The purpose of this study was to determine whether changes in physical space
impacted preschool children's cooperative behavior. These changes in physical space
included differentiated and undifferentiated ceiling height and wall color.
This study used an experimental design with subjects experiencing four
conditions each. The sample consisted of 30 preschool children across four different
half-day preschool classes in a preschool laboratory on a university campus. Children
were assigned to small groups of four children. Each group was comprised of two boys
and two girls. The groups experienced each condition for five minutes each week over
a four-week period.
A multivariate repeated-measures analysis was used to determine whether the
predictor variables: age, gender, and condition, were related to the outcome variable of
cooperative behavior. There was a significant main effect for Condition on children's
cooperative behavior. Post-hoc comparisons revealed the cooperative behavior scores of
children in the condition with a differentiated ceiling and an undifferentiated wall color
to be significantly higher than all other conditions. A polynomial contrast revealed a
nonlinear relationship between the conditions. Additionally, older children were more
cooperative than younger children. Boys were more cooperative than girls.
In differentiated spaces, whether in ceiling height or in wall color, children's cooperative behavior scores increased. Physical spaces where ceiling height and wall color were both undifferentiated or differentiated appeared to depress children's cooperative behavior scores. The undifferentiated space may have not been stimulating enough to enhance children's cooperative behavior, while the space with both differentiation in the ceiling height and wall color may have been overstimulating for preschool children. Administrators and planners of children's play spaces must be aware of how overly simple or highly complex environments can negatively impact on children's development. / Graduation date: 1997
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/34337 |
| Date | 04 November 1996 |
| Creators | Read, Marilyn Avonia |
| Contributors | Brandt, Jeanette A. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0023 seconds