Uncovering variability in children's concepts and conceptual change

Capturing the structure and development of human conceptual knowledge is a challenging but fundamental task in Cognitive Science. The most prominent approach to uncovering these concepts is Multidimensional scaling (MDS), which has provided insight into the structure of human perception and conceptual knowledge. However, MDS usually requires participants to produce large numbers of similarity judgments, leading to prohibitively long experiments for most developmental research. Furthermore, MDS provides a single psychological space, tailored to a fixed set of stimuli. In contrast, we present a method that learns psychological spaces flexibly and generalizes to novel stimuli. In addition, our approach uses a simple, developmentally appropriate task, which allows for short and engaging developmental studies. We evaluate the feasibility of our approach on simulated data and find that it can uncover the true structure even when the data consists of aggregations of diverse categorizers. We then apply the method to data from the World Color Survey and find that it can discover language-specific color organization. Finally, we use the method in a novel developmental experiment and find age-dependent differences in conceptual spaces for fruit categories. These results suggest that our method is robust and widely applicable in developmental tasks with children as young as four years old.

Apps to Promote Computational Thinking Concepts and Coding Skills in Children of Preschool and Pre-Primary School Age

A decade ago, Computational Thinking (CT) and coding were typically considered part of the secondary education programs, as the focus was on programming and algorithm development. The early childhood classroom was not exactly the area expected to find students-developed coding skills. But as has been the case lately, CT and coding have been characterized as fundamental skills of the 21st century, not only for computer scientists but for all citizens. Yet, through the application of developmentally appropriate technologies, the development of coding skills is increasingly possible, and the result may be the advancement of CT fluency or at least familiarity in young age children. Given the enormous success of smart mobile devices and accompanying mobile apps the rationale for this chapter is to investigate if there are apps that provide the children of preschool and pre-primary school age with opportunities to cultivate their foundational coding and CT skills.

Applying a Developmental Lens to Educational Game Designs for Preschoolers

Preschool-aged learners process information differently from older individuals, making it critical to design digital educational games that are tailored to capitalize on young children's learning capabilities. This in-depth literature synthesis connects features of digital educational game design - including visuals, feedback, scaffolding challenge, rewards, and physical interactions to how young children learn. Preschoolers' interests and abilities (e.g., limited attention-span, early reading skills, etc.) are different than older users. As such, developmental science should be used to guide the design of educational games from aesthetic decisions that capture preschoolers' initial interest (e.g., meaningful characters) to carefully select end-of-game rewards (e.g., leveling up). This article connects learning and developmental science research to the design of digital educational games, offering insights into how best to design games for young users and how to select developmentally appropriate games for children.

The Relationship of Classroom Behavior and Income Inequality to Literacy in Early Childhood

This chapter addresses the association between nurturing prosocial classroom behavior in young children, literacy, and income inequality. Literacy will be explored as it relates to social competence in the classroom as influenced by income inequity. One highlighted area of importance is a play-based, child-focused environment that is culturally sensitive and responsive to the needs of the whole child. Socioeconomic disparities in literacy skills have been increasing over the past 40 years. This subject must be addressed in order to effectively meet the cognitive, social, and emotional needs of each individual child. Literacy skills are developed during early childhood. It is also the case that limited literacy during early childhood increases the risk of children displaying aggressive behavior at school as they progress to higher grades. For these reasons, tackling the problem during the early years with developmentally appropriate adult-child interventions are what is needed to reverse the trends placing an increasing number of young children at-risk of academic underachievement.

Developmentally appropriate pedagogies and training needs among Senior High School teachers in the new normal: a comparative study

In-service training programs in any organization enable employees to carry out their responsibilities concerning the organizations' standard and effective delivery. In the pandemic, there is an uprising concern among educators on delivering instruction and their readiness to do so. Hence, a descriptive-comparative approach was conducted to investigate senior high school teachers' readiness on developmentally appropriate pedagogies and their training needs. The data was collected using a researcher-developed electronic-based survey instrument thru Google Form among 35 senior high school teachers in Dolores National High School. The data analyses include mean computation in assessing respondents' level of academic competence, the median for readiness on developmentally appropriate pedagogies and training needs, and non-parametric Mann Whitney U-test and Kruskal Wallis H-test on the significant difference of teacher readiness when compared according to their academic competence indicators. Findings revealed that the majority of the senior high school teachers possessed low academic competence, were exposed to developmentally appropriate pedagogies on teaching methods and modes of assessment and needed immediate training in managing learners with multiple intelligences and learning styles and provided instruction via electronic or distance learning mode. Also, results revealed a significant gap in the respondents' exposure to developmentally appropriate teaching methods compared to their training acquired (p = .002). Hence, the researcher recommends reviewing schools' in-service training and directing them in preparing senior high school teachers to deliver new-normal-based education.

“We Got In!”

Emerging adults rely on family, friends, and others in their personal networks to aid in making decisions. Parents are heavily involved in the lives of their children, ensuring that they have all of the supports or advantages in place to become successful. This chapter focuses on the continued importance and impact of the family, particularly parental figures, for emerging adults in higher education. An overview of seminal interdisciplinary theories is provided, along with a discussion of contrasting parental behaviors and their consequences. Special attention is given to first-generation students and those who lack parental support. A case study and reflection questions help readers apply the chapter’s content so that emerging adults can foster developmentally appropriate supportive relationships.

The Effect of Tongue-Tie Release on Speech Articulation and Intelligibility

Objective The relationship between ankyloglossia and speech is controversial. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of tongue-tie release on speech articulation and intelligibility. Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted. Pediatric patients (>2 years of age) being referred for speech concerns due to ankyloglossia were assessed by a pediatric otolaryngologist, and speech articulation was formally assessed by a speech language pathologist using the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation 2 (GFTA-2). Patients then underwent a tongue-tie release procedure in clinic. After 1 month, speech articulation was reassessed with GFTA-2. Audio-recordings of sessions were evaluated by independent reviewers to assess speech intelligibility before and after tongue-tie release. Results Twenty-five participants were included (mean age 3.7 years; 20 boys). The most common speech errors identified were phonological substitutions (80%) and gliding errors (56%). Seven children (28%) had abnormal lingual-alveolar and interdental sounds. Most speech sound errors (87.9%) were age/developmentally appropriate. GFTA-2 standard scores before and after tongue-tie release were 85.61 (SD 9.75) and 87.54 (SD 10.21), respectively, (P=.5). Mean intelligibility scores before and after tongue-tie release were 3.15 (SD .22) and 3.21 (SD .31), respectively, (P=.43). Conclusion The majority of children being referred for speech concerns thought to be due to ankyloglossia had age-appropriate speech errors at presentation. Ankyloglossia was not associated with isolated tongue mobility related speech articulation errors in a consistent manner, and there was no benefit of tongue-tie release in improving speech articulation or intelligibility.

Environmental Strategies to Promote Appropriate Behaviors and Social Interaction in Young Children

Research suggests an increase in challenging behaviors among young children in early care and education settings (Granja et al., 2018). Challenging behaviors in early years are among the strongest predictors of more serious problem behaviors later in life (Brennan et al., 2015). High-quality, safe, responsive, and nurturing early care and education environments are critical to support development, engagement, and learning of young children with and without disabilities. Well-organized and engaging classroom environments help to prevent or decrease rates of challenging behaviors of young children by promoting appropriate behaviors and social interactions (Powell et al., 2006). Unfortunately, many practitioners working in early care and education settings are unsure how to create environments that support children’s engagement and prevent challenging behaviors they exhibit (Steed and Roach, 2017). This practice brief offers recommendations and strategies for practitioner to design more engaging and developmentally appropriate classroom environments to support appropriate behaviors and prevent challenging behaviors of young children.

Teaching and learning science during the early years

Over the past two decades, science has increasingly become an integral part of early childhood curricula, and research on teaching and learning science in early years has emerged as an established field of study. Collectively, the findings of a growing body of literature suggest that introducing science in developmentally appropriate ways may support young children’s learning of science concepts and scientific thinking skills. The increasing number of edited volumes and special issues, including this one, devoted to the topic of early childhood science teaching and learning indicates that early science education, as a field of study, will continue to attract researchers from early childhood and science education as well as educational and cognitive psychology.