Motor learning during social interaction: the role of social interdependence

Motor learning has mostly been studied in laboratory settings where participants execute the task alone, unlike in real life, where people perform activities together with others. Recent discovery of mirror neuron system (MNS)—linking perception of others' actions and execution of our own—makes the scarcity of studies on social aspects of motor learning even more peculiar. Here, we investigated motor learning during interaction with a partner. Participants engaged in 2 consecutive sessions executing the task alone or in pairs. We found that social interaction improved motor performance only when participants had prior individual experience with the task. This effect was amplified if subjects could first observe their partners' actions, suggesting that it may be mediated by prior MNS configuration.     

The role of language in mathematical development: evidence from children with specific language impairments

A sample (n=48) of eight-year-olds with specific language impairments is compared with age-matched (n=55) and language matched controls (n=55) on a range of tasks designed to test the interdependence of language and mathematical development. Performance across tasks varies substantially in the SLI group, showing profound deficits in production of the count word sequence and basic calculation and significant deficits in understanding of the place-value principle in Hindu-Arabic notation. Only in understanding of arithmetic principles does SLI performance approximate that of age-matched-controls, indicating that principled understanding can develop even where number sequence production and other aspects of number processing are severely compromised.     

The role of personality and learning experiences in social cognitive career theory

We sought to extend the empirical literature on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by testing (a) the posited indirect effect of personality on interests through learning experiences and sociocognitive mechanisms, and (b) hypotheses that self-efficacy percepts and outcome expectations derive from corresponding career-relevant learning experiences. Participants (327 college students) completed a measure of the Big Five personality factors and measures of learning experiences, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interests corresponding to each of Holland’s (1997) six RIASEC themes. Results of path analyses indicated that personality’s relation to interests was mediated via learning experiences and sociocognitive mechanisms; however, the extent of that mediation varied considerably across the different personality-interest relations. Findings also indicated strong support, across Holland themes, for SCCT’s hypothesized relations of learning experiences to self-efficacy and outcome expectations; however, for five of the six Holland themes, the relation between learning experiences and outcome expectations was at least partially mediated through self-efficacy.     

The role of verbal behavior in human learning: III. Instructional effects in children

Lever pressing of children from three age groups (2½ to 4, 5 to 6½, and 7½ to 9 years) could produce reinforcers according to a fixed-interval 40-s schedule: (1) Some were instructed to respond at a high rate, others at a low rate, and (2) they were subsequently taught to provide their own spoken self-instructions consonant with the earlier, experimenter-supplied instructions. All subjects who received high-rate instructions responded at a steady, high rate, which was maintained following self-instructional training. The effects of low-rate instructions were directly related to the age of the children. The two older groups produced low-rate patterns, with the oldest children responding at very low rates; effects were least noticeable in the youngest age group. Following self-instructional training, all three groups showed adult-like low-rate behavior and the oldest children showed an improved ability to estimate the interval length. The results provide further evidence of the importance of language as a determinant of human behavior.     

The role of movement speed in learning a visuo-manual coordination in children

Summary The aim of the present study was to investigate the processes underlying aiming movements (motor programming and feedback control), and to explore their modification through learning. Two groups of 6- and 9-year-old children were asked to perform a directional aiming task without visual feedback (open-loop situation). After 15 trials (pretest) all subjects were submitted to a practice session which consisted of three series of trials with visual feedback (closed-loop situation). Half of the subjects had to perform the task at maximum speed (programmed movements), while the other half was required to perform slow movements (feedback-controlled movements). After the practice session all subjects were tested again in the openloop situation without time constraints (posttest). The results showed that during the practice session, accuracy was greater than in the two test conditions. It was greater in the case of slow movements than in the case of rapid ones. Moreover, in the case of rapid movements, it did not improve over the three practice series, while it did improve with slow movements. The difference between pre- and posttests showed that both groups improved their accuracy with practice in all conditions, the greatest improvement being obtained with rapid practice movements in 9-year-old children. It is suggested that different types of feedback (on-line and delayed feedback) contribute in varying degrees to the improvement of the aiming movements. However, the rapid movement condition, which requires a greater efficiency of programming, was found to be more effective for learning than the slow movement condition. The age-related differences found in learning suggest that feedback information can be fully integrated into motor programming only after 6 years of age.     

Pre-K attendance and social development: The moderating role of kindergarten classroom experiences

Many studies have established that there are important life-long benefits of attending pre-K. At the same time, recent research suggests that pre-K attenders may enter and exit kindergarten exhibiting less optimal social and learning behaviours than their non-attending peers, and little attention has been paid to what factors may contribute to these patterns of development after children enter kindergarten. The current study will address these gaps in knowledge using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011 to examine the social and learning behaviours of pre-K attenders and nonattenders at kindergarten entry and exit. Moreover, we will determine the extent to which children's social and behavioural skills change at differential rates across the kindergarten year as a function of pre-K attendance and their kindergarten classroom experiences, with a focus on the academic rigour, activity settings and teacher-student relationships.     

Examining the role of social cues in early word learning

Infants watched a video of an adult pointing towards two different objects while hearing novel labels. Analyses indicated that 14- and 18-month-olds looked longer at the target object, but only 18-month-olds showed word learning. The results suggest that different types of social cues are available at different ages.     

Liberation social psychology: learning from Latin America

Liberation Social Psychology (la psicología social de la liberación, LSP) has developed amongst a body of psychologists in Latin America over the last decade. There has been no survey of the field in English, although some of the ideas are of relevance for those working with oppressed groups elsewhere in the world. This article explores the context in which LSP grew from the work of Ignacio Martín‐Baró and was developed by Maritza Montero, amongst others. Within LSP, key concepts emerge, including ‘conscientization’, ‘realismo‐crítico’, ‘de‐ideologization’, a social orientation, ‘the preferential option for the oppressed majorities’ and methodological eclecticism. The application of LSP is explored with reference to three domains. First, it is suggested that community social psychology as practised in some parts of Latin America reflects LSP in its emphasis on social transformation and participatory methods. Second, psycho‐social work with victims of state oppression, which adopts a highly social and societal orientation embodies LSP. Third, social analyses which explicitly adopt socio‐psychological‐political analyses of the social realities confronting countries in Latin America embrace, in different ways, principles and concepts of LSP. Some of the challenges facing LSP are discussed and open dialogue is encouraged between LSP and critical, community and applied social psychologists. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality predicts innovation and social learning in children: Implications for cultural evolution

Innovation and social learning are the pillars of cultural evolution, allowing cultural behaviours to cumulatively advance over generations. Yet, little is known about individual differences in the use of social and asocial information. We examined whether personality influenced 7-11-year-old children's (N = 282) propensity to elect to observe others first or independently generate solutions to novel problems. Conscientiousness was associated with electing for no demonstrations, while agreeableness was associated with opting for demonstrations. For children receiving demonstrations, openness to experience consistently predicted deviation from observed methods. Children who opted for no demonstrations were also more likely than those opting for demonstrations to exhibit tool manufacture on an innovation challenge and displayed higher creativity, as measured by an alternate uses task. These results highlight how new cultural traditions emerge, establish and advance by identifying which individuals generate new cultural variants in populations and which are influential in the diffusion of these variants, and help reduce the apparent tension within the ‘ratchet’ of cumulative culture.     

The role of imagery in incidental learning of educable retarded and normal children

Forty-five educable retarded and 45 normal children were given an orientation task in which noun- and picture-paired associates were presented once or four times under one of three instructional conditions: intentional imagery, incidental imagery, or intentional control (no imagery). An immediate associative recall test showed both imagery conditions to be superior to the intentional control condition. Furthermore, imagery instructions facilitated incidental recall of the retarded Ss equal to the recall of normal children in the intentional condition. Four presentations of pairs in contrast to one presentation during the orientation task improved the learning of both groups. The recall of retarded Ss in contrast to normal Ss, however, was greater with four presentations under imagery instructions than under intentional control instructions. The results were discussed in terms of imagery processes and their educational implications.