Accurate referential communication and its relation with private and social speech in a naturalistic context

Research into human communication has been grouped under two traditions: referential and sociolinguistic. The study of a communication behavior simultaneously from both paradigms appears to be absent. Basically, this paper analyzes the use of private and social speech, through both a referential task (Word Pairs) and a naturalistic dyadic setting (Lego-set) administered to a sample of 64 children from grades 3 and 5. All children, of 8 and 10 years of age, used speech that was not adapted to the decoder, and thus ineffective for interpersonal communication, in both referential and sociolinguistic communication. Pairs of high-skill referential encoders used significantly more task-relevant social speech, that is, cognitively more complex, than did low-skill dyads in the naturalistic context. High-skill referential encoder dyads showed a trend to produce more inaudible private speech than did low-skill ones during spontaneous communication. Gender did not affect the results.     

Use of the anchoring and adjustment heuristic by children

Two studies are discussed in which children's use of the anchoring and adjustment heuristic was considered. Study one is a modification of the classic multiplication task devised by Kahneman and Tversky (1974). Results indicate that children in grades 4, 6, 8 and adults are affected by the order of numbers provided in an addition task. In addition, younger children display the tendency to over adjust, yielding higher estimates. In the second study, third and fifth grade participants and adults were provided anchors and estimated the number of jellybeans in a glass container. A main effect for condition is indicated, with lower anchors leading to lower estimates. Results of both studies are consistent with the an anchoring and adjustment explanation.     

Use of the anchoring and adjustment heuristic by children

Two studies are discussed in which children's use of the anchoring and adjustment heuristic was considered. Study one is a modification of the classic multiplication task devised by Kahneman and Tversky (1974). Results indicate that children in grades 4, 6, 8 and adults are affected by the order of numbers provided in an addition task. In addition, younger children display the tendency to over adjust, yielding higher estimates. In the second study, third and fifth grade participants and adults were provided anchors and estimated the number of jellybeans in a glass container. A main effect for condition is indicated, with lower anchors leading to lower estimates. Results of both studies are consistent with the an anchoring and adjustment explanation.     

Parents,parenting, and children's sleep problems: Exploring reciprocal effects

Longitudinal analysis of data on 658 children/families from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development addressed two issues regarding children's sleep problems (measured by maternal report in third and sixth grades when the child was 8 and 11 years old, respectively) and family functioning (measured using observations and questionnaires in third and fifth grades when the child was 8 and 10 years old): (1) Do family factors/processes in third grade predict change over time in child sleep problems and, reciprocally (2) Do child sleep problems when the child is in third grade predict change in family factors/processes? Results indicated that sleep problems were adversely affected (increased more/decreased less over time) when, in third grade, the father was absent, mothers were younger, experienced more negative emotions and were less sensitive in interacting with the child, and when the mother–child relationship was characterized by less closeness/more conflict. No linkages involving fathers and fathering were detected. Reciprocally, more sleep problems in the third grade predicted adverse changes in maternal negative emotionality, maternal sensitivity, and maternal closeness/conflict. Discussion highlights the need to conceptualize family functioning and children's sleep problems in family systems’ terms (i.e. reciprocal effects).     

Private and inner speech and the regulation of social speech communication

To further investigate the possible regulatory role of private and inner speech in the context of referential social speech communications, a set of clear and systematically applied measures is needed. This study addresses this need by introducing a rigorous method for identifying private speech and certain sharply defined instances of inaudible inner speech. Using this classification system, longitudinal data were gathered from 10 pairs of children performing a referential communication task at 4.5, 6.5, and 8.5 years of age. Results demonstrated children's substantial production of private and inner speech in this communicative situation, with speech forms varying in amount and type as a function of age, communicative role (speaker or listener), and the complexity of the material to be communicated. It is suggested that private and inner speech embedded in discourse may serve a regulatory role in social speech communication.     

小学汉语儿童英语口语产出形式的发展

以小学二、四、六年级共82名学生为研究被试, 通过自我介绍、被试主动发问、看图说话和角色扮演4种任务对其英语口语产出形式进行了测查。研究结果发现:(1)在小学汉语儿童英语口语产出形式上, 随着年级的升高, 套语的比例随之减少;其他语法错误句随年级升高而增多;正确的非套语也随年级升高而增多, 在四年级达到一个比较稳定的水平;(2)二年级儿童的英语口语产出形式以套语为主;四年级儿童的口语产出形式中正确非套语比例增加;在六年级儿童的口语产出中, 简化句比例增加, 但套语仍然是主要的一种口语产出形式。     

儿童在指物交流中对量的交流准则的掌握

采用指物交流实验方法,同时从听和说两方面考察了儿童在指物交流中对量的准则的掌握情况。被试是幼儿园大班至小学三年级共４个年级组的８０名儿童。结果显示：听、说两种能力的发展不同步,说滞后于听．在听的方面,小学一年级组已能基本按量的准则完成任务,而在说的方面,直到三年级才能较好完成任务．在说的操作中普遍出现信息缺漏和信息冗余两类错误,各组内两类错误在总错误数中的比率随年级上升而变化。低年级组信息缺漏高于信息冗余,三年级组则信息冗余高于信息缺漏。     

Emotional reactivity,self-control and children's hostile attributions over middle childhood

Hostile attribution bias, a child's tendency to interpret ambiguous social information as threatening or hostile, has been discussed as an important point in which social, emotional and cognitive information intersect. This study explores the natural changes that occur in children's hostile attributions across three grades during middle childhood and examines how emotional reactivity and self-control at third, fourth and fifth grade independently and interactively relate to these trajectories. Participants included 919 children whose mothers reported on their emotional reactivity, whose teachers reported on their self-control and who completed an attribution bias interview, all at grades 3, 4 and 5. Results revealed that among children with a greater tendency to make hostile attributions at third grade, lower self-control at third grade was associated with greater initial hostile attribution bias and less decline in biases over time. Additionally, greater emotional reactivity at fourth grade was associated with declines in these children's hostile attributions, but only when self-control was also higher at fourth grade.     

The development of figurative language in children

Children in the third, fourth, and fifth grades were asked to do three different tasks in an attempt to determine their ability to use figurative language. Results for a Composition task showed that children produced a greater number of frozen than novel figures and that the absolute level of such usage decreased over grades. Results for a Multiple Sentences task revealed that children produced more frozen than novel figures and that both showed a marked increase over grade. Results for a Comparisons task indicated that figurative language increased over grade, and that for this task children used more novel than frozen figures. Taken in conjunction with earlier work, these data suggest that children are able to use figurative language well before theycan explain the exact nature of the relationship linking elements of the figure. In Piagetian terms, this implies that children use figurative language in the stage of concrete operations but cannot explain such usage until the stage of formal operations.This research was supported in part by Grant PEG-4-71-0066 from the Region IV Office of Education.     

语音记忆和中央执行功能在不同年级儿童解码和语言理解中的作用

选取256名三~六年级儿童, 采用相关分析、结构方程模型等方法考察了语音记忆和中央执行功能在不同年级儿童的解码和语言理解中的作用。结果显示, 在低年级阶段, 语音记忆和刷新对解码存在显著预测作用, 转换和刷新对语言理解存在显著预测作用; 在高年级阶段, 只有刷新对解码保持着稳定的预测作用。这表明, 语音记忆和中央执行功能对儿童的解码和语言理解存在不同的影响, 并且这种影响会随着年级的增长发生变化。     

Temporal characteristics in the fluent speech of child stutterers and nonstutterers

Past research reveals that adult stutterers often possess aberrant speech-timing abilities. As yet, only Healey and Adams (1981) have investigated these abilities in child stutterers. The present study attempted to assess the speech-timing skills of child stutterers and normal-speaking children while performing both simple and complex speech. Each subject was required to participate in two tasks: a sentence repetition task for simple speech and a story-retelling task for complex speech. Results supported those found by Healey and Adams, indicating that child stutterers have speech-timing abilities similar to normal-speaking children in simple speech tasks. The complex task, however, revealed that stutterers exhibited more frequent and longer interword pauses than nonstutterers. Two hypotheses generated from past research are offered to explain these differences. A third untested theory is also presented.     

Selective attention in children with reading problems: A developmental study of incidental learning

The performance of poor readers and control children at three grade levels, first, third, and fifth grades, was compared on an incidental learning task adapted by Hagen (1967). A significant group by task interaction in a repeated measures ANOVA indicated that reading ability was differentially related to performance on the tasks. Relative to control children at all grade levels, poor readers obtained lower scores on the central task and higher scores on the incidental task. The absence of a grade × task × reading ability interaction indicated that selective attention follows the same developmental course in poor readers as in control children. The data suggest that the development of selective attention as reflected in performance on this task is delayed from 2 to 4 years in poor readers.We wish to thank the Sachem School District for permission to test the children, Mr. Morgan, reading specialist, and the teachers and children involved for their cooperation. We thank especially Mr. David Mello, principal of the Chippewa Elementary School for his invaluable assistance. We also thank Gordon Hale for providing the stimulus materials used in the study and for helpful suggestions regarding procedural details.     

After-school activities and the development of low-income urban children: a longitudinal study.

After-school activities of 194 African American and White children from low-income households were studied from 3rd to 5th grade to determine relations with (a) child, family, and contextual variables and (b) children's adjustment over time. Girls were more likely to engage in academic activities and socializing, whereas boys were more likely to play coached sports. Children who attended after-school programs spent more time on academic and extracurricular activities, whereas children in informal care settings spent more time watching TV and hanging out. Evidence of transactional relations between after-school activities and child adjustment was found. Time spent in activities between 3rd and 5th grades was related to children's adjustment in 5th grade. In addition, child adjustment measured in 3rd grade was associated with time in different activities in 5th grade.     

Academic achievement in children of divorce

The influence of parental divorce on Swedish children's final grades from compulsory school was studied. The study group comprised all children (n = 74) of a 1-year-sample of divorcing parents, who finished school within 1 year before, to 5 years after the parental divorce. Each child was matched with two classmates of the same sex from nondivorced homes, born at approximately the same time (control group). Comparisons of grade point average were made among children with different socioeconomic status. The grades of the children of divorce and the controls were similar, but children of manual workers were found to have a lower grade point average than children of higher level nonmanual employees. Thus, the study indicates that parental divorce in itself does not imply a significantly detoriated outcome in final school grades among children.     

Schema shifting: Children's cognitive monitoring of the prose-schema interaction in comprehension

Facility in shifting between familiar schemata in a listening comprehension task was examined in children from the third and sixth grades (8 and 11 years old, respectively). The children heard two consecutively presented ambiguous passages about very familiar daily activities. Comprehension of both passages demanded precisely timed activation of a schema appropriate to each passage. Half of the children were not explicitly cued to the passage shift, thus requiring that they spontaneously recognize the need for a schema shift. Analyses of free recall and interview responses showed that although the younger children had more difficulty than the older children, children at both grade levels demonstrated deficiencies in their cognitive monitoring of the prose-schema interaction.     

Teacher-student interactions in fifth grade classrooms: Relations with children's peer behavior

This study investigates the extent to which teacher-student interactions in fifth grade classrooms are associated with peer behavior in fifth grade, accounting for prior peer functioning. Participants included 894 fifth grade students from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. The quality of teacher-student interactions (emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support) was assessed through classroom observations in fifth grade; peer behavior was assessed via teacher report (prosocial behavior, aggression, relational aggression, and asocial behavior) in fourth and fifth grades and classroom observations (sociable/cooperative peer behavior) in third and fifth grades. Multiple regression analyses revealed that children in fifth grade classrooms with higher quality organization interactions had more positive observed interactions with their peers and lower teacher ratings of aggression and relational aggression. In addition, emotional support interactions were related to higher teacher ratings of prosocial behavior. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.     

Self-Concepts, Domain Values, and Self-Esteem: Relations and Changes at Early Adolescence

We assessed how children's self-concepts of ability for mathematics, English, social, and physical skills activities, ratings of the importance of these activities, and general self-esteem change across the transition to junior high school. Three types of change were assessed: change in mean levels, change in stability, and change in relationships. Twice each year during the sixth and seventh grades, 1,450 children completed questionnaires. Mean levels of children's self-esteem were lowest immediately after the transition, but recovered during seventh grade. Self-concept of ability and importance ratings for math and sports activities showed linear declines. Self-concept of ability for social activities showed a cubic trend, but importance ratings for social activities declined in a linear fashion. Children's self-concepts of ability for math and English became less stable across the junior high transition, whereas beliefs about other activities and general self-esteem were more stable in seventh grade.     

How we Became the Schmams: Conceptualizations of Fairness in the Decision-Making Process for Latina/O Children

The current study examines 16 Latina/o fifth grade children's desires for a decision-making structure within a youth participatory action research (yPAR) program. When given the choices of consensus, majority rule, authoritarian rule, delegation, and random choice models, children chose random choice. Procedural, distributive and emotional justice were heavily weighted in their reasoning around fairness and decision making. Many thought random choice offered the best alternative because it flattened power hierarchies so that each child would, at some point, have the power to make a decision. Additionally, children argued that the neutrality of random choice allowed them to sidestep interpersonal tensions. Implications include how social identities inform definitions of fairness and how yPAR programs should work with youth around how they will make decisions.     

A longitudinal study of children's depressive symptoms, self-perceptions, and cognitive distortions about the self

This longitudinal study examined how depressive symptoms relate to children's self-perceptions and to estimates of children's cognitive distortions about the self in a nonclinical sample of children who were followed from 4th grade (n = 248) through 6th grade (n = 227). Report card grades measured children's academic competence, and teachers' ratings of children's level of peer acceptance at school indicated social acceptance. Self-reported depressive symptoms predicted a change in children's negative views of the self. Moreover, the self-perceptions of children who exhibited more symptoms of depression appeared to reflect an underestimation of their actual competence. Children's negative self-perceptions and underestimations about the self were not associated with a subsequent change in depressive symptoms. The implications of the findings for cognitive theories of depression and future research with this population are discussed.