The purpose of the current study is to examine physiological and behavioral components of emotional regulation and the development of empathy in preschoolers. It also examines how the parents play a role in their child's development of emotional competence. Behavioral and physiological responses were assessed for the children during stories chosen for emotional content (one happy and one sad story for each parent). Maternal and paternal ratings of self-expressivity were collected using the Self- Expressiveness in Family Questionnaire (Halberstadt et al., 1995). Greater vagal suppression occurred during the sad conditions suggesting that negative emotions require more processing strategies. Greater attentional scores were related to the child's RSA and higher resting RSA was associated with great motor restriction. The mothers had higher SEFQ scores than the fathers. Higher maternal positive expressivity, lower maternal total expressivity, and lower paternal positive expressivity scores were related to the children's displays of empathy. / by Kathryn L. Marsh. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Although there has been research conducted in the area of information seeking behavior in children, the research focusing on young children, more specifically on pre-kindergarten students, is almost nonexistent. Children at this age are in the preoperational developmental stage. They tend to display curiosity about the world around them, and use other people as a means to gain the information they are seeking. Due to the insistence from President Obama to implement pre-kindergarten programs for all low and middle class children, the need to understand the cognitive, emotional, and physical needs of these children is becoming increasingly imperative. To researchers, the actions displayed by these young children on a daily basis remain vital in determining the methods by which they are categorized, studies, and even taught. This study employed Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory (SDT), Dervin's sense-making theory, Kuhlthau''s information search process model (ISP), and Shenton and Dixon's microcosmic model of information seeking via people to lay the theoretical foundational framework. This ethnographic study aimed to fill the age gap found in information seeking literature. By observing young children in the school setting, I gained insight into how these children seek information. The resulting information collected via field observations and semi-structured interviews were coded based on Shenton and Dixon's model of information seeking via people. The findings, in Chapter 5, revealed emerging codes and trends in the information seeking behaviors of pre-kindergarten students.

This study addressed the effects of background music on preschool children during block play. Music was manipulated to examine its observed effects on children's movement and dramatic play, as well as on the occurrence of group play. The tempo in the background music was manipulated to produce equal and counterbalanced days of slow, fast, and no background music While significant differences in the active/quiet qualities of play themes relative to music conditions were expected, no differences were noted. This is possibly due to the low frequency of identifiable play themes and to the redundancy of themes that were identified. It was noted, however, that the emergence of active versus quiet themes coincided with the tempo of music on the day the theme emerged. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.) / acase@tulane.edu

Ninety-five kindergarten and 89 second-grade children were given a battery of tasks to examine the latent structure of phonological processing. Tasks commonly used to measure phonological awareness, phonological code retrieval, and phonological coding in working memory were administered, along with control tasks and measures of general cognitive ability. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to evaluate how well each of 17 alternative models of phonological processing "fit" the data collected at both the kindergarten and second grade-levels. In addition, the relationship between phonological processing and cognitive ability was examined by obtaining correlations between each identified latent phonological processing factor and the cognitive ability factor. For the kindergarten children, one factor accounted for individual differences in performance on tasks purported to measure phonological coding in working memory and on tasks purported to measure analysis skill. Separate, correlated factors accounted for performance on measures of synthesis, serial naming, and isolated naming. Identical results were observed at the second-grade level, with the exception that individual performance differences on working memory and analysis tasks were accounted for by separate (although highly correlated) factors, rather than by a single latent ability. At both grade levels, the correlations obtained between the latent phonological processing factors and the cognitive ability factor indicated a stronger relationship between phonological processing and cognitive ability than was expected on the basis of previous research. The results suggest that the latent structure of phonological processing is relatively cohesive and stable during the early years of reading instruction. The slightly different pattern of results observed with the second-grade sample, however, / suggests that the present study cannot rule out the possibility that the latent structure of phonological processing changes following the mastery of initial reading skills. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-11, Section: A, page: 3822. / Major Professor: Richard K. Wagner. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

This research is based on three case studies, each of which involved a critical examination of how early childhood centres responded to children with disabilities. The first case study involved gathering information at seven full-day workshops undertaken at seven locations in the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The early childhood teachers, other professionals and parents who attended these workshops provided information on centre policies with regard to children with disabilities and on their own views about issues in this area. The second case study involved participant observation and interviews in a kindergarten across ten months. In this setting, I was actively involved in the daily programme, looking at how the kindergarten responded to Craig, a child with severe disabilities, and his family. The third case study involved participant observation and interviews in a childcare centre across ten months. In this setting, I looked at how the centre and its community included Peter, a child with Down Syndrome, and his family. In each of the case studies I was interested in understanding how children with disabilities may be included in early childhood settings and how some children with disabilities may experience exclusion from such centres. The data from the three studies were theorised from a social constructionist position that suggests that our understandings of the world are made evident in the way in which we name and talk about issues. Within this theoretical position, it is through discourse that knowledge and meaning about a phenomenon are formed and produced. Discourses function as a system of rules giving authority to what may be said and thought in relation to a particular subject. In the present case, the focal subject was disability. From the case studies it was evident that two particular discourses had significant and contrasting implications for policy and practice in early childhood education. A medical-model discourse that saw disability as a condition of an individual child in need of "special" education and treatment was related to children with disabilities experiencing discrimination and exclusion. A discourse of inclusion in which disability was viewed as part of a continuum of human experience was related to policy and practice that was focussed on the elimination of barriers, and to full participation in early childhood settings. The thesis suggests that removing barriers to participation is consistent with a social justice approach to disability that acknowledges the need for both redistributive justice through resource allocation, and respect for differences through justice as affirmative cultural recognition.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed Dec. 5, 2007). PDF text: vi, 206 p. : ill. ; 9 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3271925. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

<p>This study examined the effect of the Kindergarten Home Visit Project, a novel universal intervention program designed to enhance the transition to kindergarten for children and families by providing teachers with the training and support they need to conduct a home visit for each of their students at the beginning of the school year. Forty-four kindergarten teachers from 19 schools and 928 children and their families participated in the project. Teachers were blocked within schools and randomly assigned to intervention or control conditions. Intervention teachers successfully completed home visits for 98% of their students. After controlling for child and teacher demographic factors, multilevel modeling with children nested within classrooms and schools revealed that random assignment to receive a home visit had a significant positive impact on classroom work habits by students and teacher-child relationship warmth at the end of kindergarten. Assignment to home visiting was also associated with positive child outcomes for girls, specifically including: higher academic achievement, academic motivation, work habits, social skills, and better conduct. Impact on boys was non-significant. The effect of home visiting on child outcomes was mediated by an intervening effect on academic motivation for girls during the fall. Positive effects of assignment to intervention were also demonstrated for children from non-English speaking homes. These children demonstrated higher academic motivation and better work habits. In addition, both non-English speaking parents and their teachers reported reduced adverse effects of language barriers on home-school collaboration. The intervention was also found to have a positive effect on teacher attitudes and beliefs. Teachers who conducted home visits reported an increased understanding of the diverse needs and cultural differences of families, a greater willingness to reach out to parents, and a more positive connection to students and their families. These findings suggest that home visiting is beneficial to teachers, students and families and should be continued and expanded as a kindergarten transition practice in the schools.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Lehigh University, 2009. / Adviser: Edward S. Shapiro.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-182). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

This study examined conditions under which low income mothers engage in voluntary supportive relationships with community-based early childhood programs. Parenting stress and support processes were examined in a population of low-income Mexican American Head Start mothers. A new construct, program support acceptance, describes mothers' appraisal of the program as a potential source of parenting support. Research questions related to (a) the relationship between Time 1 (fall) parenting stress and mid-year program support acceptance, (b) the relationship between mid-year program support acceptance and Time 2 (spring) parenting stress, and (c) the contribution of program support acceptance to longitudinal change in parenting stress. The study also considered contextual variables (acculturation, maternal education, stressful life events, partner status, and extended household) as predictors of parenting stress and program support acceptance, and potential moderation of parenting stress and support linkages by acculturation. Finally, the study considered the theoretical issue of whether parenting stress serves to motivate or inhibit support-seeking (reflected in program support acceptance) as a coping behavior. The guiding theoretical framework for the study was based on Abidin's parenting stress model (1983, 1992), and Lazarus and Folkman's general model of stress, appraisal and coping (1984), as well as family support literature based in ecological systems theory. Mean levels of parenting stress declined significantly from Time 1 to Time 2 for mothers in the Head Start program. The contextual variables did not significantly predict Time 1 parenting stress, and marginally predicted program support acceptance. Higher Time 1 parenting stress scores significantly predicted lower levels of mid-year program support acceptance. Higher program support acceptance scores at mid-year significantly predicted lower Time 2 parenting stress in bivariate analysis, but dropped to non-significance after controlling for Time 1 parenting stress. Acculturation did not moderate linkages between parenting stress and program support acceptance. However, several relationships were significant for immigrant generation mothers which were not significant for later generation mothers. In the immigrant group, being partnered predicted higher program support acceptance, and program support acceptance contributed significantly to lower Time 2 parenting stress. Higher maternal education level was associated with lower Time 2 parenting stress.