Young Children's Social Behavior Research Articles

Young children's social and independent behavior during play with a coding app: Digital game features matter in a 1:1 child to tablet setting

The overarching aim of this study was to explore young children's (N = 25, Mage = 5.16 years) play with two coding games (Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable) in a 1:1 child to tablet setting. We had three research questions focused on children's game play: 1) How does the structure of each game influence children's play? 2) Do children play more or less independently depending on the game they play? 3) Do children who play the games more independently learn more coding skills? Three researchers coded more than 6 h of video data showing children's play with digital coding games. Findings include, that the type of game did influence the different ways that children behaved while playing. However, during both games, children had the same amount of independent play. Children who played more independently during Daisy the Dinosaur learned more coding skills. This may be because these children were focusing more on the game than their peers as we did not find a similar effect for the game Kodable. We discuss the ways that children play structured vs. open structured (i.e., sandbox) digital games with a particular focus on how game play may influence learning. As opportunities for individual device ownership in classrooms increase, future work should continue to explore how game features influence learning.

Kindergartenkinder am Smartphone und Tablet: Zusammenhänge mit der sozial-emotionalen Entwicklung und Verhaltensproblemen – eine Scoping Review

Young children's use of smartphones and tablets is increasingly prevalent. Smartphones and tablets are part of families' daily lives. Therefore, preschoolers are confronted with mobile devices as well, and learn to use them naturally. Specialists who work with children or deal with various aspects of early childhood development are alarmed and warn of resulting harmful effects. It is also feared that research on the impact of smartphone and tablet use on child development cannot keep pace with the rapid technological developments. This review therefore looks at associations between the use of mobile devices and social-emotional development as well as the emergence of behavioral problems in preschool children aged four to six years. A search of the literature was conducted in two databases, PsycInfo and Pubmed. Based on the title, abstract, and in some cases other parts of 861 articles, 7 articles were included.The seven articles are in different research areas, and each demonstrates important research approaches for the topic. An experimental case study with a learning app found benefits for young children's social behavior. On the other hand, a neuropsychological study pointed out that the social dimension of pretend play is missing when playing with a tablet. Other studies, cross-sectional and longitudinal, found certain associations between the use of digital devices and impaired social-emotional development as well as behavioral problems in preschool children and also identified mediators such as parental stress. In sum, however, the results do not provide a consistent picture of the role of smartphone use for social-emotional development and behavior problems in the preschool years. Further research that keeps pace with technology developments is needed.

The song, not the singer: Infants prefer to listen to familiar songs, regardless of singer identity.

Parent's infant-directed vocalizations are highly dynamic and emotive compared to their adult-directed counterparts, and correspondingly, more effectively capture infants' attention. Infant-directed singing is a specific type of vocalization that is common throughout the world. Parents tend to sing a small handful of songs in a stereotyped way, and a number of recent studies have highlighted the significance of familiar songs in young children's social behaviors and evaluations. To date, no studies have examined whether infants' responses to familiar versus unfamiliar songs are modulated by singer identity (i.e., whether the singer is their own parent). In the present study, we investigated 9- to 12-month-old infants' (N=29) behavioral and electrodermal responses to relatively familiar and unfamiliar songs sung by either their own mother or another infant's mother. Familiar songs recruited more attention and rhythmic movement, and lower electrodermal levels relative to unfamiliar songs. Moreover, these responses were robust regardless of whether the singer was their mother or a stranger, even when the stranger's rendition differed greatly from their mothers' in mean fundamental frequency and tempo. Results indicate that infants' interest in familiar songs is not limited to idiosyncratic characteristics of their parents' song renditions, and points to the potential for song as an effective early signifier of group membership.

The effects of theory of mind and cool and hot executive function on young children's social behaviors

The effects of theory of mind and cool and hot executive function on young children's social behaviors

Influences on the congruence between parents’ and teachers’ ratings of young children's social skills and problem behaviors

Abstract A comprehensive research base exists concerning the congruence between parents’ and teachers’ ratings of the behavior of typically developing young children. However, little research has been conducted regarding the degree to which parents’ and teachers’ behavioral ratings of young children with disabilities are congruent. Additionally, previous research has not always correctly proportioned the variance to that between and within classrooms. The purpose of this study was to examine congruence (using hierarchical linear modeling) at the classroom level, rather than the individual student-level, between parents’ and teachers’ ratings of young children's social skills and problem behaviors. We also examined the potential impact of selected family and child demographic variables, including disability, on this congruence. Consistent with other researchers, we found moderate levels of congruence for children's social skills (as framed by strengths-based statements) and low levels of congruence for problem behaviors (as described using deficit-based terminology). Parents’ and teachers’ congruence was higher when rating the social skills of young children with disabilities as compared to young children without disabilities.

A study on young children's social adaptive behavior

目的 了解杭州市学前儿童社会适应行为的发展特点,探讨其年龄差异和性别差异,以指导早期教育工作.方法采用原杭州大学儿童生长发育和智能发展研究中心汪文鋆、傅根耀等所编制的儿童社会适应行为评定量表对95名幼儿进行了调查.结果幼儿的社会适应能力存在显著的年龄差异[小班(61.68±8.65)分,中班(72.21±6.63)分,大班(79.11±5.23)分,F=53.499,P＜0.01];幼儿社会适应能力不存在显著的性别差异[男(72.481±10.921)分,女(70.884±8.661)分,F=0.605,P＞0.05].结论幼儿的社会适应能力随着年龄的增长而增长,但适应能力的不同方面存在不同的发展模式。

Parental Reports of Preschool Children's Social Behavior: Relations among Peer Play, Language Competence, and Problem Behavior

This investigation examined relations between preschool children's play behavior, language competence, and problem behavior. Parents and teachers provided information on 113 preschool children enrolled in a Head Start program. A subset of these children (n = 34) who participated in a second year of this early intervention preschool program was assessed at 8-month follow-up. Correlational analysis confirmed relations between parent ratings of play performance, parent ratings of problem behavior, and teacher ratings of play performance at time one. Parent ratings of play were also related to assessments of children's language competence at the beginning of the following school year, whereas parent ratings of problem behavior were not related to subsequent language competence. The findings provide additional validity for a parent measure of preschool children's peer play and support the need for greater inclusion of parental assessment of young children's social behavior during early childhood. Implications for the assessment of play behavior, hyperactivity, and attentional difficulties with preschool children are also discussed.

Screening Young Children's Social Behaviors

Abstract This study examined decision reliability associated with estimates of risk status for 114 first grade students. The study focused on social behaviors as measured by the School Social Behavior Scales (SSBS) and Social Skills Rating System (SSRS). Overall, the decision reliability between the two measures designed to assess social behaviors was moderate when social behaviors were rated by the teacher and low when assessed by alternative raters (i.e., teacher versus parent). Screening practices that include alternative assessment methods (such as interviews and observations) should be considered by special services personnel in addition to traditional standardized procedures.

Relations Between Effective Emotional Self-Regulation, Attentional Control, and Low-Income Preschoolers' Social Competence with Peers

Relations between children's emotional self-regulation, attentional control, and peer social competence (as reported by both teachers and peers) were examined for 51 low-income, preschool-aged children enrolled in Head Start. Using a short delay-of-gratification task administered at Head Start sites, children's use of self- distraction was found to be positively associated with their success in handling the delay, replicating previous, laboratory-based research. Contrary to our expectations, children's use of self-distraction was found to be unrelated to their attentional control, as assessed during a computer task. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that children's use of self-distraction predicted significant variance in both peer- and teacher-reports of childrem's competence with peers, even after children's attentional control was statistically taken into account. These findings are discussed in light of current models of reactivity and regulation in predicting young children's social behavior, as well as in the context of early intervention efforts for children facing socioeconomic risk.

Teachers' and students' cognitive styles in early childhood education

Background Information Cognitive Style: Its Importance in Teaching and Learning Field Dependence Independence: An Important Dimension of Cognitive Style Assessment Instruments Students' Learning Portraits of Field Dependent Independent Children Students' Learning Behaviors The Role of Field Dependence Independence in the Early Childhood Curriculum Field Dependent Independent Characteristics in Young Children's Social Behaviors Teachers' Instruction Portraits of Field Dependent Independent Teachers Teachers' Instructional Behaviors Matching Teachers and Students Future Directions Preparation of Early Childhood Teachers Potential Roles of Cognitive Style in Educational Practice References Index

Some Implications of Cognitive Styles on Young Children's Play

Cognitive styles are broad, systematic characteristics that influence the persons’ responses in different situations. The persons’ cognitive style defines the strategies they use to respond and behave in each situation. The field dependence independence (FDI) dimension is the cognitive style construct that has generated more research for cognitive functioning and social behaviors. Researchers have identified behavioral attributes between field dependent and field independent persons. These attributes are pervasive and consistent, affecting several areas including the persons’ socialization. This paper describes the FDI characteristics in young children's social behaviors, including young children's social orientation, people vs. object orientation, social factors, cognitive performance, social competence, and age and sex differences.

Observational assessment of young children's social behavior with peers

Understanding the social goals of young children during interaction with peers and the behavioral strategies they select to achieve those goals has both theoretical and practical implications. A convergence across theoretical and conceptual frameworks supports the development of a new generation of observational methodology designed to assess social goals and behavioral strategies of young children. The purposes of this article are to describe the role of observational research in the assessment of children's peer-related social competence; examine the conceptual frameworks that serve as a foundation for observational assessment of young children's social goals and behavioral strategies; describe the technological advances that allow more descriptive, precise, and complex behavioral codes for observational assessment and data analysis; provide an example of an observational system that assesses children's social goals and behavioral strategies; and identify the practical implications of studying young children's social goals and behavioral strategies.

Representativeness of Observed Preschool Social Behaviors

The degree to which observations consistently describe a preschooler's characteristic social behavior was investigated. Mine comprehensive observations were conducted of preschoolers in free play settings. Observed categories of social behaviors were based on the work of Strain (1983, 1985). Comparison of partial and complete observational records demonstrated that at least 5 observations were required to represent the children's social behavior adequately. Implications are discussed for the assessment of young children's social behavior.

Strategies and tactics for promoting generalization and maintenance of young children's social behavior

Employing a conceptual framework of generalization strategies proposed by Stokes and Osnes (1986), the authors selectively reviewed the research literature concerning interventions to improve young children's social behavior and strategies for promoting generalization and maintenance of young children's social responding. Three basic strategies are discussed: (a) taking advantage of natural communities of reinforcement, (b) training diversely, and (c) incorporating functional mediators, along with several accompanying tactics, to improve children's social interactions. Pragmatic recommendations for proactive programming of generalization and maintenance of young children's social behavior are included. In addition, the authors argue for the continued development of a technology (or technologies) of generalization and maintenance for young children's social competence interventions.

The usefulness of an observational measure of young children's social and mastery behaviors in early childhood classrooms

This article reviews problems and issues in early childhood evaluation, and discusses advantages and disadvantages associated with using classroom observations. A specific observational measure of social and mastery task behaviors in preschool and primary-school children, the Bronson Social and Task Skill Profile (Bronson, 1985, 1991a), is described, and its usefulness is discussed by reviewing the way it has been used in several research studies.

Assessment of social skills of native American preschoolers: Teachers' and parents' ratings

The overall goal of this investigation was (a) to provide a cross-cultural understanding of young children's social behavior and adults' expectations for behavior and (b) to advance knowledge of interrater correlations for the Social Skills Rating System. The sample consisted of 50 Native American subjects and a matched sample (by age and gender) of 50 white subjects from Head Start programs in the U.S. Midwest. The results indicated that white preschoolers exhibited social skills more frequently according to the ratings of their teachers and parents, than did Native American preschoolers. In addition, low correlations were found between ratings of the importance of social behaviors by teachers of Native American and teachers of white preschoolers and between parents of Native American and parents of white preschoolers. Parents and teachers showed a moderate agreement in their ratings of the frequency of expression of social skills by Native American preschoolers, and in their ratings of the importance of social skills across the Assertion subdomain. This was unlike findings for ratings by the white parents and teachers of frequency of expression and importance of social skills, which exhibited low agreement. Explanations for these findings included cultural similarity, setting, and race commonalities within the Native American sample. The implications of this study for the assessment of preschoolers are provided and future areas to research are outlined.

Ethological Studies of the Categorization of Children's Social Behavior in Preschool: A Review

In this review paper, one aspect of human ethological methodology (i.e., behavioral categorization) is applied to the study of young children's social behavior in preschool classrooms. Studies are critically reviewed and recommendations are made for future utilization of ethological methods, with specific attention to using this method in categorizing children's social play.