Children's metalinguistic knowledge of syntactic constituents: Effects of age and schooling.

This study used the school cut off methodology to examine the development of children's metalinguistic knowledge of the syntactic subject of a sentence. Two groups of children matched in age and background variables but differing in amount of schooling were tested at ages 5, 6, and 7. The children's task was to listen to a sentence and repeat either the subject or the subject and verb. The subject was a pronoun, a proper name, a 2-word sequence, or a 3-word sequence. Children at the age of 5 had difficulty accurately repeating the pronominal and longest subjects. Children's ability to isolate the pronoun improved as they became older, not as they became more schooled; in contrast, children's ability to handle the longest subjects improved as the children acquired more schooling. Children's metalinguistic knowledge that pronouns are independent words emerges as a normal part of linguistic development. Children's ability to deal with the longest subjects reflects their ability to manage working memory, which improves as a result of schooling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and schooling effects on emergent literacy and early reading skills.

This study examined the effects of age and schooling on emergent literacy and early reading skills of 337 children from low-income backgrounds. Children were followed longitudinally from the end of Head Start to the end of 1st grade. A subset of the sample (n?=?183) was followed through the end of 2nd grade. The oldest children in preschool and kindergarten had significantly stronger emergent literacy skills than classmates who were younger by 10 months. These differences did not translate to differences in reading skill at the end of 1st or 2nd grade. Children who began school a year earlier than same-age peers outperformed these peers on measures of both emergent literacy skills and early reading skills. The impact of a year of schooling on emergent literacy skills was 1.7 times greater than the impact of other processes associated with age. The impact of a year of schooling on early reading was 4.3 times stronger than the effect of age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of discussion and role-play activities in the acquisition of consultant interview skills.

15 graduate students in each of 2 experimental groups were enrolled in a consultation course in which they received a didactic explanation and viewed a videotaped demonstration of consultant interview skills. Ss in the 1st experimental group participated in role-play practice activities; Ss in the 2nd experimental group participated in discussion activities. 15 graduate students not enrolled in the course comprised a 3rd group, and they received no training. Interview skills of all groups were assessed by rating Ss' oral responses to simulated videotaped consultation interview segments. Results indicate that Ss in the role-play group made a significantly higher mean number of appropriate responses than Ss in either the discussion or control groups. No significant differences were found between Ss in the role-play and discussion groups on degree of satisfaction with the course. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Order of the acquisition of perspective-taking skills.

Gave 3 groups of 60 children (6, 8, and 10 yrs of age) a perspectives task. Results provide some support for the hypothesis that the acquisition of perspective-taking skills in a Piagetian-type perspectives task follows 3 sequential steps: At first young children can correctly represent only the location of the object nearest another observer; later, they can correctly represent a before–behind relationship between objects as seen by another observer; last, they are able to represent a left–right relationship between objects as seen by another observer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lexical acquisition in elementary science classes.

The purpose of this study was to further researchers' understanding of lexical acquisition in the beginning primary schoolchild by investigating word learning in small-group elementary science classes. Two experiments were conducted to examine the role of semantic scaffolding (e.g., use of synonymous terms) and physical scaffolding (e.g., pointing to referents) in children's acquisition of novel property terms. Children's lexical knowledge was assessed using multiple tasks (naming, comprehension, and definitional). Children struggled to acquire meanings of adjectives without semantic or physical scaffolding (Experiment 1), but they were successful in acquiring extensive lexical knowledge when offered semantic scaffolding (Experiment 2). Experiment 2 also shows that semantic scaffolding used in combination with physical scaffolding helped children acquire novel adjectives and that children who correctly named pictures of adjectives had acquired definitions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The acquisition of robust and flexible cognitive skills.

The authors introduce a model of skill acquisition that incorporates elements of both traditional models and models based on embedded cognition by striking a balance between top-down and bottom-up control. A knowledge representation is used in which pre- and postconditions are attached to actions. This model captures improved performance due to learning not only in terms of shorter solution times and lower error rates during the task but also in an increased flexibility to solve similar problems and robustness against unexpected events. In 3 experiments using a complex aviation task, the authors contrasted instructions that explicitly stated pre- and postconditions with conventional instructions that did not. The instructions with pre- and postconditions led to better and more robust performance than other instructions, especially on problems that required transfer. The parameters of the model were estimated to obtain a quantitative fit of the results of Experiment 1, which was then successfully used to predict the results of Experiments 2 and 3. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Monitoring and planning capacities in the acquisition of music performance skills.

Investigated changes in cognitive capacities that occur as musicians acquire performance skills. A study is presented of child pianists (aged 6–14 yrs) of beginning and intermediate skill levels who performed well-learned musical pieces. Computer-detected pitch errors in the performances provided evidence for skill-related increases in both monitoring and planning: Children with more musical training showed quicker detection and correction of errors, more anticipatory and less perseveratory behavior, and larger range of planning than children with less training. A study of adult musicians' (mean age 27 yrs) advanced performances, which showed heightened sensitivity to melody and repeated pitch structures is also reported. Results show that planning and monitoring capacities increased most during initial stages of musical skill acquisition, whereas sensitivity to musical structure increased across all skill levels. Lists of beginners, intermediates' and adults' musical pieces performed are appended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preschool predictors of narrative writing skills in elementary school children.

This study examined the preschool predictors of elementary school narrative writing skills. The sample included 65 typically developing African American children, ranging in age from 5.0 to 5.5 years, and was 44.6% male. Targeted preschool predictors included measures of phonological processing, core language abilities, prereading skills, and early writing concepts assessed during the spring or summer, just before beginning kindergarten. Using hierarchical linear modeling, findings showed that core language abilities, prereading skills, and maternal education at preschool significantly predicted the level of writing in Grades 3–5, but only core language abilities and prereading skills significantly predicted the rate of growth in writing. When kindergartners were separated into low and high readers, and low and high core language abilities, a significant pattern of widening differences emerged between the groups over time. These findings point to core language abilities, prereading skills, and maternal education assessed at kindergarten entry as critical predictors of later narrative writing skills, and they suggest the importance of including such measures when screening for written language problems in early kindergarten and early elementary school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Latent curve modeling of internalizing behaviors and interpersonal skills through elementary school.

The trajectories of internalizing and interpersonal behaviors from kindergarten through fifth grade were studied using univariate and bivariate latent curve models. Internalizing behaviors demonstrated a small, yet statistically significant, linear increase over time, while interpersonal behaviors showed a small, yet statistically significant, linear decrease. There were individual differences in trajectories, and predictor variables accounted for some of this variation. In kindergarten, girls had more interpersonal behaviors than did boys. Children from higher SES families or with higher initial levels of externalizing behaviors had more internalizing behaviors and fewer interpersonal skills. One key finding from this study was that interpersonal and internalizing trajectories demonstrated a strong association. Increasing internalizing slopes were associated with decreasing interpersonal slopes. Establishing this empirical relation is necessary for understanding the developmental trajectory of these related behaviors, as well as important individual differences over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Language acquisition from age five onward.

Examined the literature on the acquisition of language after 4 yr. of age with emphasis on important developmental changes that occur after the earlier dramatic initiation of language behavior. At all levels significant advances in language were found. The evidence is interpreted as indicating that phonological, syntactic, and semantic levels of analysis are intimately interrelated and that language advances appear to be correlated with developmental periods of cognitive advance. (67 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Television formats, mastery of mental skills, and the acquisition of knowledge.

Conducted a study to demonstrate that when TV formats are varied, with content held constant, they differentially affect the use of mental skills and the acquisition of knowledge. Four groups of 44 5th graders were pretested on a battery of mental skill tests; then each group was shown 1 of 4 TV film versions of a story and posttested on 2 types of knowledge acquisition tests. All films had the same content, but their dominant format of presentation differed, with fragmentation of spaces, logical gaps, close-ups, and zoomings in and out. Results show differential patterns of correlations between initial skill mastery and knowledge acquisition within each format, depending on whether the format called upon a skill or supplanted it. Also, correlational patterns varied as a function of the requirements of the knowledge acquisition task. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of age, sex, and physical attractiveness on child-peer relations, academic performance, and elementary school adjustment.

Assessed the effects of age, sex, and physical attractiveness for 56 4th- and 48 6th-grade male children's actual and perceived social, personal, and academic development. Ss' physical attractiveness was rated by 97 adults who viewed standardly posed photographs of them. Teachers rated Ss for academic ability and adjustment. Actual academic performance was indexed by GPAs. Actual adjustment was measured through subsections of the California Test of Personality. Positive and negative peer relations scores were derived from peer nominations. Physical attractiveness was positively related to positive peer relations and teachers' appraisals of academic ability and adjustment, and was negatively related to negative peer relations. Evidence was found for relations among physical attractiveness, GPA, and actual adjustment. No sex or grade effects were found. Organismic developmental notions, specifying how a child's physical attributes provide a basis of his own development, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor trainee achievement goal orientation and the acquisition of time-limited dynamic psychotherapy skills.

The relationship between trainee achievement goal orientation and acquisition of time-limited dynamic psychotherapy (TLDP; H. H. Strupp & J. L. Binder, 1984) skills was examined. Counselor trainees (n?=?28) completed the Achievement Goal Tendencies Scale (T. Hayamizu & B. Weiner, see record 1991-34655-001) and saw a recruited client for 4 counseling sessions. The sessions were rated for trainee adherence to TLDP. Growth-curve analyses revealed a significant relationship between trainee learning goal orientation and pattern of TLDP skill acquisition. A relatively higher trainee learning goal orientation was related to a linear increase in use of TLDP specific strategies and to less midtraining decline in trainees' adherence to the psychodynamic interviewing style aspects of the TLDP model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relevance of audio-visual feedback mechanisms in the acquisition of reading skills.

There has been much confusion in the past on the topic of reading disabilities. The distinction is made between acquired cases of dyslexia where a previously acquired language skill is lost as the result of injury, disease or trauma to the central nervous system and cases of a more congenital nature where children seem to find it very difficult to acquire the normal reading skills. The study of acquired dyslexia has thrown much light on the various brain centra involved in all the complex language skills of which reading and writing is but one aspect. The cases of congenital dyslexia which are encountered frequently in all schools more than likely have little evidence of brain damage. Rather, a development lag or neurological disorganization seems to be at the root of such troubles. The importance of cerebral laterality for speech and language skills is being realized. In particular it appears that auditory dominance, an aspect of laterality that is still being investigated, is extremely important in the acquisition and execution of language skills. When a subject's voice is picked up by a microphone, delayed for .2" and then fed back to the subject via earphones the subject begins to stutter. Under certain conditions it is possible to demonstrate that the subject's speech will be more impaired when this delayed feedback is on his dominant ear than when it is on his non-dominant ear suggesting an assymetry of the monitoring functions of the two ears. This finding, if further investigated and validated, may have far reaching consequences in the remediation of language disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for order of operations in the acquisition and transfer of sequential cognitive skills.

The authors report a series of experiments in which questions about the nature of memory for the order of processing operations in sequential processing skills (i.e., skills that require proper sequencing of a set of component operations) were addressed. Evidence from 3 studies of a sequential number computation skill suggested that memory for processing sequences that are general to many instances is more instrumental than sequence memory that is instance specific. Results generalized over task versions that differed markedly in the number of processing sequences and the number of unique stimulus instances per sequences. General sequence memory appeared to develop relatively early in practice and to underlie errors in transfer that resembled einstellung effects. The findings are discussed with respect to memory mechanisms postulated in recent theories of skill acquisition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of learning from examples in the acquisition of recursive programming skills.

Presents an analysis and simulation model of the verbal protocols of 2 college students and 1 8-yr-old S learning to program recursive functions. The model is formalized as a production system capable of acquiring new production rules based on problem-solving experience. The model and protocols suggest that (a) problem solving by analogy to worked-out examples is frequent in initial attempts by novices to write recursive functions; (b) different representations of examples are used to guide problem solving by analogy; and (c) performance on later problems reflects the particular representations used in problem solving by analogy on earlier problems. The protocols and simulations also suggest that learning is facilitated by using abstract representations of the structure of recursion examples to guide initial coding attempts. (French abstract) (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills.

Three bodies of research that have developed in relative isolation center on each of three kinds of phonological processing: phonological awareness, awareness of the sound structure of language; phonological recoding in lexical access, recoding written symbols into a sound-based representational system to get from the written word to its lexical referent; and phonetic recoding in working memory, recoding written symbols into a sound-based representation system to maintain them efficiently in working memory. In this review we integrate these bodies of research and address the interdependent issues of the nature of phonological abilities and their causal roles in the acquisition of reading skills. Our review supports a causal role for phonological awareness in learning to read, and suggests the possibility of similar causal roles for phonological recoding in lexical access and phonetic recoding in working memory. Most researchers have neglected the probable causal role of learning to read in the development of phonological skills. It is no longer enough to ask whether phonological skills play a causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. The question now is which aspects of phonological processing (e.g., awareness, recoding in lexical access, recoding in working memory) are causally related to which aspects of reading (e.g., word recognition, word analysis, sentence comprehension), at which point in their codevelopment, and what are the directions of these causal relations? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of learning modules on the acquisition of counseling strategies.

Two studies investigated the effects of learning modules and classroom lecture on the acquisition of 3 counseling strategies. In Exp I, 42 students in introductory counseling courses were assigned randomly to classroom lecture and written self-paced module groups. Results indicate that the latter group performed significantly better than the lecture group on both a post- and retention test. In Exp II, 64 counselor trainees were assigned randomly to 1 of 3 treatment groups: classroom lecture, written module, and slide-tape module. No significant differences were found between treatment groups for acquisition of 2 counseling strategies: problem identification or developing goals. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)