学前儿童视、触大小知觉实验研究

本实验探讨了3—6岁学前儿童的视、触大小知觉的发展规律及视、触不同感觉道在大小知觉中的相互作用。结果表明:无论哪一个年龄组的儿童均以“视—视”条件的大小知觉结果最优,其次是“触—触”条件的结果,而“视—触”及“触—视”的结果均较差。本文结果否定了认为交叉感觉道(“视—触”、“触—视”)对大小知觉的辨别与单一感觉道(“视—视”,“触—触”)没有差异的看法。实验结果还表明了,学前儿童的视、触大小知觉有其发展变化的特点。单一感觉道(视—视”,“触—触”)的大小知觉的准确性随着年龄的增长而提高;交叉(不同)感觉道(“视—触”,“触—视”)的大小知觉的准确性在5岁阶段为高峰期,6岁后便开始有所下降。     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CORRECT TOOTHBRUSHING TECHNIQUE IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

This study examined the effects of an intensive training program on the toothbrushing skills of three preschool children, using both performance measures and outcome (plaque level) indicators. Toothbrushing was broken into 16 steps that involved actual manipulation of the brush in the mouth. Correct brushing included four criteria: (a) appropriate angle of bristles, (b) appropriate motion of brush, (c) appropriate tooth surface, and (d) minimum duration of brushing. Training included instructions, a three-phase modeling procedure, physical guidance, and reinforcement. Results of a multiple baseline design across subjects showed that the children completed an average of 8.6% of the steps prior to training, as compared with an average of 95.8% of the steps following training. Plaque levels decreased from an average of 58% during baseline to 24.6% after training. Follow-up measures revealed that 86.6% of the steps were maintained. The study demonstrated that the effectiveness of the procedures in teaching very young children a complex motor skill that is essential to their future health.     

儿童早期自尊的行为观察研究

以自尊情感模型为理论起点,采用行为事件取样法,对58名1.5-4岁婴幼儿的掌控感和归属感事件进行系统观察。结果表明：早期掌控感源于以动作为基础的掌控行为,包括掌控自我、掌控外物和掌控他人。而归属感一方面源于儿童以不同的行为方式寻求归属,即主动归属感;另一方面源于不同情境下成人的行为使儿童获得了归属,即被动归属感。掌控感和归属感事件均随年龄增长而逐渐减少,反映了个体自尊的早期形态。     

AUDITORY SUCCESSIVE CONDITIONAL DISCRIMINATION AND AUDITORY STIMULUS EQUIVALENCE CLASSES

This paper describes an experimental demonstration of stimulus equivalence classes consisting entirely of auditory stimuli. Stimuli were digitized arbitrary syllables (e.g., “cug,” “vek”) presented via microcomputer. Training and testing were conducted with a two-choice auditory successive conditional discrimination procedure. On each trial, auditory samples and comparisons were presented successively. As each comparison was presented, a response location (a rectangle) appeared on the computer screen. After all stimuli for a trial were presented, subjects selected one of the response locations. Six subjects acquired the conditional discrimination baseline, 4 subjects demonstrated the formation of three-member auditory equivalence classes resulting from sample-S+ relations, and 1 subject demonstrated equivalence classes resulting from sample-S— relations. Four subjects received additional training and subsequently demonstrated expansion of the three-member classes to four members each.     

儿童心理折叠能力的发展

本研究主要考察儿童心理折叠能力的发展。结果表明：（１）一般情况下,学生的心理折叠能力随年级（年龄）的上升而提高;（２）智力高的学生的心理折叠能力显著高于常态学生,而且,智力与年级之间存在较强的交互作用说明,智力是影响心理折叠能力发展的主要因素;（３）在本文所涉及的条件下,就总体而言,男生的心理折叠成绩高于女生。但这种性别差异主要不是来自常态组,而来自超常组;（４）不同被试组儿童的心理折叠能力具有不定全一致的发展曲线。     

THE WORK ATTACHMENT OF MOTHERS WITH PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

The aim of this article is to describe the derivation and use of an index representing mothers'attachment to the workforce. This index is based on the proportion of time (equivalent full-time) the mother had worked since the birth of her first child and can be used as both a continuous and categorical variable. The sample comprised 166 Sydney-area families, each of which had at least one preschool-aged child. Relationships were examined with the mother's current work status and with various demographic characteristics of the women, with the aim of providing some validation for the index. More years of education and smaller family size distinguished between women with high versus low work attachment. In addition, women with high work attachment married at a significantly later age than those with moderate or low work attachment. The usefulness and limitations of the new index are discussed.     

THE ROLE OF RESPONSE DELAY IN IMPROVING THE DISCRIMINATION PERFORMANCE OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN

This study investigated the influence of a response delay requirement on the discrimination performance of autistic children. In the context of a multiple baseline design with subsequent repeated reversals, two conditions were compared: a no-response-delay condition, where the child was allowed to make the target response immediately after presentation of the discriminative stimulus versus a response-delay condition, where the target response was permitted three seconds following the discriminative stimulus when the therapist would signal the child to respond. The results showed that the response-delay condition produced higher levels of correct responding than the no-response-delay condition. In addition, teachers in the research setting rated the response-delay procedure to be a practical and effective teaching technique that could be implemented in a classroom setting. The results were discussed in relation to the literature on impulsivity, and were interpreted as indicating that the response-delay procedure provides a valuable technique for teaching autistic children.     

DEVELOPMENT OF SPONTANEOUS MANDING IN LANGUAGE DEFICIENT CHILDREN

Six institutionalized children, aged 7–11, with little or no spontaneous vocal manding, were trained to request food items under appropriate natural conditions when snacks were presented. “I want a” was appropriate when an adult presented food in the playroom. “Out” was appropriate when the items were displayed in the hallway, across a half-door barrier from the child. A sequence of steps was trained, through increasingly naturalistic setting and cuing conditions. The two mands were trained in sequence, not concurrently. To encourage “spontaneous” productions, no vocal cuing was provided by the adult. After criterion performance in each step, several probe sessions were conducted for various cuing conditions, adults, and settings. Probes after imitation training showed no spontaneous manding. Thus, failure of manding was not due to production difficulties. In probes after training for “approximately” natural cues, most children showed little transfer to the natural cues. This implies that training for the specific appropriate cues may often be required. However, good transfer generally occurred across persons, and from training room to playroom. Probes also showed that most children did not use one of the trained mands in the stimulus conditions that were appropriate for the other mand. Thus, adding a second mand did not generally disrupt use of the first. However, significant disruption occurred for two children. Finally, at the end of training, extinction training was given for one mand in one setting. Performance of the other mand was litle affected. In sum, the appropriate form of a mand depends on specific stimulus and setting characteristics, and these characteristics must be considered in training.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONSERVATION IN ABORIGINAL CHILDREN1

Deux groupes d'enfants aborigènes australiens (âge 8–15 ans) subissent les épreuves mises au point pour L'étude de la conservation de la quantité, du poids, du volume, de la longueur, de la surface et du nombre. Les résultats montrent que les enfants aborigènes réussissent ces problèmes à des âges plus élevés que les enfants européens et que dans certains cas, la notion de conservation n'est pas atteinte. On constate également des différences significatives chez les enfants aborigènes selon qu'ils sont de souche pure ou non. Les résultats confirment dans L'ensemble la théorie des stades de développement, mais on observe que L'ordre des stades dont L'invariance est postulée par Piaget et Inhelder présente quelques variations. L'A. commente ces résultats et évoque les différents facteurs qui peuvent être responsables du retard observé dans le développement des enfants aborigènes.     

父母教育观念类型对幼儿个性相关特质发展的影响

通过对大连地区6所幼儿园400名3￣6岁幼儿父母教育观念的问卷调查及教师对幼儿个性的测评,探讨了父母教育观念类型对幼儿个性相关特质发展的影响。结果显示:(1)运用聚类分析法,可将幼儿父母教育观念分为三类:积极型、不协调型和低标准型;(2)各种教育观念对幼儿个性发展存在着不同的影响。积极型有利于幼儿个性的发展,不协调型与低标准型不利幼儿个性的发展。     

A SIMULTANEOUS DISCRIMINATION PROCEDURE FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF VISION IN NONVERBAL CHILDREN1

Few nonverbal developmentally disabled children ever receive adequate vision assessment because of their limited language skills. The present study details a simultaneous discrimination procedure for measuring subjective visual acuity in such children. A stimulus fading procedure was used to train a discrimination between Snellen Es differing in orientation, and a psychophysical tracking method was used to determine acuity thresholds. The procedure was tested with 11 nonverbal autistic and schizophrenic children and validated with four nonpsychotic children. Eight of the psychotic children were successfully examined in one to three sessions. Two of these children were identified as having significant acuity losses. The validity assessment showed that the experimental procedure resulted in thresholds equal to or slightly lower than those obtained with the Illiterate E chart.     

EFFECTS OF WITHIN-STIMULUS AND EXTRA-STIMULUS PROMPTING ON DISCRIMINATION LEARNING IN AUTISTIC CHILDREN1

Two different prompting procedures to teach visual and auditory discriminations to autistic children were compared. The first involved presenting an added cue as an extra-stimulus prompt. This required the child to respond to both prompt and training stimulus. The second involved the use of a within-stimulus prompt. This consisted of an exaggeration of the relevant component of the training stimulus and thus did not require that the child respond to multiple cues. The results indicated that (1) children usually failed to learn the discriminations without a prompt, (2) children always failed to learn when the extra-stimulus prompt was employed but usually did learn with the withinstimulus prompt, and (3) these findings were independent of which modality (auditory or visual) was required for the discrimination.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

The present study was primarily concerned with the communication skill development of physically handicapped children. Since these children often are denied contact with peers because of their disabilities, it was suggested that they may be unable to develop the perspective-taking ability necessary for adapting communication to a specific listener. It was also suggested that the increased contact provided by moving the handicapped into regular public school classrooms may help alleviate this problem. First-, third-, and sixth-grade children, handicapped and nonhandicapped, with and without the others in their classes, were tested on their listener-adaptation abilities in general and their adaptation to handicapped children, using pictures as stimuli for messages. The results support the hypothesis that handicapped children are deficient in listener adaptation. Classroom association with “normals” seems to improve this, but does not raise them to the level of their nonhandicapped peers. Nonhandicapped children are unable to adapt to handicapped children, and contact with the handicapped does not seem to improve this situation. Being in an integrated class seems to have some positive effects on handicapped children and few effects on the nonhandicapped.     

CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARABILITY OF TEMPERAMENT AMONG JAPANESE AND AMERICAN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

The generalizability of temperament, as measured by the Revised Dimensions of Temperament Survey (DOTS-R) (Windle and Lerner 1986), was investigated through a series of data analytic procedures comparing the item responses of Japanese and American preschool children. Consistent with the results of an American preschool sample, a nine-factor model emerged for the sample of Japanese preschool children. Configurational similarity of salient and non-salient factor loadings for the nine temperament constructs across the two cultural groups was supported via congruence coefficients which ranged from 0.73 to 0.98 (Mdn = 0.91). Restricted (confirmatory) simultaneous group models for each of the nine temperament constructs indicated that the factor loading patterns were invariant across the two preschool samples, thus supporting the equality of scale metrics or units of measurement across groups. Statistical tests of differences in factor means between the two cultural samples suggested that the primary caregivers of Japanese preschoolers, relative to the primary caregivers of American preschoolers, rated their children as higher in Activity Level - Sleep and lower in Approach - Withdrawal, Flexibility - Rigidity, Quality of Mood, and Rhythmicity-Sleep; no statistically significant differences in mean levels were reported for Activity Level - General, Task Orientation, Rhythmicity-Eating and Rhythmicity-Daily Habits.     

TRAINING PRESCHOOL CHILDREN TO RECRUIT NATURAL COMMUNITIES OF REINFORCEMENT1

Four normal and four deviant children aged four-to-six years were taught to judge the quality of their academic work in a preschool classroom, and to prompt or cue their teachers to comment about the quality of that work. When these skills did not generalize spontaneously to other teachers in concurrent natural situations, generalized responding was taught by the experimenter, in multiple-baseline design across subjects. This generalization programming enabled the children to contact a sometimes dormant, but readily available natural community of teacher praise and reinforcement, i.e., to recruit an increase in cued praise and schedules of praise for their good work. These behaviors may be important to young children who find themselves bereft of attention in classrooms.     

4岁至7岁学龄前儿童脑电图研究

从发展的观点来分析,儿童的生长与发展虽然基本上是連續的与逐漸的,但有时加速,有时減速,并不是直綫的与等速的。許多作者(Courtis 1937、1948、Thorpe和Cruze 1956、Watson和Lowrey 1958等)都指出,自嬰孩发展至成人可能存在若干显然加速的时期,因而形成发展的周期或閉环。从心理、生理与解剖等多方面来綜合探討上述周期或閉环,无疑是儿童发展分期的重要客观基础。就嬰孩至7岁这个     

DIAGNOSTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING FOR READING/LEARNING DISORDERS IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

ABSTRACT

The assessment of preschool children who are at risk for having specific language/learning disorders when they enter school is a complex undertaking which must involve examining a wide variety of developmental processes. In addition to a thorough medical, developmental and academic history, the clinician should obtain data regarding perceptual‐motor functioning, language and cognitive development, nominal recall, cerebral dominance and directionality, sequential memory, and the integrity of basic sensory modalities. Although the diagnosis of potential learning disorders in preschool children 1s difficult because of the variability in developmental rate of young children, a systematic evaluation of the developmental functions which are classically associated with learning disabilities allows the psychologist to make a responsible and generally accurate statement of the child's current functioning and future potential     

学龄前智力落后儿童早期干预的教学研究

本研究旨在通过一项早期教学实验,探索教育智力落后儿童学习的有效方法;描述智力落后儿童的心理特点和行为障碍,找出促进智力落后儿童学月进步的因素,为在我国开展这方面工作积累资料。 北京新运弱智儿童养育院20名2—7岁儿童参加了这项教学实验。经过一年教学、训练,17名儿童进步明显。文中还讨论了三种所用的教学方法的优缺点;语言障碍的特点和有效的教育方法以及3名儿童进步不大的原因。