptive and often troubling questions about the present condition and future directions of the field. In the 1980s, the debates reached a crescendo with issues about specialization, fragmentation, professional versus academic, and what should comprise the academic core. Any profession should periodically evaluate itself; it is now time, however, to marshall our efforts and concentrate on what our collective strengths are—or should be. It is suggested herein that useful lessons might be gleaned from an overview of American medicine at the turn of the century and recent discussions concerning medical education. Medicine combines both clinical and academic/scientific studies and draws upon knowledge ranging from the molecular to the macro levels. American medicine and medical education struggled through uncertainties 100 years ago that are not unlike those that physical education has been involved in for the last 3 decades. To achieve first-class academic and professional respectability, however, more physical education faculty must become producers (rather than consumers) of scholarly and scientific knowledge. Moreover, our professional organization must devote greater attention to fostering research, the foundation upon which the respectability of a profession rests.