Early Elementary School-age Children Research Articles

Elective Mutism and Social Phobia

Elective mutism, generally affecting early elementary school-age children, has been viewed as a separate, distinct disorder. These children refuse to talk to persons outside their families. In this...

Frogger

"I see nobody on the road," said Alice. "I only wish I had such eyes," the King remarked in a fretful tone. "To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance too!" —Through the Looking-Glass "Frogger," the video game, is now a classic. The game is played from the frog's point of view. Video frogs must cross the road, negotiating lanes of increasingly hostile traffic. Many frogs get squished. When you run out of frogs, you push the reset button and play again. Rivara,1 in this issue of Pediatrics, reports on an ambitious effort to educate early elementary schoolage children on the rudiments of traffic safety.

Material Altruism in Children

Two field studies were conducted to assess material altruism in children. The first study examined money altruism (i.e., donation of pennies) of 240 children from ages 3 through 16. The second study examined donations of preferred candy by 263 children in kindergarten through sixth grades. The results of these studies indicate that early elementary school aged children (around age 7) donated fewer pennies and less of a preferred candy than did both younger and older children. These findings corroborate recent reports from other laboratories and contradict the commonly accepted generalization that children's altruism increases steadily with age.

Auditory Processing in Children: Two Studies of Component Factors

Two studies were undertaken to determine the major factors related to auditory perceptual dysfunction in early elementary school-aged children. The first study utilized 10 standardized, individually administered tests given to 272 normal seven- to eight-year-old children in regular classrooms. As a result, a new instrument, the Composite Auditory Perceptual Test (CAPT), a group-administered audiotaped test, was constructed to include the major parameters of auditory perception. A second study was completed to verify the auditory factors and to investigate relationships between them and certain language factors. The CAPT was administered to 290 second-grade children as a part of the second study and the findings were utilized to modify the CAPT. Factors which comprise auditory processing and implications for group assessment of auditory processing in elementary school-aged children are discussed.