In a demonstration study, Experiment I compared the naming cusp and capability for auditory, tactile, and olfactory stimuli with 6 preschool-aged children who demonstrated the naming capability for visual stimuli. Probes for listener and speaker responses were conducted following separate stimulus-stimulus pairings during which the experimenter presented a stimulus from one of the four modalities (i.e., visual, auditory, tactile, or olfactory) for the participant to observe, and named the stimulus. The names of the stimuli were counterbalanced, such that the names of each of the stimuli within each modality (e.g., visual modality) had different assigned names than the stimuli in the other modalities (e.g., auditory, tactile, and olfactory modalities). Four of the participants in Experiment I were typically developing and two participants were diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Five of the participants demonstrated full naming (i.e. the emission of untaught listener and speaker responses) for visual stimuli and at least 1other stimulus modality after 2 sessions of stimulus-stimulus pairings of stimuli and their names (i.e., naming experiences). One participant only demonstrated the listener half of naming for visual stimuli and did not demonstrate naming for any of the other stimulus modalities tested. Naming accrued for one or more stimulus modalities for five of the six participants after the second naming experience. Previous research investigating naming for a stimulus modality other than visual have demonstrated the acquisition of naming for auditory stimuli following stimulus-stimulus parings of visual stimuli with auditory stimuli presented with the same name. In Experiment II, I used a delayed repeated probe design across three dyads (five participants from Experiment I) to test the effects of repeated stimulus-stimulus pairings across visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory stimuli, presented simultaneously, with 1 name assigned for each modality set, on demonstrations of naming. In Experiment II the naming experiences consisted of the simultaneous presentation of four stimuli (i.e., visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory) while the experimenter labeled each stimulus while the participant observed. Five of the participants demonstrated overall increases in correct untaught speaker responses following the repeated stimulus-stimulus pairings. Some participants demonstrated decreases in correct responses across sessions, indicating certain stimuli elicited avoidance responses after repeated exposures. Five participants also demonstrated transfer of stimulus control from visual stimuli to one or more of the other stimulus modalities, indicating higher-order conditioning occurred. The findings provide further evidence for the differential development of naming across stimulus modalities for children with visual naming through stimulus-stimulus pairings.

The work in preschool is based on the curriculum for preschool. When revised in 2010, the goals of mathematics were strengthened so that preschools will offer more educational incentives for the children to develop mathematically and prepare for school. The study is based on curriculum theory. Previous research that is included in the study shows that preschool teachers often work with mathematics in everyday situations. It happens through communication and interaction. Mathematics is cultural and can be divided into six different universal activities. Different ways of working with math are visualized. The importance of good didactic and mathematical knowledge to support the children in their mathematical development is noted. The aim of this study is to find out how preschool teachers interpret the mathematical curriculum goals and how they work with mathematics in preschool. The survey consists of interviews with four preschool teachers, telling how they work with mathematics together with children 3-5 years old, based on mathematical goals in preschool´s curriculum. The result of the study shows that mathematics in preschool is rarely planned. The preschool teachers mostly work with mathematics by paying attention to and naming the mathematics that occur in the day-to-day activities at the preschool. Through communication and interaction, the children in preschool get many opportunities to develop mathematically. The study shows that preschool teachers work according to the curriculum, which states that care and learning should go into each other. The results of this study points in the same direction as previous research. As further research, it is proposed to investigate how preschool teachers work with mathematics together with the youngest children in order to make a comparison and also to investigate the work with mathematics together with digitalization.

The present study applies early field experience theory and developmental stages theory as the basis of teacher training i n a junior college program in Taiwan. Two hundred sixty-six junior college students from two junior colleges were surveyed in order to ascertain what factors had an effect on the concept of teaching concerns. Comparisons were made among the following : with/ without preschool education background in senior high school, grade, school, age, fathers' educational levels, mothers' educational levels, and fathers' yearly income. The results indicate that early field experiences had a direct effect on teaching concerns. The students' year of study (freshmen vs sophomore) in junior college made a difference depending on whether they had been exposed to an early field experience. The groups that had a preschool education background had higher mean developmental-teaching-stage scores, in first (freshmen) study year, but lower mean scores in the second (sophomore) study year. The mean developmentalteaching- stage scores for both study years of junior college students with preschool education background were very close to each other. Junior college students without a preschool education background in senior high had a higher mean developmental-teaching-stage score in the second year than in the first year.

This study was devised to determine the readiness of preschool children to learn about basic concepts of nutrition. Sixty preschool children enrolled in the Utah State University Child Development Laboratory, comprised the sample. Twenty children were taught at home by parents, 20 were taught at the Laboratory, and 20 received no instruction. The curriculum was based on the concept of nutrient density and used the Index of Nutritional Quality (INQ) in developing instructional materials. INQ is an index for comparing the amount of nutrients to the amount of calories in a food. Food Profile Cards, visual representations of this information for non-reading preschoolers, were the main teaching tools. Findings indicate that preschoolers are capable of learning about nutrition using the INQ concept. Mean comparisons of pre and posttest scores on a 12-item nutrition test were significant in the classroom and home-taught groups. Children in either treatment condition improved at significant levels in ability to recognize foods, identify nutrients in foods, and identify nutrient functions in the body.

There has a great deal of research regarding the positive social (prosocial) behaviors of young children. Children have been observed performing a number of different prosocial behaviors, including helping, showing, sharing, and responding to the distress of another. However, most of the previous research was conducted in laboratory settings. In order to describe the first manifestations of prosocial behaviors more accurately, research needs to be conducted in a natural setting. The purpose of the current study was to observe the origins of the prosocial behaviors of young children in a child development center. To accomplish this goal, a research team was assembled and pilot observations were made. Group meetings served as a forum for developing a coding system. The study included four observation periods over a six month span during which children's naturally occurring social interactions were videotaped. Thirty-seven children between the ages of 9 months and 3.5 years who attended a corporate affiliated child development center participated in the study. The first observation period included 37 children who were videotaped for an average of eighty-four minutes each. The three remaining observation periods included 21 children who were videotaped an average of ninety minutes each. Approximately 150 total hours of videotape were collected. In addition to developing a coding system, a reliability study was conducted. This study included 42 three-minute segments which were representative of the videotape that was collected. Also, all the behaviors under observation were included among these segments. The three newest members of the research team then coded the segments. Inter-observer agreement was assessed by computing percentage agreement and also by calculating Cohen's kappas. Repeated measures analysis of variance were performed to determine if there were differences between observers, across the age range of the children, or across the group activity that the children were involved in while being observed. Although there were no significant differences between kappa values, there were differences between the percentage agreements. The implications of these differences to the coding system is discussed and predictions pertaining to the frequency of pro social behavior are elaborated.

A study on the influence of nutrition education experiences was conducted in the Child Development Preschool Laboratory at Southern Utah State College in Cedar City, Utah, with thirty-two preschool children. Sixteen of the children were exposed to nutrition experiences through food activities and stories. It was found that the sixteen children who were involved in the fifteen nutrition experiences significantly increased their knowledge of nutrition concepts and further modified their own personal food choices. The control group, which was not exposed to nutrition activities, made no significant change in knowledge of nutrition concepts and no modification of personal food choices. The findings also indicated that there was no significant difference between girls and boys in their ability to learn nutrition concepts. However, there appeared to be some slight sex differences in the modification of personal food choices.

The early years of childhood are characterize d by new ideas; experimentation; the building of relationships; fears, both real and imagined; and play, through which the child tries to assemble these experiences into a meaningful whole. The early years are an exciting, complex and vibrant time of learning while the child grows in his understanding of himself and the world around him.

As students enter kindergarten, some students are more academically prepared than others. This study looked at the relationships among preschool attendance, preschool type (i.e., public, private, Head Start, and home-based technology providers) and preschool quality and early mathematical literacy skills for diverse students. The study sought to answer three research questions: What is the relationship between preschool attendance and early mathematical literacy? What is the relationship between preschool type and early mathematical literacy? What is the relationship between preschool quality and early mathematical literacy? Within each research question, there was also an investigation to see if there were differing effects for diverse student demographics. Data was obtained from the USBE in relation to preschool enrollment records and kindergarten entry scores on the state mandated Kindergarten Entry and Exit Profile (KEEP) assessment for all kindergarten students enrolled in the 2017-18 school year. The researcher conducted a 2x2 Factor ANOVA, independent group means t-tests, and multiple regression analysis to determine relationships among preschool attendance, type, and quality and early mathematical literacy. In general, the independent variables of attending preschool and the quality of the preschool did not seem to have the positive influence expected on early mathematical literacy as a whole, but when looking more specifically at the demographic covariates, there were some positive influences. Students who participated in online preschool programming on average experienced the highest early mathematical literacy scores. Overall, the results suggested that students from diverse backgrounds experience improved early mathematical literacy when they attended preschool. Therefore, with the limited funding available for preschool, policymakers should consider which students might most benefit from preschool experience and target limited resources to such populations.

Factors influencing language development and use are many. Teacher influences such as teacher:child ratio and teaching experience can affect the types of language children produce. Classroom influences including activities , size of the room, and length of the day also play a role in the development of language. All of these areas need to be considered in order to provide the best possible language environment for the preschool child. In this study, the researchers examined the mean length of utterance (MLU) values of preschool children while participating at three areas in a preschool classroom : art, dramatic play, and snack. Gender differences in MLU were also studied. Sixteen children (8 females, 8 males), ranging in age from 50 to 66 months, participated in the study . The children were currently attending the Child Development Laboratory at Utah State University. For the collection of data , the children wore a tape recorder with a microphone until a 5-minute sample from each of the areas was obtained . These audio recordings were then transcribed and calculated into MLU values. Findings from the analysis of variance tests (3[activity : art , dramatic p l ay, snack] X 2 [gender: male , female]) demonstrated that the children had larger MLU values at snack than at art or dramatic play. Snack time has not always been recognized as an activity area for young children to display typical language use. Overall , and at the three individual areas , there were no gender differences found in MLU. Results of this study may be used in planning how to arrange and organize an environment in which the children are comfortable and have opportunities to converse with both adults and other children.

This research asked whether a contextual stimulus in a visual conditional discrimination task controlled membership in classes of stimuli related hierarchically. Six experiments with nonreading preschool children posed the following question: Does a stimulus juxtaposed with a conditional discrimination task control relations among the stimuli involved in the task? In Experiments I and II, printed instance or concept words were juxtaposed with conditional discrimination tasks involving symbols. Results for eight of nine children demonstrated neither conditional nor equivalence relations between words and symbols. Would conditional discrimination training establish classes of visual stimuli composed of selectively nonequivalent subsets? In Experiment III, subjects from the first two experiments were taught conditional relations, then tested for stimulus class development. Printed words that could have been related transitively were not, apparently due to interference by identical letters in certain words, so no stimulus classes developed. Would the equivalence relations sought in Experiment III develop without a history where printed words were unnecessary to conditional discrimination tasks? For Experiment IV-A, one experimentally naive child was taught the same conditional relations as Experiment III subjects. Two stimulus classes emerged, each containing two subsets that were selectively nonequivalent depending upon trial context. Are direct or transitive stimulus relations more likely to control responding? In experiment IV-B, the subject from Experiment IV-A expressed more direct than transitive relations on modified matching trials. Would interference by identical elements in words be precluded by training conditional relations among words directly? One child in Experiment V was taught conditional relations between concept words and instance words, and instance words and symbols. Results suggested that stimulus class development, which would have answered the question affirmatively, had begun but was incomplete. Would providing auditory labels for some printed words preclude interference by identical elements, allowing nonidentical words to be related transitively? In Experiment VI, one child was taught auditory labels for selected printed words, followed by the same visual conditional discrimination training provided in Experiment III. Two stimulus classes developed, requiring transitive and symmetric relations among printed words.