Bullying experiences and literacy achievement amongst primary school children

This study investigated the association between school bullying and literacy achievements in a sample of primary school children from Johannesburg, South Africa. The children (n?=?443; females?=?56%, males?=?44%) attending six primary schools in the Soweto area suburbs, self-reported their experience of bullying by peers. In addition, they completed tests of literacy. The results indicate that learners who self-reported being bullied performed poorly in literacy tests when compared to their peers, who were not subjected to bullying. In particular, those who experienced bullying scored lower on tasks that required literacy skills in phonics, spelling, and word choice. The findings indicate that learner support for school bullying survivors should aim to address the deleterious effects of bullying on literacy development.     

Examining the home advantage in the National Hockey League: Comparisons among regulation,overtime, and the shootout

ObjectivesTo investigate the magnitude of the home advantage in the National Hockey League (NHL) as games proceeded from regulation, to overtime, to the shootout, while adjusting for team quality.DesignArchival.MethodBinary logistic regression analyses were conducted using data from the 2005–2006 through 2013–2014 NHL seasons (N = 10,534 games) to compare home teams’ odds of winning in regulation, overtime, and the shootout.ResultsCompared to games decided in regulation, higher quality home teams' odds of winning were slightly lower when games concluded in either overtime or the shootout. Further, regardless of team quality, home teams’ odds of winning were moderately lower when games concluded in the shootout rather than overtime.ConclusionsThe shootout may affect home team players' psychological and behavioural states, generally resulting in a decrease in home teams’ odds of winning in the shootout relative to overtime.     

Marital Status,Home Environments,and Family Strain: Complex Effects on Preschool Children's School Readiness Skills

The current study examined the complex associations among marital status, home environments, and family strain (i.e. income, maternal depressive symptoms, social support, and parenting stress), as they predict preschool children's pre‐academic and social skills at 36 and 54 months. Findings from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 897) showed that the home learning environment, which was significantly lower among single‐parent families, worked as a mediator to explain the relationship between single‐parent families and children's pre‐academic skills at 36 and 54 months. Additionally, parenting stress, which was significantly higher among single‐parent families, worked as a mediator to explain the relationship between single status and the home learning environment. Finally, moderation analyses showed that family income is important for improving the home social environment, and the home social environment is strongly associated with children's social skills in single‐parent families, but not in cohabiting families. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parents' Estimations of Preschoolers' Number Skills Relate to at‐Home Number‐Related Activity Engagement

According to Hunt's match hypothesis, the accuracy of parents' beliefs about their children's abilities can influence the nature of the early learning experiences they provide. The present study examined the accuracy of parents' beliefs about their preschoolers' number development and relations to parent‐reported frequency of engaging children in number related experiences at home. Parents reported engaging their preschoolers more frequently in conventional numeracy activities, (i.e. counting and identifying numbers) than advanced number‐related activities (e.g. arithmetic) at home, though the frequency of advanced activities increased with the development of children's advanced number skills. Parents were most uncertain about their children's advanced number skills, though they demonstrated an overall tendency to overestimate their children's abilities across number tasks. Increased rates of overestimation and decreased rates of underestimation were associated with increased incidences of advanced activity engagement at home. Thus, results suggest guiding parents to understand their own children's numerical understanding in a wide range of number domains could promote more advanced at‐home number‐related activity engagement. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国家庭中的亲子互动行为与儿童行为抑制性的发展

本研究采用家庭录像的方法对53名中国4岁儿童在家庭自由游戏和拼图游戏小与父母的交往行为进行了观察,并在这些儿童7岁时任实验室里的行为抑制性进行了录像观察,从而考察了在家庭自然环境中的亲子互动行为与儿童行为抑制性发展之间的关系。结果发现：在以上家庭录像的两个情境中,随着年龄的变化,母亲的控制行为越多,儿童抑制倾向的发展速度越快,作抑制倾向发展得越慢;儿童顺从行为越多,儿童的非抑制倾向发展得越慢,抑制倾向发展得越快。父母之间的情感表达越亲密,父亲在身体上对儿童的积极情感越多,儿童的非抑制倾向发展得越快。     

Early differentiation between drawing and writing in Chinese children

Children under 3½ years of age or so are often thought to produce the same types of scribbles for writing and drawing. We tested this idea by asking Chinese 2- to 6-year-olds to write and draw four targets. In Study 1, Chinese adults judged the status of the productions as writings or drawings. The adults performed significantly above the level expected by chance even with the productions of 2- to 2½-year-olds. In Study 2, we examined specific characteristics of the children’s writings and drawings. Although the younger children’s scribbles bore little resemblance to the correct characters, they tended to be smaller, sparser, and more angular than their artwork, with less filling in. Differences were also found in paper use and implement use. Children did not appear to distinguish writing from drawing for their own names before they did so for other targets.     

4～5岁儿童认知发展:适龄入园的积极影响

在全国范围内采取四阶段分层随机抽样,以1391名4岁儿童为被试,采用追踪调查,先后两次(间隔一年)测查儿童的认知能力,建立两水平回归模型考察幼儿园入园年龄与4～5岁儿童认知发展的关系,并进一步探讨家庭学习环境对入园年龄效应的调节作用。结果发现:(1)入园年龄对儿童认知发展的影响是非线性的,且入园年龄效应在儿童5岁时仍然存在;(2)对于家庭学习环境差的儿童,较早入园使得儿童获得认知发展的优势;对于家庭学习环境较好的儿童,则存在一个适中的入园年龄段,能最大程度促进儿童的认知发展。     

Improving Responsiveness to Intervention for English-Language Learners: A Comparison of Instructional Pace on Letter Naming Rates

An alternating treatments design was used to compare the effects of a 1-s and a 5-s paced intervention on rates of letter naming by English Language Learners (ELL). Participants were four kindergarten students performing below the average letter naming level and learning rate than other ELL classmates. The fast paced intervention consisted of a 1-s paced letter modeling and 1-s response wait time combined with a 1-s intertrial interval. Alternatively, the slower paced intervention consisted of 5-s modeling, response wait time, and intertrial intervals. For three students, the 5-s paced intervention resulted in greater increases in letter naming rates as compared to the 1-s intervention and baseline condition. All students first obtained the mastery criterion level during the 5-s intervention.     

Observing home-visiting quality across time: A longitudinal reliability study of the Home Visit Rating Scales

Empirical examination of home-visiting quality over time is lacking in the research literature. To this end, this study examined the most recent edition of a widely used observational measure of home-visiting quality, the Home Visit Rating Scales (HOVRS), over four repeated assessments spanning an average of 6 months. Psychometric quality for the HOVRS Total and Home Visitor Practice Scales, including item ratings and calculated scores, across time was demonstrated. Stability indicators for the Family Engagement Scales varied, with superior reliability often indicated for individual ratings over the calculated score. The exploration of interrelationships among family demographics and change in HOVRS scores over time were largely insignificant. Interestingly, a decline in the Home Visitor Practice Scale significantly related to increased symptoms of maternal depression, possibly suggesting that home-visitors’ focus shifted from children's needs to those of parent s when mental health concerns were observed. Although this study is an examination of one program model and poses limited generalizability, it sets the stage for advancing the HOVRS and longitudinal measurement of home-visiting quality.