Social reinforcement of children's motor behavior: A review.

This review highlights a number of methodological weaknesses and problems of measurement found in many studies which have attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of positive social reinforcement on repetitive motor behavior in children. The omission of control groups has frequently resulted in the confounding of reinforcer effects with regression-to-the-mean or warm-up effects. Problems relating to the use of difference scores, the effect of various schedules of reinforcement, the measurement of developmental changes, and the function of mediating response strategies are discussed. Recommendations for future research focus on the possible role of awareness of the reinforcement contingency and on the influence of other mediating responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of repeated experience on children's suggestibility.

The effect of suggestive questions on 3- to 5-year old and 6- to 8-year old children's recall of the final occurrence of a repeated event was examined. The event included fixed (identical items) as well as variable items where a new instantiation represented the item in each occurrence of the series. Relative to reports of children who participated in a single occurrence, children's reports about fixed items of the repeated event were more accurate and less contaminated by false suggestions. For variable items, repeated experience led to a decline in memory of the specific occurrence; however, there was no increase in susceptibility to suggestions about details from nontarget occurrences. Although younger children and children who were interviewed a while after the event were more suggestible, respectively, than older children and those interviewed soon after the event, repeated experience attenuated these effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of labeling and pointing on children's selective attention.

20 boys and 20 girls at each of 3 grade levels (3rd, 5th, and 7th) were tested in an incidental learning task designed to clarify the role of labeling on children's selective learning. Half the Ss labeled the central stimuli, and half pointed to them as they were exposed. Central learning increased and incidental learning decreased from 3rd to 5th to 7th grade. Labeling facilitated central learning, but pointing did not. Both labeling and pointing reduced incidental learning. Results indicate that labeling has both attention focusing and encoding effects but that the latter are more important for central learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of praise on children's intrinsic motivation: A review and synthesis.

The authors argue against a purely behavioral definition of praise as verbal reinforcement in favor of the view that praise may serve to undermine, enhance, or have no effect on children's intrinsic motivation, depending on a set of conceptual variables. Provided that praise is perceived as sincere, it is particularly beneficial to motivation when it encourages performance attributions to controllable causes, promotes autonomy, enhances competence without an overreliance on social comparisons, and conveys attainable standards and expectations. The motivational consequences of praise also can be moderated by characteristics of the recipient, such as age, gender, and culture. Methodological considerations, such as including appropriate control groups and measuring postfailure outcomes, are stressed, and directions for future research are highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of environmental context on recognition memory and claims of remembering.

Recognition memory for words was tested in same or different contexts using the remember/know response procedure. Context was manipulated by presenting words in different screen colors and locations and by presenting words against real-world photographs. Overall hit and false-alarm rates were higher for tests presented in an old context compared to a new context. This concordant effect was seen in both remember responses and estimates of familiarity. Similar results were found for rearranged pairings of old study contexts and targets, for study contexts that were unique or were repeated with different words, and for new picture contexts that were physically similar to old contexts. Similar results were also found when subjects focused attention on the study words, but a different pattern of results was obtained when subjects explicitly associated the study words with their picture context. The results show that subjective feelings of recollection play a role in the effects of environmental context but are likely based more on a sense of familiarity that is evoked by the context than on explicit associations between targets and their study context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of a narrative model on children's moral judgments.

Tested the hypothesis that children's moral orientation can be influenced by exposure to narrated models that express consistent moral judgments based on either the consequences of an action or the motives of the individual. 66 1st and 2nd graders were randomly assigned to 3 conditions: objective model (judgments based on consequences), subjective model (judgments based on motives), or no model, with an equal number of males and females in each group. Following the procedure of Piaget and others, a pretest presented all Ss with pairs of stories contrasting a well-intentioned act involving serious consequences with an ill-intentioned act involving minor consequences. In the experimental phase which followed the pretest by 2 wks, Ss were exposed to narrative characters who made consistent moral judgments. A posttest conducted by another E followed immediately. Results indicate that the objective model condition significantly increased responding based on consequences, and the subjective model condition significantly increased responding on motives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-control training: The effects of external control on children's resistance to temptation.

Studied the effects of extent and kind of external control during training on later resistance to temptation. 84 58-75 mo olds were trained not to turn around to look at a toy display. 4 groups heard recordings emphasizing the positive consequences of nontransgression. External control was varied by hearing the verbalizations in the voice of the E or the S and by having the E absent or present during training. 2 control groups for the effects of task-relevant verbalizations heard no recording. Effects of training were tested in a situation where the response to be controlled was turning around to look at a surprise (caged hamster). Presence of a task-relevant controlling response during training significantly increased Ss' self-control, but this effect was also dependent on the E's location during training, with decreased external control (E absent) resulting in better self-control. Sex differences were also obtained, with boys transgressing significantly more quickly than girls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classroom contextual effects on children's play.

Examined the effects of age, sex, and context of preschool classrooms on children's play. In Study 1, observed 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds playing in art, blocks, and replica play areas in their age-graded classrooms. Results suggested that children's play was related to Age?×?Play Area interactions. These relations were not independent of children's sex-related self-selection into the play areas or the number of participants in the areas. In Study 2, same-age, same-sex dyads played with blocks and replica props in experimental playrooms. Play was mediated by age, sex, and play area. Girls' play was less sophisticated than boys' play in the blocks area because it was an area in which males tended to play. Furthermore, the ecological validity of Study 2 was established vis-à-vis Study 1 results. In Study 3, same-age, mixed-sex dyads played in constructive and replica areas in experimental playrooms. No sex or Sex?×?Context effects were observed on play. Boys tended to dominate girls in both contexts. Results are explained in terms of Lewin's model of context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of tempo and familiarity on children's affective interpretation of music.

When and how does one learn to associate emotion with music? This study attempted to address this issue by examining whether preschool children use tempo as a cue in determining whether a song is happy or sad. Instrumental versions of children's songs were played at different tempos to adults and children ages 3 to 5 years. Familiar and unfamiliar songs were used to examine whether familiarity affected children's identification of emotion in music. The results indicated that adults, 4 year olds and 5 year olds rated fast songs as significantly happier than slow songs. However, 3 year olds failed to rate fast songs differently than slow songs at above-chance levels. Familiarity did not significantly affect children's identification of happiness and sadness in music. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Roles of approval motivation and social reinforcement in children's discrimination learning.

144 3rd- and 4th-grade children were given a 2-choice discrimination learning task. The 2 major factors were (a) the 3 levels of social desirability (high, moderate, and low) on the Children's Social Desirability scale; and (b) the 2 types of treatment conditions (monetary-social reinforcement and monetary-no social reinforcement). In opposition to D. P. Crowne and D. Marlowe's (1961) model of the approval-motivated individual, the high-social-desirability group made significantly fewer errors than both the moderate and low groups. It is suggested that for young children, social desirability scores may require a different interpretation than scores for older children and adults. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modeling and attributional effects on children's achievement: A self-efficacy analysis.

56 children (mean age 9 yrs, 10 mo) showing low arithmetic achievement received either modeling of division operations or didactic instruction, followed by a practice period during which half of the Ss in each treatment received effort attribution for success and difficulty. Both treatments enhanced division persistence, accuracy, and perceived efficacy, but cognitive modeling produced greater gains in accuracy. Perceived efficacy was an accurate predictor of arithmetic performance across levels of task difficulty and modes of treatment. The treatment combining modeling with effort attribution produced the highest congruence between efficacy judgment and performance. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Order effects on children's moral and achievement judgments.

24 kindergartners were presented with 24 stories varying in the actor's intent, the outcome of the actor's behavior, and the competitiveness of the situation (noncompetitive/moral vs competitive/achievement dilemmas). Ss evaluated the actor by administering rewards or punishments in each of the stories on an 11-point graphic scale. Reversing the order of the stimulus cues increased the relative importance of outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of contrasting styles of adult-child interaction on children's curiosity.

Data from 40 nursery school children show that Ss in the presence of an aloof, critical adult were less likely to display incidental task-related curiosity and exploratory behavior, had longer latencies before beginning to explore, and were less inclined to venture guesses as to the identity of objects than Ss in the presence of a friendly, supportive adult. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of three variables on children's concepts of physical causality.

"This study investigated the effects of 3 variables on children's concepts of physical casuality. It was found that: (1) The nature of the causal thinking of withdrawn children is at a significantly less mature level than the causal thinking of normal children. (2) Questions about phenomena whose causal agents are not accessible to direct experience yielded significantly more nonnaturalistic responses than did questions about phenomena whose causal agents are more ascessible. (3) Questions worded so as to suggest the possible operation of 'animistic,' 'supernatural,' or 'dynamic' forces yielded more such nonnaturalistic types of responses than questions less suggestively worded." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of a say-then-do training sequence on children's social behavior.

A say-then-do training sequence was used to teach 3 behaviorally impaired 4–5 yr olds to give and take objects appropriately in a classroom. During Training Phase 1, Ss were taught to self-instruct appropriate behavior before relinquishing or receiving objects from adults and peers in a treatment setting. During Training Phase 2, adult supervision was faded from the treatment, and Ss were required to continue to self-instruct while playing with their peers. Data were collected on appropriate social behavior of Ss in both treatment and extratreatment settings. Results show that the procedures were effective for each S. Ss rapidly acquired the target behavior and were successful in generalizing and maintaining the behavior in an extratreatment setting. Results are discussed as they relate to Ss' initial acquisition of the target behavior, generalization of the target behavior to an extratreatment setting, maintenance of the behavior over time, and the applicability of the training procedures. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Generalization of children's preferences as a function of reinforcement and task similarity.

"An experiment was designed to study children's preferences for a series of problem-solving tasks as a function of the particular reinforcement condition associated with a training task, and the degree of similarity of each task to the training task… negative reinforcement produced in some S's approach gradients and in others avoidance gradients. The meaning of the results was discussed and related to motivation theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of antipoverty programs on children's cumulative level of poverty-related risk.

The authors examined the effects of antipoverty programs on children's cumulative poverty-related risk and the relationship between cumulative poverty-related risk and child outcomes among low-income families. Samples included 419 children ages 3-10 years in the New Hope program and 759 children ages 2-9 years in the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), which tested 2 program approaches. Nine poverty-related risks made up the measure of cumulative risk. Both MFIP program approaches reduced cumulative poverty-related risk. New Hope reduced cumulative poverty-related risk among long-term welfare recipients. In both New Hope and MFIP, significant linear relationships between cumulative poverty-related risk and parent-reported behavior problems and school achievement were found. Cumulative poverty-related risk partially mediated the impacts of the MFIP programs on children's behavior problems. Among long-term welfare recipients, cumulative poverty-related risk partially mediated New Hope's impact on parent-reported school achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of physical abuse on children's social relationships

Social behavior and peer status of 87 physically abused 8-12-year-old urban children were compared with those of 87 case-matched nonmaltreated classmates. Peer nominations and peer ratings were collected in classrooms, social networks were assessed by child interview, family variables were assessed by interviewing mothers, and behavior problems were rated by parents and teachers. Significant findings were that abused children had lower peer status and less positive reciprocity with peers chosen as friends; they were rated by peers as more aggressive and less cooperative and by parents and teachers as more disturbed; and their social networks showed more insularity, atypicality, and negativity. Social behavior as perceived by peers accounted for a significant portion of the variance in social status; global disturbance measures did not add to this association. Results are discussed in terms of a context of family violence in the development of social maladjustment.