Processes in language acquisition: the roles of gender, attention, and maternal encouragement of attention over time

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAN KARRASS ◽  
JULIA M. BRAUNGART-RIEKER ◽  
JENNIFER MULLINS ◽  
JENNIFER BURKE LEFEVER

This longitudinal study including 87 infant–mother dyads examined the relation between infant temperamental attention, maternal encouragement of attention, language, and the effects of gender. At ages 0;4, 0;8, and 1;0, global attention was assessed from Rothbart's (1981) IBQ; manipulative exploration was assessed with the Bayley (1969) IBR; and maternal verbal, visual and physical encouragement of attention were coded from 5 minutes of mother–infant free-play. At 1;0, language was measured using language items from the Bayley Mental Scale and parent-report items from Hendrick, Prather & Tobin's (1984) SICD-Revised. Multiple regressions indicated that gender, infants’ manipulative exploration and maternal physical encouragement of attention at 0;4, and maternal verbal encouragement of attention at 1;0, were all positively related to language at 1;0. Interactions indicated that girls high in 0;8 or 1;0 manipulative exploration had more advanced language skills than girls low in manipulative exploration or than boys, regardless of their attention level. Additionally, maternal verbal encouragement of attention appears to be particularly salient in the development of language for boys.

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1128-1147 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Kronenberger ◽  
Huiping Xu ◽  
David B. Pisoni

Purpose Auditory deprivation has downstream effects on the development of language and executive functioning (EF) in prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs), but little is known about the very early development of EF during preschool ages in children with CIs. This study investigated the longitudinal development of EF and spoken language skills in samples of children with normal hearing (NH; N = 40) or CIs ( N = 41) during preschool ages. Method Participants were enrolled in the study between ages 3 and 6 years and evaluated annually up to the age of 7 years. Mixed-effects models were used to evaluate and predict growth of spoken language and EF skills over time. Results Children with CIs scored lower than NH peers on language measures but improved significantly over time. On performance-based neurocognitive measures of controlled attention, inhibition, and working memory, children with CIs scored more poorly than the sample of NH peers but comparable to norms, whereas on a parent report behavior checklist, children with CIs scored more poorly than both NH peers and norms on inhibition and working memory. Children with CIs had poorer EF than the sample of NH peers in most domains even after accounting for language effects, and language predicted only the verbal working memory domain of EF. In contrast, EF skills consistently predicted language skills at subsequent visits. Conclusions Findings demonstrate that, despite significant improvement over time, some domains of EF (particularly parent-reported EF) and language skills in children with CIs lag behind those of children with NH during preschool ages. Language delays do not fully explain differences in EF development between children with CIs and NH peers during preschool ages, but EF skills predict subsequent language development in children with CIs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Uccelli ◽  
Ziyun Deng ◽  
Emily Phillips Galloway ◽  
Wenjuan Qin

Mid-adolescence is a period of considerable potential growth in the language for academic writing. Yet, to date, few writing studies explore language development during this period and even fewer focus on longitudinal or diverse samples. In this study, we examined the development of language skills for academic writing in a socio-economically diverse sample followed from sixth to seventh grade ( n = 124). In each grade, participants wrote summaries of a science text. Subsequently, summaries were scored for writing quality (WQ) and analyzed for productive language skills (lexico-syntactic and discourse features). Participants completed a receptive academic language assessment and a test that measured reading comprehension of the source text. First, we examined if WQ or productive language skills changed over time. Next, we tested if Grade 6 productive and receptive language skills predicted Grade 7 WQ. Results revealed syntactic growth over time. Grade 6 use of connectives and receptive language skills emerged as predictors of Grade 7 WQ.


1978 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Ratner ◽  
Jerome Bruner

ABSTRACTThe nature of early games and how they might assist the infant in language acquisition were explored in a longitudinal study of two mother–infant dyads, using video-recordings of their free play. Analysis of appearance and disappearance games, in particular, revealed: (1) a restricted format, with a limited number of semantic elements, and a highly constrained set of semantic relations; (2) a clear repetitive structure, which allowed both for anticipation of the order of events and variation of the individual elements; (3) positions for appropriate vocalizations which could in turn be used to mark variations; and (4) the development of reversible role relationships between mother and child.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-44
Author(s):  
Giuliana GENOVESE ◽  
Maria SPINELLI ◽  
Leonor J. ROMERO LAURO ◽  
Tiziana AURELI ◽  
Giulia CASTELLETTI ◽  
...  

AbstractInfant-directed speech (IDS) is a specific register that adults use to address infants, and it is characterised by prosodic exaggeration and lexical and syntactic simplification. Several authors have underlined that this simplified speech becomes more complex according to the infant's age. However, there is a lack of studies on lexical and syntactic modifications in Italian IDS during the first year of an infant's life. In the present study, 80 mother–infant dyads were longitudinally observed at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months during free-play interactions. Maternal vocal productions were subsequently coded. The results show an overall low lexical variability and syntactic complexity that identify speech to infants as a simplified register; however, the high occurrence of complex items and well-structured utterances suggests that IDS is not simple speech. Moreover, maternal IDS becomes more complex over time, but not linearly, with a maximum simplification in the second half of the first year.


2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 821-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURA L. NAMY ◽  
SUSAN A. NOLAN

In a longitudinal study, 17 parent–child dyads were observed during free-play when the children were 1;0, 1;6, and 2;0. Parents' labelling input in the verbal and gestural modalities was coded at each session, and parents completed a vocabulary checklist for their children at each visit. We analysed how the frequency of labelling in the verbal and gestural modalities changed across observation points and how changes in parental input related to children's vocabulary development. As a group, parents' verbal labelling remained constant across sessions, but gestural labelling declined at 2;0. However, there are notable individual differences in parental trajectories in both modalities. Parents whose verbal labelling frequency increased over time had children whose vocabulary grew more slowly than those whose labelling frequency decreased, remained constant, or peaked at 1;6. There were few systematic relations between patterns of parental gesturing and children's vocabulary development. Parents' verbal and gestural labelling patterns also appeared dissociable. However, parents' words and gestures were correlated when their children were 1;6, suggesting that gestures serve an important bootstrapping function at a critical point in children's vocabulary development.


2021 ◽  
pp. 009365022199149
Author(s):  
Shan Xu ◽  
Zheng Wang

This study integrates the theory of multiple selves within the theoretical framework of dynamic motivational activation (DMA) to identify the dynamic patterns of multiple self-concepts (i.e., the potential self, the actual self) in multitasking (e.g., primary and secondary activities) in daily life. A three-week experience sampling study was conducted on college students. Dynamic panel modeling results suggest that the self-concepts are both sustaining and shifting in daily activities and media activities. Specifically, the potential and actual selves sustained themselves over time in primary and secondary activities, but they also shifted from one to another to achieve a balance in primary activities over time. Interestingly, secondary activities were not driven by the alternative self-concept in primary activities, but instead, by the emotional experiences of primary activities. Furthermore, the findings identified that multitasking to fulfill their actual self did not motivate people to re-prioritize their potential self later.


Author(s):  
Margaret Fowler ◽  
Farzan Sasangohar ◽  
Bob Brydia

A large public tier-1 university hosted an autonomous vehicle on campus for a 12-week demonstration. Throughout the deployment, the vehicle was operated autonomously and used 5 safety operators from the student population to take over shuttle operations, as necessary. Daily and weekly surveys as well as pre-and post-study interviews were used to investigate how operators’ trust developed and changed over time as well as the relationship between trust and operational issues that varied in severity. Results revealed that there was not a significant relationship between trust and severity of operational issues. Trust levels appeared to remain relatively consistent before, during and after the deployment.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Tiago Ferreira ◽  
Joana Cadima ◽  
Marisa Matias ◽  
Teresa Leal ◽  
Paula Mena Matos

Abstract This longitudinal study follows children from dual-earner families in 4 time-points, covering the early childhood period. We examined the influence of work–family conflict (WFC) on maternal relational frustration (RF) towards the child, and investigated the reciprocal relations among maternal RF, children's self-control (SC), and teacher–child (TC) conflict over time. Participants were 214 children (97 girls; M age = 4.00 years), their mothers, and teachers. Mothers reported their own WFC and RF, whereas teachers reported child SC and T-C conflict. Results from a cross-lagged panel model indicated the experience of WFC positively predicted maternal RF. Maternal RF and T-C conflict were negatively related to the child later SC abilities. Conversely, children who displayed SC difficulties were more likely to experience later maternal RF and T-C conflict. There was evidence supporting the bidirectional effects of child SC and T-C conflict across time. Moreover, maternal RF and T-C conflict were indirectly linked, via child SC. The findings are consistent with a transactional view of development, stressing the importance of contextual factors to the quality of caregiving relationships and highlighting the complex and reciprocal relations between child regulatory competence and the quality of relationships with distinct caregivers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen E. Lee ◽  
Tushara Govind ◽  
Marina Ramsey ◽  
Tsung Chin Wu ◽  
Rebecca Daly ◽  
...  

AbstractThere is growing interest in the role of compassion in promoting health and well-being, with cross-sectional data showing an inverse correlation with loneliness. This is the first longitudinal study examining both compassion toward others (CTO) and compassion toward self (CTS) as predictors of mental and physical health outcomes including loneliness, across adult lifespan. We followed 552 women and 538 men in San Diego County for up to 7.5 (mean 4.8 and SD 2.2) years, using validated rating scales for CTO, CTS, and loneliness. Linear mixed-effects models were employed to examine age- and sex-related trajectories of CTO and CTS over time. Linear regression models were used to evaluate baseline and longitudinal relationships of CTO and CTS with mental well-being, physical well-being, and loneliness. CTS and CTO were weakly intercorrelated. Women had higher baseline CTO than men. While CTO was stable over time and across the lifespan, CTS scores had an inverse U-shaped relationship with age, peaking around age 77. There were significant baseline × slope interactions of both CTO and CTS predicting improvements in physical well-being in adults <60 years old. Increases in CTO and CTS predicted improvements in mental well-being. Higher baseline CTO and CTS as well as increases in CTO and CTS scores predicted lower loneliness scores at follow-up. Thus, CTO and CTS were associated with better mental well-being and loneliness across the adult lifespan, and physical well-being in younger adults, and are promising targets for interventions to improve health outcomes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Sciberras ◽  
M. Mulraney ◽  
F. Mensah ◽  
F. Oberklaid ◽  
D. Efron ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundWe aim to (1) determine whether a behavioural sleep intervention for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) leads to sustained benefits; and (2) examine the factors associated with treatment response.MethodsThis study was a randomised controlled trial of 244 children (5–13 years) with ADHD from Victoria, Australia. All participants had a moderate/severe sleep problem that met American Academy of Sleep Medicine criteria for an eligible sleep disorder by parent report. The two-session intervention covered sleep hygiene and standardised behavioural strategies. The control group received usual care. Parent- and teacher-reported outcomes at 12 months included sleep, ADHD severity, quality of life, daily functioning, behaviour, and parent mental health. Adjusted mixed effects regression analyses examined 12 month outcomes. Interaction analyses were used to determine moderators of intervention outcomes over time. The trial was registered with ISRCTN, http://www.controlled-trials.com (ISRCTN68819261).ResultsIntervention children were less likely to have a moderate/severe sleep problem by parent report at 12 months compared to usual care children (28.4% v. 46.5%, p = 0.03). Children in the intervention group fared better than the usual care group in terms of parent-reported ADHD symptoms (Cohen's d: −0.3, p < 0.001), quality of life (d: 0.4, p < 0.001), daily functioning (d: −0.5, p < 0.001), and behaviour (d: −0.3, p = 0.005) 12 months later. The benefits of the intervention over time in terms of sleep were less for children not taking ADHD medication and children with parents experiencing depression.ConclusionsA behavioural sleep intervention for ADHD is associated with small sustained improvements in child wellbeing. Children who are not taking ADHD medication or have parents with depression may require follow-up booster sleep sessions.


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