O avanço das tecnologias vem sendo impulsionado por ferramentas como internet móvel, touchscreen, wirelles, dentre outras, possibilitando que o manuseio com auxílio destes dispositivos seja cada vez mais fácil e intuitivo, não necessitando de um tutorial ou mesmo de uma explicação completa por parte dos usuários para acessá-los. Desta forma, qualquer pessoa que tenha computador, celular, smartphone ou tablet conectado à internet, poderá produzir um vídeo, um texto ou uma imagem e compartilhá-los na rede. Os meios de comunicação e informação tornam-se maiores e menores ao mesmo tempo. Por meio de uma única ferramenta portátil, que comporta diversas mídias é possível que os conteúdos educacionais, e não somente conteúdos, mas informações, revistas, artigos possam ser acessados a qualquer tempo e em qualquer lugar. Diante deste novo paradigma, estar atento à forma com que as tecnologias estão sendo utilizadas pelas crianças, e como elas vêm percebendo este mundo digital se faz necessário. A presente pesquisa tem por objetivo observar e verificar como as crianças de 7 meses a 7 anos de idade estão se apropriando das tecnologias digitais, bem como percebem os atrativos oferecidos por elas. Adotou-se como aporte teórico a Epistemologia Genética de Piaget e suas principais obras sobre o desenvolvimento infantil, para melhor compreender os processos de desenvolvimento da inteligência da criança. Para tanto, a metodologia utilizada foi a aplicação de provas Piagetianas e, posteriormente, a realização desta mesma prova com o uso de recurso tecnológico. Durante estas atividades, foi utilizado o Método Clínico, já a análise das observações e interações das crianças, foi fundamentada a partir de obras de Piaget em que o desenvolvimento da inteligência infantil era abordada. Durante a pesquisa, foi possível observar o nítido interesse das crianças pelos aparelhos e pelas tecnologias digitais. As tecnologias digitais possibilitaram que as crianças realizassem constatações mais aprofundadas do que nas provas Piagetianas, pois os recursos tecnológicos apresentados envolveram diferentes sentidos, bem como proporcionaram que elas descobrissem coisas sem terem que fazer um esforço tão grande como quando trabalham com objetos concretos. O mundo virtual mostrou-se mais atrativo, porque possibilitou às crianças ter a oportunidade de aprender de modo não-formal, e sim fazendo e descobrindo sem seguir uma sequência definida. / The advancement of technologies has been driven by tools such as mobile internet, touchscreen, wirelles, among others, making it easier and more intuitive to handle these devices without requiring a tutorial or even a full explanation for the users to access them. Anyone with a computer, cell phone, smartphone or tablet connected to the internet can produce a video, text or image and share them on the web. Media and information become larger and smaller at the same time. With a single portable tool that contains several media, it is possible that educational content, educational content, general information, magazines, articles can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Facing this new paradigm, being aware of how technologies are being used by children and how they are perceiving this digital world becomes necessary. The present research aims to observe and verify how children from 7 months to 7 years of age are appropriating digital technologies as well as perceiving the attractions offered by them. It was adopted as a theoretical contribution the Piaget's Genetic Epistemology and his main works on child development, in order to better understand the processes of child intelligence development. For this, the methodology used was the application of Piagetian tests and, later, the accomplishment of this same test with the use of technological resources. During these activities, the Clinical Method was used. The analysis of the observations and children‟s interactions was based on works of Piaget in which the development of the child intelligence was approached. During the research, it was possible to observe the clear interest of the children by the devices and the digital technologies. Digital technologies made it possible for children to make more in-depth findings than in Piagetian tests because the technological features presented involved different senses as well as allowing them to discover things without having to make as much effort as when working with concrete objects. The virtual world proved to be more attractive because it enabled children to have the opportunity to learn in a non-formal way, but by doing and discovering without following a definite sequence.

O presente trabalho pretendeu discutir teoricamente e ilustrar com alguns casos clínicos as dificuldades de atribuição de estados mentais de crianças com autismo, estabelecendo uma articulação entre alguns conceitos da epistemologia genética piagetiana, tais como representação e egocentrismo e do constructo da teoria da mente. A teoria da mente tem sido denominada, pelos seus estudiosos, como a capacidade de atribuir estados mentais (crenças, desejos, intensões e emoções) a si e aos outros, no intuito de explicar, interpretar e predizer comportamentos e tem alcançado destaque com o passar dos anos, em relação às pesquisas sobre autismo no cenário internacional. No entanto, algumas divergências entre seus autores resultam em diferentes maneiras de mensurar esta capacidade. Leslie (1987,1988) considera que a teoria da mente já esteja presente nas brincadeiras de faz de conta infantil e no emprego dos termos mentais utilizados por crianças de dois anos de idade. Diferentemente, Perner (1991) advoga que a teoria da mente só é evidente quando a criança tem a capacidade de reconhecer que a mente é um sistema de representações, por volta de quatro a seis anos de idade. Por isso, para este último autor, somente a partir da resolução das tarefas de crença falsa é que se poderia afirmar que a criança apresenta a teoria da mente, pois, assim, significa que esta diferencie entre o subjetivo e o mundo físico. A representação mental e a construção interna do mundo real, feita pela criança, foram assuntos amplamente estudados por Jean Piaget. Piaget (1947) afirma que a criança alcança um nível de representação mental que lhe habilite a diferenciar entre o que é subjetivo do que é objetivo quando supera o egocentrismo, pois enquanto pensar que todos pensam como ela, não encontrará motivos para se conformar às verdades comuns, além de não se interessar pela busca de comprovações lógicas sobre aquilo que afirma. O pensamento egocêntrico, na epistemologia genética piagetiana, é um estágio primitivo do pensamento lógico marcado por três características: predomínio da imagem sobre o conceito, certa inconsciência do pensamento e ausência de lógica. Ancorada na epistemologia genética piagetiana e com base na realização de estudos de casos de duas crianças com autismo e uma criança com desenvolvimento neurotípico, a presente investigação concluiu que os referidos autores da teoria da mente discorrem sobre diferentes estágios desta capacidade. Além disso, por meio de entrevista clínica segundo Piaget, da análise do emprego dos termos mentais e da análise das justificativas de seus participantes em relação à tarefa de crença falsa de Sally e Ann, este estudo depreendeu que a capacidade de atribuir estados mentais ao outro requer o início da superação do egocentrismo, descrito por Piaget. Por isso, crianças com autismo, apesar de poderem empregar termos mentais em seus discursos, geralmente, têm dificuldades de diferenciar entre o subjetivo e o mundo real, apresentando tendência à representação imagética em detrimento da representação conceitual, desinteresse em comprovar o que afirmam e dificuldades em diferenciar o próprio ponto de vista do ponto de vista de outrem / This research intended to discuss theoretically and illustrate with some clinical cases the assignment difficulties of mental states of children with autism, establishing a link between the concepts of mental representation and egocentrism in Piaget\'s genetic epistemology and the theory of mind. The Theory of mind has been defined by their researchers as the ability to attribute mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions and emotions) to onself and others, in order to explain, interpret and predict behaviors and it has achieved prominence with over the years, in relation to autism research in the international scene. However, some differences between their authors resulted in different ways to measure this capacity. Leslie (1987,1988) considers that the Theory of mind is already present in child\'s pretend play and employment of mental expressions used by children of two years. In contrast, Perner (1991) argues that the Theory of mind is only evident when the child has the ability to recognize that the mind is a system of representations about four to six years old. So, it is only after the resolution of the false-belief tasks that one could say that the child has a theory of mind, meaning that he distinguishes between the subjective and the physical world. The mental representation and the internal construction of the real world made by children were subjects extensively studied by Jean Piaget. Piaget (1947) argues that children reach a level of mental representation when they are able to differentiate between what is subjective and what is objective and when they overcome the egocentrism. While they think that everyone thinks like them, they don\'t find reasons to conform to common truths, and they won\'t be interested in seeking logical evidence about what they say. For Piaget, the egocentric thought is a primitive stage of logical thinking marked by three characteristics: predominance of the image of the concept, some unconscious thought and lack of logic. Based on Piaget\'s genetic epistemology and based on two studies case of one children with autism and one with neurotypical child development, this research concluded that these authors of the Theory of mind discourse on different stages of this capacity. Furthermore, through clinical interview, the employment of mental expressions and the analysis of the justifications of the participants in relation to the false belief task of Sally and Ann, this study concluded that the ability to attribute mental states to others requires the early overcoming of egocentrism, as described by Piaget. Therefore, children with autism, although they may employ mental expression in their speeches, they usually have difficulties to differentiate between the subjective and the real world, with a tendency to image representation at the expense of conceptual representation, unwillingness to prove what they say and difficulties in differentiate their own point of view from the other ones

A neuropsicologia infantil e uma area distinta dentro da neuropsicologia clinica e o seu surgimento e uma consequencia do reconhecimento de que as relacoes cerebrocomportamento na crianca diferem significativamente dessas relacoes no adulto. Diversos testes neuropsicologicos tem sido desenvolvidos especialmente para administracao em computador, incluindo a bateria CANTAB que tem sido amplamente utilizada em pesquisas com diferentes grupos de idade e patologias. Em relacao ao desenvolvimento, alguns aspectos da atencao estao presentes no inicio da infancia enquanto outros continuam a se desenvolver ao longo da infancia e adolescencia. A memoria sofre inumeras alteracoes ao longo da vida, especialmente na idade pre-escolar. E as funcoes executivas demoram mais tempo para se desenvolver por completo e estudos apontam que alguns componentes ja estao presentes de forma imatura em criancas entre os 6 e 12 anos de idade, mas a completa maturacao acontece com a idade. O objetivo dessa pesquisa foi investigar o desenvolvimento da atencao, memoria e funcoes executivas em criancas e adolescentes dos 6 aos 12 anos de idade com o CANTAB, buscando padroes especificos de desenvolvimento para os componente dessas funcoes. Foram avaliados 85 criancas e adolescentes (43 masculino) entre 6 e 12 anos de idade, sem historico de disturbios neurologicos e/ou psiquiatricos, exposicao cronica a agentes toxicos, lesao ou cirurgia cerebral e problemas de desenvolvimento. Foram utilizados o teste Matrizes Progressiva Coloridas de Raven e os seguintes subtestes do CANTAB: Choice Reaction Time, Rapid Visual Information Processing, Pattern Recognition Memory, Delayed Matching to Sample, Spatial Recognition Memory, Spatial Span, Stockings of Cambridge, Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift, Stop Signal Task e Information Sampling Task. Os resultados indicaram que a atencao, a memoria e as funcoes executivas apresentam melhora no desenvolvimento nas idades avaliadas. A atencao visual simples, percepcao visual e capacidade de conceituacao ja estao desenvolvidas aos 6 anos. A amplitude atencional, memoria visual, memoria espacial, flexibilidade mental e controle mental estao em desenvolvimento nas idades avaliadas e apresentam um bom desempenho aos 12 anos. O planejamento e atencao sustentada apresentaram melhoras, mas ainda nao alcancaram o pleno desenvolvimento. A, tomada de decisao e controle inibitorio nao apresentaram aprimoramentos significativos e sua maturacao deve ocorrer apos os 12 anos. A bateria CANTAB se mostrou eficaz na avaliacao de criancas e adolescentes brasileiros de 6 a 12 anos de idade com alta aplicabilidade nessa amostra e resultados compativeis com a literatura. A comparacao entre os nossos resultados e aqueles encontrados nos estudos internacionais com o CANTAB indica compatibilidade entre boa parte dos grupos etarios avaliados, independentemente das diferencas culturais existentes / Child neuropsychology is a distinct area in the clinical neuropsychology and its emergence is a consequence of the acknowledgment that the brain-behavior relationships in child differ significantly from those in adult. Several neuropsychology tests have been developed to be administered in computers, including the CANTAB that has been widely used by researchers concerning different ages and pathologies groups. In regard to the development, some aspects of attention are present in the beginning of childhood while others continue to develop along the childhood and youth. Memory processes undergo many changes throughout life, especially in preschool age. Executive functions take longer to fully develop and researches indicate that some components are present in immature form on child between 6 to 12 years old, but the complete ripening occurs with age increase. The aim of this work was to investigate the development of attention, memory and executive functions in children and teenagers from 6 to 12 years old using the CANTAB, and verify if there are specific patterns of development for the components of these functions. There were evaluated 85 children and teenagers (43 male) between 6 to 12 years old with no history of neurological and/or psychiatric disorders, chronic exposures to toxic agents, injury or brain surgery and development disorders. They were submitted to the Ravens progressive matrices and the following CANTABs subtests: Choice Reaction Time, Rapid Visual Information Processing, Pattern Recognition Memory, Delayed Matching to Sample, Spatial Recognition Memory, Spatial Span, Stockings of Cambridge, Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift, Stop Signal Task e Information Sampling Task. The results indicated improvements in attention, memory and executive functions in the development in the age groups evaluated. Simple visual attention, visual perception and conceptualization capacity seem to be developed at 6 years old. Attentional span, visual memory, spatial memory, mental flexibility and mental control are in ongoing development in the age groups evaluated, and a good performance is reached at 12 years old. Planning ability and sustained attention showed improvements in age groups evaluated but they have not reached fully development. Decision making and inhibitory control do not showed significant improvement and their ripening should occur after the 12 years old. The CANTAB battery was effective to evaluate Brazilians children and teenagers from 6 to 12 years old with high applicability in this sample and results consistent with the literature. The comparison between our results and those found in the international studies with CANTAB indicates compatibility in almost all age evaluated, regardless cultural differences

Background and Objectives: It is estimated that over 40% of children in Ecuador are anemic. Anemia in children can influence physical and cognitive development and have lasting effects on adulthood productivity and quality of life. The objectives of this study were to: (1) evaluate the relationship of anemia and cognitive function, and (2) determine the influence of demographic factors on cognitive function. Population and Setting: The sample consisted of 175 school-aged children between 5 to 11 years old attending a school in a poverty stricken area of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Methods: A descriptive correlational cross sectional design was used to study the relationship between the level of anemia and the level of cognitive function. Other demographic factors were evaluated to determine their influence on cognitive function. Data were collected at the school using the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices to measure cognitive function and the STAT-Site MHgb Meter to measure hemoglobin levels. Results: No significant correlation was found between the level of anemia and cognitive function. Multiple regression analysis of demographic variables and cognitive function found age (Beta=0.56, t=8.6, p=0.000) and income (Beta=0.16, t=2.5, p=0.01) to be significant predictors of cognitive function. Interpretation and Conclusion: Many factors influence cognitive function and development. Additional research is needed to determine the effect of income level and related factors, such as parental time spent with the child doing homework, value placed on education in the home, education level of the parents, and quality of nutrition. Interventions to improve socioeconomic level, enhance parenting styles that foster cognitive development, and improve nutrition should be implemented.

Bodies provide important social information, and adults benefit from this information by recognizing and responding appropriately to bodies. Body recognition is enabled by the fact that human bodies are defined by parts, such as the limbs, torso, and head, arranged in a particular configuration. To understand the development of social cognition, it is important to analyze and document how infants come to recognize bodies. Infants are sensitive to distortions to the global configurations of bodies by 3.5 months of age, suggesting an early onset of body knowledge. It was unclear, however, whether such sensitivity indicates knowledge of the location of specific body parts or solely reflects sensitivity to the overall gestalt or outline of bodies. The current study addressed this by examining whether infants attend to specific locations in which parts of the body have been reorganized. Results of Experiments 1 and 2 show that 5-month-olds, but not 3.5-month-olds, are sensitive to the location of specific body parts, as demonstrated by a difference in allocation of attention to the body joint areas that were normal (e.g., where the arm connects to the shoulder) versus ones that were reorganized. Furthermore, to examine whether this kind of processing is driven by information from the face/head, in Experiment 3 I tested infants on images in which the face/head was removed. Infants no longer exhibited differential scanning of normal versus reorganized bodies. To further assess whether infants were responding to critical information provided by the face/head or whether their processing was disrupted solely because the headless images were incomplete bodies, Experiment 4 examined infants’ performance on body images missing limbs. Once again, infants failed to exhibit differential scanning of typical versus reorganized bodies. Together, these results suggest that 5-month-olds are sensitive to the location of body parts. However, the presence of the face/head (Experiment 3) and limbs (Experiment 4) are necessary for 5-month-olds to exhibit differential scanning of reorganized versus intact body images. Overall, by 5 months of age, infants are sensitive to precise locations of body parts, and thus demonstrate a rather sophisticated level of knowledge about the structure of the human body. The role that the face/head and limbs play in body structure knowledge development is still unclear, and future studies need to address this question.

<p>Na uzorku od 485 dece uzrasta od 5 do 7 godina, podeljenih u dve grupe &ndash; eksperimentalnu (259 - 53,4%) i kontrolnu (226 &ndash; 46,6%) sprovedena su morfolo&scaron;ka merenja, te motorička i intelektualna testiranja. Eksperimentalnu grupu sačinjavali su polaznici Sportske &scaron;kolice &bdquo;Luka&rdquo; iz Novog Sada, dok su deca iz Pred&scaron;kolske ustanove &bdquo;Radosno detinjstvo&rdquo;, organizacione jedinice vrtić &bdquo;Petar Pan&rdquo; činila kontrolnu grupu. Prosečni uzrast eksperimentalne grupe na dan inicijalnih merenja, odnosno testiranja iznosio je 5,4&plusmn;0,8 decimalnih godina, dok je prosečan uzrast kontrolne grupe bio 5,6&plusmn;0,6 decimalnih godina.<br />Cilj rada bio je da se ustanove i analiziraju efekti longitudinalne primene različitih modela vežbanja kineziolo&scaron;kih aktivnosti na podizanju nivoa razvoja i pobolj&scaron;anje kognitivnog, posebno intelektualnog, kao i motoričkog i morfolo&scaron;kog razvoja pred&scaron;kolske dece. Stoga je na eksperimentalnoj grupi primenjen kineziolo&scaron;ki program u trajanju od devet meseci, a sve u svrhu pobolj&scaron;anja navedenih karakteristika i sposobnosti. Program je sproveden u &scaron;kolskoj 2013/14. godini, ali i nastavljen na deci koja su i dalje pohađala sportsku &scaron;kolicu i tokom naredne 2014/15. &scaron;kolske godine. Detaljna koncepcija programa data je u samom radu.<br />Baterija za ispitivanje i praćenje promena prouzrokovanih eksperimentalnim tretmanom sastojala se od osam antropometrijskih mera, osam motoričkih testova i dva testa za procenu inteligencije, s tim &scaron;to drugi primenjeni test za procenu inteligencije predstavlja ustvari bateriju testova koja je imala za cilj da proceni vi&scaron;e segmenata intelektualnih sposobnosti i to: planiranje, simultanu pažnju i sukcesiju.<br />Temeljem dobijenih rezultata sprovedene empirijsko-istraživačke studije, dobijene su i detaljno obrazložene sve pojave koje su ishod programiranog i pod stručnim nadzorom sprovedenog eksperimentalnog kineziolo&scaron;kog tretmana. U svetlu toga, moguće je bilo zaključiti da je do&scaron;lo do pobolj&scaron;anja nekih morfolo&scaron;kih karakteristika, te pojedinih motoričkih i intelektualnih sposobnosti dece iz eksperimentalne grupe u odnosu na kontrolnu. Do izvesnih promena do&scaron;lo je i u kvalitativnom, a ne samo kvantitativnom smislu, a predložen je i model varijabli koji bi verovatno u budućnosti mogao ukazati na jo&scaron; bolje rezultate.<br />Osim toga, buduća istraživanja u smislu pouzdanijih rezultata trebala bi biti sprovođena uz primenu preciznijih mernih instrumenata, koji bi, pretpostavlja se, dali za generalizaciju rezultata adekvatnije informacije.</p> / <p>Based on the sample of 485 children of 5 to 7 years of age, divided into two groups &ndash; experimental (259 &ndash; 53.4%) and control group (226 &ndash; 46.6%), morphological measurements, motoric and intellectual testing were done. The experimental group was consisted of the pupils of the Sport School &ldquo;Luka&rdquo; from Novi Sad, while the control group was consisted of the children from the Preschool institution &ldquo;Radosno detinjstvo&rdquo;, and the organisational unit of the nursery &ldquo;Peter Pan&rdquo;. The average age of the experimental group on the day of initial measuring, or testing, was 5.4&plusmn;0.8 decimal years, while the average age of the control group was 5.6&plusmn;0.6 decimal years.<br />The purpose of this paper was to define and analyse the effects of longitudinal application of various models of exercises of kinesiology activity on raising the level of development and improvement of cognitive, in particular of intellectual and motoric and morphological development of preschool children. Therefore, a kinesiology programme was applied to the experimental group for the period of nine months, all in order to improve the stated characteristics and abilities. The programme was implemented in the school year 2013/2014, but it was continued for the children who still attended the sport school in the next school year 2014/2015. The detailed idea of the programme is provided in the paper.<br />Battery for testing and monitoring the changes caused by experimental treatment was consisted of eight anthropometric measurements, eight motoric tests and two tests for intelligence assessment, while the second applied test for assessment of intelligence is actually the battery of tests which aim was to assess several segments of intellectual abilities, including the following: planning, simultaneous attention and succession.<br />Based on the obtained results of the conducted empirical research study, all changes which are the outcome of the programmed and conducted experimental kinesiology treatment under expert surveillance, have been explained in details. In that respect, it is possible to conclude that certain morphological characteristics have improved, and that certain motoric and intellectual abilities of children from the experimental group have also improved in comparison with the control group. Certain changes occurred also in the qualitative, not only in the quantitative aspect, and a model of variables was also proposed, which is likely to indicate even better results in the future.<br />In addition to that, the future research, when it comes to more reliable results, should be conducted with the application of measuring instruments, which would, as assumed, provide more adequate information for the generalization of results.</p>

This is a longitudinal study of patterns of children's early literacy development with a view to predicting literacy achievement after one year of schooling. The study fits within an emergent/social constructivist theoretical framework that acknowledges a child as an active learner who constructs meaning from signs and symbols in the company of other more experienced language users. Commencing in the final month of preschool, the literacy achievement of 114 young Australian students was mapped throughout Year 1. Data were gathered from measures of literacy achievement with the students, surveys with parents and surveys and checklists with teachers. Cross-time comparisons were possible as data were gathered three times from the students and teachers and twice from parents. Parents' perceptions of their children's personal characteristics, ongoing literacy development and family home literacy practices were examined in relation to children's measures of literacy achievement. Their perceptions were found to be accurate. Parents supported children's literacy growth at home in both the prior-to-school period and throughout Year 1. Teachers reflected on children's characteristics as members of their classes and on their knowledge of children's preparation for literacy. Generally, their predictions of literacy success were based on unsustainable connections with children's ability to concentrate, follow directions and stay on task. Children demonstrated a broad range of understandings about literacy in the prior-to-school period and teachers failed to acknowledge the extent of these. Children's prior-to-school understandings relating to the alphabet, environmental print, concepts about print and phonological awareness all predicted later literacy achievements. Alphabetic knowledge and environment print were found to be the strongest predictors. Results showed few significant school, age, home or gender effects. However, children's prior-to-school understandings of literacy were shown to predict later literacy achievement. Those with the greater level of knowledge prior-to-school generally maintained that advantage when later literacy achievements were measured.

This research developed a framework describing students’ developing understanding of function. The research started with the problem: How might typical learning paths of secondary school students’ developing understanding of function be described and assessed? The following principles and research questions guided the development of the framework. Principle 1. The framework should be research-based. Principle 2. The framework should include key aspects of the function concept. Principle 3. The framework should be in a form that would enable teachers to assess and monitor students’ developing understanding of this concept. Principle 4. The framework should reflect students’ big ideas or growth points which describe students’ key cognitive strategies, knowledge and skills in working with function tasks. Principle 5. The framework should reflect typical learning trajectories or a general trend of the growth points in students’ developing understanding of function. The following questions guided the development of the framework of growth points: 1. What are the growth points in students’ developing understanding of function? 2. What information on students’ understanding of function is revealed in the course of developing the framework of growth points that would be potentially useful for teachers? The framework considered four key domains of the function concept: Graphs, Equations, Linking Representations and Equivalent Functions. Students’ understanding of function in each of these domains was described in terms of growth points. Growth points are descriptions of students’ “big ideas”. The description of each growth point highlights students’ developing conceptual understanding rather than merely procedural understanding of a mathematical concept. For example, growth points in students’ understanding of function under Equations were: 1) interpretations based on individual points; 2) interpretations based on holistic analysis of relationships; 3) interpretations based on local properties; and, 4) manipulations and transformations of functions (in equation form) as objects. he growth points in each domain are more or less ordered according to the likelihood that these “big ideas” would emerge. o identify and describe these growth points, Year 8, 9 and 10 students in Australia and the Philippines were given tasks involving function that would highlight thinking in terms of the process-object conception and the property-oriented conception of function. Students’ performance on these tasks and their strategies served as bases for the identification and description of the growth points. he research approach was interpretive and exploratory during the initial stages of analysis. The research then moved to a quantitative approach to identify typical patterns across the growth points, before returning to an interpretive phase in refining the growth points in the light of these data. The main data were collected from students in the Philippines largely through two written tests. Interviews with a sample of students also provided insights into students’ strategies and interpretations of tasks. he research outputs, the research-based framework and the assessment tasks, have the potential to provide teachers with a structure through which they can assess and develop students’ growth in the understanding of function, and their own understanding of the function concept.

This thesis examines how mothers, as primary caretakers, might promote the development of critical thinking of their 4- and 5-year-olds. Interest in critical thinking in very young children can be traced back to the early years of the 20th century with views expressed by philosophers such as John Dewey and John Stuart Mill that were in favour of giving young children opportunities that might encourage their free expression and inquiring, critical nature in the school context. Educators like Frobel and Montessori who developed programs for kindergartens worked on similar assumptions. However, how the home environment especially maternal support might foster the development of critical thinking in young children has received only minimal attention. The rise of the critical thinking movement in the 1970s enhanced the conceptualization of critical thinking, and how to assess the critical thinking ability. But studies of the precursors of critical thinking in young children received only minimal attention. Two theoretical perspectives, the constructivist and the socio-cultural, represented by their most authoritative figures, Piaget and Vygotsky, respectively, have provided the conceptual basis for this research. While Piaget viewed children’s cognition as developing through active construction while dealing with concrete, practical problems, Vygotsky considered children’s cognitive development as evolving through the internalization of interactions with more able people in their immediate environment. In this thesis, Piaget’s approach to investigating children’s higher thinking processes was applied to the design of tasks that assessed critical thinking features in very young children whilst Vygotsky’s notion of the zone of proximal development was used to design the overall intervention program to develop very young children’s critical thinking through meaningful interactions with their mothers. How critical thinking in young children might develop through mothers’ interaction strategies was investigated in the context of Indonesian participants in their home settings. In that cultural context, critical thinking is not nurtured, and even children’s curiosity is often regarded as irritating by adults. The challenge for this study, therefore, was to design a program that would challenge the mothers’ personal and cultural assumptions and to empower them to support the development of critical thinking in their young children. The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated against whether and, if so, how the children’s precursors of critical thinking improved across the intervention period. The main contributions this study was expected to make are: (1) advance the conceptualization of the nature of critical thinking in very young children (2) develop and test innovative methods to identify the features of critical thinking in very young children; and (3) identifying how mothers, having been empowered through the metacognitive program, may promote the development of critical thinking in very young children. The nature of critical thinking in very young children was operationalised through two different assessment methods specifically developed for this purpose. One was a dynamic qualitative assessment where each child interacted with his or her mother in a teaching-learning setting. The other consisted of a series of quantitative, Piagetian-like assessments, using play settings. The research used a pre- and post-intervention control group design in order to allow for comparisons both within-subjects, across the intervention period, and between-subjects as another group of mother-child pairs served as control receiving no intervention. The findings revealed that very young children are able to show precursors of critical thinking consisting of both cognitive and affective elements, such as questioning, authentication, moral reasoning, and appropriate emotion. Features indicating inhibitors of critical thinking (such as passivity and over-compliance) were also found. Through the intervention program, the experimental group mothers learned to notice, encourage and support children's attempts at inquiry as the children grappled with making sense of their environment. Although the precursors of critical thinking identified before the intervention continued to develop over time due to maturation (as shown by the performance of the control group children), the experimental group children performed even better over time. In addition, the mothers of children with better performance in critical thinking tasks were observed to emphasize informing and reasoning, and to enjoy interacting with their children, rather than pressuring or commanding them. This research has highlighted conceptual and methodological issues in identifying and assessing very young children’s critical thinking, as well as the educational implications for the promotion of children’s critical thinking at home and in schools through similar metacognitive programs for parents and teachers. More research into the assessment of very young children’s critical thinking in different settings and with persons other than mothers is indicated, as is a focus on other factors that may influence the development of critical thinking.

The study sought to examine tactics used in family conflict and the relationship between these tactics and measures of self esteem and cognitive development. One of the questions which flow from this analysis is whether there is a safe level of conflict which is related to higher levels of cognitive development and/or self esteem or does any level of conflict have a negative effect on these aspects. Subjects consisted of 251 year nine and ten students from a Canberra Catholic high school. Using Straus's (1979) Conflict Tactics Scale for various family dyads, measures of Piaget's stages of cognitive development, and Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale (1965), no significant differences were found between cognitive development and conflict tactics, self esteem or gender. Adolescents from violent families had lower self-esteem than those from non-violent families, however verbal aggression was very common and the sole use of reasoning was atypical.