The Mullen scales of early learning: ceiling effects among preschool children

Two cognitive tests were administered to typically developing children (36–67 months): the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL), which is appropriate for very young children and thus often used in research with atypical samples (e.g., children with Autism Spectrum Disorder), and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). This was done in order to re-examine possible MSEL ceiling effects in a new sample and achieve a more in-depth understanding of these ceiling effects, if indeed present. Results indicated that among children ranging in age from 51 to 68 months, MSEL scores were significantly lower than K-ABC scores, and that with increasing age the number of children who completed the MSEL without establishing a ceiling level increased. Our results indicated that the MSEL scores are affected by ceiling effects and, therefore, the test underestimates cognitive abilities among older and more cognitively able children.     

Development of emergent literacy and early reading skills in preschool children: evidence from a latent-variable longitudinal study

Although research has identified oral language, print knowledge, and phonological sensitivity as important emergent literacy skills for the development of reading, few studies have examined the relations between these aspects of emergent literacy or between these skills during preschool and during later reading. This study examined the joint and unique predictive significance of emergent literacy skills for both later emergent literacy skills and reading in two samples of preschoolers. Ninety-six children (mean age = 41 months, SD = 9.41) were followed from early to late preschool, and 97 children (mean age = 60 months, SD = 5.41) were followed from late preschool to kindergarten or first grade. Structural equation modeling revealed significant developmental continuity of these skills, particularly for letter knowledge and phonological sensitivity from late preschool to early grade school, both of which were the only unique predictors of decoding.     

Attention development in infants and preschool children born preterm: a review

A potential mechanism that can explain preterm children's heightened risk for the development of later cognitive and behavioral problems is attention. Attention is the ability of an infant or child to orient to, to shift between and to maintain focus on events, objects, tasks, and problems in the external world, processes which are all dependent on the functioning of attentional networks in the brain. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of the literature on attention development in children born preterm during the first 4 years of life. First, research examining the differences between preterm and full-term children indicates that early attention development in infants born preterm is less optimal and that these differences increase when infants grow into toddlers. Second, studies investigating individual differences within preterm populations reveal the influence of both biological factors and environmental factors. Third, individual differences in early orienting and sustained attention have been shown to be predictive of later attentional, cognitive and behavioral functioning in children born preterm. The importance of long-term follow-up studies, with a focus on individual developmental trajectories in orienting, sustained and executive attention, is emphasized.     

Emergent verbal behavior in preschool children learning a second language

We evaluated the emergence of untaught second‐language skills following directly taught listener and intraverbal responses. Three preschool children were taught first‐language (English) listener responses (e.g., “Point to the horse”) and second‐language (Welsh) intraverbal responses (e.g., “What is horse in Welsh?” [ceffyl]). After intervention, increases in untaught second‐language tacts (e.g., “What is this in Welsh?” [ceffyl]) and listener responses (e.g., “Point to the ceffyl”) were observed for all 3 participants.     

COVID-19 pandemic impact on family life and exacerbated emotional and behavioral health among preschool children: A longitudinal study

Background/ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine associations of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on family life with emotional and behavioral health among preschool children.MethodsA longitudinal study including 1595 preschool children aged 3–6 years and their families was conducted in Anhui Province. The linear regression was applied to examine associations between the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on family life and emotional and behavioral health.ResultsResults of the multivariable linear regression indicated that the severe impact of COVID-19 pandemic on family life was significantly associated with more sleep problems, poor dietary behavior habits, more anxiety symptoms, and more problematic behaviors; and these effects exhibited gender and age differences.ConclusionsThe severe impact of COVID-19 pandemic on family life significantly increased the risk for exacerbated emotional and behavioral health among preschool children. It is considered vital to identify risk factors for vulnerable families and then to implement precise interventions when necessary for emotional and behavioral health of children in these families.     

Working memory and early numeracy training in preschool children

Many factors influence children’s performance in mathematical achievement, including both domain-specific and domain-general factors. This study aimed to verify and compare the effects of two types of training on early numerical skills. One type of training focused on the enhancement of working memory, a domain-general precursor, while the other focused on the enhancement of early numeracy, a domain-specific precursor. The participants were 48 five-year-old preschool children. Both the working memory and early numeracy training programs were implemented for 5 weeks. The results showed that the early numeracy intervention specifically improved early numeracy abilities in preschool children, whereas working memory intervention improved not only working memory abilities but also early numeracy abilities. These findings stress the importance of performing activities designed to train working memory abilities, in addition to activities aimed to enhance more specific skills, in the early prevention of learning difficulties during preschool years.     

Lateral specialization and social-verbal development in preschool children

Forty-two 2 1/2- to 5 1/2-year-old children's social and verbal behaviors were observed during free play in a preschool. A test measuring lateral specialization of verbal function and a standardized psychometric test of verbal ability were also administered. Analysis of variance indicated that the right ear (left hemisphere) is predominant in processing verbal stimuli in children as young as 2 1/2. Multiple regression analyses revealed significant relations between the right ear accuracy score for dichotically presented verbal stimuli and both psychometrically measured verbal ability and a social-verbal factor score derived from play behavior. After the increase related to age was statistically partialled out from both verbal ability and social-verbal scores, verbal expression, length of verbal utterances, time spent in conversation, and peer social interactions increased and parallel play decreased as a function of right ear (left hemisphere) accuracy for verbal stimuli. The relationship between left ear (right hemisphere) accuracy scores for verbal stimuli and social-verbal behavior, however, was not linear. Very high and very low levels of left ear recall predicted an increase in the frequency of parallel play and low social-verbal behavior while moderate levels of left ear accuracy scores predicted the reverse.     

Assessment of motor development and function in preschool children

The process of identification of children with delays or disorders in motor development includes developmental screening, examination, and reexamination. Throughout this process, various types of measures are used, including discriminative and evaluative measures. Discriminative and evaluative measures of motor development and function that are commonly used for preschool-aged children include the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II, Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, 2nd edition, Toddler and Infant Motor Evaluation, Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory, and Gross Motor Function Measure. Selecting an appropriate measure is a crucial part of the examination process and should be geared toward the purpose of testing and characteristics of the child. Evidence of reliability and validity are important considerations for selection of a measure.     

Incidental learning in preschool children as a function of level of cognitive analysis

Preschool children's recall and clustering of organized lists of pictures were examined under deliberate instructions to remember or in incidental learning situations. The incidental tasks either required comprehension (categorization, or a rating of pleasantness-unpleasantness) or were formal orienting tasks involving processing in terms of physical features.Explicit instruction to remember and formal incidental instructions did not differ, and both lead to poorer performance than the comprehension activities. Categorization, whether accompanied by explicit instructions to recall, or occurring in the context of a meaningful activity, was no more efficient than categorization in and for itself. With children as with adults, it is the activity of the children which determines depth of processing and subsequent retention, not the intent to remember per se.     

The effects of preschool on educationally advantaged children: First phases of a longitudinal study

This study is concerned with the preschool and kindergarten phases of a ten-year longitudinal research project designed to investigate the immediate and long-term effects of preschool on educationally advantaged children. Preschool data dealing with IQ, social competency, and school readiness, as well as physical abilities and self-concept were collected on two waves of subjects. Wave I(N = 129) consisted of 87 experimental and 42 control subjects, and in Wave II(N = 85) there were 54 experimental and 31 control subjects. Follow-up data on school readiness and social competency data were obtained from Wave I subjects in kindergarten. Analysis of data indicated that social competency, was enhanced through preschool participation and although there were no significant group differences in kindergarten test results, substantial social competency gains were observed for both groups. Findings will have greater meaning as the longitudinal study continues.     

Effective learning of writing and reading at preschool age with a multisensory method: a pilot study

The readiness of preschool children (3 1/2 to 5 years old) for writing and reading was investigated using educational material specially designed for this purpose. 17 children participated in a three-month pilot program divided into monthly periods during which the language material was presented to them and subsequently, their behavior towards it was observed and recorded, 42.7% of the observations made it all three months (n = 408), showed occupation of the children with language material from 5 to 15 min. and another 49.0% occupation from 15 to 30 min. Children were involved with the language material mostly individually (92.2%). The materials that mostly attracted their interest were the tombolas and the four letter cards. Writing was the most popular activity (93.9%), followed by identifying (69.9%), reading (14.5%) and combining (6.3%).     

The development of phonological awareness in preschool children

A short-term longitudinal study was carried out on a group of 67 preschool children. At three points in time over a 12-month period, the children were given tests measuring their syllable, rime, and phoneme awareness, speech and language skills, and letter knowledge. In general, children's rime skills developed earlier than their phoneme skills. Structural equation models showed that articulatory skills and syllable and rime awareness predicted later phoneme awareness.