ERA Abstracts

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1. Chan S., N. Rao, C. Cohrssen & B. Richards. 2021. “Predicting child outcomes in Bhutan: Contributions of parenting support and early childhood education programmes.” Children and Youth Services Review, 126(5-6):106051. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106051

Abstract: The Royal Government of Bhutan has increasingly emphasised Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD). The Ministries of Education and Health provide services to support child development, including health care, Care for Child Development (C4CD) and centre-based ECCD programmes. C4CD is an evidence-based parenting programme for children younger than 36 months, while centre-based programmes are provided for children aged 3–5 years. This study examined the association of participation in C4CD and ECCD programmes with child development. A list of 54 randomly selected ECCD centres from nine districts in Bhutan was generated. We surveyed 232 parents of 3–5-year-olds from the 54 centres and another 245 parents from nearby areas whose 3–5-year-old children were not attending ECCD programmes. Parents reported on home-based activities and early childhood development. Controlling for sociodemographic variables, we found that both ECCD attendance and C4CD participation were positively associated with child developmental outcomes, particularly in the Learning and Psychosocial Well-being domains. Children who were attending ECCD programmes had higher developmental outcomes than non-attenders, and the gap between the two groups was greatest among older children. Parents who participated in C4CD provided more stimulating home learning environments than other parents, with most variability within home learning environments observed within subsample of parents whose children did not attend ECCD programmes. In addition, the frequency of home-based activities fully mediated the relationship between C4CD participation and child developmental outcomes. The findings support the scaling up of both ECCD and C4CD programmes.

Wood, K.R., E. Wood, A. Gottardo, K. Archer, R. Savage, & N. Piquette. 2021. “Workshop Training to Facilitate Parent-Child Instructional Opportunities for Reading and Social Development with Kindergarten Students.” Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 35:3, 438-457. DOI: 10.1080/02568543.2020.1736218

Abstract: This study provided workshops for parents on either early literacy or socioemotional learning to examine the impact on their children’s reading and social skills development (n = 576 parents; n = 584 children). Parents of kindergartners were offered interactive workshops designed to help them identify everyday opportunities to support reading skills or social skills development. Families were randomly assigned by school to workshops on one of three topics: (1) traditional text reading, (2) traditional text reading with computer-assisted learning opportunities, and (3) social-emotional learning. As expected, academic performance improved over time across all conditions. Additional gains were detected on specific language and literacy measures among children in both reading conditions whose parents attended the workshops in comparison to children of parents who did not attend. Gains were observed on academic measures for children in the socio-emotional condition relative to children in the reading conditions. Findings suggest that parental involvement in instructional workshops on early literacy and social development may have significant effects for children’s academic success. This study provides evidence for the potential of involving parents in their children’s educational interventions as a valuable addition to or alternative to traditional child-directed intervention programs to increase positive outcomes, reduce costs, and enhance parental efficacy.

Hou, S., Y. Wang, P. Cai, R. Chen, & R. Wang. 2021 . “What parents bring to preschool children? Parental instructive speech and gestures, children’s learning and cultural differences.” Children and Youth Services Review, 127: 106078. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106078.

Abstract: Instructions via speech and gestures provided by caregivers can facilitate children’s learning. However, caregivers with different cultural backgrounds demonstrate diverse parental behaviors, which exert influences on children’s learning in different ways. The current study aimed to explore the cultural differences between Chinese and American caregivers in regard to the way they use speech and gestures to instruct their children. The potential cross-cultural differences in the facilitating effects of parental instructions on children’s learning were also examined. Two groups of children aged 3–4 years and their caregivers from China and the U.S. were invited to participate in our study (34 from China and 35 from the U.S.). The caregivers assisted their children in working with a difficult puzzle task. The caregivers’ speech and gestural instructions from both cultural groups, as well as the children’s learning performance, were coded and analyzed. The results showed that relative to the caregivers in the U.S., those from China provided more instructions to their children. Cultural background was a significant moderator in the relationship between parental instructions and children’s learning performance, namely, speech instructions provided by Chinese caregivers had a more effective facilitating influence on their children’s learning than did those provided by American caregivers.

4. Galman, S.C. 2021. “Nicole’s mother is dead: death games, unruly stories, and what matters in preschool.” Ethnography and Education, 16:3, 294-310, DOI: 10.1080/17457823.2020.1861956

Abstract: This paper presents data from a multi-year ethnography of a rural preschool in the United States in which children engaged in substantial free and structured imaginative play. An unexpected parent death during the course of the data collection period was followed by a spate of death-related play and storytelling by the children, with varied adult reactions. These analyses explore this death play, problematise the adult responses to ‘inappropriate’ play and stories, and question the sanitised and curated nature of what play – and by extension what children – are valued and valorised in preschool. Implications for how children’s unruly or uncomfortable play is understood and acted upon by adults, and the complex importance of play in early childhood learning contexts, conclude the paper.

5. Gonthier, C. and A. Blaye. 2021. “Preschoolers are capable of fine-grained implicit cognitive control: Evidence from development of the context-specific proportion congruency effect.” Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 210: 105211. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105211

Abstract: Whereas much of the developmental literature has focused on the difficulties of young children in regulating their behavior, an increasing base of evidence suggests that children may be capable of surprisingly flexible engagement of cognitive control when based on implicit experience with the situation. One of the most fine-grained examples of implicit cognitive control in adults is the context-specific proportion congruency (CSPC) effect – the finding that interference in a conflict task is reduced for stimuli that are presented in a context (e.g. a spatial location) where stimuli are generally incongruent. Can such a subtle modulation of control be observed in children? In Experiment 1 (N = 180), we showed that this effect exists in preschoolers for two different types of context manipulation and that its magnitude is at least as large as in older children. In Experiment 2 (N = 40), we confirmed that the effect transfers to unbiased stimuli, indicating that it is not attributable to contingency learning of stimulus–response associations and can be taken to actually reflect cognitive control. These results support the possibility that implicit cognitive control (implemented without explicit intentions and without requiring subject awareness) can be functionally distinct from explicit control and that even very young children can implement fine-grained cognitive control when it is based on implicit cues.

6. Bauminger-Zviely N., & S. Analia. 2021. “Naturalistic evaluation of preschoolers’ spontaneous interactions: The Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale.” Autism, 25(6): 1520-1535. DOI: 10.1177/1362361321989919

Abstract: Peer interaction can be challenging in autism spectrum disorder, but naturalistic peer-observation scales for preschoolers are scarce. This study examined psychometric qualities of the newly developed Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale. We tested the Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale to (a) characterize peer interactions of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder who were cognitively able versus typical age-mates, (b) explore each group’s hierarchical pattern of peer interaction behaviors, and (c) identify Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale’s links with standard reports for assessing social-communication functioning (Vineland Behavior Scales, 2nd ed.), social impairment (Social Responsiveness Scale, 2nd ed.), autism severity (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd ed.), and intelligence quotient (Mullen) in the cognitively able preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder group. Participants comprised 85 preschoolers (50 cognitively able preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder, intelligence quotient > 75; 35 typical). Groups were matched for age, intelligence quotient, and maternal education. Significant group differences emerged on all Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale categories, in favor of typical. In cognitively able preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder, correlation analyses indicated that more typical peer relations on Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale were linked with better adaptive and socialization skills (Vineland Behavior Scales, 2nd ed.) and fewer social atypicalities (Social Responsiveness Scale, 2nd ed.). Higher intelligence quotient scores were linked with better Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale social-communication functioning. Only a few Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale social-communication categories significantly correlated with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd ed. Findings highlight the Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale as differentiating between groups and providing knowledge about peer interaction in natural settings. This new tool can help personalize social-communication programs and evaluations of early intervention outcomes.