Interpersonal problem solving in preschool children: A comparison of assessment procedures using two-dimensional versus three-dimensional stimuli

Two procedures for assessing the social problem-solving strategies of young children were compared: a traditional measure using pictorial stimuli and an alternative measure in which problems were presented using three-dimensional props. Subjects were 48 preschool children ages 3, 4 and 5. Using a counterbalanced, repeated measures design, the two tasks were presented to the children on consecutive days. Children also received the PPVT, and teacher ratings of behavioral adjustment were completed. Children gave more responses and suggested a greater variety of problem-solving strategies when tested with props than when tested with pictures. Response differences to the two testing procedures were greatest for children who were rated by their teachers as impulsive. Results are discussed in terms of the representational competence of the preschool child. Implications of the findings for intervention strategies also are discussed.     

Effects of early hospital-based intervention on mothers and their preterm infants

Mothers of eight Israeli preterm infants were exposed to a standardized but individualized intervention during their stay in the hospital and before their infants were discharged. Mothers and infants in the intervention group were compared to eight control subjects using various outcome measures. While the intervention did not affect maternal personal attitudes and feelings, it positively affected the mother-infant interactions and mothers' perceptions of their infants. The importance of individualized interventions with parents of preterm infants is discussed.     

Peer education: The untapped potential

The purpose of this paper is to provide a rationale for making broader educational use of peer learning principles as explicated in developmental theory and research. The paper argues that peer learning brings with it unique motivational and cognitive benefits for participating peers. Research has shown that peer learning can bolster children's self-esteem, awaken their interest in challenging tasks, enhance scholarly achievement, and foster prosocial behavior. In particular, it is an effective means of enabling children to grasp basic concepts that underlie school curricula.Two different forms of peer learning, “peer tutoring” and “peer collaboration,” are distinguished. Each has its potential use: peer tutoring for transmitting information and drilling special skills; peer collaboration for facilitating intellectual discovery and the acquisition of basic knowledge.Some general guidelines for the integration of peer tutoring and peer collaboration in the classroom are offered. It is recognized that specific curriculum plans implementing these guidelines must be formulated with a view to the overall cultural context of the school system. Such plans must be molded in context to suit the needs of each particular site. It is concluded, however, that the general principles of peer education set forth in this position paper would enhance all varieties of schooling. As explicated in this article, peer education complements rather than supplants adult teaching, freeing up teachers' time and attention and enabling them to focus more directly and effectively on individual children's learning needs.     

Day care: Promoting collaboration between research and policymaking

An agenda for day care research that is tailored to current policy concerns is presented. Familiar developmental issues related to the quality of day care are recast within a policy perspective. Largely unexamined issues pertaining to the costs and supply of day care, the preventative role of day care services, economic and employment-related effects, links between day care and other settings that comprise children's environments, and alternative approaches to day care such as employer-sponsored care, are also identified. It is argued that these issues extend current conceptualizations of interdisciplinary and ecological research. By way of introduction, an overview of recent sociodemographic trends and changes in federal day care policy is provided. A discussion of emerging policy issues that could profit from input by child development research then serves as background to detailed suggestions for research that can advance the dual goals of informing day care policy-makers and contributing to developmental theory.     

A maximum likelihood hierarchical disaggregate model for predicting choices of individuals

The absence of operational disaggregate lexicographic decision models and Tversky's observation that choice behavior is often inconsistent, hierarchical, and context dependent motivate the development of a maximum likelihood hierarchical (MLH) choice model. This new disaggregate choice model requires few assumptions and accommodates the three aspects of choice behavior noted by A. Tversky (1972, Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 9, 341–367). The model has its foundation in a prototype model developed by the authors. Unlike the deterministic prototype, however, MLH is a probabilistic model which generates maximum likelihood estimators of the aggregate “cutoff values.” The model is formulated as a concave programming problem whose solutions are therefore globally optimal. Finally, the model is applied to data from three separate studies where it is demonstrated to have superior performance over the prototype model in its predictive performance.     

Children's relative number judgments: One-to-one correspondence,recognition of noncorrespondence,and the influence of cue conflict

Although one-to-one correspondence can be seen as a component of successful counting, number conservation, and relative number judgments, there is evidence of considerable discrepancies between children's competencies in these different tasks. Concerning relative number judgments there are strikingly different claims concerning the ability of young children to make one-to-one correspondence-based judgments. In part these discrepancies reflect differences in criteria. Four experiments are reported in which 5-year-olds' relative number judgments of small and large number displays with and without perceptual aids were studied. Children were found to respond to local rather than global density differences and to benefit from the provision of perceptual aids on both small and large number displays with one exception, namely, large number displays where the longer row is less numerous.     

Abnormal and normal obsessions—A replication

A replication of previous work on the incidence and characteristics of intrusive cognitions in non-clinical populations was carried out. The results closely reflected those obtained previously, and further relationships between variables were found. The importance of distinguishing between- and within-S data is stressed.     

More precisely defining and measuring the order-irrelevance principle

R. Gelman and C. Gallistel (1978, Young Children's Understanding of Number, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press) use two definitions of the order-irrelevance principle interchangeably: (1) count tags do not have to be assigned in a fixed order and (2) the order in which elements of a set are enumerated does not affect the cardinal designation of the set. A study involving 107 kindergarten and first grade children indicates that the two are actually distinct concepts. Apparently, a willingness to arbitrarily assign tags is a developmentally less sophisticated ability than--and hence does not necessarily imply--an ability to predict that differently ordered counts produce the same cardinal designation. Thus it appears that evidence of the second ability is necessary to infer a full understanding of the order-irrelevance principle. The first ability alone implies what might better be termed an "order-indifferent tagging scheme." Suggestions for measuring and further researching the order-irrelevance principle are discussed.     

Message from the Ecumenical Youth Gathering

This is the message of the Ecumenical Youth Gathering held in advance of the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, which met in Karlsruhe, Germany, in August–September 2022. In their message, the youth voiced a series of laments, and recognized and prayed for justice, forgiveness, and reconciliation of the wounds the church has inflicted and continues to inflict in the world, and they called on the WCC to provide a meaningful space for an equal representation of young people in all its processes.