The effects of setting on cooperative play and problem solving in preschool children were examined. The study investigated whether a cooperative problem-solving setting that was more like informal social play promoted more effective cooperation and problem solving than a setting that was more structured, and whether the benefits of the play-like setting generalized to another problem solving task. The study also examined the development of cooperative problem solving skills across the preschool years. Four- and five-year-old same-age, same-sex dyads were randomly assigned to complete a problem solving building task in a more play-like, flexible, and child-driven setting or in a more structured and adult-driven setting. The older children built more complete, complex structures with a greater number of blocks than younger children. Children in the play-like setting built more complex structures and utilized observational learning more than children in the structured condition, although no significant condition differences emerged for cooperative behavior and communication. Performance differences also carried over into a subsequent joint problem solving task. Across both settings, individual differences in cooperative skills were related to childrens task performance. The results suggest that problem solving skills develop through the preschool years, and that cooperative problem solving in age-appropriate play-like settings is an effective way to promote and investigate both cooperative behavior and cooperative learning in young children.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-11192005-153828 |
| Date | 20 March 2006 |
| Creators | Ramani, Geetha Balaraman |
| Contributors | Celia Brownell, Ph.D., Janet Schofield, Ph.D., Susan Campbell, Ph.D., Carl Johnson, Ph.D. |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-11192005-153828/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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