Multigrade kindergarten classrooms and children's academic achievement, executive function, and socioemotional development
Abstract
Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 (n = 11,000), this study examined the developmental outcomes of 5‐year‐old children in multigrade classrooms (combined prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms serving 3‐, 4‐, and 5‐year‐olds) compared with those of 5‐year‐olds attending kindergarten‐only classrooms serving primarily 5‐year‐olds. Results from regression and propensity score analyses revealed that 5‐year‐old children who attended multigrade classrooms with prekindergarteners made smaller gains in math and literacy skills and demon...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 8, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Arya Ansari Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Young children's self ‐benefiting lies and their relation to executive functioning and theory of mind
This study used a zero‐sum game to elicit children's self‐benefiting lies. Results showed the majority of young children did not lie, and it is related to children's theory of mind understanding and executive functioning.
The act of lying begins early in life, and its emergence and development are influenced by children's specific cognitive abilities in the domains of theory of mind understanding and executive functioning. (Source: Infant and Child Development)
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Genyue Fu, Liyang Sai, Fang Yuan, Kang Lee Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Do children think that inheritance determines height and weight?
Abstract
Three studies were conducted to investigate if children think that physical growth is determined by inheritance. All three studies employed the “switched‐at‐birth” task. Study 1 investigated if children and adults thought that height and weight were determined by parentage. Study 2 examined preschoolers and elementary school children's and adults' understanding of the role of parentage and nutrition in determining weight. Study 2a examined children's and adults' understanding of the role of parentage and nutrition in determining height. Results indicate that overall, preschoolers and third graders have mor...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Lakshmi Raman Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Child physical punishment, parenting, and school readiness
This study explored how physical punishment (PP) and other parenting approaches may predict school readiness outcomes. By using the Canada‐wide representative data, 5,513 children were followed over a 2‐year period. Caregivers reported on their use of PP and other parenting approaches (i.e., literacy and learning activities and other disciplinary practices) when children were 2–3 years old, whereas school readiness was measured at 4–5 years using interviewer‐administered tests of number competence and receptive vocabulary skills. Analyses controlled for PP use at 4–5 years, child externalizing behaviours, an...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Kelly Weegar, Camille Gu érin‐Marion, Sabrina Fréchette, Elisa Romano Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Are belief ‐based justifications associated with metalinguistic awareness? A cross‐sectional study in school‐age children
We examined the relation between metalinguistic awareness and theory‐of‐mind in primary‐school children.
Metalinguistic awareness was associated to belief‐based justifications, but only for children with small vocabulary.
In school‐age children the ability to provide verbal justifications plays a key role in the relation between theory‐of‐mind and metalinguistic awareness. (Source: Infant and Child Development)
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Pietro Spataro, Clelia Rossi ‐Arnaud, Emiddia Longobardi Tags: BRIEF REPORT Source Type: research
Two sides to every story: Children learn words better from one storybook page at a time
This study demonstrates that the number of illustrations in storybooks influences rate of word learning.
Children who see only 1 illustration at a time learn more words from storybooks. Children who see 2 illustrations at a time do not learn words from storybooks. When a supporting gesture is added, children can learn words in the presence of 2 illustrations.
Extraneous information hinders word learning from storybooks. (Source: Infant and Child Development)
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Zoe M. Flack, Jessica S. Horst Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Child care quality and Dutch 2 ‐ and 3‐year‐olds' socio‐emotional outcomes: Does the amount of care matter?
Abstract
High amounts of early child care have sometimes been linked to higher levels of behaviour problems, while high‐quality child care has more often been related to fewer behaviour problems and more social competence. The current study investigated whether the level of centre emotional and behavioural support (child care quality) interacted with the amount of child care in predicting children's socio‐emotional behaviour. Participants were 417 children (mean age = 27 months) from 61 Dutch daycare centres. The amount of daycare ranged from 1 to 5 days per week (M = 2.3 days). Multi‐level analyses showed tha...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Martine L. Broekhuizen, Marcel A.G. Aken, Judith S. Dubas, Paul P.M. Leseman Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Patterns of emotional availability between mothers and young children: Associations with risk factors for borderline personality disorder
Abstract
Emotional availability (EA) characterizes a warm, close relationship between caregiver and child. We compared patterns (clusters) of EA on risk factors, including those for borderline personality disorder (BPD). We sampled 70 children aged 4 to 7 years from low socio‐economic backgrounds: 51% of whose mothers had BPD. We coded filmed interactions for EA: mothers' sensitivity, structuring, non‐intrusiveness, non‐hostility, and children's responsiveness to, and involvement of, mothers. We additionally coded children's over‐responsiveness and over‐involvement. Using person‐centred analyses, we identified...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Rebecca D. Trupe, Jenny Macfie, Rebecca M. Skadberg, Gretchen Kurdziel Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
“I'm an ogre so I'm very hungry!” “I'm assistant ogre”: The Social Function of Sibling Imitation in Early Childhood
Siblings' imitative behaviors were investigated in 39 middle‐class dyads during six 90‐min home sessions at both Time 1 (M age: older sibling = 4.4 years; younger sibling = 2.4 years) and Time 2 (2 years later). Although younger siblings imitated most often at T1 and T2, older siblings' imitation increased proportionally over time in comparison to younger siblings. Findings highlight the affiliative nature of imitation that occurred during reciprocal play interactions, via positive responses, and the content of the imitation. Finally, age was controlled by comparing first‐born siblings aged 4 at T1 to second...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Nina Howe, Joanna Rosciszewska, Ryan J. Persram Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
The effects of type of instruction, animacy cues, and dimensionality of objects on the shape bias in 3 ‐ to 6‐year‐old children
This study assessed the “shape bias,” a linguistic strategy young children routinely use when confronted with the task of extending a novel name from one object to another.
Novel name extension and categorization tasks were used in this study.
Shape bias was affected by the type of instructions, animacy of objects, and dimensionality of objects. (Source: Infant and Child Development)
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Denise Davidson, Vanessa R. Rainey, Sandra B. Vanegas, Elizabeth Hilvert Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Development of the selection of trusted informants in the domain of illness
This study examined young children's information‐seeking behavior for illness or injury by (1) identifying primary informants and (2) determining whether children's evaluations of trusted informants change with development. Studies 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d showed that 3‐ and 4‐year‐old children preferred to ask adults, including experts, as well as familiar and unfamiliar adults, for illnesses and injuries, but did not prefer to ask other children and stuffed animals. It was also shown that 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds' previous experiences of medical examination were not related with their preferences of informants and that...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Noriko Toyama Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Issue Information
No abstract is available for this article. (Source: Infant and Child Development)
Source: Infant and Child Development - April 4, 2017 Category: Child Development Tags: Issue Information Source Type: research
Mother and child narrative elaborations during booksharing in low ‐income Mexican‐American dyads
Abstract
Caregivers' narrative elaborations have been consistently shown to relate to language, literacy, and cognitive skills in children. However, research with Latinos yields mixed findings in terms of how much caregivers elaborate and the benefits of elaborations for Latino children's development, especially within booksharing contexts. Moreover, little research has investigated whether and how children elaborate, and whether individual differences among children's narrative elaborations are related to changes in maternal elaborations over time. The current longitudinal study describes specific types of elaborations us...
Source: Infant and Child Development - March 15, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Kelly Escobar, Gigliana Melzi, Catherine S. Tamis ‐LeMonda Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Preschoolers' cognitive and emotional self ‐regulation in pretend play: Relations with executive functions and quality of play
Abstract
The preschool period is marked by rapid growth of children's self‐regulation and related executive functions. Self‐regulation is considered an important aspect of school readiness and is related to academic and social–emotional outcomes in childhood. Pretend play, as part of the early childhood curriculum, is hypothesized to support self‐regulation. An important question concerns whether self‐regulation should be considered an individual ability or, partly, a situated skill that is influenced by aspects of the classroom context. The aims of this study were to investigate the degree to which 3‐year‐ol...
Source: Infant and Child Development - March 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Pauline Louise Slot, Hanna Mulder, Josje Verhagen, Paul P.M. Leseman Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
Reassessing the validity of the attachment Q ‐sort: An updated meta‐analysis
This study corroborates the previous finding that the observer AQS is a valid measure of infant attachment, especially after long periods of observation. The self‐report version showed significantly weaker discriminant and predictive validity.
Highlights
The aim of the study was to update the 2004 meta‐analysis assessing the validity of the attachment Q‐Sort (AQS).
This study broadly replicated the findings of the previous meta-analysis, showing that the observer AQS is a valid measure of attachment.
Caution should be shown in using the self-report AQS due to its comparatively weaker predictive and discriminate valid...
Source: Infant and Child Development - March 1, 2017 Category: Child Development Authors: Tim Cadman, Peter R. Diamond, Pasco Fearon Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research
