Across two experiments I sought to determine the relation between the Imitation developmental cusp and the emulative echoic cusp in preschoolers classified with a learning disability. In Experiment I, the participants were 36 preschoolers selected via a convenience sample, where the goal was to test for relations between the preverbal developmental cusp and foundational learning capability of Imitation, the preverbal and emulative verbal developmental cusps in the participant’s repertoire, and the reinforcement value of age-appropriate toys and activities. Results showed significant correlations between Imitation and conditioned reinforcement for observing adult faces and voices, parroting, echoics, and listener literacy, as well as significant relations between Imitation and conditioned reinforcement for playing with toys, puzzles, coloring materials, and Play-Doh. Findings show that Imitation is either a prerequisite or a corequisite to emulative verbal developmental cusps. Experiment II had two goals. The first was to determine whether educationally classified preschoolers with a disability can emit various imitative responses when the researcher presents instruction through a smart device using the mirror training protocol. The second was to determine whether the echoic behavior and observing responses of the participants would change as a result of undergoing the synchronous mirror training protocol. Results show a functional relation between the acquisition of the verbal foundational Imitation cusp and increases in emission of various imitative responses and emulative echoic responses, across both in-person and virtual conditions.

Detta examensarbete handlar om att få ökad förståelse om hur pedagoger ser på skapande material i verksamheten och närmare bestämt om pedagogerna har något didaktisk tanke när de låter barnen arbeta med play doh deg.Genom kvalitativa intervjuer med pedagoger på olika förskolor har jag undersökt hur de arbetar med skapande material på förskolan och hur de tänker kring barnens lärande i skapande. För att få bredare förståelse valde jag pedagoger som arbetar både med de minsta barnen och de något äldre barnen.Resultatet visar att pedagogerna är mycket positiva till skapande material och ser det som brett område som kan vara användbart till mycket. De upplever play doh som ett billigt och bra material som man lätt kan fixa själv på förskolan. De upplever att barnen tycker att det är roligt att dega, det infinner sig ett lugn hos dem och de ser även att kräver koncentration och sätter igång fantasin hos barnen. Alla barn kan vara med och utforska degen på sitt sätt oavsett ålder, vilket bidrar till att det är ett demokratiskt material. Det bidrar till ett stort lärande hos barnen både genom språket, matematiken och tekniken, samt utvecklar samarbetsförmågan. / This study examines how working educators understand and use creative material and if they have any didactic thoughts when they let children use a material such as Play Doh.By using qualitative interviews with teachers from different pre-schools I have examined how they use creative material in pre-school and their conceptions of children´s learning during creative activities. In order to get a wider perspective and understanding I have chosen to conduct interviews with pre-school teachers working with both toddlers and older children.The result shows that the working educators have a very positive experience of creative material and see creative work as a useful tool for learning in many ways. They also view the material as a cheap and easy way to get children to express themselves. From the working educators' point of view, the children find it very amusing and become calm, concentrated and use their imagination to the edge. Despite age, every child is able to explore and use the material, which makes it a democratic material. This contributes to a large amount of learning both regarding language, math and technique and also develops an ability to work together with other children.