Empowering Our Children to Succeed

Science.gov (United States)

Quigley, Richard

2014-01-01

Children must be empowered to find their unique path to personal pride and respect. The concept of empowering youth is widely touted but often misunderstood and underutilized. Young people cannot fully develop their strengths and independence without being empowered to take charge of their lives. The polar opposite of coercion, empowerment is…

Supporting Children with Learning Disabilities

OpenAIRE

John k. McNamara

2010-01-01

This paper presents a prevention model for supporting children with learning disabilities. The model holds that children can be identified as at-risk for learning disabilities by identifying and supporting potential academic failure early in their elementary years. A prevention model includes two elements, identification and instruction. Identification entails recognizing those children at-risk for poor achievement in the early primary grades. The second component of the model is to...

Cross-situational statistical word learning in young children.

Science.gov (United States)

Suanda, Sumarga H; Mugwanya, Nassali; Namy, Laura L

2014-10-01

Recent empirical work has highlighted the potential role of cross-situational statistical word learning in children's early vocabulary development. In the current study, we tested 5- to 7-year-old children's cross-situational learning by presenting children with a series of ambiguous naming events containing multiple words and multiple referents. Children rapidly learned word-to-object mappings by attending to the co-occurrence regularities across these ambiguous naming events. The current study begins to address the mechanisms underlying children's learning by demonstrating that the diversity of learning contexts affects performance. The implications of the current findings for the role of cross-situational word learning at different points in development are discussed along with the methodological implications of employing school-aged children to test hypotheses regarding the mechanisms supporting early word learning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Children's Reactions to a Children's News Program: Reception, Recognition and Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Sara Ann

The major objectives of this study were to determine the reception of "In the News" by children within the target audience's ages, to determine if children within the target audience recognize the news program as a program, to determine if children learn from "In the News," and to compare children's learning from hard news…

To Succeed or Not to Succeed: A Critical Review of Issues in Learned Helplessness.

Science.gov (United States)

Mark, Sandra Fay

1983-01-01

A critical analysis of theoretical and methodological issues in research on learned helplessness is presented. As studied in achievement settings using achievement tasks, learned helplessness is perceived as maladaptive behavior. It has not been studied as an adaptive response to situational demands. New directions and educational implications are…

Can young children learn words from a robot?

OpenAIRE

Moriguchi, Yusuke; Kanda, Takayuki; Ishiguro, Hiroshi; Shimada, Yoko; Itakura, Shoji

2011-01-01

Young children generally learn words from other people. Recent research has shown that children can learn new actions and skills from nonhuman agents. This study examines whether young children could learn words from a robot. Preschool children were shown a video in which either a woman (human condition) or a mechanical robot (robot condition) labeled novel objects. Then the children were asked to select the objects according to the names used in the video. The results revealed that children ...

Word Learning Deficits in Children with Dyslexia

Science.gov (United States)

Alt, Mary; Hogan, Tiffany; Green, Samuel; Gray, Shelley; Cabbage, Kathryn; Cowan, Nelson

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate word learning in children with dyslexia to ascertain their strengths and weaknesses during the configuration stage of word learning. Method: Children with typical development (N = 116) and dyslexia (N = 68) participated in computer-based word learning games that assessed word learning in 4 sets…

COLOUR LEARNING IN RETARDED CHILDREN*

African Journals Online (AJOL)

COLOUR LEARNING IN RETARDED CHILDREN* !\\'fRS E. K~SEBOOM, Principal, ADS. LEVIN, M.B., M.R.C.P., D.C.H., Hon. Medical Officer, Hamlet B School for. Retarded Children, Johannesburg. '... silly children, with no understanding .. -'. Jeremiah 4:22. Tt has been observed' that mentally retarded children have.

Understanding the Learning Style of Pre-School Children Learning the Violin

Science.gov (United States)

Calissendorff, Maria

2006-01-01

The aim of the study was to acquire a deeper understanding of how small children learn an instrument in the presence of their parents. It is qualitative in nature and concerned six pre-school children (five years old) who were learning the violin together and where their parents were present at the lessons. All the children's homes were visited…

Chinese Parenting Styles and Children's Self-Regulated Learning

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Huang, Juan; Prochner, Larry

2004-01-01

Self-regulated learning is an important aspect of student learning and academic achievement. Certain parenting styles help children develop self-regulated learning and encourage them to exert control over their own learning. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Chinese parenting style and children's involvement in…

You Can Learn Something Every Day! Children Talk about Learning in Kindergarten--Traces of Learning Cultures

Science.gov (United States)

Alvestad, Marit

2011-01-01

Discussion of learning in the kindergarten context is growing both in Norway and internationally. This article focuses on some central aspects of learning described by groups of children aged 4-6 years, in three Norwegian kindergartens. The research concerns children's descriptions of aspects of learning experienced in their everyday life in…

Impact of the Children's Television Act on Children's Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Calvert, Sandra; Kotler, Jennifer; Kuhl, Alison; Riboli, Michael

The impact of the Children's Television Act, which requires broadcasters to provide educational and informational programs for children, was examined by having 141 second through sixth graders watch 16 popular and unpopular television programs and then assess the motivational appeal of, and children's learning from, these programs. Popular and…

Introverts Can Succeed with Cooperative Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, George

2014-01-01

I was interested in reviewing Susan Cain's (2013) "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" for two reasons. First, as an introvert I wanted to learn more about myself. Second, I wanted to explore Cain and others' criticism that group activities in the workplace and in education are unfair to introverts. This…

Status of Muslim Immigrants' Children with Learning Difficulties in Vienna

Science.gov (United States)

Mohsin, M. Naeem; Shabbir, Muhammad; Saeed, Wizra; Mohsin, M. Saleem

2013-01-01

The study was conducted to know the status of Muslim immigrants' children with learning difficulties and importance of parents' involvement for the education whose children are with learning difficulties, and the factors responsible for the learning difficulties among immigrants' children. There were 81 immigrant children with learning…

Peer-Led Team Learning Helps Minority Students Succeed.

Science.gov (United States)

Snyder, Julia J; Sloane, Jeremy D; Dunk, Ryan D P; Wiles, Jason R

2016-03-01

Active learning methods have been shown to be superior to traditional lecture in terms of student achievement, and our findings on the use of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) concur. Students in our introductory biology course performed significantly better if they engaged in PLTL. There was also a drastic reduction in the failure rate for underrepresented minority (URM) students with PLTL, which further resulted in closing the achievement gap between URM and non-URM students. With such compelling findings, we strongly encourage the adoption of Peer-Led Team Learning in undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses.

Impact of Computer Aided Learning on Children with Specific Learning Disabilities

OpenAIRE

The Spastic Society Of Karnataka , Bangalore

2004-01-01

Study conducted by The Spastics Society of Karnataka on behalf of Azim Premji Foundation to assess the effectiveness of computers in enhancing learning for children with specific learning disabilities. Azim Premji Foundation is not liable for any direct or indirect loss or damage whatsoever arising from the use or access of any information, interpretation and conclusions that may be printed in this report.; Study to assess the effectiveness of computers in enhancing learning for children with...

To have or to learn? The effects of materialism on British and Chinese children's learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Ku, Lisbeth; Dittmar, Helga; Banerjee, Robin

2014-05-01

This article presents a systematic attempt to examine the associations of materialism with learning in 9- to 11-year-old children in 2 countries of similar economic development but different cultural heritage. Using cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental methods, we test a theoretically driven model of associations among materialism, learning motivations, and learning outcomes. Convergent findings suggest that a materialist orientation in elementary school children lowers intrinsic learning motivations, fosters extrinsic learning motivations, and leads to poorer learning outcomes. Materialism was linked directly to lower exam performance, and this link was mediated by lower mastery and heightened performance goals, with patterns not differing between British and Hong Kong Chinese children (Study 1). A follow-up showed that initial materialism predicted worse exam grades 1 year later, suggesting a detrimental long-term effect on Chinese children's school performance (Study 2). We then tested relationships between materialism and learning experimentally, by priming a momentary (state) orientation toward materialism. Writing about material possessions and money affected Chinese children's learning motivations, so that they endorsed lower mastery and higher performance goals (Study 3). A video-diary materialism prime had significant effects on actual learning behaviors, leading British children to (a) choose a performance-oriented learning task over a mastery-oriented task and (b) give up on the task more quickly (Study 4). This research has important implications for personality psychology, educational policy, and future research.

Transforming Children's Health Spaces into Learning Places

Science.gov (United States)

Nisselle, Amy; Green, Julie; Scrimshaw, Chantel

2011-01-01

Purpose: Chronic health conditions can cause children extended school absences, creating significant barriers for continued education. Out-of-school learning environments, such as hospitals, provide opportunities to maintain children's learning identities during school absences. This paper seeks to present an example of hospital-based teaching and…

Modelling and Optimizing Mathematics Learning in Children

Science.gov (United States)

Käser, Tanja; Busetto, Alberto Giovanni; Solenthaler, Barbara; Baschera, Gian-Marco; Kohn, Juliane; Kucian, Karin; von Aster, Michael; Gross, Markus

2013-01-01

This study introduces a student model and control algorithm, optimizing mathematics learning in children. The adaptive system is integrated into a computer-based training system for enhancing numerical cognition aimed at children with developmental dyscalculia or difficulties in learning mathematics. The student model consists of a dynamic…

Exploring Children's Requirements for Game-Based Learning Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marja Kankaanranta

2008-08-01

Full Text Available End users' expertise in the development of new applications is acknowledged in user-centered and participatory design. Similarly, children's experience of what they find enjoyable and how they learn is a valuable source of inspiration for the design of products intended for them. In this paper, we explore experiences obtained from collaboration with elementary school children in the design of learning environments, based on three projects and three requirements gathering techniques. We also discuss how the children experienced the participation. The children's contribution yielded useful, both expected and unanticipated, outcomes in regard to the user interface and contents of the learning environments under development. Moreover, we present issues related to design collaboration with children, especially in terms of the children's feeling of ownership over the final outcome.

Children value informativity over logic in word learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramscar, Michael; Dye, Melody; Klein, Joseph

2013-06-01

The question of how children learn the meanings of words has long puzzled philosophers and psychologists. As Quine famously pointed out, simply hearing a word in context reveals next to nothing about its meaning. How then do children learn to understand and use words correctly? Here, we show how learning theory can offer an elegant solution to this seemingly intractable puzzle in language acquisition. From it, we derived formal predictions about word learning in situations of Quinean ambiguity, and subsequently tested our predictions on toddlers, undergraduates, and developmental psychologists. The toddlers' performance was consistent both with our predictions and with the workings of implicit mechanisms that can facilitate the learning of meaningful lexical systems. Adults adopted a markedly different and likely suboptimal strategy. These results suggest one explanation for why early word learning can appear baffling: Adult intuitions may be a poor source of insight into how children learn.

Sequence-specific procedural learning deficits in children with specific language impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Hsinjen Julie; Bishop, Dorothy V M

2014-05-01

This study tested the procedural deficit hypothesis of specific language impairment (SLI) by comparing children's performance in two motor procedural learning tasks and an implicit verbal sequence learning task. Participants were 7- to 11-year-old children with SLI (n = 48), typically developing age-matched children (n = 20) and younger typically developing children matched for receptive grammar (n = 28). In a serial reaction time task, the children with SLI performed at the same level as the grammar-matched children, but poorer than age-matched controls in learning motor sequences. When tested with a motor procedural learning task that did not involve learning sequential relationships between discrete elements (i.e. pursuit rotor), the children with SLI performed comparably with age-matched children and better than younger grammar-matched controls. In addition, poor implicit learning of word sequences in a verbal memory task (the Hebb effect) was found in the children with SLI. Together, these findings suggest that SLI might be characterized by deficits in learning sequence-specific information, rather than generally weak procedural learning. © 2014 The Authors. Developmental Science Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Metacognitive reading strategies of children with learning disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicolielo-Carrilho, Ana Paola; Hage, Simone Rocha de Vasconcellos

2017-05-15

to check the use of metacognitive reading strategies in children with learning disabilities and determine whether there is a relationship between their use and text comprehension. the study was conducted on 30 children, aged 8 to 12 years, of both genders, divided into experimental group (EG) - 15 children with learning disabilities; and control group (CG) - 15 children without disability. All children were submitted to the Reading Strategies Scale and Prolec text comprehension subtest. The sample was described in mean, median, minimum and maximum values. Comparative analysis was performed between the groups using the Mann-Whitney test. The degree of correlation between variables was verified by Spearman Correlation Analysis. The significance level was set at 5%. across the total scores of the scale, EG performance was lower in all descriptive measures, with a significant difference compared to CG. The EG achieved a performance close to children without difficulties only in global strategies. The correlation between the use of metacognitive strategies and reading comprehension was positive. children with learning disabilities showed deficits in the use of metacognitive reading strategies when compared to children without learning disabilities. The better the performance in reading strategies, the better textual comprehension was and vice versa, suggesting that metacognitive reading skills contribute to reading comprehension.

Can Immunotherapy Succeed in Glioblastoma?

Science.gov (United States)

Researchers are hopeful that, for the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma, immunotherapy might succeed where other therapies have not. As this Cancer Currents post reports, different immunotherapy approaches are being tested in clinical trials.

Implicit sequence learning in deaf children with cochlear implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, Christopher M; Pisoni, David B; Anaya, Esperanza M; Karpicke, Jennifer; Henning, Shirley C

2011-01-01

Deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs) represent an intriguing opportunity to study neurocognitive plasticity and reorganization when sound is introduced following a period of auditory deprivation early in development. Although it is common to consider deafness as affecting hearing alone, it may be the case that auditory deprivation leads to more global changes in neurocognitive function. In this paper, we investigate implicit sequence learning abilities in deaf children with CIs using a novel task that measured learning through improvement to immediate serial recall for statistically consistent visual sequences. The results demonstrated two key findings. First, the deaf children with CIs showed disturbances in their visual sequence learning abilities relative to the typically developing normal-hearing children. Second, sequence learning was significantly correlated with a standardized measure of language outcome in the CI children. These findings suggest that a period of auditory deprivation has secondary effects related to general sequencing deficits, and that disturbances in sequence learning may at least partially explain why some deaf children still struggle with language following cochlear implantation. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Learning Among Children with Spina Bifida

Science.gov (United States)

SBA National Resource Center: 800-621-3141 Learning Among Children with Spina Bifida Overview Parents, teachers and health care professionals have observed that children with Spina Bilda have problems with motor ...

Analysis of applications suitable for mobile learning of preschool children

OpenAIRE

Stoimenovski, Aleksandar; Kraleva, Radoslava; Kralev, Velin

2016-01-01

This article considers the use of mobile learning in Bulgarian education by young children. The most used mobile operating systems are analyzed. Also some of the most used existing applications suitable for mobile learning of preschool children are presented and classified. Keywords: Mobile applications for preschool children, mobile learning.

Fast Brain Plasticity during Word Learning in Musically-Trained Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Dittinger, Eva; Chobert, Julie; Ziegler, Johannes C; Besson, Mireille

2017-01-01

Children learn new words every day and this ability requires auditory perception, phoneme discrimination, attention, associative learning and semantic memory. Based on previous results showing that some of these functions are enhanced by music training, we investigated learning of novel words through picture-word associations in musically-trained and control children (8-12 year-old) to determine whether music training would positively influence word learning. Results showed that musically-trained children outperformed controls in a learning paradigm that included picture-sound matching and semantic associations. Moreover, the differences between unexpected and expected learned words, as reflected by the N200 and N400 effects, were larger in children with music training compared to controls after only 3 min of learning the meaning of novel words. In line with previous results in adults, these findings clearly demonstrate a correlation between music training and better word learning. It is argued that these benefits reflect both bottom-up and top-down influences. The present learning paradigm might provide a useful dynamic diagnostic tool to determine which perceptive and cognitive functions are impaired in children with learning difficulties.

Fast Brain Plasticity during Word Learning in Musically-Trained Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Dittinger

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Children learn new words every day and this ability requires auditory perception, phoneme discrimination, attention, associative learning and semantic memory. Based on previous results showing that some of these functions are enhanced by music training, we investigated learning of novel words through picture-word associations in musically-trained and control children (8–12 year-old to determine whether music training would positively influence word learning. Results showed that musically-trained children outperformed controls in a learning paradigm that included picture-sound matching and semantic associations. Moreover, the differences between unexpected and expected learned words, as reflected by the N200 and N400 effects, were larger in children with music training compared to controls after only 3 min of learning the meaning of novel words. In line with previous results in adults, these findings clearly demonstrate a correlation between music training and better word learning. It is argued that these benefits reflect both bottom-up and top-down influences. The present learning paradigm might provide a useful dynamic diagnostic tool to determine which perceptive and cognitive functions are impaired in children with learning difficulties.

Semantic richness and word learning in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Gladfelter, Allison; Goffman, Lisa

2018-03-01

Semantically rich learning contexts facilitate semantic, phonological, and articulatory aspects of word learning in children with typical development (TD). However, because children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show differences at each of these processing levels, it is unclear whether they will benefit from semantic cues in the same manner as their typical peers. The goal of this study was to track how the inclusion of rich, sparse, or no semantic cues influences semantic, phonological, and articulatory aspects of word learning in children with ASD and TD over time. Twenty-four school-aged children (12 in each group), matched on expressive vocabulary, participated in an extended word learning paradigm. Performance on five measures of learning (referent identification, confrontation naming, defining, phonetic accuracy, and speech motor stability) were tracked across three sessions approximately one week apart to assess the influence of semantic richness on extended learning. Results indicate that children with ASD benefit from semantically rich learning contexts similarly to their peers with TD; however, one key difference between the two groups emerged - the children with ASD showed heightened shifts in speech motor stability. These findings offer insights into common learning mechanisms in children with ASD and TD, as well as pointing to a potentially distinct speech motor learning trajectory in children with ASD, providing a window into the emergence of stereotypic vocalizations in these children. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Fractions Learning in Children with Mathematics Difficulties

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Jing; Siegler, Robert S.

2017-01-01

Learning fractions is difficult for children in general and especially difficult for children with mathematics difficulties (MD). Recent research on developmental and individual differences in fraction knowledge of children with MD and typically achieving (TA) children has demonstrated that U.S. children with MD start middle school behind their TA…

Children's developing understanding of what and how they learn.

Science.gov (United States)

Sobel, David M; Letourneau, Susan M

2015-04-01

What do children know about learning? Children between 4 and 10 years of age were asked what they thought the word learning meant and then engaged in a structured interview about what kinds of things they learned and how they learned those things. Most of the 4- and 5-year-olds' responses to these questions indicated a lack of awareness about the nature of learning or how learning occurs. In contrast, the 8- to 10-year-olds showed a strong understanding of learning as a process and could often generate explicit metacognitive responses indicating that they understood under what circumstances learning would occur. The 6- and 7-year-olds were in a transitional stage between these two levels of understanding. We discuss the implications of this development with children's theory-of-mind development more generally. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Games and (Preparation for Future) Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Hammer, Jessica; Black, John

2009-01-01

What makes games effective for learning? The authors argue that games provide vicarious experiences for players, which then amplify the effects of future, formal learning. However, not every game succeeds in doing so! Understanding why some games succeed and others fail at this task means investigating both a given game's design and the…

Novel Morpheme Learning in Monolingual and Bilingual Children

Science.gov (United States)

Gross, Megan; Sheena, Enanna; Roman, Rachel

2017-01-01

Purpose The purpose of the present study was to examine the utility of a novel morpheme learning task for indexing typical language abilities in children characterized by diverse language backgrounds. Method Three groups of 5- to 6-year-old children were tested: monolingual speakers of English, native speakers of Spanish who also spoke English (Spanish-L1 bilinguals), and native speakers of English who also spoke Spanish (English-L1 bilinguals). All children were taught a new derivational morpheme /ku/ marking part–whole distinction in conjunction with English nouns. Retention was measured via a receptive task, and sensitivity and reaction time (RT) data were collected. Results All three groups of children learned the novel morpheme successfully and were able to generalize its use to untaught nouns. Furthermore, language characteristics (degree of exposure and levels of performance on standardized measures) did not contribute to bilingual children's learning outcomes. Conclusion Together, the findings indicate that this particular version of the novel morpheme learning task may be resistant to influences associated with language background and suggest potential usefulness of the task to clinical practice. PMID:28399578

Adults' and Children's Understanding of How Expertise Influences Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Danovitch, Judith H; Shenouda, Christine K

2018-01-01

Adults and children use information about expertise to infer what a person is likely to know, but it is unclear whether they realize that expertise also has implications for learning. We explore adults' and children's understanding that expertise in a particular category supports learning about a closely related category. In four experiments, 5-year-olds and adults (n = 160) judged which of two people would be better at learning about a new category. When faced with an expert and a nonexpert, adults consistently indicated that expertise supports learning in a closely related category; however, children's judgments were inconsistent and were strongly influenced by the description of the nonexpert. The results suggest that although children understand what it means to be an expert, they may judge an individual's learning capacity based on different considerations than adults.

Effects of a Word-Learning Training on Children With Cochlear Implants

Science.gov (United States)

Lund, Emily

2014-01-01

Preschool children with hearing loss who use cochlear implants demonstrate vocabulary delays when compared to their peers without hearing loss. These delays may be a result of deficient word-learning abilities; children with cochlear implants perform more poorly on rapid word-learning tasks than children with normal hearing. This study explored the malleability of rapid word learning of preschoolers with cochlear implants by evaluating the effects of a word-learning training on rapid word learning. A single-subject, multiple probe design across participants measured the impact of the training on children’s rapid word-learning performance. Participants included 5 preschool children with cochlear implants who had an expressive lexicon of less than 150 words. An investigator guided children to identify, repeat, and learn about unknown sets of words in 2-weekly sessions across 10 weeks. The probe measure, a rapid word-learning task with a different set of words than those taught during training, was collected in the baseline, training, and maintenance conditions. All participants improved their receptive rapid word-learning performance in the training condition. The functional relation indicates that the receptive rapid word-learning performance of children with cochlear implants is malleable. PMID:23981321

Self-Esteem and Facial Attractiveness among Learning Disabled Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Lisa K.; And Others

Past research has demonstrated a relationship between children's physical attractiveness and their self-esteem. Other research has found that learning disabled children are at risk for having low self-esteem. This study examined the relationship between self-esteem and facial attractiveness in learning disabled children. Subjects were 20 diagnosed…

Visual Hybrid Development Learning System (VHDLS) framework for children with autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Banire, Bilikis; Jomhari, Nazean; Ahmad, Rodina

2015-10-01

The effect of education on children with autism serves as a relative cure for their deficits. As a result of this, they require special techniques to gain their attention and interest in learning as compared to typical children. Several studies have shown that these children are visual learners. In this study, we proposed a Visual Hybrid Development Learning System (VHDLS) framework that is based on an instructional design model, multimedia cognitive learning theory, and learning style in order to guide software developers in developing learning systems for children with autism. The results from this study showed that the attention of children with autism increased more with the proposed VHDLS framework.

Live Action: Can Young Children Learn Verbs From Video?

OpenAIRE

Roseberry, Sarah; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Parish-Morris, Julia; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick

2009-01-01

The availability of educational programming aimed at infants and toddlers is increasing, yet the effect of video on language acquisition remains unclear. Three studies of 96 children aged 30–42 months investigated their ability to learn verbs from video. Study 1 asked whether children could learn verbs from video when supported by live social interaction. Study 2 tested whether children could learn verbs from video alone. Study 3 clarified whether the benefits of social interaction remained w...

The Development of Associate Learning in School Age Children

Science.gov (United States)

Harel, Brian T.; Pietrzak, Robert H.; Snyder, Peter J.; Thomas, Elizabeth; Mayes, Linda C.; Maruff, Paul

2014-01-01

Associate learning is fundamental to the acquisition of knowledge and plays a critical role in the everyday functioning of the developing child, though the developmental course is still unclear. This study investigated the development of visual associate learning in 125 school age children using the Continuous Paired Associate Learning task. As hypothesized, younger children made more errors than older children across all memory loads and evidenced decreased learning efficiency as memory load increased. Results suggest that age-related differences in performance largely reflect continued development of executive function in the context of relatively developed memory processes. PMID:25014755

The development of associate learning in school age children.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian T Harel

Full Text Available Associate learning is fundamental to the acquisition of knowledge and plays a critical role in the everyday functioning of the developing child, though the developmental course is still unclear. This study investigated the development of visual associate learning in 125 school age children using the Continuous Paired Associate Learning task. As hypothesized, younger children made more errors than older children across all memory loads and evidenced decreased learning efficiency as memory load increased. Results suggest that age-related differences in performance largely reflect continued development of executive function in the context of relatively developed memory processes.

Comparison of Child Abuse between Normal Children and Children with Learning Disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Narges Keshavarz-Valiyan

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Objective: The aim of this study was to compare child abuse between normal children and children with learning disorder, aged 7-12 in Tehran city. Materials & Methods: This analytical and cross sectional study is a research in causative-comparative method. 120 normal children of primary school from districts 3.7 and 15 of Tehran education and 120 children with learning disorder from three center of primary school students with learning disorder (1.2 and 3 were selected by multistage cluster sampaling method and evaluated by Reliable Child Abuse Questionnaire. Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient Friedman rank test and Paired T and independent T tests. Results: In children view, there were signifivant differences in mean scores of affective abuse (p<0.001 and total score of child abuse (p=0.002 between two groups. Likewise in parent's view. there were significant differences in mean scores of affective abuse (p<0.001, physical abuse (p<0.011 and total score of child abuse (p<0.001 between two groups. Also, there were significant differences between the ideas of children and their parents about physical abuse (p<0.002, sexual abuse (p<0.001 and ignorance (p<0.001 Conclusion: The tindings reveal that there is a difference between normal chidren and children with learning disorder in the extent of child abuse regarding it's type and in comparison with previous researches, affective abuse is more than other abuse types. So. it is necessary for mental health professionals to provide programs for training parents in future.

Language Learning in Preschool Children: An Embodied Learning Account

Science.gov (United States)

Ionescu, Thea; Ilie, Adriana

2018-01-01

In Romanian preschool settings, there is a tendency to use abstract strategies in language-learning activities. The present study explored if strategies based on an embodied cognition approach facilitate learning more than traditional strategies that progress from concrete to abstract. Twenty-five children between 4 and 5 years of age listened to…

User Studies: Developing Learning Strategy Tool Software for Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzgerald, Gail E.; Koury, Kevin A.; Peng, Hsinyi

This paper is a report of user studies for developing learning strategy tool software for children. The prototype software demonstrated is designed for children with learning and behavioral disabilities. The tools consist of easy-to-use templates for creating organizational, memory, and learning approach guides for use in classrooms and at home.…

Special ways of knowing in science: expansive learning opportunities with bilingual children with learning disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Álvarez, Patricia

2017-09-01

The field of bilingual special education is currently plagued with contradictions resulting in a serious underrepresentation of emergent bilinguals with learning disabilities in professional science fields. This underrepresentation is due in large part to the fact that educational systems around the world are inadequately prepared to address the educational needs of these children; this inadequacy is rooted in a lack of understanding of the linguistic and cultural factors impacting learning. Accepting such a premise and assuming that children learn in unexpected ways when instructional practices attend to culture and language, this study documents a place-based learning experience integrating geoscience and literacy in a fourth-grade dual language classroom. Data sources include transcribed audio-taped conversations from learning experience sessions and interviews that took place as six focus children, who had been identified as having specific learning disabilities, read published science texts (i.e. texts unaltered linguistically or conceptually to meet the needs of the readers). My analysis revealed that participants generated responses that were often unexpected if solely analyzed from those Western scientific perspectives traditionally valued in school contexts. However, these responses were also full of purposeful and rich understandings that revealed opportunities for expansive learning. Adopting a cultural historical activity theory perspective, instructional tools such as texts, visuals, and questions were found to act as mediators impacting the learning in both activity systems: (a) teacher- researcher learning from children, and (b) children learning from teachers. I conclude by suggesting that there is a need to understand students' ways of knowing to their full complexity, and to deliberately recognize teachers as learners, researchers, and means to expansive learning patterns that span beyond traditional learning boundaries.

Learning Disabilities in Children: Epidemiology, Risk Factors and Importance of Early Intervention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beena Johnson

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Children with learning disabilities have significant impairment in reading, writing and mathematics, in spite of normal intelligence and sensory abilities. In reading disability, children will have difficulties in phonemic sensitivity, phonetic decoding, word recognition, word decoding skills and reading comprehension. The lifetime prevalence of learning disability is about 10%. Learning disabilities are more frequently seen in boys compared to girls. There are several risk factors for learning disabilities. Low birth weight, preterm birth, neonatal complications, language delay and epilepsy are important risk factors for learning disabilities in children. Students with learning disabilities have poor scholastic performance, anxiety and significant stress. They have more social, emotional and behavioural problems than those without learning problems. If not remedied at the earliest, learning disabilities will lead to failure in exams and these children may develop stress related disorders. Hence all children with learning problems should be evaluated scientifically at the earliest, for identification of learning disability. By providing scientific guidance and intensive one to one remedial training, learning problems of children can be managed successfully.

Fractions Learning in Children With Mathematics Difficulties.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Jing; Siegler, Robert S

Learning fractions is difficult for children in general and especially difficult for children with mathematics difficulties (MD). Recent research on developmental and individual differences in fraction knowledge of children with MD and typically achieving (TA) children has demonstrated that U.S. children with MD start middle school behind their TA peers in fraction understanding and fall further behind during middle school. In contrast, Chinese children, who like the MD children in the United States score in the bottom one third of the distribution in their country, possess reasonably good fraction understanding. We interpret these findings within the framework of the integrated theory of numerical development. By emphasizing the importance of fraction magnitude knowledge for numerical understanding in general, the theory proved useful for understanding differences in fraction knowledge between MD and TA children and for understanding how knowledge can be improved. Several interventions demonstrated the possibility of improving fraction magnitude knowledge and producing benefits that generalize to fraction arithmetic learning among children with MD. The reasonably good fraction understanding of Chinese children with MD and several successful interventions with U.S. students provide hope for the improvement of fraction knowledge among American children with MD.

The Impact of Video Games in Children-s Learning of Mathematics

OpenAIRE

Muhammad Ridhuan Tony Lim Abdullah; Zulqarnain Abu Bakar; Razol Mahari Ali; Ibrahima Faye; Hilmi Hasan

2012-01-01

This paper describes a research project on Year 3 primary school students in Malaysia in their use of computer-based video game to enhance learning of multiplication facts (tables) in the Mathematics subject. This study attempts to investigate whether video games could actually contribute to positive effect on children-s learning or otherwise. In conducting this study, the researchers assume a neutral stand in the investigation as an unbiased outcome of the study would render reliable respons...

Text-to-audiovisual speech synthesizer for children with learning disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendi, Engin; Bayrak, Coskun

2013-01-01

Learning disabilities affect the ability of children to learn, despite their having normal intelligence. Assistive tools can highly increase functional capabilities of children with learning disorders such as writing, reading, or listening. In this article, we describe a text-to-audiovisual synthesizer that can serve as an assistive tool for such children. The system automatically converts an input text to audiovisual speech, providing synchronization of the head, eye, and lip movements of the three-dimensional face model with appropriate facial expressions and word flow of the text. The proposed system can enhance speech perception and help children having learning deficits to improve their chances of success.

Children's Learning from Touch Screens: A Dual Representation Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheehan, Kelly J; Uttal, David H

2016-01-01

Parents and educators often expect that children will learn from touch screen devices, such as during joint e-book reading. Therefore an essential question is whether young children understand that the touch screen can be a symbolic medium - that entities represented on the touch screen can refer to entities in the real world. Research on symbolic development suggests that symbolic understanding requires that children develop dual representational abilities, meaning children need to appreciate that a symbol is an object in itself (i.e., picture of a dog) while also being a representation of something else (i.e., the real dog). Drawing on classic research on symbols and new research on children's learning from touch screens, we offer the perspective that children's ability to learn from the touch screen as a symbolic medium depends on the effect of interactivity on children's developing dual representational abilities. Although previous research on dual representation suggests the interactive nature of the touch screen might make it difficult for young children to use as a symbolic medium, the unique interactive affordances may help alleviate this difficulty. More research needs to investigate how the interactivity of the touch screen affects children's ability to connect the symbols on the screen to the real world. Given the interactive nature of the touch screen, researchers and educators should consider both the affordances of the touch screen as well as young children's cognitive abilities when assessing whether young children can learn from it as a symbolic medium.

Perceptual learning in children with visual impairment improves near visual acuity.

Science.gov (United States)

Huurneman, Bianca; Boonstra, F Nienke; Cox, Ralf F A; van Rens, Ger; Cillessen, Antonius H N

2013-09-17

This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four- to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children with visual impairment were divided into three groups: a magnifier group (n = 12), a crowded perceptual learning group (n = 18), and an uncrowded perceptual learning group (n = 15). Children with normal vision also were divided in three groups, but were measured only at baseline. Dependent variables were single near visual acuity (NVA), crowded NVA, LH line 50% crowding NVA, number of trials, accuracy, performance time, amount of small errors, and amount of large errors. Children with visual impairment trained during six weeks, two times per week, for 30 minutes (12 training sessions). After training, children showed significant improvement of NVA in addition to specific improvements on the training task. The crowded perceptual learning group showed the largest acuity improvements (1.7 logMAR lines on the crowded chart, P children in the crowded perceptual learning group showed improvements on all NVA charts. Children with visual impairment benefit from perceptual training. While task-specific improvements were observed in all training groups, transfer to crowded NVA was largest in the crowded perceptual learning group. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide evidence for the improvement of NVA by perceptual learning in children with visual impairment. (http://www.trialregister.nl number, NTR2537.).

Family-Peer Linkages for Children with Intellectual Disability and Children with Learning Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Floyd, Frank J; Olsen, Darren L

2017-09-01

Family interactions are potential contexts for children with intellectual and learning disabilities to develop skillful social behaviors needed to relate effectively with peers. This study examined problem solving interactions within families of elementary school-age children (7-11 years) with intellectual disability (n = 37), specific learning disabilities (n =48), and without disabilities (n = 22). After accounting for group differences in children's behaviors and peer acceptance, across all groups, mothers' behaviors that encouraged egalitarian problem solving predicted more engaged and skillful problem solving by the children. However, mothers' controlling, directive behaviors predicted fewer of these behaviors by the children. Fathers' behaviors had mixed associations with the children's actions, possibly because they were reactive to children's unengaged and negative behaviors. For the children, greater involvement, more facilitative behaviors, and less negativity with their families were associated with greater acceptance from their peers, supporting family-peer linkages for children at risk for peer rejection.

Helping Families Succeed in Two Worlds.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Vivian

Kamehameha Schools' Prekindergarten Educational Program (PREP) was started in 1978 to prepare at-risk Hawaiian families and their children for success in school. PREP's direct services include: (1) parent-infant educational services, including home visits to help parents prepare for a new baby and later learn appropriate child development…

"I Already Know What I Learned": Young Children's Perspectives on Learning through Play

Science.gov (United States)

Colliver, Yeshe; Fleer, Marilyn

2016-01-01

Around the world, if and how young children learn through their play in early childhood education and care contexts has been the subject of much debate. Yet rarely has the debate heard from the young children themselves, often due to the pervasive belief that they do not understand learning. To redress this, a qualitative case study was conducted…

Compounding the Challenge: Young Deaf Children and Learning Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Mauk, Gary W.; Mauk, Pamela P.

1993-01-01

This paper presents a definition of deaf and hard of hearing children with learning disabilities; notes the incidence of children with both disabilities; outlines roadblocks to learning; describes screening, diagnosis, and assessment practices; and offers suggestions for educational programming. (JDD)

Discrimination Learning in Children

Science.gov (United States)

Ochocki, Thomas E.; And Others

1975-01-01

Examined the learning performance of 192 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade children on either a two or four choice simultaneous color discrimination task. Compared the use of verbal reinforcement and/or punishment, under conditions of either complete or incomplete instructions. (Author/SDH)

Working memory and novel word learning in children with hearing impairment and children with specific language impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansson, K; Forsberg, J; Löfqvist, A; Mäki-Torkko, E; Sahlén, B

2004-01-01

Working memory is considered to influence a range of linguistic skills, i.e. vocabulary acquisition, sentence comprehension and reading. Several studies have pointed to limitations of working memory in children with specific language impairment. Few studies, however, have explored the role of working memory for language deficits in children with hearing impairment. The first aim was to compare children with mild-to-moderate bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment, children with a preschool diagnosis of specific language impairment and children with normal language development, aged 9-12 years, for language and working memory. The special focus was on the role of working memory in learning new words for primary school age children. The assessment of working memory included tests of phonological short-term memory and complex working memory. Novel word learning was assessed according to the methods of. In addition, a range of language tests was used to assess language comprehension, output phonology and reading. Children with hearing impairment performed significantly better than children with a preschool diagnosis of specific language impairment on tasks assessing novel word learning, complex working memory, sentence comprehension and reading accuracy. No significant correlation was found between phonological short-term memory and novel word learning in any group. The best predictor of novel word learning in children with specific language impairment and in children with hearing impairment was complex working memory. Furthermore, there was a close relationship between complex working memory and language in children with a preschool diagnosis of specific language impairment but not in children with hearing impairment. Complex working memory seems to play a significant role in vocabulary acquisition in primary school age children. The interpretation is that the results support theories suggesting a weakened influence of phonological short-term memory on novel word

Challenges faced by parents of children with learning disabilities in Opuwo, Namibia.

Science.gov (United States)

Taderera, Clever; Hall, Herna

2017-01-01

Parenting children with learning disabilities requires a high level of knowledge and access to resources, information and services. In developing countries, however, these resources and services are not always available. Parents in Namibia, a developing country, therefore face challenges addressing children's learning and other developmental disabilities, including challenges related to preventative and supportive interventions. This research focuses on challenges faced by parents as they parent children with learning disabilities in Opuwo, Namibia. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight parents regarding the challenges they face in parenting their children with learning disabilities. Thematic analysis enabled the researchers to identify, analyse and report on themes that emerged from the qualitative interview data. Analysis of the interviews indicated that some participants had only a vague understanding of learning disabilities, as they did not have access to essential knowledge about this phenomenon. They also lacked an awareness of the availability of programmes, services and policies meant to benefit their children with learning disabilities. Participants voiced that they, their children with learning disabilities and community members have stereotypes and prejudices regarding learning disabilities. In this study, most of the children with learning disabilities were raised by single, unemployed parents who seemed to have access to less support from external sources than married couples parenting children with learning disabilities. These single parents are usually not married and because of lack of financial support from the other parent, the majority of them indicated that they struggle to meet the financial and material needs of their children. The researchers concluded that the participants in this study experience a range of challenges in parenting their children with learning disabilities. The main challenges emanate from financial instability, as

Prosocial reward learning in children and adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Youngbin Kwak

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Adolescence is a period of increased sensitivity to social contexts. To evaluate how social context sensitivity changes over development – and influences reward learning – we investigated how children and adolescents perceive and integrate rewards for oneself and others during a dynamic risky-decision-making task. Children and adolescents (N=75, 8-16 yrs performed the Social Gambling Task (SGT, (Kwak et al., 2014 and completed a set of questionnaires measuring other-regarding behavior. In the SGT, participants choose amongst four card decks that have different payout structures for oneself and for a charity. We examined patterns of choices, overall decision strategies, and how reward outcomes led to trial-by-trial adjustments in behavior, as estimated using a reinforcement-learning model. Performance of children and adolescents was compared to data from a previously collected sample of adults (N=102 performing the identical task. We found that that children/adolescents were not only more sensitive to rewards directed to the charity than self but also showed greater prosocial tendencies on independent measures of other-regarding behavior. Children and adolescents also showed less use of a strategy that prioritizes rewards for self at the expense of rewards for others. These results support the conclusion that, compared to adults, children and adolescents show greater sensitivity to outcomes for others when making decisions and learning about potential rewards.

Young Children Learning from Touch Screens: Taking a Wider View.

Science.gov (United States)

Lovato, Silvia B; Waxman, Sandra R

2016-01-01

Touch screen devices such as smartphones and tablets are now ubiquitous in the lives of American children. These devices permit very young children to engage interactively in an intuitive fashion with actions as simple as touching, swiping and pinching. Yet, we know little about the role these devices play in very young children's lives or their impact on early learning and development. Here we focus on two areas in which existing research sheds some light on these issues with children under 3 years of age. The first measures transfer of learning, or how well children use information learned from screens to reason about events off-screen, using object retrieval and word learning tasks. The second measures the impact of interactive screens on parent-child interactions and story comprehension during reading time. More research is required to clarify the pedagogical potential and pitfalls of touch screens for infants and very young children, especially research focused on capabilities unique to touch screens and on the social and cultural contexts in which young children use them.

The effect of unsuccessful retrieval on children's subsequent learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Carneiro, Paula; Lapa, Ana; Finn, Bridgid

2018-02-01

It is well known that successful retrieval enhances subsequent adults' learning by promoting long-term retention. Recent research has also found benefits from unsuccessful retrieval, but the evidence is not as clear-cut when the participants are children. In this study, we employed a methodology based on guessing-the weak associate paradigm-to test whether children can learn from generated errors or whether errors are harmful for learning. We tested second- and third-grade children in Experiment 1 and tested preschool and kindergarten children in Experiment 2. With slight differences in the method, in both experiments children heard the experimenter saying one word (cue) and were asked to guess an associate word (guess condition) or to listen to the correspondent target-associated word (study condition), followed by corrective feedback in both conditions. At the end of the guessing phase, the children undertook a cued-recall task in which they were presented with each cue and were asked to say the corrected target. Together, the results showed that older children-those in kindergarten and early elementary school-benefited from unsuccessful retrieval. Older children showed more correct responses and fewer errors in the guess condition. In contrast, preschoolers produced similar levels of correct and error responses in the two conditions. In conclusion, generating errors seems to be beneficial for future learning of children older than 5years. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Novel-word learning deficits in Mandarin-speaking preschool children with specific language impairments.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yuchun; Liu, Huei-Mei

2014-01-01

Children with SLI exhibit overall deficits in novel word learning compared to their age-matched peers. However, the manifestation of the word learning difficulty in SLI was not consistent across tasks and the factors affecting the learning performance were not yet determined. Our aim is to examine the extent of word learning difficulties in Mandarin-speaking preschool children with SLI, and to explore the potent influence of existing lexical knowledge on to the word learning process. Preschool children with SLI (n=37) and typical language development (n=33) were exposed to novel words for unfamiliar objects embedded in stories. Word learning tasks including the initial mapping and short-term repetitive learning were designed. Results revealed that Mandarin-speaking preschool children with SLI performed as well as their age-peers in the initial form-meaning mapping task. Their word learning difficulty was only evidently shown in the short-term repetitive learning task under a production demand, and their learning speed was slower than the control group. Children with SLI learned the novel words with a semantic head better in both the initial mapping and repetitive learning tasks. Moderate correlations between stand word learning performances and scores on standardized vocabulary were found after controlling for children's age and nonverbal IQ. The results suggested that the word learning difficulty in children with SLI occurred in the process of establishing a robust phonological representation at the beginning stage of word learning. Also, implicit compound knowledge is applied to aid word learning process for children with and without SLI. We also provide the empirical data to validate the relationship between preschool children's word learning performance and their existing receptive vocabulary ability. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Socioeconomic variation, number competence, and mathematics learning difficulties in young children.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Nancy C; Levine, Susan C

2009-01-01

As a group, children from disadvantaged, low-income families perform substantially worse in mathematics than their counterparts from higher-income families. Minority children are disproportionately represented in low-income populations, resulting in significant racial and social-class disparities in mathematics learning linked to diminished learning opportunities. The consequences of poor mathematics achievement are serious for daily functioning and for career advancement. This article provides an overview of children's mathematics difficulties in relation to socioeconomic status (SES). We review foundations for early mathematics learning and key characteristics of mathematics learning difficulties. A particular focus is the delays or deficiencies in number competencies exhibited by low-income children entering school. Weaknesses in number competence can be reliably identified in early childhood, and there is good evidence that most children have the capacity to develop number competence that lays the foundation for later learning.

Children's Nutrition and Learning. ERIC Digest.

Science.gov (United States)

ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Urbana, IL.

This digest reviews research on the link between children's nutrition and their ability to learn from the prenatal through school years. It also discusses the importance of nutrition education for children. The need for adequate nutrition during pregnancy and the preschool years is highlighted by research that indicates that low birthweight…

Preschool teachers’ views on children's learning: an international perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Broström, Stig; Sandberg, Anette; Johansson, Inge

2015-01-01

? What activities are important for learning? What are the best conditions for children’s learning? How do preschool teachers understand participation in relation to children’s learning in preschool? Results suggest that play, interactions with other children and adults, the provision of different...... activities and teacher support are important for children’s learning. While similarities were noted, results indicate some disparity between countries and a further in-depth interview-style study is recommended to provide a deeper understanding of teachers’ perspectives and practices around children...

The Influence of Classroom Layout on Children's English Learning Development

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

林琬媚

2016-01-01

Nowadays, more and more Children English Training organization developed, all the parents and teachers also want to improve the children's English. So the parents will find the organization where the teachers are better in teaching. They will motive a lot of imagine and acquire many information which you can not know. If we can care more about this point from the children, may be it also can help children to learn English well. This essay aims at how does classroom Layout influence the children to learn English well and let the children love this environment.

Learning disabilities: analysis of 69 children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meister Eduardo Kaehler

2001-01-01

Full Text Available With this article we intend to demonstrate the importance of evaluation and follow up of children with learning disabilities, through a multidisciplinary team. As well as to establish the need of intervention. We evaluate 69 children, from Aline Picheth Public School, in Curitiba, attending first or second grade of elementary school, through general and evolutionary neurological examination, pediatric checklist symptoms, and social, linguistic and psychological (WISC-III, Bender Infantile and WPPSI-figures evaluation. The incidence was higher in boys (84,1%, familiar history of learning disabilities was found in 42%, and writing abnormalities in 56,5%. The most frequent diagnosis was attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, in 39,1%. With this program, we aimed to reduce the retention taxes and stress the importance of this evaluation, and, if necessary, multidisciplinar intervention in the cases of learning disabilities.

Orthographic Learning in Dyslexic Spanish Children

Science.gov (United States)

Suárez-Coalla, Paz; Ramos, Sara; Álvarez-Cañizo, Marta; Cuetos, Fernando

2014-01-01

Reading fluency is one of the basic processes of learning to read. Children begin to develop fluency when they are able to form orthographic representations of words, which provide direct, smooth, and fast reading. Dyslexic children of transparent orthographic systems are mainly characterized by poor reading fluency (Cuetos & Suárez-Coalla…

Malaysian Children's Attitudes towards Learning Music

Science.gov (United States)

Ghazali, Ghaziah Mohd.; McPherson, Gary E.

2009-01-01

A sample of 1060 Malaysian children were surveyed in order to examine differences in their motivation to study music in school and to learn a musical instrument outside of school. Adopting the expectancy-value motivation theory, the children were asked questions concerning their perception of music as being important, useful, interesting,…

Group Hypnotherapy With Learning Disabled Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Lynn S.; And Others

The impact of group hypnotic and self-hypnotic training on the academic performance and self-esteem of learning disabled children was explored. Three hypnotic training sessions and instructions for six weeks of daily self-hypnotic practice containing suggestions for imagery related to improvement in these areas were given to 15 children, their…

Young Children Learning from Touch Screens: Taking a Wider View

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvia Lovato

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Touch screen devices such as smartphones and tablets are now ubiquitous in the lives of American children. These devices permit very young children to engage interactively in an intuitive fashion with actions as simple as touching, swiping and pinching. Yet, we know little about the role these devices play in very young children’s lives or their impact on early learning and development. Here we focus on two areas in which existing research sheds some light on these issues with children under three years of age. The first measures transfer of learning, or how well children use information learned from screens to reason about events off-screen, using object retrieval and word learning tasks. The second measures the impact of interactive screens on parent-child interactions and story comprehension during reading time. More research is required to clarify the pedagogical potential and pitfalls of touch screens for infants and very young children, especially research focused on capabilities unique to touch screens and on the social and cultural contexts in which young children use them.

Mayan Children's Creation of Learning Ecologies by Initiative and Cooperative Action.

Science.gov (United States)

de León, Lourdes

2015-01-01

This chapter examines Mayan children's initiatives in creating their own learning environments in collaboration with others as they engage in culturally relevant endeavors of family and community life. To this end, I carry out a fine-grained ethnographic and linguistic analysis of the interactional emergence of learning ecologies. Erickson defines learning ecology as a socioecological system where participants mutually influence one another through verbal and nonverbal actions, as well as through other forms of semiotic communication (2010, 254). In analyzing learning ecologies, I adopt a "theory of action" approach, taking into account multimodal communication (e.g., talk, gesture, gaze, body positioning), participants' sociospatial organization, embodied action, objects, tools, and other culturally relevant materials brought together to build action (Goodwin, 2000, 2013; Hutchins, 1995). I use microethnographic analysis (Erickson, 1992) to bring to the surface central aspects of children's agentive roles in learning through "cooperative actions" (Goodwin, 2013) and "hands-on" experience (Ingold, 2007) the skills of competent members of their community. I examine three distinct Learning Ecologies created by children's initiatives among the Mayan children that I observed: (i) children requesting guidance to collaborate in a task, (ii) older children working on their own initiative with subsequent monitoring and correction from competent members, and (iii) children with near competence in a task with occasional monitoring and no guidance. I argue that these findings enrich and add power to models of family- and community-based learning such as Learning by Observing and Pitching In (Rogoff, 2014). © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reframing Children’s Learning: Capturing the Practice of Articulation Done by Truku Children in a Visual Narrative Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huei-Hsuan Lin

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Grounded in a three-semester visual program in which a college team collaborated with Truku elementary students using photographs to explore their lives, this paper focuses on the ways that indigenous students constructed their learning experiences. The present study uses the concept of articulation to describe the process through which children connected their lives with their families and communities with the visual project taking place at school: As this visual project was aimed to infiltrate into the fabrics of children’s everyday lives, those who succeeded to negotiate with their guardians to gain full control over their after-school lives were able to incorporate the activities of photo-taking into their free time and engage in friendship-making activities. Additionally, students were raised to be involved in farming activities in which they learned by participating physically rather than listening to verbal explanations. Thus, this way of learning had been inscribed onto their bodies, moving between and sutured the worlds of school learning and community’s manual laboring. Lastly, this study found that students exuberated “groupness” as they negotiated their way with each other establishing their positions in the web of peer relations. Groupness embodied an articulated quality indicating the way that students were related to each other at school was inseparable from their relations after school. Educators need to be attuned to the dynamics of the groupness as it has been somewhat stable, yet open to change, and certainly impacted how students performed in various learning spaces, such as in the case of the visual program.

A theory of causal learning in children: causal maps and Bayes nets.

Science.gov (United States)

Gopnik, Alison; Glymour, Clark; Sobel, David M; Schulz, Laura E; Kushnir, Tamar; Danks, David

2004-01-01

The authors outline a cognitive and computational account of causal learning in children. They propose that children use specialized cognitive systems that allow them to recover an accurate "causal map" of the world: an abstract, coherent, learned representation of the causal relations among events. This kind of knowledge can be perspicuously understood in terms of the formalism of directed graphical causal models, or Bayes nets. Children's causal learning and inference may involve computations similar to those for learning causal Bayes nets and for predicting with them. Experimental results suggest that 2- to 4-year-old children construct new causal maps and that their learning is consistent with the Bayes net formalism.

Mathematics learning on geometry for children with autism

Science.gov (United States)

Widayati, F. E.; Usodo, B.; Pamudya, I.

2017-12-01

The purpose of this research is to describe: (1) the mathematics learning process in an inclusion class and (2) the obstacle during the process of mathematics learning in the inclusion class. This research is a descriptive qualitative research. The subjects were a mathematics teacher, children with autism, and a teacher assistant. Method of collecting data was observation and interview. Data validation technique is triangulation technique. The results of this research are : (1) There is a modification of lesson plan for children with autism. This modification such as the indicator of success, material, time, and assessment. Lesson plan for children with autism is arranged by mathematics teacher and teacher assistant. There is no special media for children with autism used by mathematics teacher. (2) The obstacle of children with autism is that they are difficult to understand mathematics concept. Besides, children with autism are easy to lose their focus.

Evaluating children's conservation biology learning at the zoo.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Eric

2014-08-01

Millions of children visit zoos every year with parents or schools to encounter wildlife firsthand. Public conservation education is a requirement for membership in professional zoo associations. However, in recent years zoos have been criticized for failing to educate the public on conservation issues and related biological concepts, such as animal adaptation to habitats. I used matched pre- and postvisit mixed methods questionnaires to investigate the educational value of zoo visits for children aged 7-15 years. The questionnaires gathered qualitative data from these individuals, including zoo-related thoughts and an annotated drawing of a habitat. A content analysis of these qualitative data produced the quantitative data reported in this article. I evaluated the relative learning outcomes of educator-guided and unguided zoo visits at London Zoo, both in terms of learning about conservation biology (measured by annotated drawings) and changing attitudes toward wildlife conservation (measured using thought-listing data). Forty-one percent of educator-guided visits and 34% of unguided visits resulted in conservation biology-related learning. Negative changes in children's understanding of animals and their habitats were more prevalent in unguided zoo visits. Overall, my results show the potential educational value of visiting zoos for children. However, they also suggest that zoos' standard unguided interpretive materials are insufficient for achieving the best outcomes for visiting children. These results support a theoretical model of conservation biology learning that frames conservation educators as toolmakers who develop conceptual resources to enhance children's understanding of science. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Teachers' perceptions about children's movement and learning in early childhood education programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Gehris, J S; Gooze, R A; Whitaker, R C

2015-01-01

Efforts to improve the academic skills of preschool-aged children have resulted in approaches that tend to limit children's movement. However, movement experiences have long been considered important to children's learning and have received increased attention because of the obesity epidemic. Early childhood educators are important sources of information about if and how to promote learning and school readiness through movement, but little effort has been made to understand teachers' views on this topic. We conducted six focus groups with 37 teachers from a Head Start programme with centres in three cities in eastern Pennsylvania. We inquired about: (1) how movement influences children's learning; (2) what types of movement experiences are most beneficial for children; (3) what settings best support children's movement; and (4) challenges related to children's movement. To identify key themes from the focus groups, transcripts were analysed using an inductive method of coding. Teachers' views were expressed in four major themes. First, young children have an innate need to move, and teachers respond to this need by using movement experiences to prepare children to learn and to teach academic concepts and spatial awareness. However, teachers wanted more training in these areas. Second, movement prepares children for school and for life by building children's confidence and social skills. Third, teachers and children benefit from moving together because it motivates children and promotes teacher-child relationships. Finally, moving outdoors promotes learning by engaging children's senses and promoting community interaction. More training may be required to help early childhood educators use movement experiences to teach academic concepts and improve children's spatial awareness. Future interventions could examine the impacts on children's movement and learning of having teachers move with children during outdoor free play and including more natural features in the

Evaluation of motor development in children with learning disabilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josiane Medina-Papst

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine whether children with learning disabilities present any impairment in the components of motor development. Thirty children (21 boys and 9 girls, aged 8 to 10 years, with learning difficulties in school were studied. The Motor Development Scale was used to evaluate the development of the children in terms of fine motor control, gross motor control, balance, body scheme, spatial organization, and temporal organization. A deficit in the development of the body scheme component was observed for all three age groups, as well as a delayed motor development in terms of balance and gross motor control. No significant differences in general motor age were observed between (age groups. In conclusion, the children studied, especially older ones, presented motor deficits in most of the components evaluated. The inclusion of tasks that assist in the development of motor components, in addition to regular school tasks, is recommended to improve the process of learning in these children..

How Do Hunter-Gatherer Children Learn Subsistence Skills? : A Meta-Ethnographic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lew-Levy, Sheina; Reckin, Rachel; Lavi, Noa; Cristóbal-Azkarate, Jurgi; Ellis-Davies, Kate

2017-12-01

Hunting and gathering is, evolutionarily, the defining subsistence strategy of our species. Studying how children learn foraging skills can, therefore, provide us with key data to test theories about the evolution of human life history, cognition, and social behavior. Modern foragers, with their vast cultural and environmental diversity, have mostly been studied individually. However, cross-cultural studies allow us to extrapolate forager-wide trends in how, when, and from whom hunter-gatherer children learn their subsistence skills. We perform a meta-ethnography, which allows us to systematically extract, summarize, and compare both quantitative and qualitative literature. We found 58 publications focusing on learning subsistence skills. Learning begins early in infancy, when parents take children on foraging expeditions and give them toy versions of tools. In early and middle childhood, children transition into the multi-age playgroup, where they learn skills through play, observation, and participation. By the end of middle childhood, most children are proficient food collectors. However, it is not until adolescence that adults (not necessarily parents) begin directly teaching children complex skills such as hunting and complex tool manufacture. Adolescents seek to learn innovations from adults, but they themselves do not innovate. These findings support predictive models that find social learning should occur before individual learning. Furthermore, these results show that teaching does indeed exist in hunter-gatherer societies. And, finally, though children are competent foragers by late childhood, learning to extract more complex resources, such as hunting large game, takes a lifetime.

Noise Hampers Children's Expressive Word Learning

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Riley, Kristine Grohne; McGregor, Karla K.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To determine the effects of noise and speech style on word learning in typically developing school-age children. Method: Thirty-one participants ages 9;0 (years;months) to 10;11 attempted to learn 2 sets of 8 novel words and their referents. They heard all of the words 13 times each within meaningful narrative discourse. Signal-to-noise…

Statistical word learning in children with autism spectrum disorder and specific language impairment.

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Haebig, Eileen; Saffran, Jenny R; Ellis Weismer, Susan

2017-11-01

Word learning is an important component of language development that influences child outcomes across multiple domains. Despite the importance of word knowledge, word-learning mechanisms are poorly understood in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined underlying mechanisms of word learning, specifically, statistical learning and fast-mapping, in school-aged children with typical and atypical development. Statistical learning was assessed through a word segmentation task and fast-mapping was examined in an object-label association task. We also examined children's ability to map meaning onto newly segmented words in a third task that combined exposure to an artificial language and a fast-mapping task. Children with SLI had poorer performance on the word segmentation and fast-mapping tasks relative to the typically developing and ASD groups, who did not differ from one another. However, when children with SLI were exposed to an artificial language with phonemes used in the subsequent fast-mapping task, they successfully learned more words than in the isolated fast-mapping task. There was some evidence that word segmentation abilities are associated with word learning in school-aged children with typical development and ASD, but not SLI. Follow-up analyses also examined performance in children with ASD who did and did not have a language impairment. Children with ASD with language impairment evidenced intact statistical learning abilities, but subtle weaknesses in fast-mapping abilities. As the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH) predicts, children with SLI have impairments in statistical learning. However, children with SLI also have impairments in fast-mapping. Nonetheless, they are able to take advantage of additional phonological exposure to boost subsequent word-learning performance. In contrast to the PDH, children with ASD appear to have intact statistical learning, regardless of

Comparison on testability of visual acuity, stereo acuity and colour vision tests between children with learning disabilities and children without learning disabilities in government primary schools.

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Abu Bakar, Nurul Farhana; Chen, Ai-Hong

2014-02-01

Children with learning disabilities might have difficulties to communicate effectively and give reliable responses as required in various visual function testing procedures. The purpose of this study was to compare the testability of visual acuity using the modified Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) and Cambridge Crowding Cards, stereo acuity using Lang Stereo test II and Butterfly stereo tests and colour perception using Colour Vision Test Made Easy (CVTME) and Ishihara's Test for Colour Deficiency (Ishihara Test) between children in mainstream classes and children with learning disabilities in special education classes in government primary schools. A total of 100 primary school children (50 children from mainstream classes and 50 children from special education classes) matched in age were recruited in this cross-sectional comparative study. The testability was determined by the percentage of children who were able to give reliable respond as required by the respective tests. 'Unable to test' was defined as inappropriate response or uncooperative despite best efforts of the screener. The testability of the modified ETDRS, Butterfly stereo test and Ishihara test for respective visual function tests were found lower among children in special education classes ( P learning disabilities. Modifications of vision testing procedures are essential for children with learning disabilities.

Poverty and Brain Development in Children: Implications for Learning

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Dike, Victor E.

2017-01-01

Debates on the effect of poverty on brain development in children and its implications for learning have been raging for decades. Research suggests that poverty affects brain development in children and that the implications for learning are more compelling today given the attention the issue has attracted. For instance, studies in the fields of…

Live Action: Can Young Children Learn Verbs from Video?

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Roseberry, Sarah; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Parish-Morris, Julia; Golinkoff, Roberta M.

2009-01-01

The availability of educational programming aimed at infants and toddlers is increasing, yet the effect of video on language acquisition remains unclear. Three studies of 96 children aged 30-42 months investigated their ability to learn verbs from video. Study 1 asked whether children could learn verbs from video when supported by live social…

Untrivial Pursuit: Measuring Motor Procedures Learning in Children with Autism.

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Sparaci, Laura; Formica, Domenico; Lasorsa, Francesca Romana; Mazzone, Luigi; Valeri, Giovanni; Vicari, Stefano

2015-08-01

Numerous studies have underscored prevalence of motor impairments in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but only few of them have analyzed motor strategies exploited by ASD children when learning a new motor procedure. To evaluate motor procedure learning and performance strategies in both ASD and typically developing (TD) children, we built a virtual pursuit rotor (VPR) task, requiring tracking a moving target on a computer screen using a digitalized pen and tablet. Procedural learning was measured as increased time on target (TT) across blocks of trials on the same day and consolidation was assessed after a 24-hour rest. The program and the experimental setting (evaluated in a first experiment considering two groups of TD children) allowed also measures of continuous time on target (CTT), distance from target (DT) and distance from path (DP), as well as 2D reconstructions of children's trajectories. Results showed that the VPR was harder for children with ASD than for TD controls matched for chronological age and intelligence quotient, but both groups displayed comparable motor procedure learning (i.e., similarly incremented their TT). However, closer analysis of CTT, DT, and DP as well as 2D trajectories, showed different motor performance strategies in ASD, highlighting difficulties in overall actions planning. Data underscore the need for deeper investigations of motor strategies exploited by children with ASD when learning a new motor procedure. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Influence of additional language learning on first language learning in children with language disorders.

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To, Carol K S; Law, Thomas; Li, Xin-xin

2012-01-01

Multilingualism can bring about various positive outcomes to typically developing children. Its effect on children with language difficulties is not yet clear. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of multilingual learning as a medium of instruction (MOI) on first language (L1) acquisition of children with language disorders (LD). Nineteen Cantonese-speaking students aged 5;8-6;8 who were diagnosed with LD were recruited from a school that used Putonghua (an alternative Chinese dialect) as the MOI when learning Chinese language and were compared with 18 age-and-gender-matched Cantonese-speaking students with LD from a school that used Cantonese as the MOI when learning Chinese language. All the students also learned English (L2) as a subject at school. Proficiency in Cantonese was tested at the beginning and the end of the semester in Grade One in terms of: (1) grammar, (2) expressive vocabulary, (3) auditory textual comprehension, (4) word definition and (5) narration. Mixed-model ANOVAs revealed an effect of time on language proficiency indicating positive gains in both groups. Interaction effects between time and group were not significant. There was a trend that children learning Putonghua showed slightly more improvement in auditory textual comprehension. Proficiency gains were similar across groups. The study found no evidence that a multilingual learning environment hinders the language proficiency in L1 in students who have LD. © 2011 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Structure and Strategies in Children's Educational Television: The Roles of Program Type and Learning Strategies in Children's Learning

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Linebarger, Deborah L.; Piotrowski, Jessica Taylor

2010-01-01

Educational TV has been consistently linked to children's learning. In this research, educational TV characteristics were identified, coded, and tested for their influence on children's program-specific comprehension and vocabulary outcomes. Study 1 details a content analysis of TV features including a program's macrostructure (i.e., narrative or…

Prevalence and Patterns of Learning Disabilities in School Children.

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Padhy, Susanta Kumar; Goel, Sonu; Das, Shyam Sinder; Sarkar, Siddharth; Sharma, Vijaylaxmi; Panigrahi, Mahima

2016-04-01

To assess the prevalence and patterns of learning disabilities (LD) in school going children in a northern city of India. The present cross-sectional study comprised of three-staged screening procedure for assessing learning disabilities of 3rd and 4th grade students studying in government schools. The first stage comprised of the teacher identifying at-risk student. In the second stage, teachers assessed at-risk students using Specific Learning Disability-Screening Questionnaire (SLD-SQ). The third stage comprised of assessment of the screen positive students using Brigance Diagnostic Inventory (BDI) part of NIMHANS Index of Specific Learning Disabilities for identifying the cases of LD. A total of 1211 (33.6%) children out of the total screened (n = 3600) were identified as at-risk by the teachers at the first stage. Of them, 360 were found to screen positive on the second stage using SLD-SQ. The most common deficits were missing out words or sentences while reading, misplacing letters or words while reading or writing, and making frequent mistake in spelling while writing or reading. Of these, 108 children were confirmed to have learning disability on the third stage using BDI, which represented 3.08% of the total population. Learning disability is an important concern in young school aged children. Early identification of such students can help in early institution of intervention and suitable modifications in teaching techniques.

Tracking orthographic learning in children with different types of dyslexia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hua-Chen eWang

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Previous studies have found that children with reading difficulties need more exposures to acquire the representations needed to support fluent reading than typically developing readers (e.g., Ehri & Saltmarsh, 1995. Building on existing orthographic learning paradigms, we report on an investigation of orthographic learning in poor readers using a new learning task tracking both the accuracy (untimed exposure duration and fluency (200ms exposure duration of learning novel words over trials. In study 1, we used the paradigm to examine orthographic learning in children with specific poor reader profiles (9 with a surface profile, 9 a phonological profile and 9 age-matched controls. Both profiles showed improvement over the learning cycles, but the children with surface profile showed impaired orthographic learning in spelling and orthographic choice tasks. Study 2 explored predictors of orthographic learning in a group of 91 poor readers using the same outcome measures as in Study 1. Consistent with earlier findings in typically developing readers, phonological decoding skill predicted orthographic learning. Moreover, orthographic knowledge significantly predicted orthographic learning over and beyond phonological decoding. The two studies provide insights into how poor readers learn novel words, and how their learning process may be compromised by less proficient orthographic and/or phonological skills.

Short-term memory, executive control, and children's route learning

OpenAIRE

Purser, H. R.; Farran, E. K.; Courbois, Y.; Lemahieu, A.; Mellier, D.; Sockeel, P.; Blades, M.

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate route-learning ability in 67 children aged 5 to 11years and to relate route-learning performance to the components of Baddeley's model of working memory. Children carried out tasks that included measures of verbal and visuospatial short-term memory and executive control and also measures of verbal and visuospatial long-term memory; the route-learning task was conducted using a maze in a virtual environment. In contrast to previous research, correlation...

Short-Term Memory, Executive Control, and Children's Route Learning

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Purser, Harry R. M.; Farran, Emily K.; Courbois, Yannick; Lemahieu, Axelle; Mellier, Daniel; Sockeel, Pascal; Blades, Mark

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate route-learning ability in 67 children aged 5 to 11 years and to relate route-learning performance to the components of Baddeley's model of working memory. Children carried out tasks that included measures of verbal and visuospatial short-term memory and executive control and also measures of verbal and…

Auditory access, language access, and implicit sequence learning in deaf children.

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Hall, Matthew L; Eigsti, Inge-Marie; Bortfeld, Heather; Lillo-Martin, Diane

2018-05-01

Developmental psychology plays a central role in shaping evidence-based best practices for prelingually deaf children. The Auditory Scaffolding Hypothesis (Conway et al., 2009) asserts that a lack of auditory stimulation in deaf children leads to impoverished implicit sequence learning abilities, measured via an artificial grammar learning (AGL) task. However, prior research is confounded by a lack of both auditory and language input. The current study examines implicit learning in deaf children who were (Deaf native signers) or were not (oral cochlear implant users) exposed to language from birth, and in hearing children, using both AGL and Serial Reaction Time (SRT) tasks. Neither deaf nor hearing children across the three groups show evidence of implicit learning on the AGL task, but all three groups show robust implicit learning on the SRT task. These findings argue against the Auditory Scaffolding Hypothesis, and suggest that implicit sequence learning may be resilient to both auditory and language deprivation, within the tested limits. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/EeqfQqlVHLI [Correction added on 07 August 2017, after first online publication: The video abstract link was added.]. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Building Knowledge Structures by Testing Helps Children With Mathematical Learning Difficulty.

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Zhang, Yiyun; Zhou, Xinlin

2016-01-01

Mathematical learning difficulty (MLD) is prevalent in the development of mathematical abilities. Previous interventions for children with MLD have focused on number sense or basic mathematical skills. This study investigated whether mathematical performance of fifth grade children with MLD could be improved by developing knowledge structures by testing using a web-based curriculum learning system. A total of 142 children with MLD were recruited; half of the children were in the experimental group (using the system), and the other half were in the control group (not using the system). The children were encouraged to use the web-based learning system at home for at least a 15-min session, at least once a week, for one and a half months. The mean accumulated time of testing on the system for children in the experimental group was 56.2 min. Children in the experimental group had significantly higher scores on their final mathematical examination compared to the control group. The results suggest that web-based curriculum learning through testing that promotes the building of knowledge structures for a mathematical course was helpful for children with MLD. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2014.

Emotional false memories in children with learning disabilities.

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Mirandola, Chiara; Losito, Nunzia; Ghetti, Simona; Cornoldi, Cesare

2014-02-01

Research has shown that children with learning disabilities (LD) are less prone to evince associative illusions of memory as a result of impairments in their ability to engage in semantic processing. However, it is unclear whether this observation is true for scripted life events, especially if they include emotional content, or across a broad spectrum of learning disabilities. The present study addressed these issues by assessing recognition memory for script-like information in children with nonverbal learning disability (NLD), children with dyslexia, and typically developing children (N=51). Participants viewed photographs about 8 common events (e.g., family dinner), and embedded in each episode was either a negative or a neutral consequence of an unseen action. Children's memory was then tested on a yes/no recognition task that included old and new photographs. Results showed that the three groups performed similarly in recognizing target photographs, but exhibited differences in memory errors. Compared to other groups, children with NLD were more likely to falsely recognize photographs that depicted an unseen cause of an emotional seen event and associated more "Remember" responses to these errors. Children with dyslexia were equally likely to falsely recognize both unseen causes of seen photographs and photographs generally consistent with the script, whereas the other participant groups were more likely to falsely recognize unseen causes rather than script-consistent distractors. Results are interpreted in terms of mechanisms underlying false memories' formation in different clinical populations of children with LD. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Written Narratives of Normal and Learning Disabled Children.

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Johnson, Doris J.; Grant, James O.

1989-01-01

Writing samples of 295 primary school children improved in productivity, syntax, and level of abstraction from grade one through three. The writing of learning-disabled children who were matched with average reading ability primary-school children indicated no significant differences in productivity, but problems in syntax (especially morphology),…

N400 Response Indexes Word Learning from Linguistic Context in Children

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Abel, Alyson D.; Schneider, Julie; Maguire, Mandy J

2018-01-01

Word learning from linguistic context is essential for vocabulary growth from grade school onward; however, little is known about the mechanisms underlying successful word learning in children. Current methods for studying word learning development require children to identify the meaning of the word after each exposure, a method that interacts…

Testing Confounds to a Developmental Theory of Children's Learning from Television.

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Lometti, Guy E.

Children's learning from television was studied in 343 fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students who viewed an edited version of a television program and took a posttest. It was hypothesized that children would learn more plot-relevant information (central learning material) as they moved from concrete operational to formal operational…

Psychological Problems of Children with Learning Difficulties.

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Shaughnessy, Michael F.; Scott, Patricia Carol

The paper presents tips for parents of children with learning problems. It describes the emotional side effects of low achievement which may include low self-esteem, clinical depression, "learned helplessness," suicidal ideation, acting out behavior, low frustration tolerance, guilt feelings, interpersonal problems, withdrawal, running away,…

Structure and strategies in children's educational television: the roles of program type and learning strategies in children's learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Linebarger, Deborah L; Piotrowski, Jessica Taylor

2010-01-01

Educational TV has been consistently linked to children's learning. In this research, educational TV characteristics were identified, coded, and tested for their influence on children's program-specific comprehension and vocabulary outcomes. Study 1 details a content analysis of TV features including a program's macrostructure (i.e., narrative or expository) and learning strategies embedded in the macrostructure that support learning in print-based contexts. In Study 2, regression analyses were used to predict outcomes involving 71 second and third graders (average age=7.63 years). Strategies were categorized as organizing, rehearsing, elaborating, or affective in function. Outcomes were uniformly higher for narrative macrostructures. Strategies used in narratives predicted relatively homogenous relations across outcomes, whereas strategies in expositories predicted quite heterogeneous relations across outcomes. © 2010 The Authors. Child Development © 2010 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Orthographic learning in children with isolated and combined reading and spelling deficits.

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Mehlhase, Heike; Bakos, Sarolta; Landerl, Karin; Schulte-Körne, Gerd; Moll, Kristina

2018-05-07

Dissociations between reading and spelling problems are likely to be associated with different underlying cognitive deficits, and with different deficits in orthographic learning. In order to understand these differences, the current study examined orthographic learning using a printed-word learning paradigm. Children (4th grade) with isolated reading, isolated spelling and combined reading and spelling problems were compared to children with age appropriate reading and spelling skills on their performance during learning novel words and symbols (non-verbal control condition), and during immediate and delayed reading and spelling recall tasks. No group differences occurred in the non-verbal control condition. In the verbal condition, initial learning was intact in all groups, but differences occurred during recall tasks. Children with reading fluency deficits showed slower reading times, while children with spelling deficits were less accurate, both in reading and spelling recall. Children with isolated spelling problems showed no difficulties in immediate spelling recall, but had problems in remembering the spellings 2 hours later. The results suggest that different orthographic learning deficits underlie reading fluency and spelling problems: Children with isolated reading fluency deficits have no difficulties in building-up orthographic representations, but access to these representations is slowed down while children with isolated spelling deficits have problems in storing precise orthographic representations in long-term memory.

A Learning Center on the Lever for Young Children.

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Keislar, Evan R.; Luckenbill, Maryann

This document describes a project designed to explore the possibilities of children's learning in mechanics. The principle of the lever, one example of a simple machine, was used in the form of a balance toy. The apparatus was set up as a game in a specially devised learning center. The children made non-verbal predictions as to which way the bar…

Learning trajectories for speech motor performance in children with specific language impairment.

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Richtsmeier, Peter T; Goffman, Lisa

2015-01-01

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) often perform below expected levels, including on tests of motor skill and in learning tasks, particularly procedural learning. In this experiment we examined the possibility that children with SLI might also have a motor learning deficit. Twelve children with SLI and thirteen children with typical development (TD) produced complex nonwords in an imitation task. Productions were collected across three blocks, with the first and second blocks on the same day and the third block one week later. Children's lip movements while producing the nonwords were recorded using an Optotrak camera system. Movements were then analyzed for production duration and stability. Movement analyses indicated that both groups of children produced shorter productions in later blocks (corroborated by an acoustic analysis), and the rate of change was comparable for the TD and SLI groups. A nonsignificant trend for more stable productions was also observed in both groups. SLI is regularly accompanied by a motor deficit, and this study does not dispute that. However, children with SLI learned to make more efficient productions at a rate similar to their peers with TD, revealing some modification of the motor deficit associated with SLI. The reader will learn about deficits commonly associated with specific language impairment (SLI) that often occur alongside the hallmark language deficit. The authors present an experiment showing that children with SLI improved speech motor performance at a similar rate compared to typically developing children. The implication is that speech motor learning is not impaired in children with SLI. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Memory Processes in Learning Disability Subtypes of Children Born Preterm

OpenAIRE

McCoy, Thomasin E.; Conrad, Amy L.; Richman, Lynn C.; Nopoulos, Peg C.; Bell, Edward F.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate immediate auditory and visual memory processes in learning disability subtypes of 40 children born preterm. Three subgroups of children were examined: (a) primary language disability group (n = 13), (b) perceptual-motor disability group (n = 14), and (c) no learning disability diagnosis group without identified language or perceptual-motor learning disability (n = 13). Between-group comparisons indicate no significant differences in immediate auditory...

Do Multimedia Applications Benefit Learning-Disabled Children?

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Raja, B. William Dharma; Kumar, S. Praveen

2010-01-01

This paper focusses on the need and benefit of using multimedia applications to cater to the needs of children with learning disabilities. The children with special educational needs found in various schools may face difficulties in acquiring academic skills such as reading, spelling, writing, speaking, understanding, listening, thinking or…

The School Business Official: Ten Habits You'll Need To Succeed.

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Giambrone, William, Jr.

2001-01-01

Describes 10 habits school business officials need to succeed: organization, time management, delegation, planning, collaboration, personal development, creativity, empathy, ethos, and leadership. Based on book "The School Business Official: Ten Habits You'll Need To Succeed," published by the Pennsylvania Association of School Business…

Empirical learning of children at kindergartens

Science.gov (United States)

Valovičová, Ľubomíra; Sollárová, Eva

2017-01-01

In the report we propose some results of psychology research, associated with development of kindergarten children's creativity, which in the course of one school year in kindergarten completed activities related to physics. Experience shows that the children at this evolution stage are not only capable of but also interested in discovering and getting to know new things. To this end, it is needed to motivate children and enable them to discover the beauty of physics. One possibility is to create educational activities for kindergarten children. In such activities children can investigate, discover, and indirectly learn physics. The goal is to develop physical thinking, natural sciences knowledge, and their personality and intellectual potential. In realization of some of them children practice their motoric and logical thinking as well as some skills.

Consulting Young Children about Barriers and Supports to Learning

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Georgeson, Jan; Porter, Jill; Daniels, Harry; Feiler, Anthony

2014-01-01

From consideration of children's rights in general and equal opportunities for disabled children in particular, it is important to consult children about barriers and supports to learning and participation. Finding appropriate and feasible ways, however, to incorporate this into educational programmes for younger children can present challenges.…

Learning More than Expected: The Influence of Teachers' Attitudes on Children's Learning Outcomes

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Youn, Minjong

2016-01-01

This study employed the concept of teachers' sense of responsibility for students' learning to examine the extent to which the gap in math learning growth is reduced and whether such attitudes can improve children's learning outcomes to a degree that is above and beyond their expected achievement relative to their initial academic skills. Analysis…

Children's learning of number words in an indigenous farming-foraging group.

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Piantadosi, Steven T; Jara-Ettinger, Julian; Gibson, Edward

2014-07-01

We show that children in the Tsimane', a farming-foraging group in the Bolivian rain-forest, learn number words along a similar developmental trajectory to children from industrialized countries. Tsimane' children successively acquire the first three or four number words before fully learning how counting works. However, their learning is substantially delayed relative to children from the United States, Russia, and Japan. The presence of a similar developmental trajectory likely indicates that the incremental stages of numerical knowledge - but not their timing - reflect a fundamental property of number concept acquisition which is relatively independent of language, culture, age, and early education. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Motor learning and working memory in children born preterm: a systematic review.

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Jongbloed-Pereboom, Marjolein; Janssen, Anjo J W M; Steenbergen, Bert; Nijhuis-van der Sanden, Maria W G

2012-04-01

Children born preterm have a higher risk for developing motor, cognitive, and behavioral problems. Motor problems can occur in combination with working memory problems, and working memory is important for explicit learning of motor skills. The relation between motor learning and working memory has never been reviewed. The goal of this review was to provide an overview of motor learning, visual working memory and the role of working memory on motor learning in preterm children. A systematic review conducted in four databases identified 38 relevant articles, which were evaluated for methodological quality. Only 4 of 38 articles discussed motor learning in preterm children. Thirty-four studies reported on visual working memory; preterm birth affected performance on visual working memory tests. Information regarding motor learning and the role of working memory on the different components of motor learning was not available. Future research should address this issue. Insight in the relation between motor learning and visual working memory may contribute to the development of evidence based intervention programs for children born preterm. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for children with specific learning disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, May Loong; Ho, Jacqueline J; Teh, Keng Hwang

2016-09-28

About 5% of school children have a specific learning disorder, defined as unexpected failure to acquire adequate abilities in reading, writing or mathematics that is not a result of reduced intellectual ability, inadequate teaching or social deprivation. Of these events, 80% are reading disorders. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), in particular, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which normally are abundant in the brain and in the retina, are important for learning. Some children with specific learning disorders have been found to be deficient in these PUFAs, and it is argued that supplementation of PUFAs may help these children improve their learning abilities. 1. To assess effects on learning outcomes of supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for children with specific learning disorders.2. To determine whether adverse effects of supplementation of PUFAs are reported in these children. In November 2015, we searched CENTRAL, Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, 10 other databases and two trials registers. We also searched the reference lists of relevant articles. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-RCTs comparing PUFAs with placebo or no treatment in children younger than 18 years with specific learning disabilities, as diagnosed in accordance with the fifth (or earlier) edition of theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), or the 10th (or earlier) revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) or equivalent criteria. We included children with coexisting developmental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism. Two review authors (MLT and KHT) independently screened the titles and abstracts of articles identified by the search and eliminated all studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria. We contacted study authors to ask for missing information and clarification, when needed. We used the GRADE approach to assess the quality of evidence. Two small studies

Conductive Hearing Loss in Autistic, Learning-Disabled, and Normal Children.

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Smith, Donald E. P.; And Others

1988-01-01

Repeated impedance measures were given over five weeks to 11 autistic, 20 learning-disabled, and 20 normal children. A repeated measures analysis of variance led to the conclusion that fluctuating, negative middle ear pressure greater than normal characterizes both autistic and learning-disabled children with the more abnormal pressures typical in…

Preschool children's Collaborative Science Learning Scaffolded by Tablets

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Fridberg, Marie; Thulin, Susanne; Redfors, Andreas

2017-06-01

This paper reports on a project aiming to extend the current understanding of how emerging technologies, i.e. tablets, can be used in preschools to support collaborative learning of real-life science phenomena. The potential of tablets to support collaborative inquiry-based science learning and reflective thinking in preschool is investigated through the analysis of teacher-led activities on science, including children making timelapse photography and Slowmation movies. A qualitative analysis of verbal communication during different learning contexts gives rise to a number of categories that distinguish and identify different themes of the discussion. In this study, groups of children work with phase changes of water. We report enhanced and focused reasoning about this science phenomenon in situations where timelapse movies are used to stimulate recall. Furthermore, we show that children communicate in a more advanced manner about the phenomenon, and they focus more readily on problem solving when active in experimentation or Slowmation producing contexts.

Design, Implementation and Evaluation of a Learning Object that Supports the Mathematics Learning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Munoz

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Information technologies have been widely used for entertainment and learning purposes by children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD. Nonetheless, learning objects aiming at specific skills development in children with ASD require both a well bounded learning domain and a user-centered design process, considering skill levels of the users and the local geographical context and language. “Proyect@ Matemáticas” is a multi-touch based app designed for developing pre-calculus and functional mathematical skills in children with ASD, according to the Chilean regulations of learning goals for children with special educational necessities. This paper presents the User-centered design process conducted in order to develop the learning object, which included the evaluation by 15 experts in special educational needs, testing by 10 ASD-diagnosed children with different functional levels, and a multidisciplinary development team that also included a graphic designer diagnosed with ASD of high functionality. The development process yields to a validated learning object in terms of interactivity, design, engagement, and usability, from the point of view of the experts, and successful usage tests with ASD diagnosed children in terms of performance and achievement of learning outcomes. The application is currently available for download in the Google Play store for free, and currently has more than 15,000 downloads and an average rating of 4.2 out of 5 points.

Do Children with Developmental Dyslexia Have Impairments in Implicit Learning?

Science.gov (United States)

Pavlidou, Elpis V.; Kelly, M. Louise; Williams, Joanne M.

2010-01-01

We explored implicit learning in a group of typically developing and developmental dyslexic primary school children (9-12y) using a modified artificial grammar learning task. Performance was calculated using two measures of performance: a perfect free recall (PFR) score and a grammaticality judgment score. Both groups of children required the same…

Unanticipated Effects of Children with Learning Disabilities on Their Families

Science.gov (United States)

Dyson, Lily

2010-01-01

This study examined the unanticipated effects that children with learning disabilities have on the life of their families. Eleven parents of students aged 8 to 16 years old participated in two separate focus group interviews. Findings showed that children with learning disabilities had a range of effects on their families. These included family…

Helping Children Learn Vocabulary during Computer-Assisted Oral Reading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregory Aist

2002-04-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses an indispensable skill using a unique method to teach a critical component: helping children learn to read by using computer-assisted oral reading to help children learn vocabulary. We build on Project LISTEN’s Reading Tutor, a computer program that adapts automatic speech recognition to listen to children read aloud, and helps them learn to read (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~listen. To learn a word from reading with the Reading Tutor, students must encounter the word and learn the meaning of the word in context. We modified the Reading Tutor first to help students encounter new words and then to help them learn the meanings of new words. We then compared the Reading Tutor to classroom instruction and to human-assisted oral reading as part of a yearlong study with 144 second and third graders. The result: Second graders did about the same on word comprehension in all three conditions. However, third graders who read with the 1999 Reading Tutor, modified as described in this paper, performed statistically significantly better than other third graders in a classroom control on word comprehension gains – and even comparably with other third graders who read one-on-one with human tutors.

Children with Learning Disabilities. Facts for Families. Number 16

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American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (NJ1), 2011

2011-01-01

Parents are often worried when their child has learning problems in school. There are many reasons for school failure, but a common one is a specific learning disability. Children with learning disabilities can have intelligence in the normal range but the specific learning disability may make teachers and parents concerned about their general…

Children's Learning from Touch Screens: A Dual Representation perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly Jean Sheehan

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Parents and educators often expect that children will learn from touch screen devices, such as during joint e-book reading. Therefore an essential question is whether young children understand that the touch screen can be a symbolic medium – that entities represented on the touch screen can refer to entities in the real world. Research on symbolic development suggests that symbolic understanding requires that children develop dual representational abilities, meaning children need to appreciate that a symbol is an object in itself (i.e., picture of a dog while also being a representation of something else (i.e., the real dog. Drawing on classic research on symbols and new research on children’s learning from touch screens, we offer the perspective that children’s ability to learn from the touch screen as a symbolic medium depends on the effect of interactivity on children’s developing dual representational abilities. Although previous research on dual representation suggests the interactive nature of the touch screen might make it difficult for young children to use as a symbolic medium, the unique interactive affordances may help alleviate this difficulty. More research needs to investigate how the interactivity of the touch screen affects children’s ability to connect the symbols on the screen to the real world. Given the interactive nature of the touch screen, researchers and educators should consider both the affordances of the touch screen as well as young children’s cognitive abilities when assessing whether young children can learn from it as a symbolic medium.

How European American and Taiwanese Mothers Talk to Their Children about Learning

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Li, Jin; Fung, Heidi; Bakeman, Roger; Rae, Katharine; Wei, Wanchun

2014-01-01

Little cross-cultural research exists on parental socialization of children's learning beliefs. The current study compared 218 conversations between European American and Taiwanese mothers and children (6-10 years) about good and poor learning. The findings support well-documented cultural differences in learning beliefs. European Americans…

A theory of causal learning in children: Causal maps and Bayes nets

OpenAIRE

Gopnik, A; Glymour, C; Sobel, D M; Schulz, L E; Kushnir, T; Danks, D

2004-01-01

The authors outline a cognitive and computational account of causal learning in children. They propose that children use specialized cognitive systems that allow them to recover an accurate "causal map" of the world: an abstract, coherent, learned representation of the causal relations among events. This kind of knowledge can be perspicuously understood in terms of the formalism of directed graphical causal models, or Bayes nets. Children's causal learning and inference may involve computatio...

Word learning in deaf children with cochlear implants: effects of early auditory experience.

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Houston, Derek M; Stewart, Jessica; Moberly, Aaron; Hollich, George; Miyamoto, Richard T

2012-05-01

Word-learning skills were tested in normal-hearing 12- to 40-month-olds and in deaf 22- to 40-month-olds 12 to 18 months after cochlear implantation. Using the Intermodal Preferential Looking Paradigm (IPLP), children were tested for their ability to learn two novel-word/novel-object pairings. Normal-hearing children demonstrated learning on this task at approximately 18 months of age and older. For deaf children, performance on this task was significantly correlated with early auditory experience: Children whose cochlear implants were switched on by 14 months of age or who had relatively more hearing before implantation demonstrated learning in this task, but later implanted profoundly deaf children did not. Performance on this task also correlated with later measures of vocabulary size. Taken together, these findings suggest that early auditory experience facilitates word learning and that the IPLP may be useful for identifying children who may be at high risk for poor vocabulary development. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Will inclusive growth succeed? | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2017-05-15

May 15, 2017 ... Parmar at SEWA Gitanjali recycling factory in New Delhi, India ... And succeed they did: in the last 12 years, the country's poverty rate dropped ... the advantages of enhancing women's access to opportunities and services.

Statistical learning and auditory processing in children with music training: An ERP study.

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Mandikal Vasuki, Pragati Rao; Sharma, Mridula; Ibrahim, Ronny; Arciuli, Joanne

2017-07-01

The question whether musical training is associated with enhanced auditory and cognitive abilities in children is of considerable interest. In the present study, we compared children with music training versus those without music training across a range of auditory and cognitive measures, including the ability to detect implicitly statistical regularities in input (statistical learning). Statistical learning of regularities embedded in auditory and visual stimuli was measured in musically trained and age-matched untrained children between the ages of 9-11years. In addition to collecting behavioural measures, we recorded electrophysiological measures to obtain an online measure of segmentation during the statistical learning tasks. Musically trained children showed better performance on melody discrimination, rhythm discrimination, frequency discrimination, and auditory statistical learning. Furthermore, grand-averaged ERPs showed that triplet onset (initial stimulus) elicited larger responses in the musically trained children during both auditory and visual statistical learning tasks. In addition, children's music skills were associated with performance on auditory and visual behavioural statistical learning tasks. Our data suggests that individual differences in musical skills are associated with children's ability to detect regularities. The ERP data suggest that musical training is associated with better encoding of both auditory and visual stimuli. Although causality must be explored in further research, these results may have implications for developing music-based remediation strategies for children with learning impairments. Copyright © 2017 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Working Memory Functioning in Children with Learning Disorders and Specific Language Impairment

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Schuchardt, Kirsten; Bockmann, Ann-Katrin; Bornemann, Galina; Maehler, Claudia

2013-01-01

Purpose: On the basis of Baddeley's working memory model (1986), we examined working memory functioning in children with learning disorders with and without specific language impairment (SLI). We pursued the question whether children with learning disorders exhibit similar working memory deficits as children with additional SLI. Method: In…

Using children's picture books for reflective learning in nurse education.

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Crawley, Josephine; Ditzel, Liz; Walton, Sue

2012-08-01

One way in which nursing students may build their practice is through reflective learning from stories. Stories in children's literature offer a special source of narratives that enable students to build empathy and to examine and reconstruct their personal concepts around human experience. Illustrated storybooks written for children are a particularly attractive teaching resource, as they tend to be short, interesting, colourful and easy to read. Yet, little has been written about using such books as a reflective learning tool for nursing students. In this article we describe how we use two children's books and McDrury and Alterio's (2002) 'Reflective Learning through Storytelling' model to educate first year nursing students about loss, grief and death.

Behavioural and neural basis of anomalous motor learning in children with autism.

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Marko, Mollie K; Crocetti, Deana; Hulst, Thomas; Donchin, Opher; Shadmehr, Reza; Mostofsky, Stewart H

2015-03-01

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder characterized by deficits in social and communication skills and repetitive and stereotyped interests and behaviours. Although not part of the diagnostic criteria, individuals with autism experience a host of motor impairments, potentially due to abnormalities in how they learn motor control throughout development. Here, we used behavioural techniques to quantify motor learning in autism spectrum disorder, and structural brain imaging to investigate the neural basis of that learning in the cerebellum. Twenty children with autism spectrum disorder and 20 typically developing control subjects, aged 8-12, made reaching movements while holding the handle of a robotic manipulandum. In random trials the reach was perturbed, resulting in errors that were sensed through vision and proprioception. The brain learned from these errors and altered the motor commands on the subsequent reach. We measured learning from error as a function of the sensory modality of that error, and found that children with autism spectrum disorder outperformed typically developing children when learning from errors that were sensed through proprioception, but underperformed typically developing children when learning from errors that were sensed through vision. Previous work had shown that this learning depends on the integrity of a region in the anterior cerebellum. Here we found that the anterior cerebellum, extending into lobule VI, and parts of lobule VIII were smaller than normal in children with autism spectrum disorder, with a volume that was predicted by the pattern of learning from visual and proprioceptive errors. We suggest that the abnormal patterns of motor learning in children with autism spectrum disorder, showing an increased sensitivity to proprioceptive error and a decreased sensitivity to visual error, may be associated with abnormalities in the cerebellum. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf

Minimal groups increase young children's motivation and learning on group-relevant tasks.

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Master, Allison; Walton, Gregory M

2013-01-01

Three experiments (N = 130) used a minimal group manipulation to show that just perceived membership in a social group boosts young children's motivation for and learning from group-relevant tasks. In Experiment 1, 4-year-old children assigned to a minimal "puzzles group" persisted longer on a challenging puzzle than children identified as the "puzzles child" or children in a control condition. Experiment 2 showed that this boost in motivation occurred only when the group was associated with the task. In Experiment 3, children assigned to a minimal group associated with word learning learned more words than children assigned an analogous individual identity. The studies demonstrate that fostering shared motivations may be a powerful means by which to shape young children's academic outcomes. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Heterogeneity in perceptual category learning by high functioning children with autism spectrum disorder.

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Mercado, Eduardo; Church, Barbara A; Coutinho, Mariana V C; Dovgopoly, Alexander; Lopata, Christopher J; Toomey, Jennifer A; Thomeer, Marcus L

2015-01-01

Previous research suggests that high functioning (HF) children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) sometimes have problems learning categories, but often appear to perform normally in categorization tasks. The deficits that individuals with ASD show when learning categories have been attributed to executive dysfunction, general deficits in implicit learning, atypical cognitive strategies, or abnormal perceptual biases and abilities. Several of these psychological explanations for category learning deficits have been associated with neural abnormalities such as cortical underconnectivity. The present study evaluated how well existing neurally based theories account for atypical perceptual category learning shown by HF children with ASD across multiple category learning tasks involving novel, abstract shapes. Consistent with earlier results, children's performances revealed two distinct patterns of learning and generalization associated with ASD: one was indistinguishable from performance in typically developing children; the other revealed dramatic impairments. These two patterns were evident regardless of training regimen or stimulus set. Surprisingly, some children with ASD showed both patterns. Simulations of perceptual category learning could account for the two observed patterns in terms of differences in neural plasticity. However, no current psychological or neural theory adequately explains why a child with ASD might show such large fluctuations in category learning ability across training conditions or stimulus sets.

Development of Social Learning in Infants and Young Children

OpenAIRE

Eydam, Angelique

2017-01-01

Social learning is one important way that children learn about the world. This thesis presents and discusses several current social learning theories, exploring how they explain different facets of social learning. In particular, I examined the naïve theory of rational action, the theory of natural pedagogy, the ideomotor approach to social and imitative learning, and the normative account of social learning. Each theory is reviewed on how it explains four facets of social learning: imitation...

Outdoor Learning: Supervision Is More than Watching Children Play

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Olsen, Heather; Thompson, Donna; Hudson, Susan

2011-01-01

Early childhood programs strive to provide good-quality care and education as young children develop their physical, emotional, social, and intellectual skills. In order to provide children with positive, developmentally appropriate learning opportunities, educators ensure the safety and security of children, indoors and outdoors. The outdoor…

Motor Skill Learning in Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabbard, Carl P.

The purpose of this article is to briefly describe schema theory and indicate its relevance to early childhood development, with specific reference to children's acquisition of motor skills. Schema theory proposes an explanation of how individuals learn and perform a seemingly endless variety of movements. According to Schmidt (1975), goal…

Risk Factors of Learning Disabilities in Chinese Children in Wuhan

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

BIN YAO; HAN-RONG WU

2003-01-01

Objective To investigate prevalence rate of learning disabilities (LD) in Chinese children, and to explore related risk factors, and to provide theoretical basis for preventing such disabilities.Methods One thousand and one hundred fifty one children were randomly selected in primary schools. According to criteria set by ICD-10, 118 children diagnosed as LD were classified into the study group. Four hundred and ninety one children were classified into the normal control group. Five hundred and forty two children were classified into the excellent control group. The study instruments included PRS (The pupil rating scale revised screening for learning disabilities), Conners' children behavior check-list taken by parents and YG-WR character check-list. Results The prevalence rate of LD in Chinese children was 10.3%. Significant differences were observed between LD and normally learning children, and between the LD group and the excellent group, in terms of scores of Conners' behavior check-list (P＜0.05). The study further showed that individual differences in character between the LD group and the control groups still existed even after controlling individual differences in age, IQ, and gender. Some possible causal explanations contributing to LD were improper teaching by parents, low educational level of the parents, and children's characteristics and social relationships. Conclusion These data underscore the fact that LD is a serious national public health problem in China. LD is resulted from a number of factors. Good studying and living environments should be created for LD children.

Findings from a Clinical Learning Needs Survey at Ireland's first children's hospice.

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Quinn, Claire; Hillis, Rowan

2015-12-01

Caring for children with life-limiting conditions places exceptional demands on health professionals. Staff require the optimal skills and expertise necessary to provide the highest quality of care and to achieve this it is essential to understand their learning requirements. The aim is to share the main findings from a Clinical Learning Needs Survey conducted at LauraLynn, currently Ireland's only children's hospice. To date no other Irish service has conducted a formal identification of professional learning and development needs specific to the Irish context. The findings from the study assist workforce planning by providing a glimpse into the immediate study needs of staff working in a children's palliative care setting. The study had two main aims: a) Assist clinical staff within one organisation to identify their own professional learning priorities in children's palliative care and b) Inform the design and delivery of a responsive suite of workshops, programmes and study sessions for children's palliative care. The study identified the key learning needs as end-of-life care, palliative emergencies, communication skill development and bereavement support. These findings are similar to those found internationally and demonstrate the commitment of a new organisation to ensure that specific employee learning requirements are met if the organisation and wider specialty of Irish children's palliative care is to continue its evolution.

Verbal Analogical Reasoning in Children with Language-Learning Disabilities.

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Masterson, Julie J.; And Others

1993-01-01

Children (ages 9-13) with language-learning disabilities were administered 5 types of verbal analogies: synonyms, antonyms, linear order, category membership, and functional relationship. Subjects performed worse than mental age-matched children on all types of analogies and performed worse than language age-matched children on all types except…

Distributional learning aids linguistic category formation in school-age children.

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Hall, Jessica; Owen VAN Horne, Amanda; Farmer, Thomas

2018-05-01

The goal of this study was to determine if typically developing children could form grammatical categories from distributional information alone. Twenty-seven children aged six to nine listened to an artificial grammar which contained strategic gaps in its distribution. At test, we compared how children rated novel sentences that fit the grammar to sentences that were ungrammatical. Sentences could be distinguished only through the formation of categories of words with shared distributional properties. Children's ratings revealed that they could discriminate grammatical and ungrammatical sentences. These data lend support to the hypothesis that distributional learning is a potential mechanism for learning grammatical categories in a first language.

Less is More: How manipulative features affect children's learning from picture books.

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Tare, Medha; Chiong, Cynthia; Ganea, Patricia; Deloache, Judy

2010-09-01

Picture books are ubiquitous in young children's lives and are assumed to support children's acquisition of information about the world. Given their importance, relatively little research has directly examined children's learning from picture books. We report two studies examining children's acquisition of labels and facts from picture books that vary on two dimensions: iconicity of the pictures and presence of manipulative features (or "pop-ups"). In Study 1, 20-month-old children generalized novel labels less well when taught from a book with manipulative features than from standard picture books without such elements. In Study 2, 30- and 36-month-old children learned fewer facts when taught from a manipulative picture book with drawings than from a standard picture book with realistic images and no manipulative features. The results of the two studies indicate that children's learning from picture books is facilitated by realistic illustrations, but impeded by manipulative features.

Families' engagement with young children's science and technology learning at home

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Robin L.; Schaverien, Lynette

2001-07-01

There is accumulating evidence of the worth of involving families in young children's learning in informal contexts. By exploring families' engagement with their children's science and technology learning at home over a 6-month period, the present investigation sought to illuminate both the nature and the educational significance of what families do. Initially, in order to seed scientific and technological inquiry in homes, kindergarten and year-one children investigated flashlights with family members at school. Each day, equipment was available to take home. Using established anthropological methods, one of the researchers investigated children's further inquiries beyond the classroom in diverse ways; for example, by visiting homes and conversing via telephone and facsimile. The findings showed that families engaged with children's inquiries at home in many ways - by providing resources, conversing, and investigating collaboratively with children. Moreover, when families pursued inquiries together and when children conducted their own sustained intellectual searches, children's ideas deepened. Such evidence of the educational significance of what families do suggests that early science and technology education might be made more effective if it were aligned with the ways people learn together outside formal institutions.

Can Executive Functions Help to Understand Children with Mathematical Learning Disorders and to Improve Instruction?

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Desoete, Annemie; De Weerdt, Frauke

2013-01-01

Working memory, inhibition and naming speed was assessed in 22 children with mathematical learning disorders (MD), 17 children with a reading learning disorder (RD), and 45 children without any learning problems between 8 and 12 years old. All subjects with learning disorders performed poorly on working memory tasks, providing evidence that they…

The Diagnostic Accuracy of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision for 9- to 12-Year-Old Learning Disabled Children.

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Gerry, David C.; And Others

1984-01-01

Two groups (learning disabled and normal) of 15 children were administered the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Considering abnormal or borderline profiles as indicative of learning disability was 93.3 percent accurate in discriminating between groups.…

Sequence Learning Under Uncertainty in Children: Self-Reflection vs. Self-Assertion.

Science.gov (United States)

Lange-Küttner, Christiane; Averbeck, Bruno B; Hirsch, Silvia V; Wießner, Isabel; Lamba, Nishtha

2012-01-01

We know that stochastic feedback impairs children's associative stimulus-response (S-R) learning (Crone et al., 2004a; Eppinger et al., 2009), but the impact of stochastic feedback on sequence learning that involves deductive reasoning has not been not tested so far. In the current study, 8- to 11-year-old children (N = 171) learned a sequence of four left and right button presses, LLRR, RRLL, LRLR, RLRL, LRRL, and RLLR, which needed to be deduced from feedback because no directional cues were given. One group of children experienced consistent feedback only (deterministic feedback, 100% correct). In this condition, green feedback on the screen indicated that the children had been right when they were right, and red feedback indicated that the children had been wrong when they were wrong. Another group of children experienced inconsistent feedback (stochastic feedback, 85% correct, 15% false), where in some trials, green feedback on the screen could signal that children were right when in fact they were wrong, and red feedback could indicate that they were wrong when in fact they had been right. Independently of age, children's sequence learning in the stochastic condition was initially much lower than in the deterministic condition, but increased gradually and improved with practice. Responses toward positive vs. negative feedback varied with age. Children were increasingly able to understand that they could have been wrong when feedback indicated they were right (self-reflection), but they remained unable to understand that they could have been right when feedback indicated they were wrong (self-assertion).

The relationship between gross motor skills and academic achievement in children with learning disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Westendorp, Marieke; Hartman, Esther; Houwen, Suzanne; Smith, Joanne; Visscher, Chris

2011-01-01

The present study compared the gross motor skills of 7- to 12-year-old children with learning disabilities (n = 104) with those of age-matched typically developing children (n = 104) using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2. Additionally, the specific relationships between subsets of gross motor skills and academic performance in reading, spelling, and mathematics were examined in children with learning disabilities. As expected, the children with learning disabilities scored poorer on both the locomotor and object-control subtests than their typically developing peers. Furthermore, in children with learning disabilities a specific relationship was observed between reading and locomotor skills and a trend was found for a relationship between mathematics and object-control skills: the larger children's learning lag, the poorer their motor skill scores. This study stresses the importance of specific interventions facilitating both motor and academic abilities. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding Impulsivity among Children with Specific Learning Disabilities in Inclusion Schools

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Al-Dababneh, Kholoud Adeeb; Al-Zboon, Eman K.

2018-01-01

Impulsive behavior is a characteristic of children with specific learning disabilities (SLD), and is related to learning ability. The present study aims to identify impulsivity behavior in children with SLD who attend inclusion schools, from their resource room teachers' perspectives. A 31-item questionnaire that addressed four subscales was…

Classroom Organization and Teacher Stress Predict Learning Motivation in Kindergarten Children

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Pakarinen, Eija; Kiuru, Noona; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Siekkinen, Martti; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2010-01-01

This study examined the extent to which observed teaching practices and self-reported teacher stress predict children's learning motivation and phonological awareness in kindergarten. The pre-reading skills of 1,268 children were measured at the beginning of their kindergarten year. Their learning motivation and phonological awareness were…

What Do Caregivers Notice and Value about How Children Learn through Play in a Children's Museum?

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Letourneau, Susan M.; Meisner, Robin; Neuwirth, Jessica L.; Sobel, David M.

2017-01-01

In two studies, Providence Children's Museum investigated caregivers' observations and perceptions of their children's play and learning at the museum. In the first, caregivers (N = 40) were interviewed about what they observed children doing, what they believed children were thinking about, and their own thoughts and actions while watching…

Helping Children/ Youth with RSD/ CRPS Succeed in School

Science.gov (United States)

... allowed to walk in the back of the classroom or in the hallway periodically without disruption to others to stretch and move for pain reduction ✔ Establish routines and schedules for learning and extracurricular activities ✔ Be ...

Succeeding with freemium

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Anna B.; Günzel-Jensen, Franziska

2017-01-01

. The purpose of this article is to highlight the key points for succeeding with the freemium business model in online digital business from a strategic point of view. Design/methodology/approach: The findings and recommendations derive from the study of online digital companies and applications, which either...... in an online digital business. Research limitations/implications: The research is limited to digital companies applying a freemium business model and offering their products and services online. Practical implications: The findings and recommendations can help new and existing companies first, to evaluate......Purpose: The freemium business model has recently become one of the most dominant business models in online markets. However, entrepreneurs and managers still have a limited understanding of why some companies using freemium business models become successful and sustainable while others do not...

TEACHING GEOGRAPHY TO CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES, IN THE EUROPEAN SCHOOLS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

IULIA ŞCHIOPU

2016-01-01

Full Text Available European Schools offer the opportunity to observe the differences between students and how attention towards the individual is needed. Backed up by a set of frameworks, such as Gestion Mentale, Neuro-linguistic Programming and thinkers such as Paulo Freire, the work of empowering the individual when a challenge is present is exemplified in the context of Geography. What makes a student succeed when the default method is proven challenging. There is no limit as to what methods could be applied as long as they are all guided by the lines of placing the student in a powerful spot: the spot where a challenge becomes a learning opportunity.

How Infants and Young Children Learn About Food: A Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manon Mura Paroche

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Early childhood is a critical time for establishing food preferences and dietary habits. In order for appropriate advice to be available to parents and healthcare professionals it is essential for researchers to understand the ways in which children learn about foods. This review summarizes the literature relating to the role played by known developmental learning processes in the establishment of early eating behavior, food preferences and general knowledge about food, and identifies gaps in our knowledge that remain to be explored. A systematic literature search identified 48 papers exploring how young children learn about food from the start of complementary feeding to 36 months of age. The majority of the papers focus on evaluative components of children's learning about food, such as their food preferences, liking and acceptance. A smaller number of papers focus on other aspects of what and how children learn about food, such as a food's origins or appropriate eating contexts. The review identified papers relating to four developmental learning processes: (1 Familiarization to a food through repeated exposure to its taste, texture or appearance. This was found to be an effective technique for learning about foods, especially for children at the younger end of our age range. (2 Observational learning of food choice. Imitation of others' eating behavior was also found to play an important role in the first years of life. (3 Associative learning through flavor-nutrient and flavor-flavor learning (FFL. Although the subject of much investigation, conditioning techniques were not found to play a major role in shaping the food preferences of infants in the post-weaning and toddler periods. (4 Categorization of foods. The direct effects of the ability to categorize foods have been little studied in this age group. However, the literature suggests that what infants are willing to consume depends on their ability to recognize items on their plate as

Learning to Learn: An Analysis of Early Learning Behaviours Demonstrated by Young Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Children with High/Low Mathematics Ability

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Pagliaro, Claudia M.; Kritzer, Karen L.

2010-01-01

Using a multiple case-study design, this study compares the early learning behaviours of young deaf/hard-of-hearing (d/hh) children with high/low mathematics ability (as defined by test score on the Test of Early Mathematics Ability-3). Children's simultaneous use of multiple learning behaviours was also examined as were contributing adult…

The comprehension skills of children learning English as an additional language.

Science.gov (United States)

Burgoyne, K; Kelly, J M; Whiteley, H E; Spooner, A

2009-12-01

Data from national test results suggests that children who are learning English as an additional language (EAL) experience relatively lower levels of educational attainment in comparison to their monolingual, English-speaking peers. The relative underachievement of children who are learning EAL demands that the literacy needs of this group are identified. To this end, this study aimed to explore the reading- and comprehension-related skills of a group of EAL learners. Data are reported from 92 Year 3 pupils, of whom 46 children are learning EAL. Children completed standardized measures of reading accuracy and comprehension, listening comprehension, and receptive and expressive vocabulary. Results indicate that many EAL learners experience difficulties in understanding written and spoken text. These comprehension difficulties are not related to decoding problems but are related to significantly lower levels of vocabulary knowledge experienced by this group. Many EAL learners experience significantly lower levels of English vocabulary knowledge which has a significant impact on their ability to understand written and spoken text. Greater emphasis on language development is therefore needed in the school curriculum to attempt to address the limited language skills of children learning EAL.

Learning Strategy Instruction Innovation Configuration

Science.gov (United States)

Schumaker, Jean B.

2011-01-01

One way of helping students with learning disabilities and other struggling students to be independent life-long learners is to teach them how to use learning strategies in efficient ways. Learning strategy instruction can provide students the opportunity to succeed in today's schools and meet rigorous standards, transforming ineffective learners…

Vicarious Learning and Reduction of Fear in Children via Adult and Child Models.

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Dunne, Güler; Askew, Chris

2017-06-01

Children can learn to fear stimuli vicariously, by observing adults' or peers' responses to them. Given that much of school-age children's time is typically spent with their peers, it is important to establish whether fear learning from peers is as effective or robust as learning from adults, and also whether peers can be successful positive models for reducing fear. During a vicarious fear learning procedure, children (6 to 10 years; N = 60) were shown images of novel animals together with images of adult or peer faces expressing fear. Later they saw their fear-paired animal again together with positive emotional adult or peer faces. Children's fear beliefs and avoidance for the animals increased following vicarious fear learning and decreased following positive vicarious counterconditioning. There was little evidence of differences in learning from adults and peers, demonstrating that for this age group peer models are effective models for both fear acquisition and reduction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Measuring Explicit Word Learning of Preschool Children: A Development Study.

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Kelley, Elizabeth Spencer

2017-08-15

The purpose of this article is to present preliminary results related to the development of a new measure of explicit word learning. The measure incorporated elements of explicit vocabulary instruction and dynamic assessment and was designed to be sensitive to differences in word learning skill and to be feasible for use in clinical settings. The explicit word learning measure included brief teaching trials and repeated fine-grained measurement of semantic knowledge and production of 3 novel words (2 verbs and 1 adjective). Preschool children (N = 23) completed the measure of explicit word learning; standardized, norm-referenced measures of expressive and receptive vocabulary; and an incidental word learning task. The measure of explicit word learning provided meaningful information about word learning. Performance on the explicit measure was related to existing vocabulary knowledge and incidental word learning. Findings from this development study indicate that further examination of the measure of explicit word learning is warranted. The measure may have the potential to identify children who are poor word learners. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5170738.

Civic Engagement and Organizational Learning Strategies for Student Success

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Tami L.; Mendez, Jesse P.

2014-01-01

Students succeed in college by engaging with faculty, peers, and the community. Institutional leaders can utilize organizational learning strategies to learn what works to support civic learning outcomes and student success.

Improving Learning Outcomes: The iPad and Preschool Children with Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Chmiliar, Linda

2017-01-01

The digital age has reached early childhood, and the use of touch screens by young children is common place. Research on the use of touch screen tablets with young children is becoming more prevalent; however, less information is available on the use of touch screen tablets to support young children with disabilities. Touch screen tablets may offer possibilities to preschool children with disabilities to participate in learning in a digital way. The iPad provides easy interaction on the touch screen and access to a multitude of engaging early learning applications. This paper summarizes a pilot study with 8 young children with disabilities included in a preschool classroom, who were given iPads to use in class and at home for a period of 21 weeks. Systematic observations, classroom assessments, and teacher and parent interviews documented the improvements in learning outcomes for each child in many areas including, but not limited to: shape and color recognition, letter recognition, and tracing letters throughout six research cycles.

How to Support Children with Mathematical Learning Disabilities Learning to Play an Instrument?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annemie Desoete

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, children with a mathematical learning disability (=14 and age-matched peers without learning disabilities (=14 as well as their parents and teachers were interviewed on how they experienced playing an instrument (guitar, drum, flute, violin, trombone, horn, and piano and on what helped them using a qualitative interactive interview with a flexible agenda to discover the interviewee’s own framework of meanings. Thematic analyses mentioned intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy as important. Some children with MLD were found to have a real musical talent and a very good musical ear and memory for sounds. However, all children with MLD seemed more dependent on the aid of parents, sibling, peers, and teachers. They had to study harder and needed more time to study, more practice, and a more structured approach.

Exploring Children's Passion for Learning in Six Domains

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Coleman, Laurence J.; Guo, Aige

2013-01-01

Passion for learning (PFL) in children is a phenomenon that is little understood. The experience of PFL was studied with phenomenological and qualitative modes of inquiry. Case studies of six domains (acting, reading, filmmaking, spelling, math, and preaching) describe how the passion developed using the voices of children and parents. Their…

The Uses of Hypnotherapy with Learning Disabled Children.

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Johnson, Lynn S.; And Others

1981-01-01

Explored the impact of group hypnotic and self-hypnotic training on the academic performance and self-esteem of learning disabled (LD) children. Important predictors of self-esteem improvement were the child's hypnotic susceptibility score and self-hypnotic practice by children and parents. Hypnotherapy is of potential benefit to self-esteem…

Identifying Learning Patterns of Children at Risk for Specific Reading Disability

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Barbot, Baptiste; Krivulskaya, Suzanna; Hein, Sascha; Reich, Jodi; Thuma, Philip E.; Grigorenko, Elena L.

2016-01-01

Differences in learning patterns of vocabulary acquisition in children at risk (+SRD) and not at risk (-SRD) for Specific Reading Disability (SRD) were examined using a microdevelopmental paradigm applied to the multi-trial Foreign Language Learning Task (FLLT; Baddeley et al., 1995). The FLLT was administered to 905 children from rural…

Evaluating the relation between memory and intelligence in children with learning disabilities.

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Hoerig, Dianne C; David, Andrew S; D'Amato, Rik Carl

2002-12-01

Although both intelligence tests and memory tests are commonly used in neuropsychological examinations, the relationship between memory and intelligence has not been fully explored, particularly for children having learning disabilities. Memory, or the ability to retain information, was evaluated using the Test of Memory and Learning, a recently released test that gives a comprehensive measure of global memory functioning. This, and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition, used to assess intelligence, were given to 80 students with learning disabilities. The correlation between a global measure of memory and a global measure f intelligence was significant (r = .59), indicating that memory should be viewed as an important component when evaluating children with learning disabilities.

Learning and Socializing Preferences in Hong Kong Chinese Children.

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Chen, Eva E; Corriveau, Kathleen H; Lai, Veronica K W; Poon, Sze Long; Gaither, Sarah E

2018-04-30

The impact of social group information on the learning and socializing preferences of Hong Kong Chinese children were examined. Specifically, the degree to which variability in racial out-group exposure affects children's use of race to make decisions about unfamiliar individuals (Chinese, White, Southeast Asian) was investigated. Participants (N = 212; M age  = 60.51 months) chose functions for novel objects after informants demonstrated their use; indicated with which peer group member to socialize; and were measured on racial group recognition, preference, and identification. Overall, children preferred in-group members, though out-group exposure and the relative social status of out-groups mattered as well. At a young age, children's specific experiences with different races influence how they learn and befriend others across racial group lines. © 2018 Society for Research in Child Development.

Children show right-lateralized effects of spoken word-form learning.

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Anni Nora

Full Text Available It is commonly thought that phonological learning is different in young children compared to adults, possibly due to the speech processing system not yet having reached full native-language specialization. However, the neurocognitive mechanisms of phonological learning in children are poorly understood. We employed magnetoencephalography (MEG to track cortical correlates of incidental learning of meaningless word forms over two days as 6-8-year-olds overtly repeated them. Native (Finnish pseudowords were compared with words of foreign sound structure (Korean to investigate whether the cortical learning effects would be more dependent on previous proficiency in the language rather than maturational factors. Half of the items were encountered four times on the first day and once more on the following day. Incidental learning of these recurring word forms manifested as improved repetition accuracy and a correlated reduction of activation in the right superior temporal cortex, similarly for both languages and on both experimental days, and in contrast to a salient left-hemisphere emphasis previously reported in adults. We propose that children, when learning new word forms in either native or foreign language, are not yet constrained by left-hemispheric segmental processing and established sublexical native-language representations. Instead, they may rely more on supra-segmental contours and prosody.

Learning and Memory in Children with Epilepsy

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J Gordon Millichap

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The relation between learning and memory and epilepsy in school children with recently diagnosed idiopathic and/or cryptogenic seizures was evaluated at Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, the Netherlands.

Parents' Involvement in Children's Learning in the United States and China: Implications for Children's Academic and Emotional Adjustment

OpenAIRE

Cheung, Cecilia Sin-Sze; Pomerantz, Eva M.

2011-01-01

This research examined parents' involvement in children's learning in the United States and China. Beginning in seventh grade, 825 American and Chinese children (mean age = 12.74 years) reported on their parents' involvement in their learning as well as their parents' psychological control and autonomy support every six months until the end of eighth grade. Information on children's academic and emotional adjustment was obtained. American (vs. Chinese) parents' involvement was associated less...

Usability Design Strategies for Children: Developing Children's Learning and Knowledge in Decreasing Their Dental Anxiety

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Yahaya, Wan Ahmad Jaafar Wan; Salam, Sobihatun Nur Abdul

2010-01-01

This paper presents an example of how usability design strategies for children can be designed into educational material using CD-ROM based multimedia application for assisting parents and teachers to develop children's learning and knowledge in decreasing as well as motivate children aged 7-9 years old to reduce their anxious feelings towards…

Posing Problems to Understand Children's Learning of Fractions

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Cheng, Lu Pien

2013-01-01

In this study, ways in which problem posing activities aid our understanding of children's learning of addition of unlike fractions and product of proper fractions was examined. In particular, how a simple problem posing activity helps teachers take a second, deeper look at children's understanding of fraction concepts will be discussed. The…

The Application of a Communication Model to the Problems of Learning Disabled Children.

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Florio-Forslund, Evelyn

This paper examines the problems of learning disabled children and discusses possibilities for improving their self-concept and attitude toward school. It first notes the suspected link between juvenile delinquency and learning disabilities and suggests that initial efforts to help learning disabled children be directed at the lower-class urban…

The Effects of Being Diagnosed with a Learning Disability on Children's Self-Esteem.

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MacMaster, Keith; Donovan, Leslie A.; MacIntyre, Peter D.

2002-01-01

This study used a quasi-experimental design to examine the effect of being diagnosed with a learning disability on elementary school children's self-esteem. Findings indicated that self-esteem increased significantly above prediagnosis of a learning disability while self-esteem levels in a control group of children without learning disabilities…

Just Google It: Young Children's Preferences for Touchscreens versus Books in Hypothetical Learning Tasks.

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Eisen, Sierra; Lillard, Angeline S

2016-01-01

Children today regularly interact with touchscreen devices (Rideout, 2013) and thousands of "educational" mobile applications are marketed to them (Shuler, 2012). Understanding children's own ideas about optimal learning has important implications for education, which is being transformed by electronic mobile devices, yet we know little about how children think about such devices, including what children think touchscreens are useful for. Based on a prior result that children prefer a book over a touchscreen for learning about dogs, the present study explored how children view touchscreens versus books for learning an array of different types of information. Seventy children ages 3-6 were presented with six different topics (cooking, today's weather, trees, vacuums, Virginia, and yesterday's football game) and chose whether a book or a touchscreen device would be best to use to learn about each topic. Some of this information was time-sensitive, like the current weather; we predicted that children would prefer a touchscreen for time-sensitive information. In addition, each child's parent was surveyed about the child's use of books and touchscreens for educational purposes, both at home and in school. Results indicated that younger children had no preference between books and touchscreen devices across learning tasks. However, 6-year-olds were significantly more likely to choose the touchscreen for several topics. Surprisingly, 6-year-olds chose a touchscreen device to learn about time-sensitive weather conditions, but not yesterday's football. Children's choices were not associated with their use of books and touchscreens at home and school.

Heterogeneity in Perceptual Category Learning by High Functioning Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Eduardo eMercado

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Previous research suggests that high functioning children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD sometimes have problems learning categories, but often appear to perform normally in categorization tasks. The deficits that individuals with ASD show when learning categories have been attributed to executive dysfunction, general deficits in implicit learning, atypical cognitive strategies, or abnormal perceptual biases and abilities. Several of these psychological explanations for category learning deficits have been associated with neural abnormalities such as cortical underconnectivity. The present study evaluated how well existing neurally-based theories account for atypical perceptual category learning shown by high functioning children with ASD across multiple category learning tasks involving novel, abstract shapes. Consistent with earlier results, children’s performances revealed two distinct patterns of learning and generalization associated with ASD: one was indistinguishable from performance in typically developing children; the other revealed dramatic impairments. These two patterns were evident regardless of training regimen or stimulus set. Surprisingly, some children with ASD showed both patterns. Simulations of perceptual category learning could account for the two observed patterns in terms of differences in neural plasticity. However, no current psychological or neural theory adequately explains why a child with ASD might show such large fluctuations in category learning ability across training conditions or stimulus sets.

Anxiety symptoms and children's eye gaze during fear learning.

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Michalska, Kalina J; Machlin, Laura; Moroney, Elizabeth; Lowet, Daniel S; Hettema, John M; Roberson-Nay, Roxann; Averbeck, Bruno B; Brotman, Melissa A; Nelson, Eric E; Leibenluft, Ellen; Pine, Daniel S

2017-11-01

The eye region of the face is particularly relevant for decoding threat-related signals, such as fear. However, it is unclear if gaze patterns to the eyes can be influenced by fear learning. Previous studies examining gaze patterns in adults find an association between anxiety and eye gaze avoidance, although no studies to date examine how associations between anxiety symptoms and eye-viewing patterns manifest in children. The current study examined the effects of learning and trait anxiety on eye gaze using a face-based fear conditioning task developed for use in children. Participants were 82 youth from a general population sample of twins (aged 9-13 years), exhibiting a range of anxiety symptoms. Participants underwent a fear conditioning paradigm where the conditioned stimuli (CS+) were two neutral faces, one of which was randomly selected to be paired with an aversive scream. Eye tracking, physiological, and subjective data were acquired. Children and parents reported their child's anxiety using the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders. Conditioning influenced eye gaze patterns in that children looked longer and more frequently to the eye region of the CS+ than CS- face; this effect was present only during fear acquisition, not at baseline or extinction. Furthermore, consistent with past work in adults, anxiety symptoms were associated with eye gaze avoidance. Finally, gaze duration to the eye region mediated the effect of anxious traits on self-reported fear during acquisition. Anxiety symptoms in children relate to face-viewing strategies deployed in the context of a fear learning experiment. This relationship may inform attempts to understand the relationship between pediatric anxiety symptoms and learning. © 2017 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Perceptual Learning in Children With Visual Impairment Improves Near Visual Acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, Bianca; Boonstra, F. Nienke; Cox, Ralf F. A.; van Rens, Ger; Cillessen, Antonius H. N.

PURPOSE. This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four-to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. METHODS. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Perceptual Learning in Children With Visual Impairment Improves Near Visual Acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, B.; Boonstra, F.N.; Cox, R.F.A.; van Rens, G.H.M.B.; Cillessen, A.H.N.

2013-01-01

Purpose. This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four- to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. Methods. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Perceptual learning in children with visual impairment improves near visual acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, B.; Boonstra, F.N.; Cox, R.F.; Rens, G. van; Cillessen, A.H.

2013-01-01

PURPOSE: This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four- to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. METHODS: Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Perceptual Learning in Children With Visual Impairment Improves Near Visual Acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, B.; Boonstra, F.N.; Cox, R.F.A.; Rens, G.H.M.B. van; Cillessen, A.H.N.

2013-01-01

PURPOSE. This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four-to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. METHODS. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Rational-Emotive Education with Learning Disabled Children

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Knaus, William; McKeever, Cynthia

1977-01-01

Rational-emotive education provides a positive, constructive approach for helping young children with learning problems who have psychogenic overlays to cope with worries and troubles effectively and to accept themselves affirmatively. (Author/SBH)

A Cooperative Learning Classroom Intervention for Increasing Peer's Acceptance of Children With ADHD.

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Capodieci, Agnese; Rivetti, Thomas; Cornoldi, Cesare

2016-08-31

The hypothesis behind this study was that trained teachers using cooperative learning procedures with children in their classroom (aged from 6 to 10 years) can influence the social skills of children with ADHD symptoms and their acceptance by their peers. The study involved 30 children with ADHD symptoms attending 12 different classes, where cooperative learning was adopted in some, and standard practices in others. ADHD children's symptoms, social skills, and cooperative behavior were assessed by means of a teacher's questionnaire, and the social preferences of the children in their class were collected. Changes emerged in teachers' assessments of the children's cooperative behavior in the experimental classes. Improvements in the sociometric status of children with ADHD symptoms were only seen in the cooperative learning classes. These results show the importance of well-structured intervention in classes that include children with ADHD symptoms. Implications of these findings for future intervention are discussed. © The Author(s) 2016.

Focus of Attention in Children's Motor Learning: Examining the Role of Age and Working Memory.

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Brocken, J E A; Kal, E C; van der Kamp, J

2016-01-01

The authors investigated the relative effectiveness of different attentional focus instructions on motor learning in primary school children. In addition, we explored whether the effect of attentional focus on motor learning was influenced by children's age and verbal working memory capacity. Novice 8-9-year old children (n = 30) and 11-12-year-old children (n = 30) practiced a golf putting task. For each age group, half the participants received instructions to focus (internally) on the swing of their arm, while the other half was instructed to focus (externally) on the swing of the club. Children's verbal working memory capacity was assessed with the Automated Working Memory Assessment. Consistent with many reports on adult's motor learning, children in the external groups demonstrated greater improvements in putting accuracy than children who practiced with an internal focus. This effect was similar across age groups. Verbal working memory capacity was not found to be predictive of motor learning, neither for children in the internal focus groups nor for children in the external focus groups. In conclusion, primary school children's motor learning is enhanced by external focus instructions compared to internal focus instructions. The purported modulatory roles of children's working memory, attentional capacity, or focus preferences require further investigation.

Nonword Repetition and Vocabulary Knowledge as Predictors of Children's Phonological and Semantic Word Learning.

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Adlof, Suzanne M; Patten, Hannah

2017-03-01

This study examined the unique and shared variance that nonword repetition and vocabulary knowledge contribute to children's ability to learn new words. Multiple measures of word learning were used to assess recall and recognition of phonological and semantic information. Fifty children, with a mean age of 8 years (range 5-12 years), completed experimental assessments of word learning and norm-referenced assessments of receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge and nonword repetition skills. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses examined the variance in word learning that was explained by vocabulary knowledge and nonword repetition after controlling for chronological age. Together with chronological age, nonword repetition and vocabulary knowledge explained up to 44% of the variance in children's word learning. Nonword repetition was the stronger predictor of phonological recall, phonological recognition, and semantic recognition, whereas vocabulary knowledge was the stronger predictor of verbal semantic recall. These findings extend the results of past studies indicating that both nonword repetition skill and existing vocabulary knowledge are important for new word learning, but the relative influence of each predictor depends on the way word learning is measured. Suggestions for further research involving typically developing children and children with language or reading impairments are discussed.

Benefits of augmentative signs in word learning: Evidence from children who are deaf/hard of hearing and children with specific language impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

van Berkel-van Hoof, Lian; Hermans, Daan; Knoors, Harry; Verhoeven, Ludo

2016-12-01

Augmentative signs may facilitate word learning in children with vocabulary difficulties, for example, children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) and children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Despite the fact that augmentative signs may aid second language learning in populations with a typical language development, empirical evidence in favor of this claim is lacking. We aim to investigate whether augmentative signs facilitate word learning for DHH children, children with SLI, and typically developing (TD) children. Whereas previous studies taught children new labels for familiar objects, the present study taught new labels for new objects. In our word learning experiment children were presented with pictures of imaginary creatures and pseudo words. Half of the words were accompanied by an augmentative pseudo sign. The children were tested for their receptive word knowledge. The DHH children benefitted significantly from augmentative signs, but the children with SLI and TD age-matched peers did not score significantly different on words from either the sign or no-sign condition. These results suggest that using Sign-Supported speech in classrooms of bimodal bilingual DHH children may support their spoken language development. The difference between earlier research findings and the present results may be caused by a difference in methodology. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Young Children and Tablets: A Systematic Review of Effects on Learning and Development

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Herodotou, C.

2018-01-01

Mobile applications are popular among young children, yet there is a dearth of studies examining their impact on learning and development. A systematic review identified 19 studies reporting learning effects on children 2 to 5 years old. The number of children participating in experimental, quasi-experimental, or mixed-method studies was 862 and…

Children Can Learn New Facts Equally Well From Interactive Media Versus Face to Face Instruction.

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Kwok, Kristine; Ghrear, Siba; Li, Vivian; Haddock, Taeh; Coleman, Patrick; Birch, Susan A J

2016-01-01

Today's children have more opportunities than ever before to learn from interactive technology, yet experimental research assessing the efficacy of children's learning from interactive media in comparison to traditional learning approaches is still quite scarce. Moreover, little work has examined the efficacy of using touch-screen devices for research purposes. The current study compared children's rate of learning factual information about animals during a face-to-face instruction from an adult female researcher versus an analogous instruction from an interactive device. Eighty-six children ages 4 through 8 years (64% male) completed the learning task in either the Face-to-Face condition ( n = 43) or the Interactive Media condition ( n = 43). In the Learning Phase of the experiment, which was presented as a game, children were taught novel facts about animals without being told that their memory of the facts would be tested. The facts were taught to the children either by an adult female researcher (Face-to-Face condition) or from a pre-recorded female voice represented by a cartoon Llama (Interactive Media condition). In the Testing Phase of the experiment that immediately followed, children's memory for the taught facts was tested using a 4-option forced-choice paradigm. Children's rate of learning was significantly above chance in both conditions and a comparison of the rates of learning across the two conditions revealed no significant differences. Learning significantly improved from age 4 to age 8, however, even the preschool-aged children performed significantly above chance, and their performance did not differ between conditions. These results suggest that, interactive media can be equally as effective as one-on-one instruction, at least under certain conditions. Moreover, these results offer support for the validity of using interactive technology to collect data for research purposes. We discuss the implications of these results for children's learning

Parents' Involvement in Children's Learning in the United States and China: Implications for Children's Academic and Emotional Adjustment

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Cecilia Sin-Sze; Pomerantz, Eva M.

2011-01-01

This research examined parents' involvement in children's learning in the United States and China. Beginning in seventh grade, 825 American and Chinese children (mean age = 12.74 years) reported on their parents' involvement in their learning as well as their parents' psychological control and autonomy support every 6 months until the end of 8th…

Developmental Differences in Children's Context-Dependent Word Learning

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Vlach, Haley A.; Sandhofer, Catherine M.

2011-01-01

In this study, 2.5-, 3-, and 4-year-olds (N=108) participated in a novel noun generalization task in which background context was manipulated. During the learning phase of each trial, children were presented with exemplars in one or multiple background contexts. At the test, children were asked to generalize to a novel exemplar in either the same…

Sequence Learning Under Uncertainty in Children: Self-reflection vs. Self-Assertion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christiane eLange-Küttner

2012-05-01

Full Text Available We know that stochastic feedback impairs children’s associative stimulus-response (S-R learning (Crone, Jennigs, & Van der Molen, 2004a; Eppinger, Mock, & Kray, 2009, but the impact of stochastic feedback on sequence learning that involves deductive reasoning has not been not tested so far. In the current study, 8- to 11-year-old children (N = 171 learned a sequence of four left and right button presses, LLRR, RRLL, LRLR, RLRL, LRRL and RLLR, that needed to be deduced from feedback because no directional cues were given. One group of children experienced consistent feedback only (deterministic feedback, 100% correct. In this condition, green feedback on the screen indicated that the children had been right when they were right, and red feedback indicated that the children had been wrong when they were wrong. Another group of children experienced inconsistent feedback (stochastic feedback, 85% correct, 15% false, where in some trials, green feedback on the screen could signal that children were right when in fact they were wrong, and red feedback could indicate that they were wrong when in fact they had been right. Independently of age, children’s sequence learning in the stochastic condition was initially much lower than in the deterministic condition, but increased gradually and improved with practice. Responses towards positive vs. negative feedback varied with age. Children were increasingly able to understand that they could have been wrong when feedback indicated they were right (self-reflection, but they remained unable to understand that they could have been right when feedback indicated they were wrong (self-assertion.

Graphomotor skills in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD): Handwriting and learning a new letter.

Science.gov (United States)

Huau, Andréa; Velay, Jean-Luc; Jover, Marianne

2015-08-01

The aim of the present study was to analyze handwriting difficulties in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and investigate the hypothesis that a deficit in procedural learning could help to explain them. The experimental set-up was designed to compare the performances of children with DCD with those of a non-DCD group on tasks that rely on motor learning in different ways, namely handwriting and learning a new letter. Ten children with DCD and 10 non-DCD children, aged 8-10 years, were asked to perform handwriting tasks (letter/word/sentence; normal/fast), and a learning task (new letter) on a graphic tablet. The BHK concise assessment scale for children's handwriting was used to evaluate their handwriting quality. Results showed that both the handwriting and learning tasks differentiated between the groups. Furthermore, when speed or length constraints were added, handwriting was more impaired in children with DCD than in non-DCD children. Greater intra-individual variability was observed in the group of children with DCD, arguing in favor of a deficit in motor pattern stabilization. The results of this study could support both the hypothesis of a deficit in procedural learning and the hypothesis of neuromotor noise in DCD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improving Learning Outcomes: The iPad and Preschool Children with Disabilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linda Chmiliar

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The digital age has reached early childhood, and the use of touch screens by young children is common place. Research on the use of touch screen tablets with young children is becoming more prevalent; however, less information is available on the use of touch screen tablets to support young children with disabilities. Touch screen tablets may offer possibilities to preschool children with disabilities to participate in learning in a digital way. The iPad provides easy interaction on the touch screen and access to a multitude of engaging early learning applications. This paper summarizes a pilot study with 8 young children with disabilities included in a preschool classroom, who were given iPads to use in class and at home for a period of 21 weeks. Systematic observations, classroom assessments, and teacher and parent interviews documented the improvements in learning outcomes for each child in many areas including, but not limited to: shape and color recognition, letter recognition, and tracing letters throughout six research cycles.

Agreement among Classroom Observers of Children's Stylistic Learning Behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Buchanan, Helen Hamlet; McDermott, Paul A.; Schaefer, Barbara A.

1998-01-01

Investigates the interobserver agreement of the Learning Behavior Scale (LBS) by educators (n=16) observing students in special-education classes (n=72). No significant observer effect was found. Moreover, the LBS produced comparable levels of differential learning styles for assessments of individual children. (Author/MKA)

Brief report: Do children with autism gather information from social contexts to aid their word learning?

Science.gov (United States)

Jing, Wei; Fang, Junming

2014-06-01

Typically developing (TD) infants could capitalize on social eye gaze and social contexts to aid word learning. Although children with autism disorder (AD) are known to exhibit atypicality in word learning via social eye gaze, their ability to utilize social contexts for word learning is not well understood. We investigated whether verbal AD children exhibit word learning ability via social contextual cues by late childhood. We found that AD children, unlike TD controls, failed to infer the speaker’s referential intention through information gathered from the social context. This suggests that TD children can learn words in diverse social pragmatic contexts in as early as toddlerhood whereas AD children are still unable to do so by late childhood.

Discriminating Children with Autism from Children with Learning Difficulties with an Adaptation of the Short Sensory Profile

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, Justin; Tsermentseli, Stella; Cummins, Omar; Happe, Francesca; Heaton, Pamela; Spencer, Janine

2009-01-01

In this article, we examine the extent to which children with autism and children with learning difficulties can be discriminated from their responses to different patterns of sensory stimuli. Using an adapted version of the Short Sensory Profile (SSP), sensory processing was compared in 34 children with autism to 33 children with typical…

Uncovering Young Children's Motivational Beliefs about Learning Science

Science.gov (United States)

Oppermann, Elisa; Brunner, Martin; Eccles, Jacquelynne S.; Anders, Yvonne

2018-01-01

Young children, ages 5-6 years, develop first beliefs about science and themselves as science learners, and these beliefs are considered important precursors of children's future motivation to pursue science. Yet, due to a lack of adequate measures, little is known about young children's motivational beliefs about learning science. The present…

Utilization of Illustrations during Learning of Science Textbook Passages among Low- and High-Ability Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Hannus; Hyönä

1999-04-01

Effects of illustrations on learning authentic textbook materials were studied among 10-year-old elementary school children of high and low intellectual ability. Experiment 1 showed that the presence of illustrations improved learning of illustrated text content, but not that of nonillustrated text content. Comprehension scores were improved by the presence of illustrations for high-ability children, but not for low-ability children. In Experiment 2, children's eye movements were measured during learning of illustrated textbook passages to study how children divide their attention between text and illustrations. The results suggest that learning is heavily driven by the text and that children inspect illustrations only minimally. High-ability students were more strategic in processing in the sense that they spent relatively more time on pertinent segments of text and illustrations. It is concluded that the learning of illustrated science textbook materials involves requirements that may be more readily met by more intellectually capable students. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Performance of children with developmental dyslexia on high and low topological entropy artificial grammar learning task.

Science.gov (United States)

Katan, Pesia; Kahta, Shani; Sasson, Ayelet; Schiff, Rachel

2017-07-01

Graph complexity as measured by topological entropy has been previously shown to affect performance on artificial grammar learning tasks among typically developing children. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of graph complexity on implicit sequential learning among children with developmental dyslexia. Our goal was to determine whether children's performance depends on the complexity level of the grammar system learned. We conducted two artificial grammar learning experiments that compared performance of children with developmental dyslexia with that of age- and reading level-matched controls. Experiment 1 was a high topological entropy artificial grammar learning task that aimed to establish implicit learning phenomena in children with developmental dyslexia using previously published experimental conditions. Experiment 2 is a lower topological entropy variant of that task. Results indicated that given a high topological entropy grammar system, children with developmental dyslexia who were similar to the reading age-matched control group had substantial difficulty in performing the task as compared to typically developing children, who exhibited intact implicit learning of the grammar. On the other hand, when tested on a lower topological entropy grammar system, all groups performed above chance level, indicating that children with developmental dyslexia were able to identify rules from a given grammar system. The results reinforced the significance of graph complexity when experimenting with artificial grammar learning tasks, particularly with dyslexic participants.

Discussion Paper Social and emotional learning for children with Learning Disability: Implications for inclusion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valeria Cavioni

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the key role of social and emotional learning programmes for children with Learning Disability (LD. The first part of the paper discusses the difficulties students with learning disability may encounter in their education, such as issues related to peer group acceptance, friendship and social isolation, low self-efficacy and self-esteem, and externalized and internalized behavior problems. The relationship between social and emotional learning programmes and learning disability is then discussed, underlining the benefits of social and emotional learning for students with LD. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for universal social and emotional learning as a vehicle for the academic and social inclusion of students with LD.

A Theory of Causal Learning in Children: Causal Maps and Bayes Nets

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Gopnik, Alison; Glymour, Clark; Sobel, David M.; Schulz, Laura E.; Kushnir, Tamar; Danks, David

2004-01-01

The authors outline a cognitive and computational account of causal learning in children. They propose that children use specialized cognitive systems that allow them to recover an accurate "causal map" of the world: an abstract, coherent, learned representation of the causal relations among events. This kind of knowledge can be perspicuously…

Incidental learning and memory for food varied in sweet taste in children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Laureati, M.; Pagliarini, E.; Mojet, J.; Köster, E.P.

2011-01-01

This experiment investigated incidental learning and memory in children (age 7–10 years) for three different foods (fruit juice, fruit purée and biscuit), varied in sweetness. Children (N = 286) were exposed to three target foods and 24 h later their incidental learning was tested for one of the

Cognitive profiles in bilingual children born to immigrant parents and Italian monolingual native children with specific learning disorders

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Riva A

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Anna Riva, Renata Nacinovich, Nadia Bertuletti, Valentina Montrasi, Sara Marchetti, Francesca Neri, Monica Bomba Child and Adolescent Mental Health Department, University of Milan Bicocca, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy Purpose: The aim of this study is to compare the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children® – fourth edition IV (WISC IV intellectual profile of two groups of children with specific learning disorder, a group of bilingual children and a group of monolingual Italian children, in order to identify possible significant differences between them. Patients and methods: A group of 48 bilingual children and a group of 48 Italian monolingual children were included in this study. A preliminary comparison showed the homogeneity of the two groups regarding learning disorder typology and sociodemographic characteristics (age at WISC IV assessment, sex and years of education in Italy with the exception of socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic status was then used as a covariate in the analysis. Results: Even if the two groups were comparable in specific learning disorder severity and, in particular, in the text comprehension performance, our findings showed that the WISC IV performances of the bilingual group were significantly worse than the Italian group in Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (P=0.03, in General Ability Index (P=0.03, in Working Memory Index (P=0.009 and in some subtests and clusters requiring advanced linguistic abilities. Conclusion: These results support the hypothesis of a weakness in metalinguistic abilities in bilingual children with specific learning disorders than monolinguals. If confirmed, this result must be considered in the rehabilitation treatment. Keywords: children, bilingualism, WISC IV, SLD

Children Balance Theories and Evidence in Exploration, Explanation, and Learning

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Bonawitz, Elizabeth Baraff; van Schijndel, Tessa J. P.; Friel, Daniel; Schulz, Laura

2012-01-01

We look at the effect of evidence and prior beliefs on exploration, explanation and learning. In Experiment 1, we tested children both with and without differential prior beliefs about balance relationships (Center Theorists, mean: 82 months; Mass Theorists, mean: 89 months; No Theory children, mean: 62 months). Center and Mass Theory children who…

Business Models for E-Learning

OpenAIRE

Hoppe, Gabriela; Breitner, Michael H.

2003-01-01

E(Electronic)-learning becomes more and more important. Reasons are the paramount importance of knowledge, life-time learning, globalization and mobility. Not all providers of e-learning products succeed in closing the gap between production costs and revenues. Especially in the academic sector e-learning projects suffer more and more from decreasing funding. For many currently active research groups it is essential to market their research results, e. g. e-learning applications, in order to ...

Storytelling Supported by Technology: An Alternative for EFL Children with Learning Difficulties

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Lee, Sy-ying

2012-01-01

This action research aims to investigate how technology improves the conditions of storytelling to help enhance the learning attitude and motivation of EFL children with learning difficulty using power point designs and an online recording system--VoiceThread (http://voicethread.com/). The use of power point designs is to assure children of clear…

Children show limited movement repertoire when learning a novel motor skill.

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Lee, Mei-Hua; Farshchiansadegh, Ali; Ranganathan, Rajiv

2017-09-27

Examining age differences in motor learning using real-world tasks is often problematic due to task novelty and biomechanical confounds. Here, we investigated how children and adults acquire a novel motor skill in a virtual environment. Participants of three different age groups (9-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and adults) learned to use their upper body movements to control a cursor on a computer screen. Results showed that 9-year-old and 12-year-old children showed poorer ability to control the cursor at the end of practice. Critically, when we investigated the movement coordination, we found that the lower task performance of children was associated with limited exploration of their movement repertoire. These results reveal the critical role of motor exploration in understanding developmental differences in motor learning. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Young children's beliefs about self-disclosure of performance failure and success.

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Hicks, Catherine M; Liu, David; Heyman, Gail D

2015-03-01

Self-disclosure of performance information involves the balancing of instrumental, learning benefits (e.g., obtaining help) against social costs (e.g., diminished reputation). Little is known about young children's beliefs about performance self-disclosure. The present research investigates preschool- and early school-age children's expectations of self-disclosure in different contexts. In two experiments, 3- to 7-year-old children (total N = 252) heard vignettes about characters who succeeded or failed at solving a puzzle. Both experiments showed that children across all ages reasoned that people are more likely to self-disclose positive than negative performances, and Experiment 2 showed that children across all ages reasoned that people are more likely to self-disclose both positive and negative performances in a supportive than an unsupportive peer environment. Additionally, both experiments revealed changes with age - Younger children were less likely to expect people to withhold their performance information (of both failures and successes) than older children. These findings point to the preschool ages as a crucial beginning to children's developing recognition of people's reluctance to share performance information. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Learning disabilities among extremely preterm children without neurosensory impairment: Comorbidity, neuropsychological profiles and scholastic outcomes.

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Johnson, Samantha; Strauss, Victoria; Gilmore, Camilla; Jaekel, Julia; Marlow, Neil; Wolke, Dieter

2016-12-01

Children born extremely preterm are at high risk for intellectual disability, learning disabilities, executive dysfunction and special educational needs, but little is understood about the comorbidity of intellectual and learning disabilities in this population. This study explored comorbidity in intellectual disability (ID) and learning disabilities (LD) in children born extremely preterm (EP; disabilities. LD were associated with a 3 times increased risk for SEN. However, EP children with ID alone had poorer neuropsychological abilities and curriculum-based attainment than children with no disabilities, yet there was no increase in SEN provision among this group. EP children are at high risk for comorbid intellectual and learning disabilities. Education professionals should be aware of the complex nature of EP children's difficulties and the need for multi-domain assessments to guide intervention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of the context of learning a language on the strategic competence of children

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Le Pichon-Vorstman, E.M.M.; de Swart, H.E.; Vorstman, J.A.S.; van den Bergh, H.H.

2010-01-01

The present study was set up to evaluate the extent to which the context in which a foreign language is learned can influence the strategic competence of children. To assess this we conducted a series of think aloud protocols with 101 children. We compared children who have learned an additional

Media as Social Partners: The Social Nature of Young Children's Learning from Screen Media

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Richert, Rebekah A.; Robb, Michael B.; Smith, Erin I.

2011-01-01

Television has become a nearly ubiquitous feature in children's cultural landscape. A review of the research into young children's learning from television indicates that the likelihood that children will learn from screen media is influenced by their developing social relationships with on-screen characters, as much as by their developing…

Children benefit differently from night- and day-time sleep in motor learning.

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Yan, Jin H

2017-08-01

Motor skill acquisition occurs while practicing (on-line) and when asleep or awake (off-line). However, developmental questions still remain about whether children of various ages benefit similarly or differentially from night- and day-time sleeping. The likely circadian effects (time-of-day) and the possible between-test-interference (order effects) associated with children's off-line motor learning are currently unknown. Therefore, this study examines the contributions of over-night sleeping and mid-day napping to procedural skill learning. One hundred and eight children were instructed to practice a finger sequence task using computer keyboards. After an equivalent 11-h interval in one of the three states (sleep, nap, wakefulness), children performed the same sequence in retention tests and a novel sequence in transfer tests. Changes in the movement time and sequence accuracy were evaluated between ages (6-7, 8-9, 10-11years) during practice, and from skill training to retrievals across three states. Results suggest that night-time sleeping and day-time napping improved the tapping speed, especially for the 6-year-olds. The circadian factor did not affect off-line motor learning in children. The interference between the two counter-balanced retrieval tests was not found for the off-line motor learning. This research offers possible evidence about the age-related motor learning characteristics in children and a potential means for enhancing developmental motor skills. The dynamics between age, experience, memory formation, and the theoretical implications of motor skill acquisition are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Motivation and learning styles in young children with Down syndrome.

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Wishart, J

2001-10-01

There are both psychological and biological reasons to expect that certain areas of learning will present young children with Down syndrome with significant problems. Knowledge of the neurological underpinnings of these specific difficulties can often allow compensatory teaching strategies to be put in place, however, and some of these have proved highly effective. The impact of the psychological environment on the progress of development in children with Down syndrome is less well understood. Experience of how others respond to their attempts at understanding the physical and social world and the balance of successes and failures they experience in their early learning are both likely to influence the approach to learning adopted when faced with mastering new skills. Findings from inter-linking studies of cognitive and socio-cognitive development which have explored learning behaviours at different ages and at different developmental stages illustrate how a learning style can sometimes evolve over time in which less than efficient use is made of current levels of cognitive ability. Social ploys are sometimes used to avoid engagement in learning, with the net effect that opportunities to learn new skills are not fully exploited and old skills are sometimes inadequately consolidated. Findings of a misuse of social skills in cognitive contexts do not necessarily provide support for the widely-held view that social understanding is an area of strength in children with Down syndrome and less vulnerable to disruption than cognitive development. Data from a recent study of face-processing abilities suggest that there may in fact be a specific weakness in a fundamental skill normally underpinning the development of social understanding: the ability to recognise differences in emotional expressions. The children with Down syndrome in this study had few problems in correctly identifying individual faces but evidenced difficulties in reliably interpreting the emotional

Distribution of Binocular Vision Anomalies and Refractive Errors in Iranian Children With Learning Disabilities

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Yekta

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Background Visual problems in children contribute to learning disorders, which are one of the most influential factors in learning. Objectives The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of refractive and binocular vision errors in children with learning disorders. Patients and Methods In this cross-sectional study, 406 children with learning disorders with a mean age of 8.56 ± 2.4 years were evaluated. Examinations included the determination of refractive errors with an auto-refractometer and static retinoscopy, measurement of visual acuity with a Snellen chart, evaluation of ocular deviation, and measurement of stereopsis, amplitude of accommodation, and near point of convergence. Results Of the 406 participants, 319 (78.6% were emmetropic in the right eye, 14.5% had myopia, and 6.9% had hyperopia according to cycloplegic refraction. Astigmatism was detected in 75 (18.5% children. In our study, 89.9% of the children had no deviation, 1.0% had esophoria, and 6.4% had exophoria . In addition, 2.2% of the children had suppression. The near point of convergence ranged from 3 to 18 cm, with a mean of 10.12 ± 3.274 cm. Moreover, 98.5 and 98.0% of the participants achieved complete vision with the best correction in the right and left eye, respectively. The best corrected visual acuity in the right and left eye was achieved in 98.5 and 98.0% of the children, respectively. Conclusions The pattern of visual impairment in learning-impaired children is not much different from that in normal children; however, because these children may not be able to express themselves clearly, lack of correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment has resulted in a marked defect in recognizing visual disorders in these children. Therefore, gaining knowledge of the prevalence of refractive errors in children with learning disorders can be considered the first step in their treatment.

Spatial short-term memory in children with nonverbal learning disabilities: impairment in encoding spatial configuration.

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Narimoto, Tadamasa; Matsuura, Naomi; Takezawa, Tomohiro; Mitsuhashi, Yoshinori; Hiratani, Michio

2013-01-01

The authors investigated whether impaired spatial short-term memory exhibited by children with nonverbal learning disabilities is due to a problem in the encoding process. Children with or without nonverbal learning disabilities performed a simple spatial test that required them to remember 3, 5, or 7 spatial items presented simultaneously in random positions (i.e., spatial configuration) and to decide if a target item was changed or all items including the target were in the same position. The results showed that, even when the spatial positions in the encoding and probe phases were similar, the mean proportion correct of children with nonverbal learning disabilities was 0.58 while that of children without nonverbal learning disabilities was 0.84. The authors argue with the results that children with nonverbal learning disabilities have difficulty encoding relational information between spatial items, and that this difficulty is responsible for their impaired spatial short-term memory.

Learning Behaviours of Low-Achieving Children's Mathematics Learning in Using of Helping Tools in a Synchronous Peer-Tutoring System

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Tsuei, Mengping

2017-01-01

This study examined the effects of low-achieving children's use of helping tools in a synchronous mathematics peer-tutoring system on the children's mathematics learning and their learning behaviours. In a remedial class, 16 third-grade students in a remedial class engaged in peer tutoring in a face-to-face synchronous online environment during a…

Visual acuity and visual skills in Malaysian children with learning disabilities

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Muzaliha MN

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Mohd-Nor Muzaliha,1 Buang Nurhamiza,1 Adil Hussein,1 Abdul-Rani Norabibas,1 Jaafar Mohd-Hisham-Basrun,1 Abdullah Sarimah,2 Seo-Wei Leo,3 Ismail Shatriah11Department of Ophthalmology, 2Biostatistics and Research Methodology Unit, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia; 3Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, SingaporeBackground: There is limited data in the literature concerning the visual status and skills in children with learning disabilities, particularly within the Asian population. This study is aimed to determine visual acuity and visual skills in children with learning disabilities in primary schools within the suburban Kota Bharu district in Malaysia.Methods: We examined 1010 children with learning disabilities aged between 8–12 years from 40 primary schools in the Kota Bharu district, Malaysia from January 2009 to March 2010. These children were identified based on their performance in a screening test known as the Early Intervention Class for Reading and Writing Screening Test conducted by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. Complete ocular examinations and visual skills assessment included near point of convergence, amplitude of accommodation, accommodative facility, convergence break and recovery, divergence break and recovery, and developmental eye movement tests for all subjects.Results: A total of 4.8% of students had visual acuity worse than 6/12 (20/40, 14.0% had convergence insufficiency, 28.3% displayed poor accommodative amplitude, and 26.0% showed signs of accommodative infacility. A total of 12.1% of the students had poor convergence break, 45.7% displayed poor convergence recovery, 37.4% showed poor divergence break, and 66.3% were noted to have poor divergence recovery. The mean horizontal developmental eye movement was significantly prolonged.Conclusion: Although their visual acuity was satisfactory, nearly 30% of the

Delayed benefit of naps on motor learning in preschool children.

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Desrochers, Phillip C; Kurdziel, Laura B F; Spencer, Rebecca M C

2016-03-01

Sleep benefits memory consolidation across a variety of domains in young adults. However, while declarative memories benefit from sleep in young children, such improvements are not consistently seen for procedural skill learning. Here we examined whether performance improvements on a procedural task, although not immediately observed, are evident after a longer delay when augmented by overnight sleep (24 h after learning). We trained 47 children, aged 33-71 months, on a serial reaction time task and, using a within-subject design, evaluated performance at three time points: immediately after learning, after a daytime nap (nap condition) or equivalent wake opportunity (wake condition), and 24 h after learning. Consistent with previous studies, performance improvements following the nap did not differ from performance improvements following an equivalent interval spent awake. However, significant benefits of the nap were found when performance was assessed 24 h after learning. This research demonstrates that motor skill learning is benefited by sleep, but that this benefit is only evident after an extended period of time.

Do individual differences in children's curiosity relate to their inquiry-based learning?

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van Schijndel, Tessa J. P.; Jansen, Brenda R. J.; Raijmakers, Maartje E. J.

2018-06-01

This study investigates how individual differences in 7- to 9-year-olds' curiosity relate to the inquiry-learning process and outcomes in environments differing in structure. The focus on curiosity as individual differences variable was motivated by the importance of curiosity in science education, and uncertainty being central to both the definition of curiosity and the inquiry-learning environment. Curiosity was assessed with the Underwater Exploration game (Jirout, J., & Klahr, D. (2012). Children's scientific curiosity: In search of an operational definition of an elusive concept. Developmental Review, 32, 125-160. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2012.04.002), and inquiry-based learning with the newly developed Scientific Discovery task, which focuses on the principle of designing informative experiments. Structure of the inquiry-learning environment was manipulated by explaining this principle or not. As intelligence relates to learning and possibly curiosity, it was taken into account. Results showed that children's curiosity was positively related to their knowledge acquisition, but not to their quality of exploration. For low intelligent children, environment structure positively affected their quality of exploration, but not their knowledge acquisition. There was no interaction between curiosity and environment structure. These results support the existence of two distinct inquiry-based learning processes - the designing of experiments, on the one hand, and the reflection on performed experiments, on the other - and link children's curiosity to the latter process.

Selective Learning and Teaching among Japanese and German Children

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Kim, Sunae; Paulus, Markus; Sodian, Beate; Itakura, Shoji; Ueno, Mika; Senju, Atsushi; Proust, Joëlle

2018-01-01

Despite an increasing number of studies demonstrating that young children selectively learn from others, and a few studies of children's selective teaching, the evidence almost exclusively comes from Western cultures, and cross-cultural comparison in this line of work is very rare. In the present research, we investigated Japanese and German…

Applying Cognitive Behavioural Methods to Retrain Children's Attributions for Success and Failure in Learning

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Toland, John; Boyle, Christopher

2008-01-01

This study involves the use of methods derived from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to change the attributions for success and failure of school children with regard to learning. Children with learning difficulties and/or motivational and self-esteem difficulties (n = 29) were identified by their schools. The children then took part in twelve…

To copy or to innovate? The role of personality and social networks on children's learning strategies.

OpenAIRE

Rawlings, B.; Flynn, E.; Kendal, R.

2017-01-01

In our technologically complex world, children frequently have problems to solve and skills to learn. They can develop solutions through learning strategies involving social learning or asocial endeavors. While evidence is emerging that children may differ individually in their propensity to adopt different learning strategies, little is known about what underlies these differences. In this article, we reflect on recent research with children, adults, and nonhuman animals regarding individual...

Understanding infants' and children's social learning about foods: previous research and new prospects.

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Shutts, Kristin; Kinzler, Katherine D; DeJesus, Jasmine M

2013-03-01

Developmental psychologists have devoted significant attention to investigating how children learn from others' actions, emotions, and testimony. Yet most of this research has examined children's socially guided learning about artifacts. The present article focuses on a domain that has received limited attention from those interested in the development of social cognition: food. We begin by reviewing the available literature on infants' and children's development in the food domain and identify situations in which children evidence both successes and failures in their interactions with foods. We focus specifically on the role that other people play in guiding what children eat and argue that understanding patterns of successes and failures in the food domain requires an appreciation of eating as a social phenomenon. We next propose a series of questions for future research and suggest that examining food selection as a social phenomenon can shed light on mechanisms underlying children's learning from others and provide ideas for promoting healthy social relationships and eating behaviors early in development.

"Mastery Learning" Como Metodo Psicoeducativo para Ninos con Problemas Especificos de Aprendizaje. ("Mastery Learning" as a Psychoeducational Method for Children with Specific Learning Problems.)

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Coya, Liliam de Barbosa; Perez-Coffie, Jorge

1982-01-01

"Mastery Learning" was compared with the "conventional" method of teaching reading skills to Puerto Rican children with specific learning disabilities. The "Mastery Learning" group showed significant gains in the cognitive and affective domains. Results suggested Mastery Learning is a more effective method of teaching…

Meta-analysis of fluid intelligence tests of children from the Chinese mainland with learning difficulties.

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Tong, Fang; Fu, Tong

2013-01-01

To evaluate the differences in fluid intelligence tests between normal children and children with learning difficulties in China. PubMed, MD Consult, and other Chinese Journal Database were searched from their establishment to November 2012. After finding comparative studies of Raven measurements of normal children and children with learning difficulties, full Intelligent Quotation (FIQ) values and the original values of the sub-measurement were extracted. The corresponding effect model was selected based on the results of heterogeneity and parallel sub-group analysis was performed. Twelve documents were included in the meta-analysis, and the studies were all performed in mainland of China. Among these, two studies were performed at child health clinics, the other ten sites were schools and control children were schoolmates or classmates. FIQ was evaluated using a random effects model. WMD was -13.18 (95% CI: -16.50- -9.85). Children with learning difficulties showed significantly lower FIQ scores than controls (Pintelligence of children with learning difficulties was lower than that of normal children. Delayed development in sub-items of C, D, and E was more obvious.

[The comorbidity of learning difficulties and ADHD symptoms in primary-school-age children].

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Schuchardt, Kirsten; Fischbach, Anne; Balke-Melcher, Christina; Mähler, Claudia

2015-05-01

Children having difficulties in acquiring early literacy and mathematical skills often show an increased rate of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. This study provides data on the comorbidity rates of specific learning difficulties and ADHD symptoms. We analyzed the data of 273 children with learning difficulties despite an at least average IQ, 57 children with low IQ, and 270 children without learning difficulties and average IQ (comparison group). We assessed children’s IQ and school achievement using standardized achievement tests. ADHD symptoms were assessed via parents’ ratings. Our results showed that only 5 % of both the control group and the group with solely mathematical difficulties fulfilled the criteria of an ADHD subtype according to the DSM-IV based on parents’ ratings. In contrast, this was the case in even 20 % of the children with difficulties in reading/writing and of those with low IQ. Compared to girls, boys in the control group had a 150% higher risk for matching the criteria of one of the ADHD subtypes in parents’ ratings, whereas boys with learning difficulties and those with low IQ had an even 200% to 600% higher risk for it. The relationship between learning difficulties and ADHD symptoms can be found predominantly in the inattentive type. Possible reasons for the results are discussed.

Language, learning, and memory in children with and without single-suture craniosynostosis.

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Kapp-Simon, Kathleen A; Wallace, Erin; Collett, Brent R; Cradock, Mary Michaeleen; Crerand, Canice E; Speltz, Matthew L

2016-05-01

OBJECTIVE The language and memory functions of children with and without single-suture craniosynostosis (SSC) were compared at school age (mean 7.45 years, standard deviation [SD] 0.54 years). The children in this cohort were originally recruited in infancy and prior to cranial surgery for those with SSC. METHODS Individual evaluations of 179 school-aged children with SSC and 183 controls were conducted (70% of the original cohort) using standardized measures of language, learning, and memory. Parents participated in an interview about specialized education interventions and school progress. Parents and teachers completed questionnaires about language development. RESULTS Children with SSC (cases) obtained lower scores than controls on all measures. The adjusted differences in language, learning, and memory scores were modest, with SD ranging from 0.0 to -0.4 (p values ranged from 0.001 to 0.99). Censored normal regression was used to account for intervention services received prior to the school-age evaluation; this increased case-control differences (SD range 0.1 to -0.5, p value range 0.001 to 0.50). Mean scores for cases in each SSC diagnostic group were lower than those for controls, with the greatest differences observed among children with unilateral coronal craniosynostosis. CONCLUSIONS Children with SSC continue to show poorer performance than controls on language, learning, and memory tasks at early elementary school age, even when controlling for known confounders, although mean differences are small. Multidisciplinary care, including direct psychological assessment, for children with SSC should extend through school age with a specific focus on language and conceptual learning, as these are areas of potential risk. Future research is needed to investigate language, memory, and learning for this population during the middle to high school years.

Designing new collaborative learning spaces in clinical environments: experiences from a children's hospital in Australia.

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Bines, Julie E; Jamieson, Peter

2013-09-01

Hospitals are complex places that provide a rich learning environment for students, staff, patients and their families, professional groups and the community. The "new" Royal Children's Hospital opened in late 2011. Its mission is focused on improving health and well-being of children and adolescents through leadership in healthcare, research and education. Addressing the need to create "responsive learning environments" aligned with the shift to student-centred pedagogy, two distinct learning environments were developed within the new Royal Children's Hospital; (i) a dedicated education precinct providing a suite of physical environments to promote a more active, collaborative and social learning experience for education and training programs conducted on the Royal Children's Hospital campus and (ii) a suite of learning spaces embedded within clinical areas so that learning becomes an integral part of the daily activities of this busy Hospital environment. The aim of this article is to present the overarching educational principles that lead the design of these learning spaces and describe the opportunities and obstacles encountered in the development of collaborative learning spaces within a large hospital development.

Succeeding with freemium:Strategies for implementation

OpenAIRE

Holm, Anna B.; Günzel-Jensen, Franziska

2017-01-01

Purpose: The freemium business model has recently become one of the most dominant business models in online markets. However, entrepreneurs and managers still have a limited understanding of why some companies using freemium business models become successful and sustainable while others do not. The purpose of this article is to highlight the key points for succeeding with the freemium business model in online digital business from a strategic point of view. Design/methodology/approach: The fi...

Teaching and Learning Children's Human Rights: A Research Synthesis

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Brantefors, Lotta; Quennerstedt, Ann

2016-01-01

The study presented in this paper is a research synthesis examining how issues relating to the teaching and learning of children's human rights have been approached in educational research. Drawing theoretically on the European Didaktik tradition, the purpose of the paper is to map and synthesise the educational interest in children's rights…

Enhancing Children's Outdoor Learning Experiences with a Mobile Application

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Rikala, Jenni

2015-01-01

This paper examines how a mobile learning application can enhance children's outdoor learning experiences. The study draws upon empirical evidence gathered in one case study conducted in a Finnish primary school setting in the fall of 2012. The data were collected with student and teacher surveys. The case study indicated that the mobile…

Understanding Infants' and Children's Social Learning about Foods: Previous Research and New Prospects

Science.gov (United States)

Shutts, Kristin; Kinzler, Katherine D.; DeJesus, Jasmine M.

2013-01-01

Developmental psychologists have devoted significant attention to investigating how children learn from others' actions, emotions, and testimony. Yet most of this research has examined children's socially guided learning about artifacts. The present article focuses on a domain that has received limited attention from those interested in the…

A New Approach for the Quantitative Evaluation of Drawings in Children with Learning Disabilities

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Galli, Manuela; Vimercati, Sara Laura; Stella, Giacomo; Caiazzo, Giorgia; Norveti, Federica; Onnis, Francesca; Rigoldi, Chiara; Albertini, Giorgio

2011-01-01

A new method for a quantitative and objective description of drawing and for the quantification of drawing ability in children with learning disabilities (LD) is hereby presented. Twenty-four normally developing children (N) (age 10.6 [plus or minus] 0.5) and 18 children with learning disabilities (LD) (age 10.3 [plus or minus] 2.4) took part to…

Young Children's Learning with Digital Media

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Lieberman, Debra A.; Bates, Cynthia H.; So, Jiyeon

2009-01-01

This article reviews a selection of studies on digital media and learning for young children ages 3 to 6. The range of digital media for this age group is growing and includes computer-delivered and online activities; console video games; handheld media, occasionally with GPS or an accelerometer, in cell phones and other wireless mobile devices;…

Do preschool children learn to read words from environmental prints?

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Jing Zhao

Full Text Available Parents and teachers worldwide believe that a visual environment rich with print can contribute to young children's literacy. Children seem to recognize words in familiar logos at an early age. However, most of previous studies were carried out with alphabetic scripts. Alphabetic letters regularly correspond to phonological segments in a word and provide strong cues about the identity of the whole word. Thus it was not clear whether children can learn to read words by extracting visual word form information from environmental prints. To exclude the phonological-cue confound, this study tested children's knowledge of Chinese words embedded in familiar logos. The four environmental logos were employed and transformed into four versions with the contextual cues (i.e., something apart from the presentation of the words themselves in logo format like the color, logo and font type cues gradually minimized. Children aged from 3 to 5 were tested. We observed that children of different ages all performed better when words were presented in highly familiar logos compared to when they were presented in a plain fashion, devoid of context. This advantage for familiar logos was also present when the contextual information was only partial. However, the role of various cues in learning words changed with age. The color and logo cues had a larger effect in 3- and 4- year-olds than in 5-year-olds, while the font type cue played a greater role in 5-year-olds than in the other two groups. Our findings demonstrated that young children did not easily learn words by extracting their visual form information even from familiar environmental prints. However, children aged 5 begin to pay more attention to the visual form information of words in highly familiar logos than those aged 3 and 4.

Understanding How Young Children Learn: Bringing the Science of Child Development to the Classroom

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Ostroff, Wendy

2012-01-01

Because little kids can't tell you how their minds work and what makes them learn, you need this book about new scientific discoveries that explain how young children learn and what teachers can do to use those findings to enhance classroom teaching. Discover where the desire to learn comes from and what occurs during children's development to…

Grammar predicts procedural learning and consolidation deficits in children with Specific Language Impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Hedenius, Martina; Persson, Jonas; Tremblay, Antoine; Adi-Japha, Esther; Veríssimo, João; Dye, Cristina D; Alm, Per; Jennische, Margareta; Bruce Tomblin, J; Ullman, Michael T

2011-01-01

The Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH) posits that Specific Language Impairment (SLI) can be largely explained by abnormalities of brain structures that subserve procedural memory. The PDH predicts impairments of procedural memory itself, and that such impairments underlie the grammatical deficits observed in the disorder. Previous studies have indeed reported procedural learning impairments in SLI, and have found that these are associated with grammatical difficulties. The present study extends this research by examining consolidation and longer-term procedural sequence learning in children with SLI. The Alternating Serial Reaction Time (ASRT) task was given to children with SLI and typically developing (TD) children in an initial learning session and an average of three days later to test for consolidation and longer-term learning. Although both groups showed evidence of initial sequence learning, only the TD children showed clear signs of consolidation, even though the two groups did not differ in longer-term learning. When the children were re-categorized on the basis of grammar deficits rather than broader language deficits, a clearer pattern emerged. Whereas both the grammar impaired and normal grammar groups showed evidence of initial sequence learning, only those with normal grammar showed consolidation and longer-term learning. Indeed, the grammar-impaired group appeared to lose any sequence knowledge gained during the initial testing session. These findings held even when controlling for vocabulary or a broad non-grammatical language measure, neither of which were associated with procedural memory. When grammar was examined as a continuous variable over all children, the same relationships between procedural memory and grammar, but not vocabulary or the broader language measure, were observed. Overall, the findings support and further specify the PDH. They suggest that consolidation and longer-term procedural learning are impaired in SLI, but that these

Grammar Predicts Procedural Learning and Consolidation Deficits in Children with Specific Language Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Hedenius, Martina; Persson, Jonas; Tremblay, Antoine; Adi-Japha, Esther; Veríssimo, João; Dye, Cristina D.; Alm, Per; Jennische, Margareta; Tomblin, J. Bruce; Ullman, Michael T.

2011-01-01

The Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH) posits that Specific Language Impairment (SLI) can be largely explained by abnormalities of brain structures that subserve procedural memory. The PDH predicts impairments of procedural memory itself, and that such impairments underlie the grammatical deficits observed in the disorder. Previous studies have indeed reported procedural learning impairments in SLI, and have found that these are associated with grammatical difficulties. The present study extends this research by examining the consolidation and longer-term procedural sequence learning in children with SLI. The Alternating Serial Reaction Time (ASRT) task was given to children with SLI and typically-developing (TD) children in an initial learning session and an average of three days later to test for consolidation and longer-term learning. Although both groups showed evidence of initial sequence learning, only the TD children showed clear signs of consolidation, even though the two groups did not differ in longer-term learning. When the children were re-categorized on the basis of grammar deficits rather than broader language deficits, a clearer pattern emerged. Whereas both the grammar impaired and normal grammar groups showed evidence of initial sequence learning, only those with normal grammar showed consolidation and longer-term learning. Indeed, the grammar-impaired group appeared to lose any sequence knowledge gained during the initial testing session. These findings held even when controlling for vocabulary or a broad non-grammatical language measure, neither of which were associated with procedural memory. When grammar was examined as a continuous variable over all children, the same relationships between procedural memory and grammar, but not vocabulary or the broader language measure, were observed. Overall, the findings support and further specify the PDH. They suggest that consolidation and longer-term procedural learning are impaired in SLI, but that

A longitudinal study on gross motor development in children with learning disorders

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westendorp, Marieke; Hartman, Esther; Houwen, Suzanne; Huijgen, Barbara C. H.; Smith, Joanne; Visscher, Chris

This longitudinal study examined the development of gross motor skills, and sex-differences therein, in 7; to 11-years-old children with learning disorders (LD) and compared the results with typically developing children to determine the performance level of children with LD. In children with LD (n

Active Learning Environments with Robotic Tangibles: Children's Physical and Virtual Spatial Programming Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Burleson, Winslow S.; Harlow, Danielle B.; Nilsen, Katherine J.; Perlin, Ken; Freed, Natalie; Jensen, Camilla Nørgaard; Lahey, Byron; Lu, Patrick; Muldner, Kasia

2018-01-01

As computational thinking becomes increasingly important for children to learn, we must develop interfaces that leverage the ways that young children learn to provide opportunities for them to develop these skills. Active Learning Environments with Robotic Tangibles (ALERT) and Robopad, an analogous on-screen virtual spatial programming…

Children Literacy Through Learning Sotfwares

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karina Matheus dos Santos

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Means that incite curiosity and interest can greatly facilitate children’s learning process, and the digital world has become an essential tool in this area, providing both teachers and students with countless new opportunities. With such information the Children Literacy Through Learning Sotfwares project took effective place in UFSC’s Colégio de Aplicação school, using Mestre® (GOYOS e ALMEIDA, 1994. Five students, indicated by their teacher due to their difficulties in class to benefit from the project, were assisted in their literacy, being one of them with only impaired hearing, who benefited for being encouraged to develop auditory identification strategies. All of them developed motivational autonomy throughout the project, feeling more comfortable and motivated, always counting on their supervisors, who informed the teacher about each student’s performance while being observed. At the end of the project the teacher highlighted this program’s importance to child education, yet without making use of them herself. This project’s benefits have proven themselves necessary to those students’s development as individuals under learning process, allowing to acknowledge what  an educational software can do and must be in order to develop its potential as a  teaching tool, making the no-mistaking-learning advantages evident when it comes to respecting each student’s timing in learning.

The Ghost Condition: Imitation Versus Emulation in Young Children's Observational Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Doreen E.; Russell, James

2004-01-01

Although observational learning by children may occur through imitating a modeler's actions, it can also occur through learning about an object's dynamic affordances- a process that M. Tomasello (1996) calls "emulation." The relative contributions of imitation and emulation within observational learning were examined in a study with 14- to…

Word, nonword and visual paired associate learning in Dutch dyslexic children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Messbauer, V.C.S.; de Jong, P.F.

2003-01-01

Verbal and non-verbal learning were investigated in 21 8-11-year-old dyslexic children and chronological-age controls, and in 21 7-9-year-old reading-age controls. Tasks involved the paired associate learning of words, nonwords, or symbols with pictures. Both learning and retention of associations

Children balance theories and evidence in exploration, explanation, and learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bonawitz, E.B.; van Schijndel, T.J.P.; Friel, D.; Schulz, L.

2012-01-01

We look at the effect of evidence and prior beliefs on exploration, explanation and learning. In Experiment 1, we tested children both with and without differential prior beliefs about balance relationships (Center Theorists, mean: 82 months; Mass Theorists, mean: 89 months; No Theory children,

Wordlikeness and Word Learning in Children with Hearing Loss

Science.gov (United States)

Stiles, Derek J.; McGregor, Karla K.; Bentler, Ruth A.

2013-01-01

Background: The more a novel word conforms to the phonotactics of the language, the more wordlike it is and the easier it is to learn. It is unknown to what extent children with hearing loss (CHL) take advantage of phonotactic cues to support word learning. Aims: This study investigated whether CHL had similar sensitivities to wordlikeness during…

Using electronic storybooks to support word learning in children with severe language impairments.

Science.gov (United States)

Smeets, Daisy J H; van Dijken, Marianne J; Bus, Adriana G

2014-01-01

Novel word learning is reported to be problematic for children with severe language impairments (SLI). In this study, we tested electronic storybooks as a tool to support vocabulary acquisition in SLI children. In Experiment 1, 29 kindergarten SLI children heard four e-books each four times: (a) two stories were presented as video books with motion pictures, music, and sounds, and (b) two stories included only static illustrations without music or sounds. Two other stories served as the control condition. Both static and video books were effective in increasing knowledge of unknown words, but static books were most effective. Experiment 2 was designed to examine which elements in video books interfere with word learning: video images or music or sounds. A total of 23 kindergarten SLI children heard 8 storybooks each four times: (a) two static stories without music or sounds, (b) two static stories with music or sounds, (c) two video stories without music or sounds, and (d) two video books with music or sounds. Video images and static illustrations were equally effective, but the presence of music or sounds moderated word learning. In children with severe SLI, background music interfered with learning. Problems with speech perception in noisy conditions may be an underlying factor of SLI and should be considered in selecting teaching aids and learning environments. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2012.

Perceptual Learning in Children With Infantile Nystagmus: Effects on Visual Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Huurneman, Bianca; Boonstra, F Nienke; Goossens, Jeroen

2016-08-01

To evaluate whether computerized training with a crowded or uncrowded letter-discrimination task reduces visual impairment (VI) in 6- to 11-year-old children with infantile nystagmus (IN) who suffer from increased foveal crowding, reduced visual acuity, and reduced stereopsis. Thirty-six children with IN were included. Eighteen had idiopathic IN and 18 had oculocutaneous albinism. These children were divided in two training groups matched on age and diagnosis: a crowded training group (n = 18) and an uncrowded training group (n = 18). Training occurred two times per week during 5 weeks (3500 trials per training). Eleven age-matched children with normal vision were included to assess baseline differences in task performance and test-retest learning. Main outcome measures were task-specific performance, distance and near visual acuity (DVA and NVA), intensity and extent of (foveal) crowding at 5 m and 40 cm, and stereopsis. Training resulted in task-specific improvements. Both training groups also showed uncrowded and crowded DVA improvements (0.10 ± 0.02 and 0.11 ± 0.02 logMAR) and improved stereopsis (670 ± 249″). Crowded NVA improved only in the crowded training group (0.15 ± 0.02 logMAR), which was also the only group showing a reduction in near crowding intensity (0.08 ± 0.03 logMAR). Effects were not due to test-retest learning. Perceptual learning with or without distractors reduces the extent of crowding and improves visual acuity in children with IN. Training with distractors improves near vision more than training with single optotypes. Perceptual learning also transfers to DVA and NVA under uncrowded and crowded conditions and even stereopsis. Learning curves indicated that improvements may be larger after longer training.

Comparison of self-esteem and maternal attitude between children with learning disability and unaffected siblings.

Science.gov (United States)

Lahane, Sandeep; Shah, Henal; Nagarale, Vivek; Kamath, Ravindra

2013-09-01

To compare self-esteem and maternal attitude between children with learning disability and their unaffected siblings. This cross sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in an urban setting. It comprised of 31 pairs of children with a learning disability, their unaffected siblings and input from their mothers. All children were assessed with Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Mothers were asked to fill Index of parental attitude (IPA) and semi structured proforma with demographic data and questionnaire about her children with a learning disability and his/her unaffected sibling. Self-esteem was found to be lower in children with learning disability. They felt they do not have much to be proud of and have a fewer number of good qualities. They are also inclined to consider themselves as failures. In factors affecting self-esteem, index of parental attitude was found to be unfavorable towards children with learning disability. Mothers felt child was interfering with their activities and was getting on their nerves. In addition, they also felt that they do not understand their child, feel like they do not love their child and wished that child was more like others they know off. More academic failures, academic difficulties and negative school report were also perceived by mother as lowering child's self-esteem. Self-esteem was lower in children with learning disability. In factors affecting self-esteem maternal attitude, academic difficulties, academic failure and negative school reports was found to be unfavorable.

Challenges faced by parents of children with learning disabilities in Opuwo, Namibia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clever Taderera

2017-07-01

Conclusion: The researchers concluded that the participants in this study experience a range of challenges in parenting their children with learning disabilities. The main challenges emanate from financial instability, as well as lack of knowledge regarding services and programmes for children with learning disabilities. This lack of knowledge on the part of participants could indicate poor policy education by policy implementers at grass-roots level.

Plan, Save, Succeed! Financial Literacy Poster/Teaching Guide. Expect the Unexpected with Math[R

Science.gov (United States)

Actuarial Foundation, 2013

2013-01-01

"Plan, Save, Succeed!" is a new program aligned with Jumpstart Coalition National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards, and Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice. "Plan, Save, Succeed!" is designed to help students understand key financial literacy topics including…

A New Look on the Development and Learning of Children with High Abilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovana Mattei

2007-09-01

Full Text Available When we approach the subject development and learning soon in them it comes the mind the process of education and specific learning of the pertaining to school environment. However we must have clearly that the development as well as learning is complex processes that involves the pertaining not only the school environment but the development of the physical, mental and social of the human being. The human being is not only intellect, is a complex being with strong cognitive and ambient support, of interactions, learnings and consequently development and evolution. This capacity to learn during all the life, exactly without being present in a pertaining school environment, is what in them it becomes only beings capable to be able to interpret, to reveal knowledge, to develop itself socially intellectual and, that is learning in potential. With regard to the children superendowed or carrying of high innumerable abilities doubts and contradictions thus permeat the relative aspects to its development and learning, different visions and perspectives are analyzed in order to contribute and to clarify aspects related to these children special, so that school and educators can assist in significant way these children potentializing his capacities.

Inhibition of vicariously learned fear in children using positive modeling and prior exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Askew, Chris; Reynolds, Gemma; Fielding-Smith, Sarah; Field, Andy P

2016-02-01

One of the challenges to conditioning models of fear acquisition is to explain how different individuals can experience similar learning events and only some of them subsequently develop fear. Understanding factors moderating the impact of learning events on fear acquisition is key to understanding the etiology and prevention of fear in childhood. This study investigates these moderators in the context of vicarious (observational) learning. Two experiments tested predictions that the acquisition or inhibition of fear via vicarious learning is driven by associative learning mechanisms similar to direct conditioning. In Experiment 1, 3 groups of children aged 7 to 9 years received 1 of 3 inhibitive information interventions-psychoeducation, factual information, or no information (control)-prior to taking part in a vicarious fear learning procedure. In Experiment 2, 3 groups of children aged 7 to 10 years received 1 of 3 observational learning interventions-positive modeling (immunization), observational familiarity (latent inhibition), or no prevention (control)-before vicarious fear learning. Results indicated that observationally delivered manipulations inhibited vicarious fear learning, while preventions presented via written information did not. These findings confirm that vicarious learning shares some of the characteristics of direct conditioning and can explain why not all individuals will develop fear following a vicarious learning event. They also suggest that the modality of inhibitive learning is important and should match the fear learning pathway for increased chances of inhibition. Finally, the results demonstrate that positive modeling is likely to be a particularly effective method for preventing fear-related observational learning in children. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Monoracial and Biracial Children: Effects of Racial Identity Saliency on Social Learning and Social Preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Gaither, Sarah E.; Chen, Eva E.; Corriveau, Kathleen H.; Harris, Paul L.; Ambady, Nalini; Sommers, Samuel R.

2014-01-01

Children prefer learning from, and affiliating with, their racial ingroup but those preferences may vary for biracial children. Monoracial (White, Black, Asian) and biracial (Black/White, Asian/White) children (N=246, 3–8 years) had their racial identity primed. In a learning preferences task, participants determined the function of a novel object after watching adults (White, Black, and Asian) demonstrate its uses. In the social preferences task, participants saw pairs of children (White, Black, and Asian) and chose with whom they most wanted to socially affiliate. Biracial children showed flexibility in racial identification during learning and social tasks. However, minority-primed biracial children were not more likely than monoracial minorities to socially affiliate with primed racial ingroup members, indicating their ingroup preferences are contextually based. PMID:25040708

Multilevel linear modelling of the response-contingent learning of young children with significant developmental delays.

Science.gov (United States)

Raab, Melinda; Dunst, Carl J; Hamby, Deborah W

2018-02-27

The purpose of the study was to isolate the sources of variations in the rates of response-contingent learning among young children with multiple disabilities and significant developmental delays randomly assigned to contrasting types of early childhood intervention. Multilevel, hierarchical linear growth curve modelling was used to analyze four different measures of child response-contingent learning where repeated child learning measures were nested within individual children (Level-1), children were nested within practitioners (Level-2), and practitioners were nested within the contrasting types of intervention (Level-3). Findings showed that sources of variations in rates of child response-contingent learning were associated almost entirely with type of intervention after the variance associated with differences in practitioners nested within groups were accounted for. Rates of child learning were greater among children whose existing behaviour were used as the building blocks for promoting child competence (asset-based practices) compared to children for whom the focus of intervention was promoting child acquisition of missing skills (needs-based practices). The methods of analysis illustrate a practical approach to clustered data analysis and the presentation of results in ways that highlight sources of variations in the rates of response-contingent learning among young children with multiple developmental disabilities and significant developmental delays. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

How Children Learn the Ins and Outs: A Training Study of Toddlers' Categorization of Animals

Science.gov (United States)

Lawson, Chris A.; Fisher, Anna V.; Rakison, David H.

2015-01-01

Young children are able to categorize animals on the basis of unobservable features such as shared biological properties (e.g., bones). For the most part, children learn about these properties through explicit verbalizations from others. The present study examined how such input impacts children's learning about the properties of categories. In a…

Attention and Word Learning in Autistic, Language Delayed and Typically Developing Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena eTenenbaum

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Previous work has demonstrated that patterns of social attention hold predictive value for language development in typically developing infants. The goal of this research was to explore how patterns of attention in autistic, language delayed, and typically developing children relate to early word learning and language abilities. We tracked patterns of eye movements to faces and objects while children watched videos of a woman teaching them a series of new words. Subsequent test trials measured participants’ recognition of these novel word-object pairings. Results indicated that greater attention to the speaker’s mouth was related to higher scores on standardized measures of language development for autistic and typically developing children (but not for language delayed children. This effect was mediated by age for typically developing, but not autistic children. When effects of age were controlled for, attention to the mouth among language delayed participants was negatively correlated with standardized measures of language learning. Attention to the speaker’s mouth and eyes while she was teaching the new words was also predictive of faster recognition of the newly learned words among autistic children. These results suggest that language delays among children with autism may be driven in part by aberrant social attention, and that the mechanisms underlying these delays may differ from those in language delayed participants without autism.

Implicit learning of non-linguistic and linguistic regularities in children with dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Nigro, Luciana; Jiménez-Fernández, Gracia; Simpson, Ian C; Defior, Sylvia

2016-07-01

One of the hallmarks of dyslexia is the failure to automatise written patterns despite repeated exposure to print. Although many explanations have been proposed to explain this problem, researchers have recently begun to explore the possibility that an underlying implicit learning deficit may play a role in dyslexia. This hypothesis has been investigated through non-linguistic tasks exploring implicit learning in a general domain. In this study, we examined the abilities of children with dyslexia to implicitly acquire positional regularities embedded in both non-linguistic and linguistic stimuli. In experiment 1, 42 children (21 with dyslexia and 21 typically developing) were exposed to rule-governed shape sequences; whereas in experiment 2, a new group of 42 children were exposed to rule-governed letter strings. Implicit learning was assessed in both experiments via a forced-choice task. Experiments 1 and 2 showed a similar pattern of results. ANOVA analyses revealed no significant differences between the dyslexic and the typically developing group, indicating that children with dyslexia are not impaired in the acquisition of simple positional regularities, regardless of the nature of the stimuli. However, within group t-tests suggested that children from the dyslexic group could not transfer the underlying positional rules to novel instances as efficiently as typically developing children.

Perceived support among Iranian mothers of children with learning disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Kermanshahi, Sima Mohammad Khan; Vanaki, Zohreh; Ahmadi, Fazlollah; Azadfalah, Parviz

2009-01-01

This qualitative phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of perceived support by Iranian mothers who have children with learning disability. Twelve open interviews with six mothers of learning-disabled children (7-12 years of age) were audiotape-recorded with participants' consent. The interviews were transcribed and data were analyzed using Van Manen methodology. Two major themes emerged from 138 thematic sentences. The mothers'experiences could be interpreted as a sense of being in the light or being in the shade of support, with variations for different participants. The results indicate a need for more specialized and individually adjusted support for mothers in Iran.

Young Children Learning for the Environment: Researching a Forest Adventure

Science.gov (United States)

Gambino, Agatha; Davis, Julie; Rowntree, Noeleen

2009-01-01

Field experiences for young children are an ideal medium for environmental education/education for sustainability because of opportunities for direct experience in nature, integrated learning, and high community involvement. This research documented the development--in 4-5 year old Prep children--of knowledge, attitudes and actions/advocacy in…

A School-Based Movement Programme for Children with Motor Learning Difficulty

Science.gov (United States)

Mannisto, Juha-Pekka; Cantell, Marja; Huovinen, Tommi; Kooistra, Libbe; Larkin, Dawne

2006-01-01

The study investigated the effectiveness of a school-based movement programme for a population of 5 to 7 year old children. Performance profiles on the Movement ABC were used to classify the children and to assess skill changes over time. Children were assigned to four different groups: motor learning difficulty (n = 10), borderline motor learning…

Field visit placements: An integrated and community approach to learning in children's nursing.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Cummins, Ann

2010-03-01

This paper reports on the development of a new initiative, field visit placements towards and integrated and community approach to learning for nursing students. To date, limited literature exists on the potential of community field visits as meaningful learning opportunities for nursing students. Drawing on our experiences, the structure and processes involved in implementing field visits are described in this paper. Students evaluated the field visits positively indicating that they provided a wealth of learning opportunities that enhanced their knowledge and awareness of services available to children and their families in the community. The potential of field visits to promote an integrated and community approach to placements in children\\'s nursing is discussed.

Understanding and Preventing Learned Helplessness in Children Who Are Congenitally Deaf-Blind.

Science.gov (United States)

Marks, S. B.

1998-01-01

Links the literature on learned helplessness with best practices in teaching children who are deaf-blind. Defines "learned helplessness" and "mastery motivation;" considers identification of learned helplessness; and offers suggestions such as rewarding independent rather than dependent behaviors and integrating orientation, mobility, and…

Neonatal Brain Abnormalities and Memory and Learning Outcomes at 7 Years in Children Born Very Preterm

Science.gov (United States)

Omizzolo, Cristina; Scratch, Shannon E; Stargatt, Robyn; Kidokoro, Hiroyuki; Thompson, Deanne K; Lee, Katherine J; Cheong, Jeanie; Neil, Jeffrey; Inder, Terrie E; Doyle, Lex W; Anderson, Peter J

2014-01-01

Using prospective longitudinal data from 198 very preterm and 70 full term children, this study characterised the memory and learning abilities of very preterm children at 7 years of age in both verbal and visual domains. The relationship between the extent of brain abnormalities on neonatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and memory and learning outcomes at 7 years of age in very preterm children was also investigated. Neonatal MRI scans were qualitatively assessed for global, white-matter, cortical grey-matter, deep grey-matter, and cerebellar abnormalities. Very preterm children performed less well on measures of immediate memory, working memory, long-term memory, and learning compared with term born controls. Neonatal brain abnormalities, and in particular deep grey matter abnormality, were associated with poorer memory and learning performance at 7 years in very preterm children, especially global, white-matter, grey-matter and cerebellar abnormalities. Findings support the importance of cerebral neonatal pathology for predicting later memory and learning function. PMID:23805915

Mere exposure and flavour-flavour learning increase 2-3 year-old children's acceptance of a novel vegetable.

Science.gov (United States)

Hausner, Helene; Olsen, Annemarie; Møller, Per

2012-06-01

Vegetable consumption is low among many children. This study compared the efficacy of the exposure learning strategies mere exposure, flavour-flavour and flavour-nutrient learning in changing children's intake of a novel vegetable. An unmodified artichoke purée was served at pre-testing. Hereafter children were exposed 10 times to unmodified purée (mere exposure, n=32), a sweetened purée (flavour-flavour learning, n=33) or an energy dense purée with added fat (flavour-nutrient learning, n=39). Unmodified and sweet purée contained approximately 200 kJ/100g; the energy dense purée 580 kJ/100g. The unmodified purée was served again at post-testing, 3 and 6 months after last exposure to monitor long-term effects of learning. Intake of purée increased in the mere exposure and flavour-flavour condition, and was unchanged in the flavour-nutrient condition. Mere exposure changed children's intake by the 5th exposure, flavour-flavour learning by the 10th. Mere exposure led to the largest increase in intake of unmodified purée at post-test and over 6 months. Children following flavour-flavour learning consumed more of the sweet purée than of unmodified purée. About 30-40% of the children were resistant to acceptance changes. The results of this study imply that mere exposure and flavour-flavour learning are powerful strategies for changing children's acceptance of a novel vegetable, even though a substantial number of children are resistant to these types of exposure learning. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantitative Deficits of Preschool Children at Risk for Mathematical Learning Disability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felicia W. Chu

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The study tested the hypothesis that acuity of the potentially inherent approximate number system (ANS contributes to risk of mathematical learning disability (MLD. Sixty-eight (35 boys preschoolers at risk for school failure were assessed on a battery of quantitative tasks, and on intelligence, executive control, preliteracy skills, and parental education. Mathematics achievement scores at the end of one year of preschool indicated that 34 of these children were at high risk for MLD. Relative to the 34 typically achieving children, the at risk children were less accurate on the ANS task, and a one standard deviation deficit on this task resulted in a 2.4 fold increase in the odds of MLD status. The at risk children also had a poor understanding of ordinal relations, and had slower learning of Arabic numerals, number words, and their cardinal values. Poor performance on these tasks resulted in 3.6 to 4.5 fold increases in the odds of MLD status. The results provide some support for the ANS hypothesis but also suggest these deficits are not the primary source of poor mathematics learning.

Visual Hybrid Development Learning System (VHDLS) Framework for Children with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Banire, Bilikis; Jomhari, Nazean; Ahmad, Rodina

2015-01-01

The effect of education on children with autism serves as a relative cure for their deficits. As a result of this, they require special techniques to gain their attention and interest in learning as compared to typical children. Several studies have shown that these children are visual learners. In this study, we proposed a Visual Hybrid…

Parents and Siblings As Early Resources for Young Children's Learning in Mexican-Descent Families.

Science.gov (United States)

Perez-Granados, Deanne R.; Callanan, Maureen A.

1997-01-01

Interviews with parents from 50 Mexican-descent families revealed that parents encouraged their preschool children to ask questions about science and causal relationships; older and younger siblings learned different skills from one another; and children learned through observation and imitation. Discusses issues of "match" between home…

Learning Mathematics: Perspectives of Australian Aboriginal Children and Their Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Peter; Perry, Bob

2005-01-01

Two key stakeholders in enhancing and building Aboriginal children's capacity to learn mathematics are teachers and the Aboriginal children themselves. In Australian schools it is often the case that the two groups come from different cultural backgrounds with very differing life experiences. This paper reports on an ethnographic study and focuses…

Beyond the ivory tower: service-learning for sustainable community ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Teaching, research and community service have since earliest times been regarded as the three core functions of the university. The concept and practice of service-learning has succeeded in uniting these core functions. Whereas the quality of student learning resulting from service-learning experiences is of crucial ...

Social learning and innovation. Ice fishing communities on Lake Milles Lacs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Assche, van K.; Beunen, R.; Holm, J.; Lo, M.

2013-01-01

Social learning took place largely outside the sphere of government and spurred substantial technological and institutional innovation. Unique patterns of networks, informal institutions and social learning environments delineate options for social learning that are more likely to succeed, to lead

Statistical Learning as a Basis for Social Understanding in Children

Science.gov (United States)

Ruffman, Ted; Taumoepeau, Mele; Perkins, Chris

2012-01-01

Many authors have argued that infants understand goals, intentions, and beliefs. We posit that infants' success on such tasks might instead reveal an understanding of behaviour, that infants' proficient statistical learning abilities might enable such insights, and that maternal talk scaffolds children's learning about the social world as well. We…

The moderating effect of orthographic consistency on oral vocabulary learning in monolingual and bilingual children.

Science.gov (United States)

Jubenville, Kathleen; Sénéchal, Monique; Malette, Melissa

2014-10-01

Two studies were conducted to assess whether (a) the incidental presence of print facilitates the acquisition of oral vocabulary, (b) the facilitative effect of print is moderated by phoneme-to-grapheme consistency, and (c) the findings obtained with monolingual children generalize to bilingual children. In total, 71 monolingual French-speaking children (M age = 9 years 2 months) in Study 1 and 64 bilingual children (M age = 9 years 3 months) in Study 2 participated in one of three conditions: consistent print, inconsistent print, or no print. Children were to learn novel labels for unfamiliar objects in a paired-associate paradigm. In both studies, print facilitated the acquisition and recall of expressive vocabulary. The effect of print consistency, however, varied across studies. As expected, monolingual children exposed to consistent print learned more novel labels than children exposed to inconsistent print. In contrast, bilingual children exposed to inconsistent print learned and recalled more labels than children exposed to consistent print. These intriguing findings might be due to differences in attention allocation during training. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Impact of Inattention, Hyperactivity/Impulsivity Symptoms, and Executive Functions on Learning Behaviors of Children with ADHD.

Science.gov (United States)

Colomer, Carla; Berenguer, Carmen; Roselló, Belén; Baixauli, Inmaculada; Miranda, Ana

2017-01-01

Children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk of experiencing lower academic achievement compared to their peers without ADHD. However, we have a limited understanding of the mechanisms underlying this association. Both the symptoms of the disorder and the executive functions can negatively influence learning behaviors, including motivation, attitude toward learning, or persistence, key aspects of the learning process. The first objective of this study was to compare different components of learning behaviors in children diagnosed with ADHD and typically developing (TD) children. The second objective was to analyze the relationships among learning behaviors, executive functioning, and symptoms of hyperactivity/impulsivity in both groups. Participants were 35 children diagnosed with ADHD and 37 with TD (7-11 years old), matched on age and IQ. The teachers filled out the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and the Learning Behaviors Scale, which evaluates Competence/motivation, Attitude toward learning, Attention/persistence, and Strategy/flexibility. In addition, parents and teachers filled out the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ADHD. ANOVAs showed significant differences between children with ADHD and TD children on all the learning behaviors. Moreover, in both the ADHD and TD groups, the behavioral regulation index of the BRIEF predicted the search for strategies, and the metacognition index was a good predictor of motivation. However, attitude toward learning was predicted by metacognition only in the group with ADHD. Therefore, the executive functions had greater power than the typical symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity in predicting learning behaviors of children with ADHD. The findings are in line with other studies that support the influence of the executive functions on performance, highlighting the importance of including their development as a top priority from early ages in the

An Assistive Computerized System with Tangible User Interfaces for Children with Moderate Intellectual and Learning Disabilities

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Jihad Mohamad Aljaam

2011-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper we propose an assistive learning system for children with moderate intellectual and learning disabilities that supports collaboration, data exploration, communication and creativity. The system offers a wide range of tutorials on basic concepts of elementary sciences with some edutainment games and puzzles based on different tangible user interfaces TUIs. The system can enhance the communications, memorization, reasoning and learning capabilities of the children with special needs. The tutorials contain multimedia elements that help the children understand effectively the topics and allow them to interact and be more proactive. An assessment component is developed to evaluate the children understanding. Parents are actively involved in the learning process by being able to add or customize contents specific to their children. The children can use the TUIs alone and get prompted on all the steps to perform some daily activities like the school day activity, the tooth brushing activity, etc. This will increase their self-reliance and self-dependence.

Psychological co-morbidity in children with specific learning disorders

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Manoj K Sahoo

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Children under 19 years of age constitute over 40% of India′s population and information about their mental health needs is a national imperative. Children with specific learning disorders (SLDs exhibit academic difficulties disproportionate to their intellectual capacities. Prevalence of SLD ranges from 2% to 10%. Dyslexia (developmental reading disorder is the most common type, affecting 80% of all SLD. About 30% of learning disabled children have behavioral and emotional problems, which range from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (most common to depression, anxiety, suicide etc., to substance abuse (least common. Co-occurrence of such problems with SLD further adds to the academic difficulty. In such instances, diagnosis is difficult and tricky; improvement in academics demands comprehensive holistic treatment approach. SLD remains a large public health problem because of under-recognition, inadequate treatment and therefore merits greater effort to understand the co-morbidities, especially in the Indian population. As the literature is scarce regarding co-morbid conditions in learning disability in Indian scenario, the present study has tried to focus on Indian population. The educational concessions (recent most given to such children by Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi are referred to. The issues to be addressed by the family physicians are: Low level of awareness among families and teachers, improper dissemination of accurate information about psychological problems, available help seeking avenues, need to develop service delivery models in rural and urban areas and focus on the integration of mental health and primary care keeping such co-morbidity in mind.

Psychological Co-morbidity in Children with Specific Learning Disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahoo, Manoj K; Biswas, Haritha; Padhy, Susanta Kumar

2015-01-01

Children under 19 years of age constitute over 40% of India's population and information about their mental health needs is a national imperative. Children with specific learning disorders (SLDs) exhibit academic difficulties disproportionate to their intellectual capacities. Prevalence of SLD ranges from 2% to 10%. Dyslexia (developmental reading disorder) is the most common type, affecting 80% of all SLD. About 30% of learning disabled children have behavioral and emotional problems, which range from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (most common) to depression, anxiety, suicide etc., to substance abuse (least common). Co-occurrence of such problems with SLD further adds to the academic difficulty. In such instances, diagnosis is difficult and tricky; improvement in academics demands comprehensive holistic treatment approach. SLD remains a large public health problem because of under-recognition, inadequate treatment and therefore merits greater effort to understand the co-morbidities, especially in the Indian population. As the literature is scarce regarding co-morbid conditions in learning disability in Indian scenario, the present study has tried to focus on Indian population. The educational concessions (recent most) given to such children by Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi are referred to. The issues to be addressed by the family physicians are: Low level of awareness among families and teachers, improper dissemination of accurate information about psychological problems, available help seeking avenues, need to develop service delivery models in rural and urban areas and focus on the integration of mental health and primary care keeping such co-morbidity in mind.

Analogical Problem Solving in Children with Verbal and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities

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Schiff, Rachel; Bauminger, Nirit; Toledo, Idit

2009-01-01

Analogical reasoning--perceiving similarities in different situations and the transfer of such information--facilitates learning and understanding. However, children with learning disabilities (LD) typically demonstrate deficits in such information processing strategies. In this study, we investigated the analogical problem-solving differences…

Children's thoughts on the social exclusion of peers with intellectual or learning disabilities.

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Nowicki, E A; Brown, J; Stepien, M

2014-04-01

Previous research has shown that children with intellectual or learning disabilities are at risk for social exclusion by their peers but little is known of children's views on this topic. In this study, we used concept mapping to investigate elementary school children's thoughts on why they believe their peers with intellectual or learning disabilities are sometimes socially excluded at school. Participants were 49 grade five and six children who attended inclusive classrooms. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. We extracted 49 unique statements from the transcribed data, and then invited participants to sort the statements into meaningful categories. Sorted data were entered into matrices, which were summed and analysed with multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis. A four-cluster solution provided the best conceptual fit for the data. Clusters reflected themes on (1) the thoughts and actions of other children; (2) differences in learning ability and resource allocation; (3) affect, physical characteristics and schooling; and (4) negative thoughts and behaviours. The overarching reason for social exclusion focused on differences between children with and without disabilities. This study also provided evidence that children are effective, reliable and competent participants in concept mapping. Educational and research implications are discussed. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, MENCAP & IASSIDD.

Using Guided Participation to Support Young Children's Social Development

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Petty, Karen

2009-01-01

Families and teachers spend countless hours supporting preschoolers and primary age children in the development of mental tools like focus, memory, and other problem-solving skills that help children think better, pay attention, and remember what they have experienced. Children use these tools to succeed in reading, writing, math, science, and…

Overcoming the obstacles: Life stories of scientists with learning disabilities

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Force, Crista Marie

Scientific discovery is at the heart of solving many of the problems facing contemporary society. Scientists are retiring at rates that exceed the numbers of new scientists. Unfortunately, scientific careers still appear to be outside the reach of most individuals with learning disabilities. The purpose of this research was to better understand the methods by which successful learning disabled scientists have overcome the barriers and challenges associated with their learning disabilities in their preparation and performance as scientists. This narrative inquiry involved the researcher writing the life stories of four scientists. These life stories were generated from extensive interviews in which each of the scientists recounted their life histories. The researcher used narrative analysis to "make sense" of these learning disabled scientists' life stories. The narrative analysis required the researcher to identify and describe emergent themes characterizing each scientist's life. A cross-case analysis was then performed to uncover commonalities and differences in the lives of these four individuals. Results of the cross-case analysis revealed that all four scientists had a passion for science that emerged at an early age, which, with strong drive and determination, drove these individuals to succeed in spite of the many obstacles arising from their learning disabilities. The analysis also revealed that these scientists chose careers based on their strengths; they actively sought mentors to guide them in their preparation as scientists; and they developed coping techniques to overcome difficulties and succeed. The cross-case analysis also revealed differences in the degree to which each scientist accepted his or her learning disability. While some demonstrated inferior feelings about their successes as scientists, still other individuals revealed feelings of having superior abilities in areas such as visualization and working with people. These individuals revealed

Accurate or assumed: visual learning in children with ASD.

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Trembath, David; Vivanti, Giacomo; Iacono, Teresa; Dissanayake, Cheryl

2015-10-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often described as visual learners. We tested this assumption in an experiment in which 25 children with ASD, 19 children with global developmental delay (GDD), and 17 typically developing (TD) children were presented a series of videos via an eye tracker in which an actor instructed them to manipulate objects in speech-only and speech + pictures conditions. We found no group differences in visual attention to the stimuli. The GDD and TD groups performed better when pictures were available, whereas the ASD group did not. Performance of children with ASD and GDD was positively correlated with visual attention and receptive language. We found no evidence of a prominent visual learning style in the ASD group.

Anxiety and Depression in Children with Nonverbal Learning Disabilities, Reading Disabilities, or Typical Development

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Mammarella, Irene C.; Ghisi, Marta; Bomba, Monica; Bottesi, Gioia; Caviola, Sara; Broggi, Fiorenza; Nacinovich, Renata

2016-01-01

The main goal of the present study was to shed further light on the psychological characteristics of children with different learning disability profiles aged between 8 and 11 years, attending from third to sixth grade. Specifically, children with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD), reading disabilities (RD), or a typical development (TD) were…

Positive Education for Young Children: Effects of a Positive Psychology Intervention for Preschool Children on Subjective Well Being and Learning Behaviors

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Anat Shoshani

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Despite the flourishing in recent years in applications of positive psychology in the field of education, there is a paucity of research investigating positive psychology interventions for preschool children. The present study examined the effects of a positive psychology-based intervention conducted in Israel on children’s subjective well-being, mental health and learning behaviors. Twelve preschool classrooms of 3–6.5 year-olds were randomly assigned to a positive psychology intervention condition or a wait-list control condition. In the intervention condition, during one school year, 160 children experienced eight modules of basic concepts in positive psychology that were adapted to the developmental characteristics of young children and were compared to 155 children in demographically similar control classrooms. Children were administered a pre-test and post-test of subjective well-being measures. In addition, children’s mental health and emotional well-being were measured by parental questionnaires. Preschool teachers completed questionnaires concerning children’s learning behaviors. The findings showed significant increases in subjective well-being and positive learning behaviors among the intervention participants, with no significant changes in the control group. The results highlight the potential of positive psychology interventions for increasing subjective well-being and a positive approach to learning at young ages.

Application-Driven Educational Game to Assist Young Children in Learning English Vocabulary

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Chen, Zhi-Hong; Lee, Shu-Yu

2018-01-01

This paper describes the development of an educational game, named My-Pet-Shop, to enhance young children's learning of English vocabulary. The educational game is underpinned by an application-driven model, which consists of three components: application scenario, subject learning, and learning regulation. An empirical study is further conducted…

Test Scatter on the WISC-R in Learning Disabled Children.

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Tabachnick, Barbara Gerson

Scatter on the revised Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children (WISC-R) was evaluated for 105 learning disabled (LD) children. Scatter was defined as range of scaled scores on: (1) five regular verbal tests; (2) five regular performance tests; and (3) all 10 regular subtests. Pairwise combinations of 11 subtests were also evaluated for deviations…

Learning and Self-Stimulation in Mute and Echolalic Autistic Children.

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Chock, Patricia N.; Glahn, T. J.

1983-01-01

The effects of self-stimulation on task acquisition were studied in three mute low-functioning autistic and three echolic higher-functioning autistic children in multiple-baseline designs. The study found that the echolalic children were able to learn the task without external suppression of their self-stimulation but the mute Ss were not. (CL)

Variability of Performance: A "Signature" Characteristic of Learning Disabled Children?

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Fuchs, Douglas; And Others

Two studies were conducted to compare the performance instability of children (grades 3-9) labeled learning disabled/brain injured (LD/BI) to the performance instability of emotionally handicapped (EH) children. In the first study, 50 LD/BI and 37 EH students were measured on three third grade reading passages twice, once within one sitting and…

Family relationships versus learning: an analysis with children aged 5 and 6 years

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Marisa Claudia Jacometo Durante

2017-01-01

Full Text Available As the first mediator between man and culture, the family constitutes the dynamic unity of affective, social and cognitive relations that are immersed in the material, historical and cultural conditions of a given social group. The overall objective of the study was to investigate whether family relationships can compromise children’s learning. Specifically, it was intended to: a Identify conflicts in family relationships; B To verify if the conflicts in the family relations can compromise the interpersonal relationship of the children in the literacy phase; C Analyze whether conflicts in family relationships interfere with children’s learning. A total of 219 families with children aged 5 and 6 participated in the study. The main results indicate that there is a distancing of the parents in relation to the school life of the children, as well as in the family relationships there is a mixture of conflict and affection. It is considered that the learning of children can be compromised by conflicts in family relationships because learning and school performance depend primarily on family interaction and later on the relationship between teacher-student.

Improving self-regulated learning of preschool children: evaluation of training for kindergarten teachers.

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Perels, Franziska; Merget-Kullmann, Miriam; Wende, Milena; Schmitz, Bernhard; Buchbinder, Carla

2009-06-01

In the context of lifelong learning, self-regulated learning is an important competence. Children between 4 and 6 years of age are at a crucial step in their life to develop self-regulatory competence. That is why their kindergarten teachers play an important role as instructors as well as role models. This study tested the effects of self-regulation training for kindergarten teachers concerning their own self-regulation and methods to foster self-regulation in children at preschool age whom they were teaching. In this study, 35 German kindergarten teachers and 97 children participated. All adult participants were graduated kindergarten teachers. The kindergarten teachers were tested with a questionnaire 2 weeks before and after the training. At the same time, the preschoolers were interviewed. A waiting control group design was applied. The results obtained by means of analyses of variance show that the self-regulation of the kindergarten teachers as well as the self-regulated learning of preschoolers whose kindergarten teachers took part in the training improved significantly. The results indicate that it is possible to improve self-regulated learning of preschool children by a training programme for kindergarten teachers.

Memory and selective learning in children with spina bifida-myelomeningocele and shunted hydrocephalus: A preliminary study

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Vachha Behroze

2005-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Selective learning is the ability to select items of relevance from among less important items. Limited evidence exists regarding the efficiency with which children with spina bifida-myelomeningocele and shunted hydrocephalus (SB/SH are able to learn information. This report describes initial data related to components of learning and metacognitive skills in children with SB/SH. Methods Twenty six children with SB/SH and 26 controls (age: 7 – 16 y with average intelligence, and monolingual English-speaking backgrounds participated in the study. Exclusion criteria for the SB/SH group were: prior history of shunt infection, history of seizure or shunt malfunction within the previous three months, prior diagnoses of attention disorders and/or clinical depression. Children were presented lists of words with equal exemplars each of two distinct semantic categories (e.g. fruits, animals, and told to make as high a score as possible by learning the words. The value of the words was designated by category membership (e.g. animals = low value; fruits = high value. The total number of words learned across three learning trials was used to determine memory span. Selective learning efficiency (SLE was computed as the efficiency with which items of greater value were selectively learned across three trials. Results Children with SB/SH did worse than controls on memory span (P Conclusion Success in school is often dependent on the ability to recall important facts selectively and ignore less important information. Children with SB/SH in our study had a poor memory span and were unable to monitor and report an efficient and workable metacognitive strategy required to remember a list of words. Preliminary findings may begin to explain our previous clinical and research findings wherein children with SB/SH often focus on extraneous details, but demonstrate difficulty remembering the main gist of a story/event.

7 CFR 400.306 - Spouses and minor children.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Spouses and minor children. 400.306 Section 400.306... Regulations for the 1991 and Succeeding Crop Years § 400.306 Spouses and minor children. (a) The spouse and minor children of an individual are considered to be the same as the individual for purposes of this...

Nonadjacent Dependency Learning in Cantonese-Speaking Children With and Without a History of Specific Language Impairment.

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Iao, Lai-Sang; Ng, Lai Yan; Wong, Anita Mei Yin; Lee, Oi Ting

2017-03-01

This study investigated nonadjacent dependency learning in Cantonese-speaking children with and without a history of specific language impairment (SLI) in an artificial linguistic context. Sixteen Cantonese-speaking children with a history of SLI and 16 Cantonese-speaking children with typical language development (TLD) were tested with a nonadjacent dependency learning task using artificial languages that mimic Cantonese. Children with TLD performed above chance and were able to discriminate between trained and untrained nonadjacent dependencies. However, children with a history of SLI performed at chance and were not able to differentiate trained versus untrained nonadjacent dependencies. These findings, together with previous findings from English-speaking adults and adolescents with language impairments, suggest that individuals with atypical language development, regardless of age, diagnostic status, language, and culture, show difficulties in learning nonadjacent dependencies. This study provides evidence for early impairments to statistical learning in individuals with atypical language development.

Children's gendered ways of talking about learning to write

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Maria Sol Iparraguirre

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This study attempts to integrate a gender perspective in the research of children's conceptions about learning to write. We analyzed the individual interviews of 160 schoolchildren - equally distributed between boys and girls - in the eight grades from kindergarten to seventh grade in elementary school in Argentina, in order to explore gender-related patterns in their conceptions of learning to write. The lexicometric method was applied to the transcriptions of children's responses. Subsequent qualitative analysis of modal responses revealed distinctive gender differences regarding both the content and the form of responses. We describe and interpret such differences within a theoretical framework that distinguishes two different modes of discourse and thought: the gendered conversational styles studied by Tannen, and the two modes of cognitive functioning proposed by Bruner. Results show that boys tended to adopt a report talk style and to present traits that are close to those proposed by Bruner in his portrait of the logico-paradigmatic mode of thought. Girls, instead, tended to adopt a rapport talk style and to integrate to a greater extent a set of procedures characterizing a narrative modality, by speaking at length of human actions, intentions and feelings. These findings underscore the educational potential of considering gender as an important (and still unexplored aspect that influences children's(and most probably teachers' conceptions of how one learns.

The Curriculum for Children with Severe and Profound Learning Difficulties at Stephen Hawking School

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Rayner, Matthew

2011-01-01

The increasing number of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties means that many schools for children with severe learning difficulties are having to review the curriculum that they offer. In addition, these schools are continuing to question whether a subject-based approach, in line with the National Curriculum, is the most…

WISC-R Factor Structures for Diagnosed Learning Disabled Navajo and Papago Children.

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Zarske, John A.; And Others

1981-01-01

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) (WISC-R) factor structures were compared for learning disabled Navajo and Papago children. Results support the validity of the WISC-R as a measure of general intellectual functioning, and verbal and performance aspects for both groups, indicating its appropriateness for diverse groups of children.…

Cost information in succeeding stages of the design process

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tempelmans Plat, H.; Deiman, E.P.; Beheshti, M.R.; Zreik, K.

1993-01-01

Adequate decision making in the design process needs information about oost oonsequences over the life of the designed object. In succeeding stages the types of decisions change; as a consequence the type of oost information will differ as well. For each stage oost information about realized

Effect of learning disabilities on academic self-concept in children with epilepsy and on their quality of life.

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Brabcová, Dana; Zárubová, Jana; Kohout, Jiří; Jošt, Jiří; Kršek, Pavel

2015-01-01

Academic self-concept could significantly affect academic achievement and self-confidence in children with epilepsy. However, limited attention has been devoted to determining factors influencing academic self-concept of children with epilepsy. We aimed to analyze potentially significant variables (gender, frequency of seizures, duration of epilepsy, intellectual disability, learning disability and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in relation to academic self-concept in children with epilepsy and to additional domains of their quality of life. The study group consisted of 182 children and adolescents aged 9-14 years who completed the SPAS (Student's Perception of Ability Scale) questionnaire determining their academic self-concept and the modified Czech version of the CHEQOL-25 (Health-Related Quality of Life Measure for Children with Epilepsy) questionnaire evaluating their health-related quality of life. Using regression analysis, we identified learning disability as a key predictor for academic-self concept of children with epilepsy. While children with epilepsy and with no learning disability exhibited results comparable to children without epilepsy, participants with epilepsy and some learning disability scored significantly lower in almost all domains of academic self-concept. We moreover found that children with epilepsy and learning disability have significantly lower quality of life in intrapersonal and interpersonal domains. In contrast to children with epilepsy and with no learning disability, these participants have practically no correlation between their quality of life and academic self-concept. Our findings suggest that considerable attention should be paid to children having both epilepsy and learning disability. It should comprise services of specialized counselors and teaching assistants with an appropriate knowledge of epilepsy and ability to empathize with these children as well as educational interventions focused on their teachers

The Gross Motor Skills of Children with Mild Learning Disabilities

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Nonis, Karen P.; Jernice, Tan Sing Yee

2014-01-01

Many international studies have examined the gross motor skills of children studying in special schools while local studies of such nature are limited. This study investigated the gross motor skills of children with Mild Learning Disabilities (MLD; n = 14, M age = 8.93 years, SD = 0.33) with the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2, Ulrich,…

Preschool Children's Learning with Technology at Home

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Plowman, Lydia; Stevenson, Olivia; Stephen, Christine; McPake, Joanna

2012-01-01

We produced case studies of fourteen families based on nine rounds of data collection during the period from June 2008 to October 2009. We focused on fourteen children who were three years old when our visits started and used an ecocultural approach to examine their experiences of learning and playing with technologies at home. The study describes…

Young Children's Sensitivity to Speaker Gender When Learning from Others

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Ma, Lili; Woolley, Jacqueline D.

2013-01-01

This research explores whether young children are sensitive to speaker gender when learning novel information from others. Four- and 6-year-olds ("N" = 144) chose between conflicting statements from a male versus a female speaker (Studies 1 and 3) or decided which speaker (male or female) they would ask (Study 2) when learning about the functions…

Learning Experiences and Strategies of Parents of Young Children with Developmental Disabilities: Implications for Rehabilitation Professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurtubise, Karen; Carpenter, Christine

2017-10-20

To better understand the learning experiences of parents of children with developmental disabilities and the strategies they develop to support their caregiving role. A qualitative secondary analysis of in-depth interviews with parents of children with developmental disability was conducted to better understand parents' learning experiences and the strategies they developed to use this learning in supporting their children. A foundational thematic analysis process was used to identify the main themes, and the interpretive process was influenced by adult education theories. Findings suggest that participants are highly motivated to learn by a need to understand, to do, and to belong. They also demonstrated varying levels of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning. Learning style preferences are evident in participants' narratives and in their self-reported learning strategies. Conceptualizing parents, as adult learners, can be helpful in designing clinical interactions and education initiatives. Knowledge of adult learning principles may enable pediatric therapists to better meet the needs of parents and fulfill their information sharing responsibilities.

Relevance of Videogames in the Learning and Development of Young Children

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zhuxuan; Linaza-Iglesias, José L.

2015-01-01

Introduction: The study was carried out with children of 2nd, 4th and 6th grades of elementary school in order to explore what and how will children learn from a completely new videogame. Method: We organized children from 2nd, 4th and 6th grades of elemental school, giving them chance to play a freshly released videogame by that time. We formed…

Educators' evaluations of children's ideas on the social exclusion of classmates with intellectual and learning disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Nowicki, Elizabeth A; Brown, Jason D; Dare, Lynn

2018-01-01

Reasons underlying the social exclusion of children with intellectual or learning disabilities are not entirely understood. Although it is important to heed the voices of children on this issue, it is also important to consider the degree to which these ideas are informed. The present authors invited educators to evaluate the content of children's ideas on the causes of social exclusion. Educators thematically sorted and rated children's ideas on why classmates with intellectual or learning disabilities are socially excluded. Sorted data were analysed with multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis. Six thematic clusters were identified differing in content to those provided by children in an earlier study. Educators generally rated children's ideas as showing somewhat uninformed ideas about why social exclusion occurs. Educators indicated that children need to be better informed about intellectual and learning disabilities. Limitations and implications are discussed. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Efficacy of vision therapy in children with learning disability and associated binocular vision anomalies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hussaindeen, Jameel Rizwana; Shah, Prerana; Ramani, Krishna Kumar; Ramanujan, Lalitha

To report the frequency of binocular vision (BV) anomalies in children with specific learning disorders (SLD) and to assess the efficacy of vision therapy (VT) in children with a non-strabismic binocular vision anomaly (NSBVA). The study was carried out at a centre for learning disability (LD). Comprehensive eye examination and binocular vision assessment was carried out for 94 children (mean (SD) age: 15 (2.2) years) diagnosed with specific learning disorder. BV assessment was done for children with best corrected visual acuity of ≥6/9 - N6, cooperative for examination and free from any ocular pathology. For children with a diagnosis of NSBVA (n=46), 24 children were randomized to VT and no intervention was provided to the other 22 children who served as experimental controls. At the end of 10 sessions of vision therapy, BV assessment was performed for both the intervention and non-intervention groups. Binocular vision anomalies were found in 59 children (62.8%) among which 22% (n=13) had strabismic binocular vision anomalies (SBVA) and 78% (n=46) had a NSBVA. Accommodative infacility (AIF) was the commonest of the NSBVA and found in 67%, followed by convergence insufficiency (CI) in 25%. Post-vision therapy, the intervention group showed significant improvement in all the BV parameters (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p<0.05) except negative fusional vergence. Children with specific learning disorders have a high frequency of binocular vision disorders and vision therapy plays a significant role in improving the BV parameters. Children with SLD should be screened for BV anomalies as it could potentially be an added hindrance to the reading difficulty in this special population. Copyright © 2017 Spanish General Council of Optometry. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Do Chinese Dyslexic Children Have Difficulties Learning English as a Second Language?

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Ho, Connie Suk-Han; Fong, Kin-Man

2005-01-01

The aim of the present study was to examine whether Chinese dyslexic children had difficulties learning English as a second language given the distinctive characteristics of the two scripts. Twenty-five Chinese primary school children with developmental dyslexia and 25 normally achieving children were tested on a number of English vocabulary,…

Statistical relationship between the succeeding solar flares detected by the RHESSI satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Balázs, L. G.; Gyenge, N.; Korsós, M. B.; Baranyi, T.; Forgács-Dajka, E.; Ballai, I.

2014-06-01

The Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager has observed more than 80 000 solar energetic events since its launch on 2002 February 12. Using this large sample of observed flares, we studied the spatiotemporal relationship between succeeding flares. Our results show that the statistical relationship between the temporal and spatial differences of succeeding flares can be described as a power law of the form R(t) ˜ tp with p = 0.327 ± 0.007. We discuss the possible interpretations of this result as a characteristic function of a supposed underlying physics. Different scenarios are considered to explain this relation, including the case where the connectivity between succeeding events is realized through a shock wave in the post Sedov-Taylor phase or where the spatial and temporal relationship between flares is supposed to be provided by an expanding flare area in the sub-diffusive regime. Furthermore, we cannot exclude the possibility that the physical process behind the statistical relationship is the reordering of the magnetic field by the flare or it is due to some unknown processes.

Children's Early Approaches to Learning and Academic Trajectories through Fifth Grade

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Li-Grining, Christine P.; Votruba-Drzal, Elizabeth; Maldonado-Carreno, Carolina; Haas, Kelly

2010-01-01

Children's early approaches to learning (ATL) enhance their adaptation to the demands they experience with the start of formal schooling. The current study uses individual growth modeling to investigate whether children's early ATL, which includes persistence, emotion regulation, and attentiveness, explain individual differences in their academic…

Academic Achievement Despite Child Maltreatment: A Longitudinal Study

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Coohey, Carol; Renner, Lynette M.; Hua, Lei; Zhang, Ying J.; Whitney, Stephen D.

2011-01-01

Purpose: Although researchers have concluded that child maltreatment has a negative effect on children's learning and academic achievement, not all children are negatively affected by maltreatment, and some children seem to succeed academically despite being maltreated. Drawing on risk and resilience theory, we examined a broad range of potential…

What teacher factors influence their attributions for children's difficulties in learning?

Science.gov (United States)

Brady, Katy; Woolfson, Lisa

2008-12-01

Identifying the factors that influence teacher beliefs about teaching children with learning difficulties is important for the success of inclusive education. This study explores the relationship between teachers' role, self-efficacy, attitudes towards disabled people, teaching experience and training, on teachers' attributions for children's difficulties in learning. One hundred and eighteen primary school teachers (44 general mainstream, 33 mainstream learning support, and 41 special education teachers) completed the short form of the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale, the Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale (IDP), and a revised version of the Teacher Attribution Scale. Regression analysis found that teachers' role influenced stability and controllability attributions. However, for stability attributions the effect was not sustained when examined in the context of the other factors of teaching efficacy, experience, training, and attitudes towards disability. What emerged as important instead was strong feelings of sympathy towards disabled people which predicted stable attributions about learning difficulties. Experience of teaching children with additional support needs and teaching efficacy positively predicted external locus of causality attributions. Surprisingly, training was not found to have an impact on attributions. A mixed MANOVA found that mainstream teachers' controllability attributions were influenced by whether or not the child had identified learning support needs. Teacher efficacy, experience of teaching students with support needs, attitudes towards disabled people, and teachers' role all impact on teacher attributions, but no relationship with training was found. Implications for teacher training and development, and for student achievement and student self-perception are discussed.

Learning Competencies Used In the U.S. Navy’s Virtual Schoolhouse Learning Environment

Science.gov (United States)

2016-12-01

system for which they are receiving training. Self -paced practice on newly-learned skills is also typically unavailable in a Navy classroom setting... communication and collaborative skills by using virtual learning applications. We must understand these differences and opportunities in order to design... self - esteem , and ability to control his or her own destiny. Students who are confident in their own abilities are more likely to succeed

Yes You Can...Help Your Teenager Succeed in School.

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Adamek, Sue; And Others

Ways parents can help their teenagers succeed in school are offered by teachers in the Minnetonka (Minnesota) Public Schools. Sections of the parent guide concern: (1) encouragement--encouraging the student through generous praise, encouraging best efforts, communicating love, making education a family priority, avoiding pressuring the teen,…

Visuospatial working memory for locations, colours, and binding in typically developing children and in children with dyslexia and non-verbal learning disability.

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Garcia, Ricardo Basso; Mammarella, Irene C; Tripodi, Doriana; Cornoldi, Cesare

2014-03-01

This study examined forward and backward recall of locations and colours and the binding of locations and colours, comparing typically developing children - aged between 8 and 10 years - with two different groups of children of the same age with learning disabilities (dyslexia in one group, non-verbal learning disability [NLD] in the other). Results showed that groups with learning disabilities had different visuospatial working memory problems and that children with NLD had particular difficulties in the backward recall of locations. The differences between the groups disappeared, however, when locations and colours were bound together. It was concluded that specific processes may be involved in children in the binding and backward recall of different types of information, as they are not simply the resultant of combining the single processes needed to recall single features. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Size and modality effects in Braille learning: Implications for the blind child from pre-reading sighted children.

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Barlow-Brown, Fiona; Barker, Christopher; Harris, Margaret

2018-06-17

Beginning readers are typically introduced to enlarged print, and the size of this print decreases as readers become more fluent. In comparison, beginning blind readers are expected to learn standard-sized Braille from the outset because past research suggests letter knowledge cannot be transferred across different sizes of Braille. The study aims to investigate whether learning Braille using an oversized pegboard leads to faster, transferable, letter learning and whether performance is mediated by either tactile or visual learning. Sixty-eight children participated in the study. All children were sighted pre-readers with no previous knowledge of Braille. The children came from two nursery schools with an average age of 47.8 months. Children were taught specific Braille letters using either an enlarged pegboard or standard Braille. Two other groups of children were taught using visually presented Braille characters in either an enlarged or standard size and a further control group mirrored the experience of blind children in receiving non-specific tactile training prior to being introduced to Braille. In all tactile conditions it was ensured that the children did not visually experience any Braille for the duration of the study. Results demonstrated that initially training children with large Braille tactually led to the best subsequent learning of standard Braille. Despite the fact that both initial visual and large tactual learning were significantly faster than learning standard Braille, when transferring letter knowledge to standard tactile Braille, previous tactile experience with the large pegboard offered the most efficient route. Braille letter knowledge can be transferred across size and modality particularly effectively with large tactile Braille. This has significant implications for the education of blind children. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

Designing learning experiences together with children

OpenAIRE

Leinonen, Jonna; Venninen, Tuulikki

2012-01-01

Children’s participation in early childhood education context has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Participation means involving and enabling children to take part in decision-making processes about their everyday life. Educators are supporters and enablers of participatory practices. The process of planning activities is an important part of educator’s profession in early childhood education and it can be viewed as a designing learning process. But not only as adults designi...

A Multi-Modal Digital Game-Based Learning Environment for Hospitalized Children with Chronic Illnesses.

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Chin, Jui-Chih; Tsuei, Mengping

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the digital game-based learning for children with chronic illnesses in the hospital settings. The design-based research and qualitative methods were applied. Three eight-year-old children with leukemia participated in this study. In the first phase, the multi-user game-based learning system was developed and…

Does Narrative Feedback Enhance Children's Motor Learning in a Virtual Environment?

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Levac, Danielle E; Lu, Amy S

2018-04-30

Augmented feedback has motivational and informational functions in motor learning, and is a key feature of practice in a virtual environment (VE). This study evaluated the impact of narrative (story-based) feedback as compared to standard feedback during practice of a novel task in a VE on typically developing children's motor learning, motivation and engagement. Thirty-eight children practiced navigating through a virtual path, receiving narrative or non-narrative feedback following each trial. All participants improved their performance on retention but not transfer, with no significant differences between groups. Self-reported engagement was associated with acquisition, retention and transfer for both groups. A narrative approach to feedback delivery did not offer an additive benefit; additional affective advantages of augmented feedback for motor learning in VEs should be explored.

Anxiety and Self-Concept of Learning Disabled Children.

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Margalit, Malka; Zak, Itai

1984-01-01

One hundred learning disabled (LD) and 118 nondisabled children (six-13 years old) participated in the study which demonstrated significantly higher anxiety and lower self-concept in the first group. The differences emphasized the self-dissatisfaction of the LD group and their pawning related anxiety. (Author/CL)

Motor Learning of a Bimanual Task in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy

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Hung, Ya-Ching; Gordon, Andrew M.

2013-01-01

Children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) have been shown to improve their motor performance with sufficient practice. However, little is known about how they learn goal-oriented tasks. In the current study, 21 children with unilateral CP (age 4-10 years old) and 21 age-matched typically developed children (TDC) practiced a simple bimanual…

Retrieval-Based Learning: Positive Effects of Retrieval Practice in Elementary School Children

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Jeffrey D. Karpicke

2016-03-01

Full Text Available A wealth of research has demonstrated that practicing retrieval is a powerful way to enhance learning. However, nearly all prior research has examined retrieval practice with college students. Little is known about retrieval practice in children, and even less is known about possible individual differences in retrieval practice. In three experiments, 88 children (mean age 10 years studied a list of words and either restudied the items or practiced retrieving them. They then took a final free recall test (Experiments 1 and 2 or recognition test (Experiment 3. In all experiments, children showed robust retrieval practice effects. Although a range of individual differences in reading comprehension and processing speed were observed among these children, the benefits of retrieval practice were independent of these factors. The results contribute to the growing body of research supporting the mnemonic benefits of retrieval practice and provide preliminary evidence that practicing retrieval may be an effective learning strategy for children with varying levels of reading comprehension and processing speed.

Schools' Mental Health Services and Young Children's Emotions, Behavior, and Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Reback, Randall

2010-01-01

Recent empirical research has found that children's noncognitive skills play a critical role in their own success, young children's behavioral and psychological disorders can severely harm their future outcomes, and disruptive students harm the behavior and learning of their classmates. Yet relatively little is known about wide-scale interventions…

The Force of Gardening: Investigating Children's Learning in a Food Garden

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Green, Monica; Duhn, Iris

2015-01-01

School gardens are becoming increasingly recognised as important sites for learning and for bringing children into relationship with food. Despite the well-known educational and health benefits of gardening, children's interactions with the non-human entities and forces within garden surroundings are less understood and examined in the wider…

Working and Learning Among California Oaks

Science.gov (United States)

Tietje, B.; Gingg, B.; Zingo, J.; Huntsinger, L.

2009-04-01

With tremendous support from collaborators and enthusiastic volunteers, "Learning Among the Oaks" at the historic Santa Margarita Ranch has become a favorite outdoor learning experience for hundreds of Santa Margarita School students, along with their teachers and families. Oaks are at the center of this unique and cost effective public education program. From getting to know local oaks to exploring conservation issues within the context of a historic working cattle ranch, students take pride in expanding their awareness and knowledge of the local oak woodland community. Santa Margarita School families representing the varied demographics of the community come together on the trail. For many, the program provides a first opportunity to get to know those who make a living on the land and to understand that this land around their school is more than a pretty view. "Learning Among the Oaks" also addresses the need for quality, hands-on science activities and opportunities to connect children with the outdoor world. Using a thematic approach and correlating lessons with State Science Standards, we've engaged students in a full-spectrum of exciting outdoor learning adventures. As students progress through the grades, they find new challenges within the oak trail environment. We've succeeded in establishing an internship program that brings highly qualified, enthusiastic university students out to practice their science teaching skills while working with elementary school students. In the future, these university student interns may assist with the development of interpretive displays, after-school nature activities and monitoring projects. We've benefited from proximity to Cal Poly State University and its "learn-by-doing" philosophy. We've also succeeded in building a dedicated network of volunteers and collaborators, each with a special interest satisfied through participation in the oak trail program. While "Learning Among the Oaks" has focused on educating school

Effects of Language Learning Interventions in Pre-School Children: A Longitudinal Study

Science.gov (United States)

Gasteiger-Klicpera, B.; Knapp, W.; Kucharz, D.; Schabmann, A.; Schmidt, B.

2009-01-01

The aim of the present contribution is to evaluate and discuss the impacts of language learning interventions in pre-school children with German as a first or a second language. The sample consisted of 864 children in intervention groups and 294 children as a comparison group within two successive cohorts. The instruments used were the SSV (Grimm…

Rule-based category learning in children: the role of age and executive functioning.

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Rahel Rabi

Full Text Available Rule-based category learning was examined in 4-11 year-olds and adults. Participants were asked to learn a set of novel perceptual categories in a classification learning task. Categorization performance improved with age, with younger children showing the strongest rule-based deficit relative to older children and adults. Model-based analyses provided insight regarding the type of strategy being used to solve the categorization task, demonstrating that the use of the task appropriate strategy increased with age. When children and adults who identified the correct categorization rule were compared, the performance deficit was no longer evident. Executive functions were also measured. While both working memory and inhibitory control were related to rule-based categorization and improved with age, working memory specifically was found to marginally mediate the age-related improvements in categorization. When analyses focused only on the sample of children, results showed that working memory ability and inhibitory control were associated with categorization performance and strategy use. The current findings track changes in categorization performance across childhood, demonstrating at which points performance begins to mature and resemble that of adults. Additionally, findings highlight the potential role that working memory and inhibitory control may play in rule-based category learning.

Use of computerized tests to evaluate psychomotor performance in children with specific learning disabilities in comparison to normal children

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Santosh Taur

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background & objectives: Children with specific learning disabilities (SpLD have an unexplained difficulty in acquiring basic academic skills resulting in a significant discrepancy between their academic potential and achievements. This study was undertaken to compare the performance on a battery of six psychomotor tests of children with SpLD and those without any learning disabilities (controls using computerized tests. Methods: In this study, 25 children with SpLD and 25 controls (matched for age, socio-economic status and medium of instruction were given three training sessions over one week. Then children were asked to perform on the six computerized psychomotor tests. Results were compared between the two groups. Results: Children with SpLD fared significantly worse on finger tapping test, choice reaction test, digit picture substitution test and card sorting test compared to the controls ( p <0.05. Interpretation & conclusions: Children with SpLD have impairment of psychomotor skills like attention, sensory-motor coordination and executive functioning. Further research is needed to evaluate if the remedial education plan results in improvement in psychomotor performance of children with SpLD on these selected tests.

Learning the rules of the rock-paper-scissors game: chimpanzees versus children.

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Gao, Jie; Su, Yanjie; Tomonaga, Masaki; Matsuzawa, Tetsuro

2018-01-01

The present study aimed to investigate whether chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) could learn a transverse pattern by being trained in the rules of the rock-paper-scissors game in which "paper" beats "rock," "rock" beats "scissors," and "scissors" beats "paper." Additionally, this study compared the learning processes between chimpanzees and children. Seven chimpanzees were tested using a computer-controlled task. They were trained to choose the stronger of two options according to the game rules. The chimpanzees first engaged in the paper-rock sessions until they reached the learning criterion. Subsequently, they engaged in the rock-scissors and scissors-paper sessions, before progressing to sessions with all three pairs mixed. Five of the seven chimpanzees completed training after a mean of 307 sessions, which indicates that they learned the circular pattern. The chimpanzees required more scissors-paper sessions (14.29 ± 6.89), the third learnt pair, than paper-rock (1.71 ± 0.18) and rock-scissors (3.14 ± 0.70) sessions, suggesting they had difficulty finalizing the circularity. The chimpanzees then received generalization tests using new stimuli, which they learned quickly. A similar procedure was performed with children (35-71 months, n = 38) who needed the same number of trials for all three pairs during single-paired sessions. Their accuracy during the mixed-pair sessions improved with age and was better than chance from 50 months of age, which indicates that the ability to solve the transverse patterning problem might develop at around 4 years of age. The present findings show that chimpanzees were able to learn the task but had difficulties with circularity, whereas children learned the task more easily and developed the relevant ability at approximately 4 years of age. Furthermore, the chimpanzees' performance during the mixed-pair sessions was similar to that of 4-year-old children during the corresponding stage of training.

Meta-analysis of fluid intelligence tests of children from the Chinese mainland with learning difficulties.

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Fang Tong

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the differences in fluid intelligence tests between normal children and children with learning difficulties in China. METHOD: PubMed, MD Consult, and other Chinese Journal Database were searched from their establishment to November 2012. After finding comparative studies of Raven measurements of normal children and children with learning difficulties, full Intelligent Quotation (FIQ values and the original values of the sub-measurement were extracted. The corresponding effect model was selected based on the results of heterogeneity and parallel sub-group analysis was performed. RESULTS: Twelve documents were included in the meta-analysis, and the studies were all performed in mainland of China. Among these, two studies were performed at child health clinics, the other ten sites were schools and control children were schoolmates or classmates. FIQ was evaluated using a random effects model. WMD was -13.18 (95% CI: -16.50- -9.85. Children with learning difficulties showed significantly lower FIQ scores than controls (P<0.00001; Type of learning difficulty and gender differences were evaluated using a fixed-effects model (I² = 0%. The sites and purposes of the studies evaluated here were taken into account, but the reasons of heterogeneity could not be eliminated; The sum IQ of all the subgroups showed considerable heterogeneity (I² = 76.5%. The sub-measurement score of document A showed moderate heterogeneity among all documents, and AB, B, and E showed considerable heterogeneity, which was used in a random effect model. Individuals with learning difficulties showed heterogeneity as well. There was a moderate delay in the first three items (-0.5 to -0.9, and a much more pronounced delay in the latter three items (-1.4 to -1.6. CONCLUSION: In the Chinese mainland, the level of fluid intelligence of children with learning difficulties was lower than that of normal children. Delayed development in sub-items of C, D

Do children go for the nice guys? The influence of speaker benevolence and certainty on selective word learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergstra, Myrthe; DE Mulder, Hannah N M; Coopmans, Peter

2018-04-06

This study investigated how speaker certainty (a rational cue) and speaker benevolence (an emotional cue) influence children's willingness to learn words in a selective learning paradigm. In two experiments four- to six-year-olds learnt novel labels from two speakers and, after a week, their memory for these labels was reassessed. Results demonstrated that children retained the label-object pairings for at least a week. Furthermore, children preferred to learn from certain over uncertain speakers, but they had no significant preference for nice over nasty speakers. When the cues were combined, children followed certain speakers, even if they were nasty. However, children did prefer to learn from nice and certain speakers over nasty and certain speakers. These results suggest that rational cues regarding a speaker's linguistic competence trump emotional cues regarding a speaker's affective status in word learning. However, emotional cues were found to have a subtle influence on this process.

Self-esteem in children with attention and/or learning deficits: the importance of gender.

Science.gov (United States)

Ek, Ulla; Westerlund, Joakim; Holmberg, Kirsten; Fernell, Elisabeth

2008-08-01

Our objective was to analyze self-esteem in children within a spectrum of attention disorders, that is, besides attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), also children with subthreshold ADHD and even milder attention deficits and/or learning problems. From a population-based group of 10-11-year-old children in a Swedish municipality those with ADHD/subthreshold ADHD (n = 30) and those with milder attention and/or learning problems (n = 64) were targeted for the study. The children completed the 'I think I am' scale, reflecting physical appearance, scholastic competence, mental well-being, relationships to parents and to others and global self-esteem. Data from boys and girls were compared and related to the parents' and teachers' ratings on the two dimensions of the Conners' 10-item questionnaire (impulsive-restless behaviour and emotional lability) and to the children's cognitive levels. Significant gender differences were found, girls reporting lower self-esteem concerning mental well-being and poorer relationships with parents and peers. However, children with ADHD/subthreshold ADHD did not report significantly lower global self-esteem when compared to a reference population. Self-esteem in children with attention, behaviour and/or learning problems has to be carefully evaluated, especially in girls, and measures are needed to prevent a trajectory towards adolescent psychopathology.

Learning Spoken Words via the Ears and Eyes: Evidence from 30-Month-Old Children

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Mélanie Havy

2017-12-01

Full Text Available From the very first moments of their lives, infants are able to link specific movements of the visual articulators to auditory speech signals. However, recent evidence indicates that infants focus primarily on auditory speech signals when learning new words. Here, we ask whether 30-month-old children are able to learn new words based solely on visible speech information, and whether information from both auditory and visual modalities is available after learning in only one modality. To test this, children were taught new lexical mappings. One group of children experienced the words in the auditory modality (i.e., acoustic form of the word with no accompanying face. Another group experienced the words in the visual modality (seeing a silent talking face. Lexical recognition was tested in either the learning modality or in the other modality. Results revealed successful word learning in either modality. Results further showed cross-modal recognition following an auditory-only, but not a visual-only, experience of the words. Together, these findings suggest that visible speech becomes increasingly informative for the purpose of lexical learning, but that an auditory-only experience evokes a cross-modal representation of the words.

Teacher-Child Relationships and Classroom-Learning Behaviours of Children with Developmental Language Disorders

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Rhoad-Drogalis, Anna; Justice, Laura M.; Sawyer, Brook E.; O'Connell, Ann A.

2018-01-01

Background: Children with developmental language disorders (DLDs) often struggle with classroom behaviour. No study has examined whether positive teacher-child relationships may act as a protective factor for children with DLDs in that these serve to enhance children's important classroom-learning behaviours. Aims: To examine the association…

Children Learning to Use Technologies through Play: A Digital Play Framework

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Bird, Jo; Edwards, Susan

2015-01-01

Digital technologies are increasingly acknowledged as an important aspect of early childhood education. A significant problem for early childhood education has been how to understand the pedagogical use of technologies in a sector that values play-based learning. This paper presents a new framework to understand how children learn to use…

Declarative and procedural learning in children and adolescents with posterior fossa tumours

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Casares Encarnación

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This quasi-experimental study was designed to assess two important learning types – procedural and declarative – in children and adolescents affected by posterior fossa tumours (astrocytoma vs. medulloblastoma, given that memory has an important impact on the child's academic achievement and personal development. Methods We had three groups: two clinical (eighteen subjects and one control (twelve subjects. The learning types in these groups were assessed by two experimental tasks evaluating procedural-implicit and declarative memory. A Serial Reaction-Time Task was used to measure procedural sequence learning, and the Spanish version 1 of the California Verbal Learning Test-Children's Version- CVLT- 2 to measure declarative-explicit learning. The learning capacity was assessed considering only the blocks that represent learning, and were compared with MANOVA in clinical and normal subjects. The Raven, simple reaction-time, finger-tapping test, and grooved pegboard tests were used to assess the overall functioning of subjects. The results were compared with those from a control group of the same age, and with Spanish norm-referenced tools where available Results The results indicate the absence of procedural-implicit learning in both clinical groups, whereas declarative-explicit learning is maintained in both groups. Conclusion The clinical groups showed a conservation of declarative learning and a clear impairment of procedural learning. The results support the role of the cerebellum in the early phase of procedural learning.

Effects of Mental Health on Student Learning

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VanderLind, Ren

2017-01-01

Learning can be hindered by students' mental health. Given the increased reports of mental health concerns among college students, it is imperative that we understand how best to provide supports to this population to help them learn and succeed. This is particularly significant given the body of research that demonstrates how mental illness may…

Children can learn new facts equally well from interactive media versus face to face instruction

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Kristine Kwok

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Today’s children have more opportunities than ever before to learn from interactive technology, yet experimental research assessing the efficacy of children’s learning from interactive media in comparison to traditional learning approaches is still quite scarce. Moreover, little work has examined the efficacy of using touch-screen devices for research purposes. The current study compared children’s rate of learning factual information about animals during a face-to-face instruction from an adult female researcher versus an analogous instruction from an interactive device. Eighty-six children ages 4 through 8 years (64% male completed the learning task in either the Face-to-Face condition (n = 43 or the Interactive Media condition (n = 43. In the Learning Phase of the experiment, which was presented as a game, children were taught novel facts about animals without being told that their memory of the facts would be tested. The facts were taught to the children either by an adult female researcher (Face-to-Face condition or from a pre-recorded female voice represented by a cartoon Llama (Interactive Media condition. In the Testing Phase of the experiment that immediately followed, children’s memory for the taught facts was tested using a 4-option forced-choice paradigm. Children’s rate of learning was significantly above chance in both conditions and a comparison of the rates of learning across the two conditions revealed no significant differences. Learning significantly improved from age 4 to age 8, however, even the preschool-aged children performed significantly above chance, and their performance did not differ between conditions. These results suggest that, interactive media can be equally as effective as one-on-one instruction, at least under certain conditions. Moreover, these results offer support for the validity of using interactive technology to collect data for research purposes. We discuss the implications of these results

Children learn spurious associations in their math textbooks: Examples from fraction arithmetic.

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Braithwaite, David W; Siegler, Robert S

2018-04-26

Fraction arithmetic is among the most important and difficult topics children encounter in elementary and middle school mathematics. Braithwaite, Pyke, and Siegler (2017) hypothesized that difficulties learning fraction arithmetic often reflect reliance on associative knowledge-rather than understanding of mathematical concepts and procedures-to guide choices of solution strategies. They further proposed that this associative knowledge reflects distributional characteristics of the fraction arithmetic problems children encounter. To test these hypotheses, we examined textbooks and middle school children in the United States (Experiments 1 and 2) and China (Experiment 3). We asked the children to predict which arithmetic operation would accompany a specified pair of operands, to generate operands to accompany a specified arithmetic operation, and to match operands and operations. In both countries, children's responses indicated that they associated operand pairs having equal denominators with addition and subtraction, and operand pairs having a whole number and a fraction with multiplication and division. The children's associations paralleled the textbook input in both countries, which was consistent with the hypothesis that children learned the associations from the practice problems. Differences in the effects of such associative knowledge on U.S. and Chinese children's fraction arithmetic performance are discussed, as are implications of these differences for educational practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

What Can Chinese and German Children Tell Us about Their Learning and Play in Kindergarten?

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Wu, Shu-Chen

2015-01-01

This study investigated Hong Kong and German children's perceptions of play and learning and their relationships. Forty-eight children (24 German and 24 Chinese) playing and learning in the classroom were observed and videotaped for five consecutive days. They were interviewed 3 times about their kindergarten experiences by using free- and…

Generalization of Auditory Sensory and Cognitive Learning in Typically Developing Children.

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Cristina F B Murphy

Full Text Available Despite the well-established involvement of both sensory ("bottom-up" and cognitive ("top-down" processes in literacy, the extent to which auditory or cognitive (memory or attention learning transfers to phonological and reading skills remains unclear. Most research has demonstrated learning of the trained task or even learning transfer to a closely related task. However, few studies have reported "far-transfer" to a different domain, such as the improvement of phonological and reading skills following auditory or cognitive training. This study assessed the effectiveness of auditory, memory or attention training on far-transfer measures involving phonological and reading skills in typically developing children. Mid-transfer was also assessed through untrained auditory, attention and memory tasks. Sixty 5- to 8-year-old children with normal hearing were quasi-randomly assigned to one of five training groups: attention group (AG, memory group (MG, auditory sensory group (SG, placebo group (PG; drawing, painting, and a control, untrained group (CG. Compliance, mid-transfer and far-transfer measures were evaluated before and after training. All trained groups received 12 x 45-min training sessions over 12 weeks. The CG did not receive any intervention. All trained groups, especially older children, exhibited significant learning of the trained task. On pre- to post-training measures (test-retest, most groups exhibited improvements on most tasks. There was significant mid-transfer for a visual digit span task, with highest span in the MG, relative to other groups. These results show that both sensory and cognitive (memory or attention training can lead to learning in the trained task and to mid-transfer learning on a task (visual digit span within the same domain as the trained tasks. However, learning did not transfer to measures of language (reading and phonological awareness, as the PG and CG improved as much as the other trained groups. Further

Generalization of Auditory Sensory and Cognitive Learning in Typically Developing Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Cristina F B; Moore, David R; Schochat, Eliane

2015-01-01

Despite the well-established involvement of both sensory ("bottom-up") and cognitive ("top-down") processes in literacy, the extent to which auditory or cognitive (memory or attention) learning transfers to phonological and reading skills remains unclear. Most research has demonstrated learning of the trained task or even learning transfer to a closely related task. However, few studies have reported "far-transfer" to a different domain, such as the improvement of phonological and reading skills following auditory or cognitive training. This study assessed the effectiveness of auditory, memory or attention training on far-transfer measures involving phonological and reading skills in typically developing children. Mid-transfer was also assessed through untrained auditory, attention and memory tasks. Sixty 5- to 8-year-old children with normal hearing were quasi-randomly assigned to one of five training groups: attention group (AG), memory group (MG), auditory sensory group (SG), placebo group (PG; drawing, painting), and a control, untrained group (CG). Compliance, mid-transfer and far-transfer measures were evaluated before and after training. All trained groups received 12 x 45-min training sessions over 12 weeks. The CG did not receive any intervention. All trained groups, especially older children, exhibited significant learning of the trained task. On pre- to post-training measures (test-retest), most groups exhibited improvements on most tasks. There was significant mid-transfer for a visual digit span task, with highest span in the MG, relative to other groups. These results show that both sensory and cognitive (memory or attention) training can lead to learning in the trained task and to mid-transfer learning on a task (visual digit span) within the same domain as the trained tasks. However, learning did not transfer to measures of language (reading and phonological awareness), as the PG and CG improved as much as the other trained groups. Further research

Colour learning in retarded children | Karseboom | South African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

South African Medical Journal. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced Search · Current Issue · Archives · Journal Home > Vol 45, No 2 (1971) >. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads. Username, Password, Remember me, or Register. Colour learning in retarded children. E Karseboom. Abstract.

Electroencephalographic characterization of subgroups of children with learning disorders.

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Milene Roca-Stappung

Full Text Available Electroencephalographic alterations have been reported in subjects with learning disorders, but there is no consensus on what characterizes their electroencephalogram findings. Our objective was to determine if there were subgroups within a group of scholars with not otherwise specified learning disorders and if they had specific electroencephalographic patterns. Eighty-five subjects (31 female, 8-11 years who scored low in at least two subscales -reading, writing and arithmetic- of the Infant Neuropsychological Evaluation were included. Electroencephalograms were recorded in 19 leads during rest with eyes closed; absolute power was obtained every 0.39 Hz. Three subgroups were formed according to children's performance: Group 1 (G1, higher scores than Group 2 in reading speed and reading and writing accuracy, Group 2 (G2, better performance than G1 in composition and Group 3 (G3, lower scores than Groups 1 and 2 in the three subscales. G3 had higher absolute power in frequencies in the delta and theta range at left frontotemporal sites than G1 and G2. G2 had higher absolute power within alpha frequencies than G3 and G1 at the left occipital site. G3 had higher absolute power in frequencies in the beta range than G1 in parietotemporal areas and than G2 in left frontopolar and temporal sites. G1 had higher absolute power within beta frequencies than G2 in the left frontopolar site. G3 had lower gamma absolute power values than the other groups in the left hemisphere, and gamma activity was higher in G1 than in G2 in frontopolar and temporal areas. This group of children with learning disorders is very heterogeneous. Three subgroups were found with different cognitive profiles, as well as a different electroencephalographic pattern. It is important to consider these differences when planning interventions for children with learning disorders.

Developing Preschool Deaf Children's Language and Literacy Learning from an Educational Media Series

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Golos, Debbie B.; Moses, Annie M.

2013-01-01

With the increase in research on multiliteracies comes greater interest in exploring multiple pathways of learning for deaf children. Educational media have been increasingly examined as a tool for facilitating the development of deaf children's language and literacy skills. The authors investigated whether preschool deaf children (N = 31)…

Using electronic storybooks to support word learning in children with severe language impairments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smeets, Daisy J. H.; van Dijken, Marianne J.; Bus, Adriana G

2012-01-01

Novel word learning is reported to be problematic for children with severe language impairments (SLI). In this study, we tested electronic storybooks as a tool to support vocabulary acquisition in SLI children. In Experiment 1, 29 kindergarten SLI children heard four e-books each four times: (a) two

The role of affordances in children's learning performance and efficiency when using virtual manipulative mathematics touch-screen apps

Science.gov (United States)

Moyer-Packenham, Patricia S.; Bullock, Emma K.; Shumway, Jessica F.; Tucker, Stephen I.; Watts, Christina M.; Westenskow, Arla; Anderson-Pence, Katie L.; Maahs-Fladung, Cathy; Boyer-Thurgood, Jennifer; Gulkilik, Hilal; Jordan, Kerry

2016-03-01

This paper focuses on understanding the role that affordances played in children's learning performance and efficiency during clinical interviews of their interactions with mathematics apps on touch-screen devices. One hundred children, ages 3 to 8, each used six different virtual manipulative mathematics apps during 30-40-min interviews. The study used a convergent mixed methods design, in which quantitative and qualitative data were collected concurrently to answer the research questions (Creswell and Plano Clark 2011). Videos were used to capture each child's interactions with the virtual manipulative mathematics apps, document learning performance and efficiency, and record children's interactions with the affordances within the apps. Quantitized video data answered the research question on differences in children's learning performance and efficiency between pre- and post-assessments. A Wilcoxon matched pairs signed-rank test was used to explore these data. Qualitative video data was used to identify affordance access by children when using each app, identifying 95 potential helping and hindering affordances among the 18 apps. The results showed that there were changes in children's learning performance and efficiency when children accessed a helping or a hindering affordance. Helping affordances were more likely to be accessed by children who progressed between the pre- and post-assessments, and the same affordances had helping and hindering effects for different children. These results have important implications for the design of virtual manipulative mathematics learning apps.

 Boosting young children's writing skills with e-learning designed for dyslexics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Levinsen, Karin

2008-01-01

Since the consent to the Salamanca Statement on special needs education from 1994, e-learning developers have focused on tools aimed to support dyslexic learners. The importance of these efforts is on display every year in the Special Aids exhibition area at the BETT-event in London.  ICT and e-l...... studies of experiments in Second grade. The paper concludes that most children in the experiments wrote longer and more complex stories than normally expected from this age-group. The children with a visual learning style in particular demonstrated a significant progress....

Minding the gaps: literacy enhances lexical segmentation in children learning to read.

Science.gov (United States)

Havron, Naomi; Arnon, Inbal

2017-11-01

Can emergent literacy impact the size of the linguistic units children attend to? We examined children's ability to segment multiword sequences before and after they learned to read, in order to disentangle the effect of literacy and age on segmentation. We found that early readers were better at segmenting multiword units (after controlling for age, cognitive, and linguistic variables), and that improvement in literacy skills between the two sessions predicted improvement in segmentation abilities. Together, these findings suggest that literacy acquisition, rather than age, enhanced segmentation. We discuss implications for models of language learning.

Technology supporting written productivity in children with learning disabilities: a critical review.

Science.gov (United States)

Batorowicz, Beata; Missiuna, Cheryl A; Pollock, Nancy A

2012-10-01

Occupational therapists working with school-aged children are often in the position of recommending technology to enhance written productivity. The outcome of using technology on the writing of children with learning disabilities has not been reviewed critically, and this knowledge is necessary for evidence-based practice. To review evidence regarding the use of technology to support written productivity in children with learning disabilities. A systematic search of seven databases, plus a manual search, retrieved 864 papers published between 1985 and March 2012. Twenty-seven papers (28 studies) met inclusion criteria. The evidence is of a moderately low level and results are inconclusive; however, trends suggest a positive influence of some technology on children's performance and behaviour. Methodological limitations exist in most studies and the description of specific technology intervention is often combined with teaching instructions. The available research is encouraging, but high-quality investigations with newer technologies are needed.

Effects of Classroom Bilingualism on Task Shifting, Verbal Memory, and Word Learning in Children

Science.gov (United States)

Kaushanskaya, Margarita; Gross, Megan; Buac, Milijana

2014-01-01

We examined the effects of classroom bilingual experience in children on an array of cognitive skills. Monolingual English-speaking children were compared with children who spoke English as the native language and who had been exposed to Spanish in the context of dual-immersion schooling for an average of two years. The groups were compared on a measure of non-linguistic task-shifting; measures of verbal short-term and working memory; and measures of word-learning. The two groups of children did not differ on measures of non-linguistic task-shifting and verbal short-term memory. However, the classroom-exposure bilingual group outperformed the monolingual group on the measure of verbal working memory and a measure of word-learning. Together, these findings indicate that while exposure to a second language in a classroom setting may not be sufficient to engender changes in cognitive control, it can facilitate verbal memory and verbal learning. PMID:24576079

Learning disorders in children with epilepsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Pavlou, Evangelos; Gkampeta, Anastasia

2011-03-01

Learning Disorders (LD) are defined as disorders that interfere with academic performance or with daily activities that require reading, writing or mathematical skills in subjects with a normal intelligence quotient (IQ). The prevalence of LD in the general population has been found to be 2-10%, and reading disorders are the most frequent subtype. Epilepsy is one of the most common serious neurological disorders in childhood. LD are more common in children with epilepsy than in the general population. As a consequence, the risk of cognitive impairment in children with epilepsy is high, and a review of the literature needs to be fully presented. Narrative review including articles regarding LD in children with various epileptic syndromes published in the international medical literature. LD are more frequent among children with epilepsy. The etiology is multifactorial, being affected by the type of epileptic syndrome, the age of onset and the antiepileptic treatment being selected. LD can be either permanent or state-dependent. Each category has different treatment protocols and prognosis. Despite the fact that the findings of the studies discussed in our article support the evidence that epilepsy in childhood impairs the cognitive function, we should not underestimate the role of demographic and psychosocial factors on academic performance of children with epilepsy. Despite the high prevalence of LD, a healthy family and school environment can help reduce its impact on the patient's quality of life. © Springer-Verlag 2010

Deficit in implicit motor sequence learning among children and adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Gofer-Levi, Moran; Silberg, Tamar; Brezner, Amichai; Vakil, Eli

2013-11-01

Skill learning (SL) is learning as a result of repeated exposure and practice, which encompasses independent explicit (response to instructions) and implicit (response to hidden regularities) processes. Little is known about the effects of developmental disorders, such as Cerebral Palsy (CP), on the ability to acquire new skills. We compared performance of CP and typically developing (TD) children and adolescents in completing the serial reaction time (SRT) task, which is a motor sequence learning task, and examined the impact of various factors on this performance as indicative of the ability to acquire motor skills. While both groups improved in performance, participants with CP were significantly slower than TD controls and did not learn the implicit sequence. Our results indicate that SL in children and adolescents with CP is qualitatively and quantitatively different than that of their peers. Understanding the unique aspects of SL in children and adolescents with CP might help plan appropriate and efficient interventions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Resting State EEG in Children With Learning Disabilities: An Independent Component Analysis Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Jäncke, Lutz; Alahmadi, Nsreen

2016-01-01

In this study, the neurophysiological underpinnings of learning disabilities (LD) in children are examined using resting state EEG. We were particularly interested in the neurophysiological differences between children with learning disabilities not otherwise specified (LD-NOS), learning disabilities with verbal disabilities (LD-Verbal), and healthy control (HC) children. We applied 2 different approaches to examine the differences between the different groups. First, we calculated theta/beta and theta/alpha ratios in order to quantify the relationship between slow and fast EEG oscillations. Second, we used a recently developed method for analyzing spectral EEG, namely the group independent component analysis (gICA) model. Using these measures, we identified substantial differences between LD and HC children and between LD-NOS and LD-Verbal children in terms of their spectral EEG profiles. We obtained the following findings: (a) theta/beta and theta/alpha ratios were substantially larger in LD than in HC children, with no difference between LD-NOS and LD-Verbal children; (b) there was substantial slowing of EEG oscillations, especially for gICs located in frontal scalp positions, with LD-NOS children demonstrating the strongest slowing; (c) the estimated intracortical sources of these gICs were mostly located in brain areas involved in the control of executive functions, attention, planning, and language; and (d) the LD-Verbal children demonstrated substantial differences in EEG oscillations compared with LD-NOS children, and these differences were localized in language-related brain areas. The general pattern of atypical neurophysiological activation found in LD children suggests that they suffer from neurophysiological dysfunction in brain areas involved with the control of attention, executive functions, planning, and language functions. LD-Verbal children also demonstrate atypical activation, especially in language-related brain areas. These atypical

Learning mathematics in two dimensions: a review and look ahead at teaching and learning early childhood mathematics with children's literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Flevares, Lucia M; Schiff, Jamie R

2014-01-01

In the past 25 years an identifiable interest in using children's literature in mathematics learning emerged (Clyne and Griffiths, 1991; Welchman-Tischler, 1992; Hong, 1996; Hellwig etal., 2000; Haury, 2001). We critically review the rationales given for the use of picture books in mathematics learning, with a special focus on geometry due to its underrepresentation in this body of literature and the need for greater focus on this topic. The benefits and effectiveness of using picture books for children's mathematics learning and interest have been documented (Hong, 1996; O'Neill etal., 2004; Young-Loveridge, 2004). For geometry, although much learning of shape ideas should be hands-on, two-dimensional figures are essential to develop children's understanding of plane geometry. Books may effectively engage pre-literate children with plane shapes (van den Heuvel-Panhuizen and van den Boogaard, 2008; Skoumpourdi and Mpakopoulou, 2011) and shapes as gestalt wholes or prototypes (van Hiele, 1986; Clements etal., 1999; Hannibal, 1999). We review several guidelines and evaluative criteria for book selection, including Cianciolo (2000), Schiro (1997), Hunsader (2004), and van den Heuvel-Panhuizen and Elia (2012). Geometry concepts have proven challenging for young students, but their difficulties may stem, in part, from inadequate teacher training and professional development (Clements and Sarama, 2000; Chard etal., 2008) which lead to misconceptions (Oberdorf and Taylor-Cox, 1999; Inan and Dogan-Temur, 2010). Using picture books in teacher training may be an inviting way for early childhood teachers to enhance their own knowledge. We will examine the literature for guidance on incorporating children's literature into teacher training. In closing we will outline a comprehensive, multi-pronged agenda for best instructional practices for selection and use of children's books in mathematics activities and for teacher training.

Philosophy with Children as an Educational Platform for Self-Determined Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Kizel, Arie

2016-01-01

This article develops a theoretical framework for understanding the applicability and relevance of Philosophy with Children in and out of schools as a platform for self-determined learning in light of the developments of the past 40 years. Based on the philosophical writings of Matthew Lipman, the father of Philosophy for Children, and in…

78 FR 29499 - Proposed Priorities, Requirements, Definitions, and Selection Criteria-Race to the Top-Early...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-20

... children moving from Early Learning and Development Programs to elementary schools; (c) Promoting health... health and mental health. These State agency representatives explicitly oversee the child care work in... children, especially those with high needs, entering kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life...

Effect of vicarious fear learning on children's heart rate responses and attentional bias for novel animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, Gemma; Field, Andy P; Askew, Chris

2014-10-01

Research with children has shown that vicarious learning can result in changes to 2 of Lang's (1968) 3 anxiety response systems: subjective report and behavioral avoidance. The current study extended this research by exploring the effect of vicarious learning on physiological responses (Lang's final response system) and attentional bias. The study used Askew and Field's (2007) vicarious learning procedure and demonstrated fear-related increases in children's cognitive, behavioral, and physiological responses. Cognitive and behavioral changes were retested 1 week and 1 month later, and remained elevated. In addition, a visual search task demonstrated that fear-related vicarious learning creates an attentional bias for novel animals, which is moderated by increases in fear beliefs during learning. The findings demonstrate that vicarious learning leads to lasting changes in all 3 of Lang's anxiety response systems and is sufficient to create attentional bias to threat in children. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Electrophysiological Evidence of Heterogeneity in Visual Statistical Learning in Young Children with ASD

Science.gov (United States)

Jeste, Shafali S.; Kirkham, Natasha; Senturk, Damla; Hasenstab, Kyle; Sugar, Catherine; Kupelian, Chloe; Baker, Elizabeth; Sanders, Andrew J.; Shimizu, Christina; Norona, Amanda; Paparella, Tanya; Freeman, Stephanny F. N.; Johnson, Scott P.

2015-01-01

Statistical learning is characterized by detection of regularities in one's environment without an awareness or intention to learn, and it may play a critical role in language and social behavior. Accordingly, in this study we investigated the electrophysiological correlates of visual statistical learning in young children with autism…

Blocking in children's causal learning depends on working memory and reasoning abilities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

McCormack, T.; Simms, V.; McGourty, J.; Beckers, T.

2013-01-01

A sample of 99 children completed a causal learning task that was an analogue of the food allergy paradigm used with adults. The cue competition effects of blocking and unovershadowing were assessed under forward and backward presentation conditions. Children also answered questions probing their

Is Storytelling Effective in Improving the English Vocabulary Learning among Iranian Children in Kindergartens?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maasumeh Abasi

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of storytelling in improving English vocabulary learning among children in kindergarten. Twenty Iranian children (9 boys and 11 girls in a private kindergarten in Kerman, Iran, were the participants of the study. All of the children were five years old and were taught English with the same teacher in a class in a kindergarten. The design of the study was one group pre-test post-test quasi experimental design. Both pre and post-tests included 20 vocabulary picture items taken from a story book teaching in the kindergarten. The statistical analysis revealed that storytelling was effective in increasing vocabulary learning among kindergarten children.

Motor learning and working memory in children born preterm: a systematic review.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jongbloed-Pereboom, M.; Janssen, A.J.W.M.; Steenbergen, B.; Nijhuis-Van der Sanden, M.W.G.

2012-01-01

Children born preterm have a higher risk for developing motor, cognitive, and behavioral problems. Motor problems can occur in combination with working memory problems, and working memory is important for explicit learning of motor skills. The relation between motor learning and working memory has

Motor learning and working memory in children born preterm: A systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jongbloed-Pereboom, M.; Janssen, A.J.W.M.; Steenbergen, B.; Nijhuis-Van der Sanden, M.W.G.

2012-01-01

Children born preterm have a higher risk for developing motor, cognitive, and behavioral problems. Motor problems can occur in combination with working memory problems, and working memory is important for explicit learning of motor skills. The relation between motor learning and working memory has

The words children hear: Picture books and the statistics for language learning

OpenAIRE

Montag, Jessica L.; Jones, Michael N.; Smith, Linda B.

2015-01-01

Young children learn language from the speech they hear. Previous work suggests that the statistical diversity of words and of linguistic contexts is associated with better language outcomes. One potential source of lexical diversity is the text of picture books that caregivers read aloud to children. Many parents begin reading to their children shortly after birth, so this is potentially an important source of linguistic input for many children. We constructed a corpus of 100 children’s pict...

Effect of vicarious fear learning on children's heart rate responses and attentional bias for novel animals

OpenAIRE

Reynolds, G; Field, AP; Askew, C

2014-01-01

Research with children has shown that vicarious learning can result in changes to 2 of Lang's (1968) 3 anxiety response systems: subjective report and behavioral avoidance. The current study extended this research by exploring the effect of vicarious learning on physiological responses (Lang's final response system) and attentional bias. The study used Askew and Field's (2007) vicarious learning procedure and demonstrated fear-related increases in children's cognitive, behavioral, and physiol...

Impact of Chess Training on Mathematics Performance and Concentration Ability of Children with Learning Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Scholz, Markus; Niesch, Harald; Steffen, Olaf; Ernst, Baerbel; Loeffler, Markus; Witruk, Evelin; Schwarz, Hans

2008-01-01

The aim of this study is to evaluate the benefit of chess in mathematics lessons for children with learning disabilities based on lower intelligence (IQ 70-85). School classes of four German schools for children with learning disabilities were randomly assigned to receive one hour of chess lesson instead of one hour of regular mathematics lessons…

Handwriting Development in Spanish Children with and without Learning Disabilities: A Graphonomic Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Barrientos, Pablo

2017-01-01

The central purpose of this study was to analyze the dynamics of handwriting movements in real time for Spanish students in early grades with and without learning disabilities. The sample consisted of 120 children from Grades 1 through 3 (primary education), classified into two groups: with learning disabilities and without learning disabilities.…

How does graphotactic knowledge influence children's learning of new spellings?

Science.gov (United States)

Pacton, Sébastien; Sobaco, Amélie; Fayol, Michel; Treiman, Rebecca

2013-01-01

TWO EXPERIMENTS INVESTIGATED WHETHER AND HOW THE LEARNING OF SPELLINGS BY FRENCH THIRD GRADERS IS INFLUENCED BY TWO GRAPHOTACTIC PATTERNS: consonants cannot double in word-initial position (Experiment 1) and consonants cannot double after single consonants (Experiment 2). Children silently read meaningful texts that contained three types of novel spellings: no doublet (e.g., mupile, guprane), doublet in a legal position (e.g., muppile, gupprane), and doublet in an illegal position (e.g., mmupile, guprrane). Orthographic learning was assessed with a task of spelling to dictation. In both experiments, children recalled items without doublets better than items with doublets. In Experiment 1, children recalled spellings with a doublet in illegal word-initial position better than spellings with a doublet in legal word-medial position, and almost all misspellings involved the omission of the doublet. The fact that the graphotactic violation in an item like mmupile was in the salient initial position may explain why children often remembered both the presence and the position of the doublet. In Experiment 2, children recalled non-words with a doublet before a single consonant (legal, e.g., gupprane) better than those with a doublet after a single consonant (illegal, e.g., guprrane). Omission of the doublet was the most frequent error for both types of items. Children also made some transposition errors on items with a doublet after a single consonant, recalling for example gupprane instead of guprrane. These results suggest that, when a doublet is in the hard-to-remember medial position, children sometimes remember that an item contains a doublet but not which letter is doubled. Their knowledge that double consonants can occur before but not after single consonants leads to transposition errors on items like guprrane. These results shed new light on the conditions under which children use general knowledge about the graphotactic patterns of their writing system to

Mothers' Beliefs about Children's Learning in Hong Kong and the United States: Implications for Mothers' Child-Based Worth

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Florrie Fei-Yin; Pomerantz, Eva M.; Lam, Shui-fong

2013-01-01

Chinese and American mothers' beliefs about children's learning and parents' role in it were examined using notions salient in Chinese culture. Mothers from Hong Kong ("n" = 66) and the United States ("n" = 69) indicated their endorsement of the ideas that children's learning reflects children's morality, and parents' support…

Learning User Preferences in Ubiquitous Systems: A User Study and a Reinforcement Learning Approach

OpenAIRE

Zaidenberg , Sofia; Reignier , Patrick; Mandran , Nadine

2010-01-01

International audience; Our study concerns a virtual assistant, proposing services to the user based on its current perceived activity and situation (ambient intelligence). Instead of asking the user to define his preferences, we acquire them automatically using a reinforcement learning approach. Experiments showed that our system succeeded the learning of user preferences. In order to validate the relevance and usability of such a system, we have first conducted a user study. 26 non-expert s...

Suggestopedia and Its Application to the Education of Children with Learning Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Brownlee, Phyllis Perdew

The author examines literature and research relating to the use of suggestopedia, suggestive-accelerative learning and teaching--SALT, with learning disabled children. Chapter I introduces the topic of suggestopedia with definitions of related terminology, and information on the purpose, significance, and limitations of the study to investigate…

Chess activities system to improve psychomotor functions in children with learning difficulties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zuleida Rodríguez Díaz

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Cuban society and the education system in particular is the most prepared to achieve the formation of the personality of new generations, including particularly children with special educational needs. This work arises from the need to provide a response in the development of motor skills and shortcomings that have children between 7 and 10 years old with moderate mental retardation, special school "28 de Enero" the municipality Pinar del Río. For the development of scientific research, empirical, theoretical and statistical methods were used. a system of activities aimed at helping to improve motor skills in these children, based from the historical-cultural approach and a process of teaching and learning to develop their full potential is proposed. This system is in line with the activities proposed in the teaching programs, and responds to the current requirements of the comprehensive education of children with moderate mental retardation; It is a resource to develop an efficient intervention in the process of learning of motor skills.

Children's informal learning in the context of school of knowledge society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Birgitte Holm; Danielsen, Oluf; Nielsen, Janni

2007-01-01

interactive media. The project shows that in children's spare-time use of ICT they employ informal forms of learning based to a large extent on their social interaction both in physical and virtual spaces. These informal learning forms can be identified as learning hierarchies, learning communities...... and learning networks; they are important contributions to the school of the knowledge society. The ICT in New Learning Environments project based on anthropologically inspired methods and social learning theories shows that students bring their informal forms of learning into the school context. This happens...... working with ICT and project-based learning is shown to simultaneously constitute a mixed mode between the school of the industrial and the knowledge society. The research shows that it is possible to tip the balance in the direction of the school of the knowledge society, and thus of the future...

Enhancing Building, Conversation, and Learning through Caregiver-Child Interactions in a Children's Museum

Science.gov (United States)

Benjamin, Nora; Haden, Catherine A.; Wilkerson, Erin

2010-01-01

The authors adapted an experimental design to examine effects of instruction prior to entry into a children's museum exhibit on caregiver-child interactions and children's learning. One hundred twenty-one children (mean age = 6.6 years) and their caregivers were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 conditions that varied according to what, if any,…

Investigation of Current Situation of Learning Motivation, Social Anxiety and Loneliness of the Left-behind Children in Rural Primary School

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Zhang Biyun

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: To understand the situation of learning motivation, social anxiety and loneliness of the left-behind children. Method: Selecting three rural primary schools in Xian’an District of Xianning City to investigate left-behind situation, learning motivation, social anxiety and loneliness of pupils in Grades 4 to 6 in rural primary school in Xian’an District by the use of the MAAT-I-A which is revised by Zhou Bucheng, the Social Anxiety Scale for Children (SASC and the Children’s Loneliness Scale (CLS. Results: (1 The learning motivation of the left-behind children in rural primary school is in a slightly higher medium level. Social anxiety is significantly higher than normal level in Chinese city, and the level of loneliness of about 1/5 of the left-behind children is relatively high. (2 The score of learning motivation, social anxiety and loneliness of the left-behind children in the level of knowledge learning has significant grade differences, without significant gender differences. (3 The level of learning motivation, social anxiety and loneliness of the left-behind children is slightly higher than that of non-left-behind children, but both differences are not significant.

Exploring the Contribution of Attribution Retraining to Student Perceptions and the Learning Process

Science.gov (United States)

Chodkiewicz, Alicia R.; Boyle, Christopher

2014-01-01

This paper looks at current research into how thinking influences learning. How people explain to themselves "why" they fail and succeed inevitably impacts on how well they learn new skills. Researchers have been developing attribution retraining programmes targeted at improving student academic achievement and learning experience…

Learning of Writing in a Non-Mother Tongue: the Case of Tarahumara Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Efrén Viramontes-Anaya

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract. This study analyzes the development of writing in Spanish among bilingual Tarahumara children (Chihuahua, Northern Mexico, from different perspectives: 1 A psychogenetic perspective, focusing on how the writing process is constructed by Tarahumara children; 2 A social perspective, focusing on the children’s family context, as well as the cultural and economic characteristics of their community, and; 3 A pedagogical perspective, focusing on the learning environments of two different kinds of schools these children attend (a “regular” school and a bilingual school for indigenous children. This study tries to identify how different factors have an impact on the development of writing. Data was collected for this multiple-case study through on-site observation, interviews and videotaping class sessions at both schools. Children’s notebooks and writing products were also collected. The data was analyzed transversally considering events, people and contexts related to the writing process. The results were interpretations on the social, cultural, cognitive and pedagogical factors that were perceived, associated to the learning process of how to write in a non-mother tongue, in the case of migrant indigenous children, in an environment different from that of their ancestors. The study was based on the hypothesis that, in the circumstances of the studied cases, it is better for these children to learn first how to write in their second language and, then, in their mother tongue, if necessary.

When You've Seen One, Have You Seen Them All? Children's Memory for General and Specific Learning Episodes

Science.gov (United States)

Riggs, Anne E.; Kalish, Charles W.; Alibali, Martha W.

2014-01-01

In any learning situation, children must decide the level of generality with which to encode information. Cues to generality may affect children's memory for different components of a learning episode. In this research, we investigated whether 1 cue to generality, generic language, affects children's memory for information about social categories…

Children show heightened knew-it-all-along errors when learning new facts about kinds: Evidence for the power of kind representations in children's thinking.

Science.gov (United States)

Sutherland, Shelbie L; Cimpian, Andrei

2015-08-01

Several proposals in the literature on conceptual development converge on the claim that information about kinds of things in the world has a privileged status in children's cognition, insofar as it is acquired, manipulated, and stored with surprising ease. Our goal in the present studies (N = 440) was to test a prediction of this claim. Specifically, if the early cognitive system privileges kind (or generic) information in the proposed ways, then learning new facts about kinds should be so seamless that it is often accompanied by an impression that these facts were known all along. To test this prediction, we presented 4- to 7-year-old children with novel kind-wide and individual-specific facts, and we then asked children whether they had prior knowledge of these facts. As predicted, children were under the impression that they had known the kind-wide facts more often than the individual-specific facts, even though in reality they had just learned both (Experiments 1, 2, 3, and 5). Importantly, learning facts about (nongeneric) plural sets of individuals was not similarly accompanied by heightened knew-it-all-along errors (Experiment 4), highlighting the privileged status of kind information per se. Finally, we found that young children were able to correctly recognize their previous ignorance of newly learned generic facts when this ignorance was made salient before the learning event (Experiment 6), suggesting that children's frequent knew-it-all-along impressions about such facts truly stem from metacognitive difficulties rather than being a methodological artifact. In sum, these 6 studies indicate that learning information about kinds is accompanied by heightened knew-it-all-along errors. More broadly, this evidence supports the view that early cognition privileges kind representations. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

A case study comparing children???s motivation using a virtual world,video and print material to learn global citizenship.

OpenAIRE

O'Tuathail, Padraic

2011-01-01

non-peer-reviewed The last decade has seen an enormous surge in the use of virtual worlds by both adults and children. Educators are keen to discover how this technology can be transferred to the classroom to facilitate effective learning. The aim of this study was to compare children???s motivation with three media components: a virtual world, video and print materials. The intervention involved 27 children in first class in a primary school using components of the Panwapa website over...

Developing Healthy Food Preferences in Preschool Children Through Taste Exposure, Sensory Learning, and Nutrition Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Nekitsing, Chandani; Hetherington, Marion M; Blundell-Birtill, Pam

2018-03-01

The present review was undertaken in order to summarize and evaluate recent research investigating taste exposure, sensory learning, and nutrition education interventions for promoting vegetable intake in preschool children. Overall, taste exposure interventions yielded the best outcomes for increasing vegetable intake in early childhood. Evidence from sensory learning strategies such as visual exposure and experiential learning also show some success. While nutrition education remains the most common approach used in preschool settings, additional elements are needed to strengthen the educational program for increasing vegetable intake. There is a substantial gap in the evidence base to promote vegetable intake in food fussy children. The present review reveals the relative importance of different intervention strategies for promoting vegetable intake. To strengthen intervention effects for improving vegetable intake in preschool children, future research could consider integrating taste exposure and sensory learning strategies with nutrition education within the preschool curriculum.