学习不良儿童归因特点的研究

考察学习不良儿童归因的特点。被试为小学3～5年级83名儿童。结果发现：对消极事件的归因上,学习不良儿童显著高于一般儿童,年级差异显著,四年级得分显著高于三年级;在消极事件各维度上,学习不良儿童与一般儿童在稳定性维度上差异显著,内部性和普遍性维度的年级差异显著,四年级显著高于三年级。对积极事件的归因上,一般儿童显著高于学习不良儿童;在积极事件各维度上,学习不良儿童与一般儿童在稳定性上差异显著,一般儿童高于学习不良儿童,年级差异显著,三年级显著高于五年级。     

学习不良儿童孤独感、同伴接受性的特点及其与家庭功能的关系

采用量表法、同伴提名法、访谈法探讨了小学学习不良儿童孤独感、同伴接受性的特点及其与家庭功能的关系。结果表明,４—６年级小学儿童存在孤独感;与一般儿童相比,学习不良儿童孤独感明显偏高,而同伴接受性明显偏低;同伴接受性与孤独感和家庭功能之间存在显著相关。     

学习不良儿童心理健康的特点研究

考察学习不良儿童心理健康（学习、自我、人际关系、社会生活适应）的特点。被试为小学3～5年级83名儿童。结果发现：学习不良儿童与一般儿童的心理健康存在显著差异;学习不良儿童的学习、自我、社会生活适应等方面显著低于一般儿童。在学习各维度上,学习不良儿童与一般儿童的自我满足感、体脑协调性、学习习惯之间存在显著差异;在自我各维度上,学习不良儿童与一般儿童的社会自我、学术自我、自我认同之间存在显著差异;在社会生活适应各维度上,学习不良儿童与一般儿童的亲社会行为、居家能力存在显著差异。     

学习不良儿童家庭资源的元分析

对过去20年关于学习不良儿童家庭资源的研究结果进行的元分析显示,儿童各种家庭资源的效应值变异程度不大。总体来说,学习不良儿童和一般儿童的家庭资源差异显著。一般儿童的父母文化程度和教养方式优于学习不良儿童的父母文化程度和教养方式。但是,两类儿童的父母期望没有显著差异。     

学习不良儿童对情绪表达规则的认知特点

采用儿童对情绪表达规则的认知访谈故事,比较了学习不良儿童和一般儿童对情绪表达规则认知的发展特点。结果发现,学习不良儿童表情调节知识水平显著低于一般儿童,性别差异不显著,组别与年级交互作用不显著,表明两组儿童发展趋势类似,发展水平不同;学习不良儿童报告出较少的社会定向目标,自我保护目标得分与一般儿童差异不显著;学习不良儿童缺少根据不同人际关系类型灵活运用情绪表达规则的知识,而且较少把情绪表达规则的使用和目标联系起来     

学习不良儿童的策略信念与理解水平

使用结构访谈法对120名儿童(其中学习不良儿童60名)的策略信念与策略理解水平进行了研究。结果显示:学习不良儿童组与一般儿童组的差异更多体现在对具体策略的元认知因果解释水平上,他们更多持有较低水平的“信息获得”解释,而对照组儿童则更多持有较高水平的“信息加工”解释,提示对策略理解水平的差异可能是导致学习不良儿童难以将新学到的策略主动应用到其它情景中去的一个重要原因。     

儿童社交退缩、同伴关系和社会信息加工特点的关系

应用班级戏剧问卷在小学3-5年级儿童中筛选退缩儿童121名（安静退缩52名,活跃退缩47名,混合退缩22名）,同时设立对照组。集体施测同伴提名、朋友提名和友谊质量问卷,并对其中部分儿童实施社会信息加工的结构性访谈,探讨童年中期不同类型社交退缩儿童的同伴关系和社会信息加工特点之间的关系。结果表明,安静退缩儿童的同伴关系与一般儿童无显著差异,但活跃退缩和混合退缩儿童的同伴关系较差;活跃退缩儿童和混合退缩儿童与一般儿童相比,在社会信息加工过程中存在更多的差异;儿童的同伴关系在社交退缩行为与社会信息加工能力之间起到部分中介的作用;可从同伴关系和反应执行水平两个方面综合预测儿童的退缩行为。     

对小学学业不良儿童班级同伴关系的探析

同伴是小学生学习、生活中的重要他人,同伴在儿童的发展过程中有着成人所无法取代的地位。学业不良儿童由于学业上的失败,而遭到同伴的排斥、拒绝。就这一类儿童而言,他们的班级同伴关系大致有对立的同伴关系、疏远的同伴关系、矛盾的同伴关系三种,且在交往对象、范围、同伴的组成,以及彼此间的影响上都与非学业不良儿童有着差异。文中从教师和学生两个角度来探讨了改善学业不良儿童班级同伴关系的对策。     

小学学习不良儿童言语交际策略理解水平及其发展特点

采用言语交际策略认知结构访谈故事情境,考察了小学3~6年级学习不良儿童言语交际策略理解水平的发展以及言语行为对其策略理解的影响。被试为两所普通小学儿童,其中学习不良117名,一般儿童124名。结果表明：学习不良儿童言语交际策略理解水平在总体发展上显著落后于一般儿童,但滞后仅存在于意图表达间接程度较高的暗示策略上。其次,在不同言语行为类别上发展趋势不同。对于礼貌请求策略,学习不良儿童不存在显著年级差异,而一般儿童则表现出随年级的增长而逐步提高的趋势;对于委婉应答策略,学习不良儿童存在显著的年级差异。     

学习不良儿童的元认知偏差：内部线索的影响

通过改变实验材料内部线索,旨在考察内部线索在学习不良儿童元认知偏差形成过程中的影响。实验1发现,学习不良儿童低关联字对的元认知偏差显著高于一般儿童,关联强度对学习判断的影响显著小于对测试成绩的影响;实验2发现,学习不良儿童反向方向字对的元认知偏差显著高于一般儿童,关联方向对学习判断的影响显著小于对测试成绩的影响。综合以上研究发现,相对一般儿童,学习不良儿童存在更大的元认知偏差,内部线索对学习判断和测试成绩的影响不一致模式适用于两组儿童。     

虚拟场景中不同客体朝向条件对内在参照系建立的影响

通过眼动记录和部分场景再认两种方法,探讨了虚拟建筑物对称场景中物体朝向统一、凸显两种条件对内在参照系建立的影响。结果发现:(1)场景中均为有朝向建筑物且朝向统一时,被试选择物体朝向与对称轴建立内在参照系的可能性没有差异;(2)场景中只有一个有朝向建筑物,其余均为无朝向物体时,即朝向凸显条件下,被试倾向于选择对称轴来建立内在参照系。物体朝向对内在参照系建立的影响作用具有局限性和不稳定性。     

场景的年龄特征会影响自闭症谱系障碍儿童的注视模式

为了探讨场景年龄特征对ASD儿童场景注视模式的影响，选取14名自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童和19名与其智力年龄匹配的正常发育（TD）儿童为被试，在被试对儿童场景和成人场景图片进行自由观看的同时记录其眼动。结果发现，ASD儿童对全图、面部、眼部和嘴部的访问均显著少于TD儿童，对背景区域的访问显著大于TD儿童；ASD和TD儿童对面部和身体的访问时间比都显著大于前景与背景兴趣区；ASD儿童对儿童场景中面部、眼部和嘴部兴趣区的访问时间比大于成人场景，而TD儿童则相反；两组儿童都表现出对儿童场景中背景的偏好。结果表明，在场景注视中，ASD与TD儿童具有相似的社会性注意倾向，对社会性信息给予更多注视，但ASD儿童表现更弱；场景的年龄特征会影响ASD儿童与TD儿童的场景注视模式，相对于成人场景，ASD儿童更偏向于注视儿童场景中的面孔和背景。     

数学学习困难儿童的编码加工特点:基于PASS理论的研究

同时加工和继时加工是PASS模型中的两类编码加工,二者在数学学习中发挥重要作用。使用基于PASS理论的认知评估系统（DN：CAS）单纯型数学困难、混合型数学困难和正常小学生进行两类编码加工的测评,比较研究发现,两类困难学生的两类编码加工水平均显著低于正常儿童,两类困难学生间的同时加工差异不显著,而混合型困难学生的继时加工水平显著低于单纯型困难学生。较低的同时加工水平似乎是两类数学困难的共同特征,继时加工水平的差异则似可作为单纯型与混合型困难的区分指标之一。     

Facial expressions of pre-school children while watching televised violence

Televised scenes portraying physical violence, cartoon violence, verbal violence, and non-violence were shown to pre-school children. The facial expressions of the children were videotaped while watching. The children's reactions were judged from the tape separately for each scene by raters not familiar with the films or with the children. Physical violence evoked most fear and worry. The children withdrew from scenes of verbal violence between adults, engaging in other activities. Reactions to the control scenes did not differ statistically from the totals of reactions to all the violent scenes. In reactions to the films, significant differences associated with social class, gender, and type of day care were found. Interviews supported the findings from the judgements concerning the facial expressions of emotion.     

Changing viewpoints during dynamic events

The connection of various viewpoints of a visual dynamic scene can be realised in different ways. We examined if various presentation modes influence scene recognition and cognitive representation type. In the learning phase, participants saw clips of basketball scenes from (a) a single, unvaried viewpoint, or with a change of viewpoint during the scene, whereby the connection was realised (b) by an abrupt cut, or (c) by a continuous camera move. In the test phase, participants had to recognise video stills presenting basketball scenes from the same or differing viewpoints. As expected, cuts led to lower recognition accuracy than a fixed unvaried viewpoint, whereas this was not the case for moves. However, the kind of connection between two viewpoints had no influence on the viewpoint dependence of the cognitive representation. Additionally, it was found that the amount of viewpoint deviation seemed to influence the overall conservativeness of participants' reactions.     

Real-world schemata and scene recognition in adults and children

Recognition memory for previously seen multiobject scenes was examined for different types of contextual arrangements between objects in the scenes. It was found that organized scenes with novel but possible interobject relations were recognized more accurately than either organized scenes with familiar interobject relations or unorganized scenes with impossible interobject relations. This finding was obtained for adults, 8- to 10-year-old children, and 5- to 8-year-old children who indicated concrete-operational ability in Piaget’s conservation-of-liquid quantity task. The results were interpreted in conjunction with a two-stage model of scene processing involving the formation of a schema to represent a scene (Stage 1), and the operation of the schema in governing the further processing of detailed information in the scene (Stage 2). It was concluded that preoperational children can form schemata to represent organized scenes (Stage 1), but it is not until the emergence of concrete operations that these schemata become operational with respect to guiding the further processing of information in the scene (Stage 2).     

Test of the definition of learning disability based on the difference between IQ and achievement

A learning disability is commonly defined as a discrepancy between IQ and achievement. This has been criticized for identifying too many children as having a learning disability who have high IQs and average academic achievement. Such overidentification as actually occurred was assessed in 473 referred children (8-16 years, M= 10, SD=2) with normal intelligence. Learning disability was defined as a significant discrepancy (p<.05) between predicted and obtained achievement in reading, mathematics, or written expression on the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test. Predicted achievement was based on the child's WISC-III Full Scale IQ. Overidentification was considered to occur when a child scored at or above age level in reading, mathematics, and writing but still had a significant discrepancy between predicted and obtained achievement by virtue of a high IQ. Learning disability was diagnosed in 312 (66%) of the children. There was no overidentification because all children had one or more WIAT scores below the normative level for their age, i.e., < 100. Further, only 7% of the children were identified with a learning disability based on a WIAT score in the 90s. These children had a mean IQ of 123 and were rated by their teachers and parents as having learning problems.     

Using real-world scenes as contextual cues for search

Research on contextual cueing has demonstrated that with simple arrays of letters and shapes, search for a target increases in efficiency as associations between a search target and its surrounding visual context are learned. We investigated whether the visual context afforded by repeated exposure to real-world scenes can also guide attention when the relationship between the scene and a target position is arbitrary. Observers searched for and identified a target letter embedded in photographs of real-world scenes. Although search time within novel scenes was consistent across trials, search time within repeated scenes decreased across repetitions. Unlike previous demonstrations of contextual cueing, however, memory for scene-target covariation was explicit. In subsequent memory tests, observers recognized repeated contexts more often than those that were presented once and displayed superior recall of target position within the repeated scenes. In addition, repetition of inverted scenes, which made the scene more difficult to identify, produced a markedly reduced rate of learning, suggesting semantic information concerning object and scene identity are used to guide attention.     

How does information from low and high spatial frequencies interact during scene categorization?

Current models of visual perception suggest that, during scene categorization, low spatial frequencies (LSF) are rapidly processed and activate plausible interpretations of visual input. This coarse analysis would be used to guide subsequent processing of high spatial frequencies (HSF). The present study aimed to further examine how information from LSF and HSF interact and influence each other during scene categorization. In a first experimental session, participants had to categorize LSF and HSF filtered scenes belonging to two different semantic categories (artificial vs. natural). In a second experimental session, we used hybrid scenes as stimuli made by combining LSF and HSF from two different scenes which were semantically similar or dissimilar. Half of the participants categorized LSF scenes in hybrids, and the other half categorized HSF scenes in hybrids. Stimuli were presented for 30 or 100?ms. Session 1 results showed better performance for LSF than HSF scene categorization. Session 2 scene categorization was faster when participants attended and categorized LSF than HSF scene in hybrids. The semantic interference of a semantically dissimilar HSF scene on LSF scene categorization was greater than the semantic interference of a semantically dissimilar LSF scene on HSF scene categorization, irrespective of exposure duration. These results suggest a LSF advantage for scene categorization, and highlight the prominent role of HSF information when there is uncertainty about the visual stimulus, in order to disentangle between alternative interpretations.     

Regulation of brain activity in the fusiform face and parahippocampal place areas in 7–11-year-old children

Developmental studies have demonstrated that cognitive processes such as attention, suppression of interference and memory develop throughout childhood and adolescence. However, little is currently known about the development of top-down control mechanisms and their influence on cognitive performance. In the present study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate modulation of activity in the ventral visual cortex in healthy 7–11-year-old children and young adults. The participants performed tasks that required attention to either face (Fs task) or scene (Sf task) images while trying to ignore distracting scene or face images, respectively. A face-selective area in the fusiform gyrus (fusiform face area, FFA) and an area responding preferentially to scene images in the parahippocampal gyrus (parahippocampal place area, PPA) were defined using functional localizers. Children responded slower and less accurately in the tasks than adults. In children, the right FFA was less selective to face images and regulation of activity between the Fs and Sf tasks was weaker compared to adults. In the PPA, selectivity to scenes and regulation of activity, there according to the task demands were comparable between children and adults. During the tasks, children activated prefrontal cortical areas including the middle (MFG) and superior (SFG) frontal gyrus more than adults. Functional connectivity between the right FFA and left MFG was stronger in adults than children in the Fs task. Children, on the other hand, had stronger functional connectivity than adults in the Sf task between the right FFA and right PPA and between right MFG and medial SFG. There were no group differences in the functional connectivity between the PPA and the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Together the results suggest that, in 7–11-year-old children, the FFA is still immature, whereas the selectivity to scenes and regulation of activity in the PPA is comparable to adults. The results also indicated functional immaturity of the PFC in children compared to adults and weaker connectivity between the PFC and the rFFA, explaining the weaker regulation of activity in the rFFA between the Fs and Sf tasks.