Background: Developing a well-adept social competence in preschool years is considered important and seems to play a pivotal role in later social functioning like school readiness and academic competence. Due to the individual development in children, establishing potential early markers of early social problems has been difficult. Although parent, peer, and contextual factors may be important to children’s development of social competence, the present study addressed the range of individual differences in children that may facilitate or impede social skills development. Method: The paper is based on data from the comprehensive longitudinal Trondheim Early Secure Study (TESS) of a screen-stratified community sample of 2475 children who were assessed at 4 year of age (T1) and followed up at the age of 6 (T2) (n=797). General linear modeling weighting data back to yield true population estimates of the predictive value of Social Competence, Gender, Negative Affectivity, Surgency, Effortful Control, Inattention, Hyperactivity, Impulsivity, Peer Problems, Disorganized Attachment and Callous-Unemotional traits assessed at T1 in predicting Social Competence at T2, when adjusting for Social Competence at T1. Results: Analysis indicates that Social Competence, Surgency, Inattention, Peer Problems high levels of Callous-Unemotional traits and Disorganization were unique predictors of Social Competence when adjusting for all variables. Negative Affectivity failed to predict Social Competence. Conclusions: Beyond a sizable continuity in social competence a range of child characteristics may enhance social skills development in young children . The identification of such child factors, when controlling for other potential factors, may inform health promotion efforts towards increasing young children’s social competence.

Disertacijoje teoriškai pagrįstas turizmo vadybos studentų socialinės kompetencijos modeliavimas, empiriškai patikrintas turizmo vadybos studentų socialinės kompetencijos modelis, kai akcentuojamos universitetinio ugdymo tendencijos ir problemos,įvertintas universitetinių studijų turizmo vadybos studentų socialinės kompetencijos lygis, parengta turizmo vadybos studentų socialinės kompetencijos modeliavimo schema. / In the dissertation tourism management students‘ social competence was substantiated on the theoretical basis, model of tourism management students‘ social competence was empirically tested focusing on tendencies and problems of university education, tourism management students‘ social competence level was evaluated in university studies, scheme of tourism management students’ social competence modeling was framed.

Methods: 1.The analysis of literary sources. 2. Survey. 3. Mathematical statistics. Purpose. Display the social skills of prospective educators (course II –III). The tasks of the investigation: 1. Determine the competence level of prospective educators (course II –III). 2. Study the level of social skills of prospective educators (course II –III). 3. Display the level of social psychological adaptation of prospective educators (course II –III). 4. The analysis of literary sources. The characterization of sociability. The sociability, social skills, the conceptions of social adaptation and their importance are being discussed. Social competence – the summation of social skills. The conception of social competence is being discussed and social competence is being presented as the summation of social skills. The factors of social competence. The factors that determine communication are being presented. The conception of self-reliance. The characterization of self-estimation. The aspects of self-estimation are being presented. The connection between self-estimation and self-reliance. The specificity of restlessness. The notion of restlessness, its appearance and reactions are being presented.

Arbetet belyser barns kamratrelationer ur ett förskollärarperspektiv och syftet är att undersöka hur förskollärare arbetar för att främja barns kamratrelationer i förskolan. För att uppnå syftet intervjuades tio förskollärare som arbetar aktivt i förskolans verksamhet. Innan intervjun fick de fylla i en webbenkät som en förberedelse inför kommande intervju. Enkäten bidrar också med en övergripande bild över kamratrelationer i förskolan. Resultatet visar att förskollärare arbetar aktivt på olika sätt för att främja barns kamratrelationer, exempelvis genom att vara närvarande i barngruppen och påverka barns sociala samspel. Resultatet har tolkats genom den sociokulturella teorin som framför att barn lär och utvecklas i sociala samspel. Studiens slutsats är att förskollärarens arbete med att främja barns kamratrelationer påverkar barns lärande och utveckling. / Our study will illustrate children's relationships, between peers, from a preschool teacher´s perspective. The purpose is to investigate how preschool teachers work to promote children's relationships in preschool and how preschool teachers can contributeto. To achieve this aim, ten preschool teachers were interviewed who actively work in preschool. Before the interview, they had to fill in a webb questionnaire as a preparation for future meetings. The inquiry also contributes to an overall picture of relationships in preschool. The result shows that preschool teachers work actively in different ways to promote children's relationships, for example by being present in the children's group and influence the children´s social interaction. The result has been interpreted by the socio-cultural theory that children learn and develop in social interaction. The study's conclusion is that the preschool teachers´ work to promote children's relationship affects children's learning and development.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-07-11T17:41:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 renatadelourdesmigueldasilva.pdf: 1012798 bytes, checksum: 34438a143f343e94ac18c46988472269 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-07-13T16:36:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 renatadelourdesmigueldasilva.pdf: 1012798 bytes, checksum: 34438a143f343e94ac18c46988472269 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-13T16:36:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 renatadelourdesmigueldasilva.pdf: 1012798 bytes, checksum: 34438a143f343e94ac18c46988472269 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-10-08 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A teoria da mente é uma área de investigação interdisciplinar que se dedica ao estudo da capacidade de predizer e explicar ações próprias e alheias por meio de estados mentais. No âmbito da Psicologia, vêm sendo mais recentemente investigadas as possíveis interfaces entre tal habilidade e aspectos relevantes do desenvolvimento infantil, como a linguagem e o desenvolvimento social. Visando contribuir para uma maior compreensão dessas relações, a presente pesquisa objetivou explorar as possíveis relações entre o desenvolvimento da teoria da mente, a linguagem mentalista e a competência social. De forma complementar, pretendeu-se investigar as possíveis correlações entre as variáveis e diferenças entre os sexos e escolas em alunos do primeiro ano do ensino fundamental de duas escolas públicas de Juiz de Fora, uma situada numa região mais periférica da cidade – escola 1– e outra em uma área central – escola 2. Participaram 85 crianças, com média de 6,9 anos de idade, sendo 43 alunos da escola 1 e 42 da escola 2. Os participantes foram avaliados individualmente por meio da utilização da escala de tarefas de teoria da mente, um livro com narrativa por imagem - para avaliação da linguagem mentalista - e as escalas SSRS-BR - para avaliar a competência social pela ótica da criança e do professor. Os dados obtidos foram tabulados e analisados quantitativamente. Os resultados indicaram algumas diferenças quanto ao sexo e por escola para as variáveis linguagem e competência social, não sendo encontradas diferenças quanto a estes fatores ao considerar o desempenho nas tarefas de teoria da mente. Quanto às correlações, obtiveram-se associações significativas para teoria da mente e linguagem, teoria da mente e competência social e para linguagem e competência social. Em suma, os dados obtidos indicam que a maioria dos participantes obteve desempenho expressivo nas variáveis mensuradas, sugerindo que as crianças estão desenvolvendo a compreensão dos estados mentais, utilizando-se de uma linguagem mental rica e podendo ser consideradas, em sua maioria, como socialmente competentes. Os resultados obtidos quanto aos fatores sexo e escola fortalecem a relevância das experiências individuais. As associações evidenciadas entre as variáveis mensuradas apontam que teoria da mente, linguagem e competência social apresentam-se como fatores interligados e relacionados à adaptação psicossocial infantil. Espera-se que os resultados contribuam para a pesquisa nacional envolvendo as possíveis interfaces referidas e ofereça subsídios que possam gerar ações promotoras de desenvolvimento sociocognitivo. / The theory of mind is an interdisciplinary field of research that studies the ability to predict and explain one‘s own, as well as other person‘s actions through mental states. In the context of Psychology, the possible interfaces between this ability and relevant aspects of child development, such as language and social development, have recently been investigated. Aiming to contribute to a greater understanding of these relationships, the present study objective is to explore the possible relationships between the development of theory of mind, mental language and social competence. Additionally, it was also intended to investigate possible correlations between variables and differences by gender, as well as schools in students enrolled in the first year of fundamental education, in two public schools in Juiz de Fora, one located in a more peripheral region of the city - school 1 - and another in a central area - school 2. The study involved 85 children, with a mean age of 83 months-old, with 43 students being from School 1 and 42 from School 2. Participants were individually assessed through the use of the scale of theory of mind tasks, a book with narrative imaging to assess the mentalist language, and SSRS-BR scales to assess social competence from the perspective of the child and the teacher. The collected data was tabulated and analyzed quantitatively. The results indicated some differences by gender and by school for language and social competence variables; no differences were found with regard to these factors when considering performance on theory of mind tasks. As for correlations, we obtained significant associations for theory of mind and language, theory of mind and social competence as well as language and social competence. In summary, our data indicates that most participants obtained significant performance variables measured, suggesting that children are developing an understanding of mental states, using a rich mental language which may be considered mostly as socially competent. The results regarding factors sex and school strengthens the relevance of individual experiences. The associations observed between the measured variables suggest that theory of mind, language, and social competence are presented as interconnected, and factors related to the children's psychosocial adjustment. It is hoped that these findings will contribute to the national research involving the possible interfaces and also offer the subsidies that can generate actions that promote social cognitive development.

My diploma thesis shows patterns of alternation by bilingual children between their two mother tongues, Czech and English. The patterns are studied in two different types of language alternations; code-switching, meaning switching between language codes in whole ideas and discussed topics, and code-mixing, meaning inserting a word or phrase in language A into speech in language B. The code-switching and code-mixing types and patterns were studied on basis of 12 recordings and observations of a class of pre-school children during one morning of English school activities per week and 14 recordings and observations of a following year class of first-year school children during their after-school English activities. All children attended state education, pre-school nursery and the following year Czech state primary schools. Most of the children's parents are a combination of a Czech and an immigrant from an English-speaking country (with three exceptions) and they both speak with the children exclusively in their respective native languages. By studying the patterns of children's alternation between the languages, I also analyse how socialisation through the use of two languages influences social competences. The rules of the speech community, the school, as well as the family speech communities are...

In this work we have been researching how Ethic Education influences the pupils behaviour and the social climate in the classroom. For this research we have used a mixed quantitative and a qualitative methodology. In the quantitative part we have realized our research through the natural experiment with one observed independent variable which applicated the programme of Ethic Education for basic school pupils and secondary school students. We have observed these dependant variables of pupils behaviour: the amount of the prosocial behavior, the amount of anxiety and the amount of the behavioural problems. In a group we have observed: the quality of the social climate and the amount of the trust. In the qualitative part we have tried to examine how pupils and teachers perceive Ethic Education and what principles they use for it. We have used these methods of collecting information: a nomination technigue, a questionary About Your Fellowstudents, a questionary About Your Emotions, a questionary CES, a questionary SDQ. In the qualitative part we have used a questionary with this open question. We think that we can make a conclusion about this research that in the quantitative part the hypothese proved that Ethic Education reduces the amount of the anxiety and the other emocional aspects within the pupils...

Children with language impairment (LI) have often been identified as having social communication breakdowns. A number of these problems are likely the result of deficits in emotional competence. This thesis examines a social communication intervention designed to target the emotional competence of children with LI. Three elementary school-aged children with LI were recruited to receive twenty, 20-minute intervention sessions over the course of four months. Each intervention session involved a combination of activities targeting emotion recognition and emotion inferencing using story retell, story exploration, story enactment, perspectives charts, journal entries, emotion labeling, and personalization. These activities revolved around Mercer Mayer's A Boy, A Dog, and A Frog (1967) wordless picture book series. These books were used because of their age-appropriate subject matter and clear, simple depictions of character actions and facial expressions. To analyze the effectiveness of this intervention package in improving emotional competence, the number of emotion-based words belonging to the emotional categories of happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust that were produced each session was counted. The percentage of appropriate usage was calculated to represent how often the participants used each emotion-based word in a semantically correct manner. Finally, emotion word productions that did not match the intended target word were analyzed for valence agreement. Results were highly variable but all three participants demonstrated improvements in the percentage of accurate productions in at least one emotional category. Although all three participants usually used words of a positive valence in an appropriate manner, inappropriate uses were also observed. When actual emotion-word productions mismatched the intended emotions, all three participants produced low valence agreement for words of positive valence and high valence agreement for words of negative valence. Further research is warranted but results suggested that this particular social communication intervention was effective in improving the production of specific emotion words by children with LI.

Social skill instruction is needed in both targeted and universal contexts. This research utilized a universal social skill intervention, Book in a Bag (BIB), to increase the use of a specific social skill by all students within an elementary school, including students identified as at-risk for behavior problems. BIB was designed to integrate social skills into the curriculum by way of children's literature, specifically a read-aloud book using a direct instruction strategy. The results indicate that BIB had a positive effect on students' behavior in the classroom both for students identified and those not identified as being at-risk for behavior problems. Outcomes suggest that students used the skill across a variety of instructional, independent work, and group work settings. Teacher perceptions of the research were reported as acceptable. Teachers noted positive changes in their classroom. Implications of this research for practice include using BIB as a universal intervention to target specific social skill deficits in students, and using social skill instruction to increase positive student behavior.

This thesis examines a social communication intervention that targets the emotional competence of children with language impairment (LI). Three elementary school-aged children with LI received twenty, 20-minute intervention sessions over four months. Each intervention session involved a combination of activities targeting emotion recognition and emotion inferencing. The emotion-based word productions were counted and analyzed. Categorized words belonged to the emotional categories of happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust. The percentage of appropriate usage was calculated to represent how often the participants used each emotion-based word in a semantically correct manner. Emotion word productions that did not match the intended target word were analyzed for valence agreement. Results were variable but two of the participants improved in the percentage of accurate productions in at least one emotional category while one participant did not improve over the intervention. Two of the participants also showed a decrease in the number of valence errors with no notable change in valence errors for the third participant. This suggests that this type of intervention can be effective in improving the use of emotion-based words in children with LI. More research is needed to develop this type of intervention.