Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF title page screen. Advisor: Susan P. Keane; submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-105).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2007. / Includes bibliography.

The present investigation evaluated the effectiveness of multiple exemplar training (MET) on the facilitation of bidirectional symmetry-like relations (object-naming) for typically developing children (ages 3-4 yrs) whose first language was Spanish. Two experiments were conducted in which a multiple probe design was implemented to introduce exemplar training across 3 four-item stimulus sets. Participants were first trained in listener (name-object or A-B) relations via either conditional discrimination training (in Experiment 1), or a respondent-type training procedure (in Experiment 2). This training was followed by tests for derived symmetry-like relations (B-A relations). If participants failed these tests, MET was implemented in which B-A relations were explicitly taught with novel stimulus sets. Following MET, probes were conducted again with the original training set and MET continued with novel stimuli until participants met criterion for the emergence of derived B-A relations (Experiment 1) or derived A-B and B-A relations (Experiment 2 only); or after they had been exposed to a total of three different MET sets, whichever occurred first. Results from Experiment 1 indicated failed tests for B-A relations following direct training in A-B relations, and marked improvements in derived B-A relations following MET across all participants. Results from Experiment 2 demonstrated the emergence of derived A-B relations following a respondent-type training procedure (denoted as receptive symmetry training) and the emergence of B-A relations following MET across all participants. These results lend support for the use of a respondent-type training procedure to establish derived relations in typically developing children. Results and implication are discussed in light of a behavior analytic account of language development in general, and for second language acquisition specifically.

xviii, 147 p. A print copy of this title is available from the UO Libraries, under the call number: KNIGHT LB1131 .P64 2008 / Identifying children with developmental delays or disabilities as early as possible is a growing concern and has increased focus on the development of valid, reliable screening tools. The previous editions of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) have been investigated and found to be valid and reliable for screening children at risk for delay and in need of further evaluation. This study examined the psychometric properties of a newly revised third edition, including the utility of the addition of a "monitor" scoring category with preschool age children. Participants included 59 child/parent dyads ages 45-65 months with either no known risk factors ( n = 39) or one or more risk factors ( n = 20). Results from data analyses evaluating the psychometric properties were promising. Validity was investigated by examining concurrent validity using the Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2 nd Edition (BDI-2). Classifications (i.e., "typically developing" or "identified") of child's performance based on the domain scores of the ASQ were compared to the classifications of the child's performance based on total developmental quotient scores of the BDI-2. Percentage of agreement between classifications (91%) was computed. Based on BDI-2 and ASQ agreement, specificity was 91%, sensitivity 100%, and positive predictive value 20%. Reliability was examined with test-retest, inter-observer, and internal consistency. Intraclass correlations (ICC) and percent agreement were used to calculate test-retest and inter-observer reliability. ICC for test-retest ranged from .29 to a .88 when comparing individual domain scores from time one to time two. Percent agreement was calculated by comparing classifications at time one to classifications at time two, with 96% agreement. ICC for inter-observer reliability ranged from .22 to 1.00, with a percent agreement of 100%. Internal consistency means were calculated at: communication .66, gross motor.70, fine motor.52, problem solving .35, and personal-social .61. Results from the analyses addressing the utility of a "monitor" scoring category and using learning activities suggested that (a) parents and teachers found the activities easy to understand and use, and (b) the learning activities would be effective with a child scoring in this category. / Adviser: Jane K. Squires

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-05-30Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T21:03:14Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 ramos_cmmn_dr_mar.pdf: 763603 bytes, checksum: 1e9edc20f5c6af3a83a9c18480909320 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Unidade Ffc / Este estudo caracteriza-se por ser uma pesquisa bibliográfica com base na teoria histórico-cultural e tem por objetivo evidenciar o papel da professora no desenvolvimento humano da criança pré-escolar. Tal busca, revelou o desenvolvimento humano como categoria essencial à compreensão das explicações da teoria histórico-cultural acerca das funções psíquicas superiores que se manifestam por meio da linguagem, escrita, memória, atenção voluntária dentre outras habilidades tipicamente humanas. Neste sentido, evidenciou-se que as concepções de ser humano, humanização, apropriação e objetivação da cultura vão ao encontro do desenvolvimento em questão por afirmarem que o homem aprende a ser humano em decorrência do processo de humanização que visa à apropriação das objetivações genéricas para-si. Esta dimensão da humanização amplia a forma de conceber a criança como um ser dialético e concreto e a infância como um período essencial ao desenvolvimento humano. Desta forma são evidenciadas as especificidades do aprender da criança manifestas por meio de atividades dominantes que guiam o seu desenvolvimento psíquico caracterizado por viragens e saltos bruscos. A singularidade de tal processo revelou a importância do papel da professora na escola da infância que perpassa pela busca de sua identidade enquanto profissional que necessita apropriar-se de ferramentas conceituais que promovam a consciência de sua atividade voltada para o cuidar-ensinar às novas gerações / This study is characterized as a literature research based in the historical cultural theory and it aims to highlight the role of teachers in the human development of preschool children. This research revealed human development as an essential category to understanding the explanations of the historical-cultural theory about the higher mental functions that are manifested through language, writing, memory, and voluntary attention among other skills typically human. In this sense, it became clear that the conceptions of the human being, humanized, appropriation and objectification of culture are in line with the development in question by affirming that man learns to be human as a result of the humanization process that seeks the appropriation of generic objectifications. This dimension of humanization amplifies the way of conceiving a child as a dialect and concrete being and the childhood as an essential stage to the human development. This way the specifications of the child´s learning expressed by dominant activities that guide the psychic development characterized by psychological turns and sudden jumps are evidenced. The singularity of the process reveled the importance of the teacher´s role in the childhood education that pervades through the search for their identity as a professional that needs to appropriate themselves with conceptual tools that promote the understanding of their activity focused on the taking care and teaching of new generations

This thesis discusses the experiences and feelings of preschool educators when resolving situations of conflict between preschool children. Data was collected by means of semistructured individual interviews with preschool educators and a video recorder recording conflict situations among preschool children focusing on educator resolution strategies. Grounded theory was used as a data analysis technique to analyse the data collected. The analysis revealed that the preschool educators under study do not use mediation as a conflict resolution strategy but use various strategies that include, prevention, directive approach, arbitration, myths and threats and rules. Data analysis also revealed that these preschool educators encounter experiences and feelings before, while and after intervening in the conflict situations of children. These findings imply that preschool educators lack the professional skill of conflict resolution. This suggests an urgent need of restructuring of the preschool educator’s training to include conflict resolution training as one of their important component. Educators and parents also need to be consulted or involved in the process of restructuring the training.

M.Ed. / A school is a place where children are equipped for the world with all its challenges. School has always been developed to be a place of safety, away from all the brutality of the world, and a safe haven for children from the rising tide of perils they increasingly face; perils such as substance abuse, violence, unwanted pregnancy, drop out, teen smoking, and depression (Salovey & Sluyter, 1997). However, headlines in newspapers, 60 POLICE CALLED IN TO QUELL SCHOOL MAYHEM (The Star, 29 August, 2007) and PRIMARY SCHOOL OF CRIME REVEALED (Cape Argus, 29 May 2007) and SWORD-WIELDING SCHOOLBOY KILLS FELLOW PUPIL (Mail & Guardian, 2008) reflect almost all these threats as daily realities for our children. Headlines featuring such crude and often fatal accounts of school violence appear to be the most concerning. It is clear that some children are turning the safe haven which school is intended to be, into a nightmare. In addition, over and above speculation as to the reason for this phenomenon growing in intensity and frequency, the fact remains that schools are no longer safe havens where children are afforded the chance to realize their full potential. Schools are instead becoming four walls and a roof for the breeding ground of moral decay, readily highlighting the urgent need for attention, understanding and action in response to this devastating phenomenon. Having taken cognizance of and perceiving the reality of the broader context of school violence, and encouraged by my passion for children as an educator and future educational psychologist, my research set out to explore the phenomenon of school violence - not through how it plays itself out in schools, nor as a reaction to the phenomenon being experienced at schools, but rather from the preventative and proactive stance of trying to make sense of and harness skills that could better equip and support our children in their daily negotiation of school.

Explicit memory refers to conscious or deliberate recollection of recent events and experiences, whereas implicit memory is revealed when the same events and experiences affect performance in the absence of conscious recollection. It is well known that implicit and explicit memory develop differently across the life span: Explicit memory is acquired in early childhood, remains stable across adulthood, and then decreases in later life, whereas implicit memory develops earlier in childhood and remains intact well into late adulthood (for review see Graf, 1990). To explain this pattern of results, it has been suggested that implicit memory performance is mediated by automatic processing, whereas explicit memory performance is mediated by subject controlled processing, such as goals and strategies (e.g., Craik, 1983). My thesis examines whether development during the preschool years has the same effect or different effects on implicit and explicit memory test performance. Toward this goal, I first collected normative data to establish baserate performance on category production tests for use in the main experiment. Subjects consisted of 96 preschoolers and production norms were gathered for 7 different categories. The procedure involved reading a brief story to focus subjects attention on a category and required them to name 5 items from that category. Test performance showed two notable findings. First, some categories had a more gradual drop-off in response rate distributions than others, and second, differences in response rates for the different age groups were greater in some categories than others. The main part of this thesis is an experiment that examined whether development has the same effect or different effects on implicit and explicit memory test performance. Subjects for this study consisted of groups of 12 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds (n=36). The method involved presenting subjects with category production and category cued-recall tests for previously studied items. The items were selected from the norms according to three criteria: frequency of occurrence in the norms was not at floor or ceiling, occurrence frequencies were similar across age groups, and each item was representable as a picture. During the study phase five items were studied from each of 4 categories: CLOTHES, TRAVEL, PLAYGROUND, and ZOO. Ten of the 20 items (5 per category) were studied by each subject -- 5 in a non-elaborative study condition that required subjects to name each item and 5 in an elaborative study condition that asked them to name each item and answer a question about real-life aspects/uses of the item (e.g., "Do boys wear dresses?"). Two sets of target items that were not studied were used to assess baserate performance. The testing phase occurred immediately after the study phase. Implicit memory performance was assessed with category production tests using the same procedure as for the norms study. Explicit memory was assessed with a category cued-recall test. The critical findings from the implicit memory tests were: more priming in the elaborative than in the non-elaborative study conditions, and similarly large priming effects across age-groups. The explicit memory test results showed that performance increased across age-groups, but only for materials in the non-elaborative study condition. In the elaborative study condition 3-year olds' performance was comparable to that of the 5-year olds. The present thesis illustrated the distinction between implicit and explicit memory performance. Furthermore, it supports the hypothesis that while there is overlap of some of the components mediating these forms of memory, particularly related to storage of materials, there are significant differences between other mediating processes of implicit and explicit memory that are more closely associated with retrieval of materials. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Naps have been shown to benefit declarative memories in early childhood. This benefit has been associated with sleep spindles during the nap. However, whether young children’s naps and their accompanying physiology benefit other forms of declarative learning is unknown. Using a novel storybook task, we found performance was better following a nap compared to performance following an equivalent interval spent awake. Moreover, performance was better the following day if a nap followed learning. Further, change in post-nap performance was positively associated to the amount of time spent in slow wave sleep. This suggests that slow wave sleep in naps may support episodic memory consolidation in early childhood. Taken in conjunction with prior work, these results suggest that multiple features of brain physiology during naps may contribute to declarative memory processing in early childhood.

Persons who cannot rely on natural speech to fulfil their communication need to use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to enable them to participate in life activities. For persons who are nonliterate, the vocabulary for the AAC systems must be preselected. A core vocabulary approach proposes that vocabulary used with a high frequency in spoken language samples be included in AAC systems, in order to ensure that communication can take place across a variety of contexts, and to enable the generation of novel utterances. Various studies have recorded the speech of persons without disabilities in order to determine core vocabulary lists in a number of languages. In South Africa, 22.7% of the population speak Zulu as a home language. There is to date no published Zulu core vocabulary list. This quantitative observational study therefore aimed to determine a core vocabulary for Zulu-speaking preschoolers. Six children aged between 5;1 (years;months) and 5;9 from three different rural preschools participated in the study. The spontaneous speech of these participants was captured during typical preschool activities using small, body-worn digital voice recorders. A total of 9000 orthographic words were captured and transcribed. Due to the linguistic structure of Zulu, the sample was analysed using a formative tagging system, in order to capture the smallest meaningful parts of the language. By applying inclusion criteria of frequency counts of ≥0.5‰ and use by at least two participants (commonality score), a core vocabulary of 221 formatives was determined, which accounted for 88.9% of the total composite sample. The formatives in this core vocabulary are further described and, where possible, compared to the core vocabulary of previous studies. Implications for the design of Zulu AAC systems are discussed. / IsiZulu: Abantu abangakwazi ukukhuluma ngendlela ejwayelekile baye badinge ukusebenzisa iAugmentative and Alternative Communication (i-AAC) ukuze nabo bezophila benze njengabantu bonke. Kulabo abangakwazi ukufunda nokubhala, kumele bakhethelwe amagama azofakwa ezinsizeni zabo (assistive devices) zokukhuluma. Isu lamagama asetshenziswa njalo njalo liphakamisa ukuthi kumele kufakwe wona ezinsizeni zokukhuluma ikhona inkulumo izophumelela nomaphi futhi ukuze oyisebenzisayo ezokwazi ukuzikhulumela azakhele nemisho emisha. Ucwaningo olahlukahlukene seluye lwaqopha izinkulumo zabantu abazikhulumelayo ukuze kutholakale izinhlu zamagama asetshenziswa njalo njalo ezilimini ezahlukeneyo. ENingizimu Afrika, ngama-22.7% ezakhamuzi akhuluma isiZulu njengolimi lwebele. Kuze kube yinamhlanje alukho uhla lwamagama esiZulu asetshenziswa njalo njalo oseluke lwashicilelwa. Ngakho-ke lolu cwaningo lokubheka ngezibalo luhlose ukuthola uhlelo lwamagama asetshenziswa njalo njalo yizingane ezikuzinkulisa ezikhuluma isiZulu. Yizingane eziyisi-6 ezangena kulolucwaningo ezazineminyaka yobudala engaphakathi kwe-5;1 (iminyaka;izinyanga) ukuya eminyakeni yobudala emi-5;9. Ezazisuka ezizinkuliseni zasemakhaya ezintathu ezahlukene. Zazifakwe izikhwanyana ezaziphethe iziqophamazwi, zaqoshwa zizikhulumela zingagqutshwa muntu, zibe zenza zonke izinto ezijwayele ukuzenza umangabe zazikunkulisa. Abhalwa phansi amagama ayekhulunywa izingane aze afika ku-9000. Ngenxa yohlelo lolimi lwesiZulu, kwaphoqa ukuthi kusetshenziswe indlela yokubala amagama eyayizowahlaziya ngokwezakhi zawo. Isakhi ngasinye ukuze sibalwe njengegama elisetshenziswa njalo njalo kwakumele sivele ngokuphindapinda ngaphezu kuka-0.5‰ (≥0.5‰), siphinde futhi sisetshenziswe izingane okungenani ezimbili. Ngalendlela kwatholakala izakhi ezingu-221 athathwa njengamagama asetshenziswa njalo njalo. Lezozakhi futhi zatholakala ukuthi zibambe inxenye engu-88.9% yayo yonke inkulumo yezingane eyayiqoshiwe. Izakhi ezikuloluhlelo ziyaqhubeka zichazwe, ziqhathaniswe futhi lapho okunokuqhathaniswa khona nohla lwezingcwaningo ezedlule. Umqondo ovezwa izakhi nawo uyahlaziywa mayelana nokusungulwa kwezinsizi zokukhuluma ezisosebenzisa isiZulu. / Afrikaans: Persone wat nie op natuurlike spraak kan staatmaak om hulle kommunikasiebehoeftes te vervul nie, moet gebruik maak van aanvullende en alternatiewe kommunikasie (AAK) om hulle in staat te stel om aan lewensaktiwiteite deel te neem. Vir persone wat nie geletterd is nie, moet die woordeskat vir die AAK-sisteem vooraf gekies word. ‘n Kernwoordeskat-benadering stel voor dat woordeskat, wat met hoë frekwensie in gesproke taal gebruik word in AAK-sisteme ingesluit word, om te verseker dat kommunikasie oor ‘n verskeidenheid kontekste kan plaasvind, en om nuwe uitinge te genereer. Verskeie studies het die spraak van persone sonder gestremdheid opgeneem om kernwoordeskatlyste in verkeie tale te bepaal. In Suid-Afrika besig 22.7% van die bevolking Zulu as huistaal. Daar is tot op hede geen gepubliseerde Zulu kernwoordeskatlys nie. Hierdie kwantitatiewe waarnemingstudie het dus gepoog om ‘n kernwoordeskat vir Zulu-sprekende voorskoolse kinders te bepaal. Ses kinders tussen die ouderdomme van 5;1 (jare;maande) en 5;9 van drie verskillende landelike voorskole het aan die studie deelgeneem. Die spontane spraak van die deelnemers is gedurende tipiese voorskoolse aktiwiteite opgeneem, deur gebruik te maak van klein, digitale bandopnemers wat op die liggaam gedra word. ‘n Totaal van 9000 ortografiese woorde is opgeneem en getranskribeer. Weens die linguistiese struktuur van Zulu is die steekproef deur ‘n formatiewe koderingsisteem geanaliseer, om die kleinste betekenisvolle dele van die taal vas te lê. Deur insluitingskriteria van frekwensietellings van ≥0.5‰ en gebruik deur ten minste twee deelnemers (algemeenheidstelling) aan te wend, is ‘n kernwoordeskat van 221 formatiewe vasgestel, wat 88.9% van die totale saamgestelde steekproef gedek het. Die formatiewe in hierdie kernwoordeskat word verder beskryf, en, waar moontlik, vergelyk met die kernwoordeskat van vorige studies. Implikasies vir die ontwerp van Zulu AAK sisteme word bespreek. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Oppenheimer Memorial Trust (OMT) / National Research Foundation (NRF) / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / MA / Unrestricted