FACILITATING TRANSITION TIMES WITH HANDICAPPED PRESCHOOL CHILDREN: A COMPARISON BETWEEN PEER-MEDIATED AND ANTECEDENT PROMPT PROCEDURES

We examined the effects of a peer-mediated versus an antecedent prompt condition on the rate of independent movement and appropriate behavior of handicapped preschool children during three classroom transition times. Using an alternating treatments design, results showed that each treatment condition yielded increases in target behaviors; however, the antecedent prompt condition was superior during all three transition settings. In addition, teacher prompts to these children were significantly reduced during the intervention conditions, indicating that the children were making these transitions more independently.     

Programming maintenance after correspondence training interventions with children

Interventions were employed to program maintenance following correspondence training. The use of reinforcement of verbalization and a mixed sequence of procedures designed to establish indiscriminable contingencies was evaluated in multiple-baseline designs across subjects and behaviors. The results indicated that target behaviors were maintained under less intrusive interventions and in the absence of programmed contingencies during extended follow-up conditions. The results are discussed in terms of changes in reinforcement schedules established in maintenance interventions.     

Development of the understanding of character constancy: Expectations of the behavior of friendly and unfriendly peers

Abstract: This study examines developmental changes in the tendency of young children to form generalized expectations of the behavior of friendly and unfriendly classmates in their nursery school. Subjects aged 4, 5, and 6 selected friendly, unfriendly, and neutral peers according to their expected behavior in a particular situation and then predicted the peers' behavior in four situations, one of which was similar to that used in the selection process. It was found that at the age of 4 the expectations of the behavior of unfriendly peers differed from those of the behavior of the other peers, and that by the age of 5 the expectations of the behavior of friendly peers were fairly consistent across different situations. Additionally, the results agreed with our hypothesis that younger children's expectations regarding their peers' behavior toward them are more stable and congruous with the peers' character type than those toward an imaginary friend, as far as the expectations of unfriendly peers' behavior is concerned.     

PREPARATION FOR EFFECTIVE SELF-REGULATION: THE DEVELOPMENT OF GENERALIZED VERBAL CONTROL

A correspondence training procedure was used to develop consistency between children's verbalizations and their subsequent behavior across increasingly remote settings and time. The interval of time between the verbalizations and the opportunity to engage in several target behaviors was systematically increased across four preschool settings. Probes of generalized verbal control of home behaviors were conducted throughout training and showed that generalization was obtained in the absence of any salient externally imposed contingencies after the children had reliably come under the control of verbalizations about preschool behaviors.     

Individual differences in children's private speech: Consistency across tasks, timepoints, and contexts

Children often talk themselves through their activities. They produce private speech (PS), which is internalized to form inner speech (silent verbal thought). Twenty-five 8-10-year-olds completed four tasks in a laboratory context (Tower of London, digit span, and two measures of spatial IQ). PS production was recorded. Eleven months later, the same participants completed the Tower of London and academic numeracy tasks, again in a laboratory context, as well as numeracy tasks in a classroom context. Rates of PS production and its level of internalization showed large positive correlations across time, tasks, and contexts. The results are interpreted in terms of the psychometric properties of PS production and are taken as evidence for the development of a domain-general system for verbal self-regulation in childhood.     

A longitudinal study of early reading difficulties and subsequent problem behaviors

It is generally believed that early academic failure in school develops into a downward spiral of negative motivational and behavioral consequences. In this study, children with reading difficulties were compared with typical readers on questionnaires measuring ADHD symptoms and other behavior problems such as withdrawn symptoms, somatic complaints, anxiety/depression, social problems, and aggression. The results revealed that reading difficulties and problem behaviors appear more independent of each other rather than problem behaviors being a consequence of reading failure. In addition, gender differences were negligible when examining the relationship between reading difficulties and subsequent problem behavior. Some implications for special education and intervention are suggested.     

幼儿在联合行动中共同表征能力的发展

为探究幼儿联合行动共同表征能力的发展,实验1通过比较186名3~5岁幼儿在相同任务和不同任务的表现,发现4岁和5岁幼儿在不同任务中的表现比相同任务差;实验2进一步验证幼儿在不同任务中较差的表现源于对自我和同伴的共同表征。结论：3岁幼儿无法在联合任务中同时表征自我和同伴,没有表现出明显的共同表征能力,4岁以上幼儿开始具备稳定的共同表征能力,能够在联合任务中同时表征自己和同伴,由此对自己的行为表现造成干扰。     

学龄前儿童情绪调节策略的发展研究

运用自编问卷对学龄前儿童情绪调节策略的发展状况进行研究,结果发现:学龄前儿童的情绪调节策略存在显著的年龄差异,总体的情绪调节能力随年龄增长而提高。在挫折情境中,发泄策略的运用存在显著的性别差异。     

以《易》取名的数理统计与文化透视

古人喜取<周易>命名,这一现象一些学者曾加以注意,但未作深入研究.本文对<中国文学家大辞典>采用穷尽式的数理统计,探求出<坤>、<乾>等16卦为常用卦,其卦彖辞、二五爻辞及<文言>等为常用爻,进而推索卦爻取舍背后所隐藏的价值取向与哲理内涵,提出并考察援<易>取名之宋前少宋后多这一现象.     

幼儿自我控制能力发展的研究

运用因素分析、评价与实验的方法,编制“幼儿自我控制能力发展教师评定问卷”,探讨幼儿自我控制能力的结构及幼儿自我控制的年龄差异和性别差异,研究结果表明:(1)“幼儿自我控制能力发展教师评定问卷”具有较高的信度和效度;(2)幼儿自我控制能力包括自制力、自觉性、坚持性、自我延迟满足;(3)幼儿自我控制能力随年龄的增长而呈上升趋势;(4)幼儿自我控制能力存在明显的性别差异。     

Young Natural-Number Arithmeticians

ABSTRACT— When preschoolers count to check their arithmetic predictions, their counts are better than when they simply count a set of items on count-only tasks. This is so even for 2 1/2- and 3-year-olds dealing with small values. Such results lend support to the view that learning about verbal counting benefits from a nonverbal count-arithmetic system and challenge theories that place understanding of verbal counting at 4 1/2 or 5 years. That preschoolers readily engage in predicting-and-checking number tasks has implications for educational programs.     

Cultural psychology: a two-way path between mind and culture / Psicología cultural: un camino de ida y vuelta entre la mente y la cultura

Abstract

This brief introduction serves as an opening to the monographic issue on cultural psychology. We will begin this introduction by providing an overview of the main features of this branch of psychology. Heavily influenced by Vygotsky’s concept of mediation, cultural psychology centres on how we use different cultural tools or mediational artefacts to make sense of the world and guide our actions within it. On the basis of this approach, the nine articles of which this monograph is comprised are briefly introduced: articles which are eminently empirical in nature and which relate to areas such as creativity, collective memory, identity and developmental shifts, as well as migration and mobility in a globalized world.