| Abstract: | The effectiveness of specific dimensions of adult mediation on preschoolers' self- regulation of a model-consultation strategy was evaluated using microcomputer puzzle tasks. Two trained tutors taught 61 children who were pretested and randomly assigned to one of four treatments devised to test two factors of mediation: access and analysis of a picture-puzzle model prior to or during problem solving. Tutorial interchanges of treatments were designed on the basis of the Vygotskian tenet that effective instruction includes a concern for children's actual and potential developmental levels and occurs through participation with others during problem solving. Measures of model-consultation were calculated from three videotaped sessions and used to assess children's self-regulation during treatment and in immediate and delayed posttests. Analyses revealed significant differences for the access and analysis effects in posttests, but only in the delayed posttest for the latter. Significant differences were found for the planned contrast in the delayed posttest. The study suggests that children's acquisition of the model-consultation can improve over a short period of time, although not immediately, with culturally mediated instruction and does not improve solely as a function of practice. |
