The MacArthur-Bates CDI-III for Spanish-speaking Children

Parent report measures have been shown to be effective, valid and cost-effective means for obtaining information about early child language development. There are several measures available in multiple languages for children below the age of 3. There has been a need for such measures for older children. This study presents the development of a Spanish version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory-III for children 2 ½ to 4 years of age. A total of 571 families of monolingual Spanish-speaking children from a diverse socio-economic group were asked to fill out the parent report measure in order to obtain a norming sample. Data are presented by age and socio-economic groups that show developmental growth curves for vocabulary production and sentence complexity. Norming tables that show variability by ages are presented. Additional information is given for a General Concepts section. This study presents a new parent report instrument that can be used both clinically and for research purposes.

Studying peculiarities of variability of speech, language and motor processes in children with dysarthria

Introduction. The author investigates the problem of communicative development of children with dysarthria. The purpose of the research is to reveal the characteristic features of the variability of speech and motor processes in children with dysarthria (in particular, with a mild degree of pseudobulbar dysarthria) and to prove the existence of comorbidity levels of the disorders under study. Materials and Methods. The research is based on international and Russian refereed studies into language and speech, movements for organizing the communicative development of children with dysarthria (L. V. Lopatina, O. G. Prikhodko, T. V. Tumanova, T. B. Filicheva, G. V. Chirkina, Michael Robb, Kathleen Wermke). The research program was complemented by the application of an innovative technology based on biofeedback - Pablo System. The experimental study was conducted at preschool educational settings in Moscow (the Russian Federation). The sample consisted of 450 older preschool children with dysarthria (with a mild degree of pseudobulbar dysarthria) and a similar number of peers without speech disorders. Results. The article describes a modern interdisciplinary problem of studying speech and language and movement disorders in children with dysarthria (mild degree of pseudobulbar dysarthria, erased dysarthria, minimal dysarthric disorders) in the context of determining their codependency and conjugation. The study revealed variative characteristics of speech and language disorders and movement disorders in children with dysarthria. General and specific errors of speech and language and motor disorders in preschoolers of the experimental group were determined. The levels of comorbidity of speech-language and motor processes in children with dysarthria have been identified and scientifically substantiated. Conclusions. In conclusion, the author summarizes the main features of the variability of speech, language and motor processes in children with dysarthria.

Proactive or reactive? Neural oscillatory insight into the leader-follower dynamics of early infant-caregiver interaction

We know that infants’ ability to coordinate attention with others towards the end of the first year is fundamental to language acquisition and social cognition (Carpenter et al., 1998). Yet, we understand little about the neural and cognitive mechanisms driving infant attention in shared interaction: do infants play a proactive role in creating episodes of joint attention? Recording EEG from 12-month-old infants whilst they engaged in table-top play with their caregiver, we examined the ostensive signals and neural activity preceding and following infant- vs. adult-led joint attention. Contrary to traditional theories of socio-communicative development (Tomasello et al., 2007), infant-led joint attention episodes appeared largely reactive: they were not associated with increased theta power, a neural marker of endogenously driven attention, or ostensive signals before the initiation. Infants were, however, sensitive to whether their initiations were responded to. When caregivers joined their attentional focus, infants showed increased alpha suppression, a pattern of neural activity associated with predictive processing. Our results suggest that at 10-12 months, infants are not yet proactive in creating joint attention. They do, however, anticipate behavioural contingency, a potentially foundational mechanism for the emergence of intentional communication (Smith & Breazeal, 2007).

Foreign Language Teaching in a Preschool Educational Institution as a Condition of Children’s Social Communicative Development: Specific Features and Methods

The article dwells upon specific features and peculiar methods of teaching a foreign language to preschoolers which will contribute to their social communicative development. The authors emphasize a stage character of this process distinguishing the initial phonetic stage, the second lexical stage and the final evaluative and reflective stage. The enhancement of phonetic, lexical and speech skills stipulates such forms of classwork arrangements as individual, paired and choral, each with its advantages and functions. For this age group, an analytico-imitative method has been recognized as the most effective one: cognitive imitation and reproduction are the basic forms of learning. In this respect, the content of the material intended for cognitive imitation has to be valuable, informative and thought-provoking. Special genres have to be found and applied to motivate children to learn and take part in activities: songs, counting rhymes, poems, fairy-tales and games. Children should be constantly involved into the emotionally appealing canvas of the lesson. The results of the research show that emotional impact, exciting forms of presentation and the informative content of the material increase preschoolers’ self-consciousness about their progress, create positive motivation and push forward their cognitive, communicative and social development.

Gesture development in Peruvianchildren and its relationship with vocalizations and vocabulary

We examine gestural development, and correlations between gesture types, vocalizations and vocabulary at ages 8 to 15 months, employing data from MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories for Peruvian Spanish, in the first such study with Peruvian children. Results show (1) significant change with age in the production of gesture types, with older children producing more; (2) important correlations between gesture types, and both vocalization types and vocabulary after controlling for age effects; and (3) correlations between the trajectory of the pointing gesture in its two modalities (whole-hand and index-finger) with age, vocalizations, and vocabulary, an effect that persists with respect to vocalizations after controlling for age. Our findings, based on a sample from a non-weird population, support a key role for gesture production in early communicative and linguistic development.

MODEL OF THE ADOLESCENTS’ COMMUNICATIVE CULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN ADDITIONAL EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE INFORMATIZATION AND DIGITALIZATION ERA

Рассматривается проблема развития коммуникативной культуры подростков в системе дополнительного образования в эпоху информатизации и цифровизации. Для решения данной проблемы предлагается модель развития коммуникативной культуры подростков, учитывающая особенности представителей цифрового поколения и специфику организации образовательного процесса в учреждении дополнительного образования в условиях его информатизации и цифровизации. Исследуется структурно-функциональная модель развития коммуникативной культуры в системе дополнительного образования, представленная целевым, концептуальным, диагностическо-аналитическим, содержательно-технологическим и результативно-оценочным блоками. The article is devoted to the problem of the development of the communicative culture of adolescents in the system of additional education in the era of informatization and digitalization. To solve this problem, the author proposes a model for the development of the communicative culture of adolescents, taking into account the peculiarities of the representatives of the digital generation and the specifics of the organization of the educational process in the institution of additional education in the conditions of its informatization and digitalization. The article considers the structural and functional model of the development of communicative culture in the system of additional education, represented by the target, conceptual, diagnostic-analytical, content-technological and performance-evaluation blocks. All components of the model are interconnected and serve to achieve the result – the transition to a higher level of development of the communicative culture of adolescents. And this, in turn, is one of the priority tasks of the education system in the direction of developing communication skills and socializing the personality of a teenager. The implementation of the model in institutions of additional education will increase the effectiveness of the communicative development of adolescents, form a culture of interpersonal communication, organize the interaction of the family, school and institutions of additional education. It is worth noting that when implementing this model in the long term, it is possible to increase the academic performance of adolescents in the humanities, the formation of a culture of communication among adolescents in social networks, and the reduction of destructive conflicts in the chi ld-adult community.

3 Infant-directed Vocal Communication in Sheep

Infant-directed speech (IDS) in humans, AKA motherese, is different from normal speech with a higher pitch, higher frequency range, slower pace, and more repetition. infants usually are believed to react differently to IDS compared to adult-directed speech. Studies showed that IDS facilitates infant’s speech segmentation, word memory, word learning, and communicative development. IDS is common across languages and cultures, but the evolutionary origin of IDS is a myth. The objective of this study is to find out whether the special style of vocalization namely infant-directed vocalization (IDV), which differs from adult-directed vocalization (ADV), can be also observed in non-human, even non-primate species. The ADV and IDV of ewes were recorded. The sound wave features of the recordings were analyzed by visualization and machine learning. The ADV had representative peak frequencies at 175, 720, and 860Hz, while IDV only had one peak characteristic frequency at 245Hz. The machine-learning algorithm was able to clearly identify (overall accuracy was 89.3%) the distinguishing characteristics between ADV and IDV. Then we tested if the lamb reacts differently to the ewe’s IDV and ADV. The recording was played when the pre-weaning lambs were individually kept and the behavior of the lambs was recorded. The results showed that the lambs looked towards the sound source when IDV was played more than ADV (6.1 vs 3.1 times/5 min); they moved towards the sound source of IDV 8.6 times per 5 min compared to ADV which was 2.8 times/5min), and they bleated back to the sound source when IDV was played (18.0 times/5 min) more than when ADV was played (11.3 time/5 min); within 2 min after the recording played, lambs bleated back to IDV 8 times compared to ADV 4.8 times. This indicated the ewes’ IDV and ADV show different socio-emotional and attention effects on their lambs.

Communicative Development and Diffusion of Humanoid AI Robots for the Post-Pandemic Health Care System

As humanoid robot technology, anthropomorphized by artificial intelligence (AI), has rapidly advanced to introduce more human-resembling automated robots that can communicate, interact, and work like humans, we have begun to expect active interactions with Humanoid AI Robots (HAIRs) in the near future. Coupled with the HAIR technology development, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered our interest in using health care robots with many substantial advantages that overcome critical human vulnerabilities against the strong infectious COVID-19 virus. Recognizing the tremendous potential for the active application of HAIRs, this article explores feasible ways to implement HAIRs in health care and patient services and suggests recommendations for strategically developing and diffusing autonomous HAIRs in health care facilities. While discussing the integration of HAIRs into health care, this article points out some important ethical concerns that should be addressed for implementing HAIRs for health care services.