Maintaining relationships and interacting socially are essential aspects of children’s occupational performance. Social participation occurs during many childhood occupations such as play and school work. Rather than assessing social skills deficits in isolation, occupational therapists are well placed to assess and treat children with difficulties in social participation during their daily childhood occupations. The existing models of social competence fail to consider or describe the social skills required during learning-related tasks. Therefore, a comprehensive model is needed to guide occupational therapists in understanding social competence during both interpersonal and learning-related social tasks and in specific contexts (e.g., early childhood settings) (Lim & Rodger, 2008). Background and Research Aims: “Social participation” falls within the occupational therapy domain of concern according to the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (2nd edition) (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2008), However, surveys conducted in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada indicate that there has been limited provision of services for children with poor social skills compared to areas such as sensory processing, motor skill development and visual perceptual skills training (Brown, Rodger, Brown, & Roever, 2005; Howard, 2002; Rodger, Brown, & Brown, 2005). Factors such as a limited knowledge of available tools and limited access to social skills models have hampered occupational therapists’ accurate assessment of social skills (Doble, Bonnell, & Magill-Evans, 1991). This study was conducted in Singapore, where generally there has been limited occupational therapy research, and even less in specific early childhood and school environments. High levels of proficiency in pre-literacy and mathematic skills are expected of young Singaporean children (Ko, 1992; Tan, 2007). With the emphasis on gaining academic skills to be ready for primary education from as early as 3 to 4 years of age, Singaporean children are also expected to demonstrate compliance and ability to sit still while attending to a lesson (Tan, 2007). Hence, it is important to conduct research on specific cultural contexts such as early childhood environments in Singapore. The early childhood literature has begun to differentiate between interpersonal social skills (IPS) and learning-related social skills (LRSS). IPS is needed for maintaining friendships and engaging in play, while LRSS is required for positive classroom behaviours (e.g., staying on task) (McClelland & Morrison, 2003). This research aimed to investigate the validity of the Proposed Model of Social Competence relevant to occupational therapists working with children in early childhood settings. First, this study aimed to investigate whether LRSS and IPS exist as separate unidimensional constructs as suggested in the Proposed Model of Social Competence and second, how these constructs contribute towards young children’s social competence. This research also intended to identify reliable and valid instruments that can be used for the comprehensive assessment of children’s social competence by therapists and educators in early childhood settings. Methodology and Study Findings First, a preliminary content validity study with Singaporean and Australian experts was conducted to investigate whether LRSS and IPS were represented by items from two pre-existing behaviour rating questionnaires (Lim, Rodger & Brown, 2010b). Next, in the main study, 117 young children (aged 3 to 6 years) were assessed using a combination of naturalistic observational tools and behaviour rating questionnaires. The children were observed during free play and school work tasks and their teachers completed two behaviour rating questionnaires regarding the children’s social skills. Rasch analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were employed in this study to analyse the data. Results from the content validity study indicated that the two behaviour rating questionnaires selected for inclusion in this study contained items representing IPS and LRSS. In addition, the experts found it clinically useful to consider IPS and LRSS as two separate constructs exhibited by young children. In the main study, IPS and LRSS were found to exist as separate unidimensional constructs, in addition to two other constructs named Compliance and Group Social Interaction which were found to also exist. Scales with acceptable measurement properties were found within the existing social skills assessment tools to measure these constructs. Furthermore, the CFA revealed Social Competence as an underlying multidimensional factor that was composed of the four indicator variables IPS, LRSS, Compliance, and Group Social Interaction. As a result of this study, the Proposed Model of Social Competence was revised. Conclusions and Recommendations Different social skills constructs that contributed to social competence in young children were identified and validated in the study. As Social Competence is a multi-dimensional factor, it is insufficient to assess only children’s interpersonal social skills. The Model of Social Competence-Revised aims to guide occupational therapists and other professionals to consider different types of social skills and elements that may contribute to poor social competence. Depending on the different presenting concerns, practitioners can select specific instruments to assess the different types of social skills identified in this research. Instead of designing new assessment tools that measure newly hypothesised constructs, this study demonstrated a novel approach to extend the validity of existing instruments to measure new constructs (Lim, Rodger & Brown, 2010a). This thesis has extended the extant body of literature by presenting the development, testing, and revision of a proposed theoretical model to assess young children’s social competence within early childhood contexts. This thesis has also contributed by identifying and validating existing assessment tools that can be used to evaluate the different social skills constructs observed in young children within early childhood environments.

<p>Gottfridsson, H. O., 2007, Färdmedelsvalets komplexa förutsättningar – En studie av arbetspendling i småbarnshushåll med Kils kommun som exempel, (Complex conditions governing choice of transport – A study of parents of young children commuting to work from the municipality of Kil).</p><p>Travel is a means through which people fulfil a variety of social and biological requirements. In turn, the purpose, destination and identity of the traveller set different requirements that different forms of transport have different opportunities of fulfilling.</p><p>The purpose of this dissertation is to find out about the complex conditions that form the scope for action in the choice of transport, in this particular case for parents of young children when travelling to and from work. The dissertation emphasises the importance of studying the whole picture and of the interchange between the component parts in order to gain a better understanding of the conditions governing a commuter’s choice of transport.</p><p>In the study a theoretical framework of reference is gradually established by mixing empiricism and theory. As a result, a number of factors significant for the transport selection process are identified. These factors include the composition and organisation of the household, transport system structures, local community structures and the resources and preferences of the commuter.</p><p>Several methods were used during the collection of data. Data about commuters was collected via surveys and travel diaries. Traffic systems and associated structures were studied with the help of maps.</p><p>Work requirements combined with local structures such as the location of the home, workplace and services, and how the household chooses to organise daily activities, place specific demands on the planning of the journey to and from work. Different transport systems meet these demands in varying degrees. The choice of transport is also determined by the commuter’s socio-economic situation, travel resources and how he or she, depending on motives, knowledge and habits finally perceives the alternatives available.</p><p>The results confirm that car users and public transport users have different strategies when choosing transport. The results also indicate that there are commuters who declare the same grounds for their choice of transport, but who in practice conclude different consequences and choose different means of transport. The data also indicates clearly that among users of public transport there are major differences in journey times, number of stops, distance to bus stops and travel costs, and that commuters who use public transport are more complex as a group.</p>

Gottfridsson, H. O., 2007, Färdmedelsvalets komplexa förutsättningar – En studie av arbetspendling i småbarnshushåll med Kils kommun som exempel, (Complex conditions governing choice of transport – A study of parents of young children commuting to work from the municipality of Kil). Travel is a means through which people fulfil a variety of social and biological requirements. In turn, the purpose, destination and identity of the traveller set different requirements that different forms of transport have different opportunities of fulfilling. The purpose of this dissertation is to find out about the complex conditions that form the scope for action in the choice of transport, in this particular case for parents of young children when travelling to and from work. The dissertation emphasises the importance of studying the whole picture and of the interchange between the component parts in order to gain a better understanding of the conditions governing a commuter’s choice of transport. In the study a theoretical framework of reference is gradually established by mixing empiricism and theory. As a result, a number of factors significant for the transport selection process are identified. These factors include the composition and organisation of the household, transport system structures, local community structures and the resources and preferences of the commuter. Several methods were used during the collection of data. Data about commuters was collected via surveys and travel diaries. Traffic systems and associated structures were studied with the help of maps. Work requirements combined with local structures such as the location of the home, workplace and services, and how the household chooses to organise daily activities, place specific demands on the planning of the journey to and from work. Different transport systems meet these demands in varying degrees. The choice of transport is also determined by the commuter’s socio-economic situation, travel resources and how he or she, depending on motives, knowledge and habits finally perceives the alternatives available. The results confirm that car users and public transport users have different strategies when choosing transport. The results also indicate that there are commuters who declare the same grounds for their choice of transport, but who in practice conclude different consequences and choose different means of transport. The data also indicates clearly that among users of public transport there are major differences in journey times, number of stops, distance to bus stops and travel costs, and that commuters who use public transport are more complex as a group.

Identifying high-risk areas for child maltreatment to ultimately aid public health agencies for interventions is necessary for protecting children at high risk. Rates of substantiated neglect and physical/emotional abuse in 2000-2002 are computed for the census tracts in the urban area of five counties in Metro Atlanta, Georgia, and analyzed using spatial regression to determine their relationships with twelve risk variables computed from the Vital Records births and the 2000 Census data. After accounting for multicollinearity among risk variables and spatial autocorrelation among observations for neighboring locations, it is found that high percentages of (1) births to non-married mothers, (2) births to mothers who smoked or drank alcohol during pregnancy, (3) unemployed males and females, and (4) single-parent families with children under age six best predict the rates of substantiated neglect, and that high percentage of births to mothers who smoked or drank alcohol during pregnancy best predicts the rates of substantiated physical/emotional abuse.

Kurį laiką buvo manoma, kad vaikai, kurie dar neperėjo priešoperacinės stadijos nemoka daryti tranzityvumo santykio išvadų apie kiekybę (Pears, Bryant, 1992). Pasak Schnall ir Gattis (1998), daugelis tyrinėtojų bando atsakyti į klausimą, iki kokio laipsnio ir nuo kokio amžiaus vaikai gali išspręsti tranzityvumo santykio vertinimo užduotis. Nors Piaget ir kiti (Inhelder ir Piaget, 1958; cit. pagal Schnall, Gattis, 1998) manė, kad vaikai tik apie 7-8 metus ir vyresni geba teisingai išspręsti tranzityvumo vertinimo užduotis, jaunesni vaikai (Bryant ir Trabasso, 1971; Riley ir Trabasso, 1974) (cit. pagal Schnall, Gattis, 1998) taip pat geba tranzityviai vertinti pasitreniravus. Bryant ir Trabasso (1971; cit. pagal Schnall, Gattis, 1998) padarė išvadą, kad tranzityvumo vertinimo u���duočių neišsprendimas gali būti greičiau dėl darbinės atminties ribotumo nei dėl kognityvinių trūkumų. Tyrimo objektas – 4-6 metų vaikų tranzityvumo supratimas. Tyrimo tikslas – charakterizuoti 4-6 metų vaikų tranzityvumo santykio supratimo ypatumus. Siekiant šio tikslo, išsikelti šie uždaviniai: 1. Sudaryti ir pateikti 4-6 metų am����iaus vaikams tris užduotis, kurios tiria tranzityvumo santykio supratimą. 2. Nustatyti, ar 4-6 metų vaikai geba tranzityviai samprotauti. 3. Palyginti užduotis pagal tiesioginius atsakymus. 4. Palyginti užduotis pagal kokybinius atsakymus. 5. Palyginti berniukų ir mergaičių gebėjimą tranzityviai samprotauti. Prieš atliekant tyrimą buvo išsikeltos tokios hipotezės: 1. 4-6... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / It was believe that children which didn‘t pass preoperational stage, can‘t to do transitivity conclusions about quantity (Pears, Bryant, 1992). According Schnall and Gattis (1998), many researchers trying ask to question by what degree and from what age children are able to solve transitivity interference tasks. Though Piaget and others (Inhelder ir Piaget, 1958; cit. pagal Schnall, Gattis, 1998) thought that children only about 7-8 years and older can to solve transitivity interference tasks right, younger children (Bryant ir Trabasso, 1971; Riley ir Trabasso, 1974; by Schnall, Gattis, 1998) also are able to solve transitivity interference tasks if they are trained. Bryant and Trabasso (1971; by Schnall, Gattis, 1998) made conclusion that wrong solving of transitivity interference tasks can be rather for working memory limitation nor cognitive deficits. Object of the Study – understanding transitivity in 4-6 years old children. The aim of the study was to characterize understanding transitivity in 4-6 years old children. Goals of the study: 1. Organize and represent for 4-6 years old children three tasks which research inderstanding transitivity. 2. Find, are 4-6 years old children able to reason transitively. 3. Compare tasks by direct answers. 4. Compare tasks by qualitative ansvers. 5. Compare ability to reason transitively in boys and girls. Hyphotesis: 1. 4-6 years old children are able to reason transitively. 2. Children did more mistakes in tasks which were hard to... [to full text]

Det övergripande syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur förskolebarn kan lära om tekniska system, närmare bestämt avloppssystemet och hur deras uppfattningar förändrats efter en pedagogisk aktivitet. Frågeställning: Vilka uppfattningar har barn i 4 till 5-årsåldern om avloppssystemet innan och efter en pedagogisk aktivitet? I studien ingick sex barn, kvalitativa intervjuer användes för att ta reda på barnens uppfattningar om avloppssystemet innan och efter en pedagogisk aktivitet. I den pedagogiska aktiviteten användes bilder för att visa barnen hur ett förenklat avloppssystem kan se ut och fungera. De fick sedan konstruera och testa ett förenklat avloppssystem flera gånger. Efter detta fick de själva försöka lägga ihop bilderna så att det blev ett komplett avloppssystem. Aktiviteten avslutades med ett besök till toaletterna där rören uppmärksammades och avloppssystemet diskuterades. Resultaten visar att barnens uppfattningar om avloppssystem utvecklades. Till en början kände barnen främst till de synliga delarna av avloppssystemet, som toaletten och spolknappen. De kände inte till många funktioner som avloppssystemet har till exempel gallret och sanden som renar vattnet. Efter den pedagogiska aktiviteten hade barnens individuella förståelse för avloppssystemet förbättrats både när det gäller avloppssystemets komponenter och också dess funktioner. / The purpose of this study is to show how preschool children can learn about technical systems, in particular the sewerage system and how their perceptions of it changes after a pedagogical activity. The question this study intends to investigate is: What perceptions do 4-5 year olds have about the sewerage system before and after a pedagogical activity? The study is based on six children´s perceptions of the sewerage system. Qualitative interviews were used before and after a pedagogical activity to get an understanding of the children´s perceptions. In the pedagogical activity pictures of a simplified sewerage system were shown to explain how it could work. They then got to construct and test a simplified sewerage system several times. After this the same pictures were presented and the children had to put them together by them self to get a complete sewerage system. The activity was concluded with a visit to the toilets to look at the plumbing and discussions about the sewerage system.  The results of the study show that the children´s perceptions of the sewerage system developed. Initially the children primarily had knowledge about the visible parts of the system, like the toilet and the flush button. Their understanding of the functions of a sewerage system was also poor. After the pedagogical activity the children´s individual perceptions of the sewerage system had developed both regarding to the components and the functions of the sewerage system.

Syftet med denna undersökning är att undersöka Pedagogernas syn på barns motoriska utveckling med inriktning till naturmiljö samt om pedagogerna är medvetna om forskningen kring barns motoriska utveckling med inriktning på naturmiljön.   Studien bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer. Intervjuerna gjordes på fem olika förskolor med sex olika pedagoger, både förskollärare och barnskötare. Förskolorna var placerade i en mellan stor kommun i Sverige. De intervjuade jobbade på 1-3 års avdelning, då detta var vald åldersgrupp för undersökningen.   Av resultatet framgår att pedagogerna är ute i naturen olika mycket och detta beror på olika faktorer. Det är dock medvetna om fördelarna som naturen har med sig för den motoriska utvecklingen och kan inte se några nackdelar med naturen för den motoriska utvecklingen. Pedagogerna är till viss del medvetna om forskningen kring ämnet, men de anser att medvetenheten är olika från pedagog till pedagog.   Slutsatsen av studien är att pedagogerna är medvetna om de fördelar som naturen har med sig för den motoriska utvecklingen och samtliga vill vara ute mer i naturen. Deras medvetenhet kring forskningen om motorik är något som kan bli högre och borde diskuteras mer i arbetslaget för att medvetenheten ska bli den samma hos alla. / The purpose of this study is to investigate the pedagogues view of children’s motorical development with a orientation in natural environment and if the pedagogues are aware of the research on children’s motorical development with a orientation in natural environment The study is based on qualitative interviews. Interviews were conducted on five different preschools with six different teachers, both pre-school and nursery nurses. The preschools were placed in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden. Respondents worked in 1-3 years department, as this age group was selected for the survey.   The result shows that the pedagogues spends different amount of time in nature, depending on various factors. Aside from these factors, they are aware of the benefits nature offers to the motorical development and can not see any disadvantages for the motorical development. The pedagogues are to a certain point aware of the research on the subject, but believe that the awareness varies from pedagogue to pedagogue. The conclusion is that the pedagogues are aware of the benefits nature offers to the motorical development and all whishes to be outdoors more often. Their awareness of research on motor activity can be raised and should be discussed more in their teams so all can get the same awareness.

Abstract The purpose of the 6-week qualitative study was to explore how Grade 1 children responded to five picturebooks by Anthony Browne during interactive read-alouds. The 13 participants and the other non-participants were organized into four mixed gender and mixed reading-ability groups. Data included transcripts from 20 small group read-aloud sessions and field notes that documented additional student affective responses to the texts. Other data included the children’s drawings that were completed after each picturebook small group read-aloud session, as well as transcripts of the students’ individual interviews about their artistic responses. Coding of student conversation turns during the read-aloud sessions revealed the identification of six categories of statements. These six categories were then applied to the students’ individual interview data to facilitate comparison between the two settings. The artwork and interviews of three students were analyzed as three individual cases and represented a sample of student readers of differing abilities. Data analysis of the read-aloud session transcripts revealed that labeling statements accounted for approximately one-third of all student comments. The remaining students’ statements were categorized as following: approximately one-quarter were character description, one-fifth were ‘other,’ (i.e. indecipherable statements and/or off-topic comments), approximately one-tenth were character feeling, less than one-tenth were autobiographical, and a small amount were intertextual in nature. The comparison of the three focus children’s individual interviews to their small group conversations revealed that the children generated a greater number of autobiographical statements during the individual interviews about their art. Implications for research and pedagogy included teaching and conducting research about visual literacy that involves pre- and post-treatment study, and examining children’s conversations about characters in picturebooks by numerous authors. / Graduate

Based on the lessons learned from the participating communities, the findings of this study confirm that the Tanzanian Government's aspirations for developing Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) policies and programmes that build on the strengths of indigenous child-rearing knowledge and practices are not only viable but achievable. What is required is a serious commitment from government to negotiated policy and programme development processes starting with families and communities. As indicated by the study community members, rural families and communities are eager to work together with government as equal partners in finding local solutions to improving the quality of care and early education of their young children in home and community settings as well as through the local services of clinics and schools.

Today's children are a multi-billion dollar consumer market that not only has the power to spend their own money but directly influences the spending for household consumer purchases. They present an extremely healthy and potentially long term wealthy consumer market for marketers to target and reap the benefits from their loyalty. However, the area of young children's consumer behaviour is significantly under researched. Very little is known about how young children develop preferences, make brand choices, and develop equity towards a brand. This study investigates the brand knowledge elements associated with brand preference and brand equity for young children. An experimental procedure was employed utilising personal interviews and collecting data from five Australian Day Care facilities and four Australian Community Pre-school Centres. The respondents were three and four year old children, who performed a game involving questions about fast food brands. The hypotheses explored various aspects of brand knowledge (e.g., brand awareness) and, their influence on the child's initial preference between fast food choices (brand preference), and their loyalty when tempted by a toy and their second choice (brand equity). The study's analysis was divided into two parts. The first part determined whether there were any significant differences evident between three and four year old children in relation to the effect of brand awareness, affect toward, and brand image in brand preference and brand equity using chi-square analyses. The second part of the analysis employed binary logistic regression analyses to determine which elements of brand knowledge influenced a child's brand preference and brand equity regarding fast foods. 2 The study found there were no major differences between a three year old and a four year old in relation to the influences of brand awareness, affect toward, and brand image in brand preference or brand equity. The binary logistic regression analysis found that brand images provided the greatest effect in explaining and predicting brand preference and provided a contributing influence in brand equity. Brand awareness was found to provide the second greatest effect on brand preference and the greatest effect on brand equity, and affect towards the brand or main menu item provided the least amount of effect in explaining and predicting brand preference and brand equity for 3 and 4 year old children. The research also comments on the use of a toy as a marketing tool to lure children to a brand and provides suggestions for future research. Marketing, managerial and public policy implications are also provided.