Alison F. Garton

Peer assistance in children's problem solving

The current study aimed to investigate the extent to which the creation of a context which facilitates conversation and communication would enhance the cognitive capacities of children working on recognized problems. Using a collaborative problem-solving paradigm, the communication patterns of pairs of 4- and 7-year-old children were analysed. It was found that collaborative problem solving facilitated lower ability childrens subsequent individual problem solving when they were paired with higher ability children. In addition, it was found that older children used more language during collaboration. Holding number of utterances as a covariate, older children used more procedural language and more descriptive language than younger children and lower ability children used more language for checking with their partner. These uses of language were interpreted as demonstrating awareness on the part of older children of the other person in the collaboration although the extent to which this assisted subsequent problem-solving ability in less able children of either age is not clear and requires further theoretical explication.

Role of motivation, self‐efficacy and parent support in adolescent structured leisure activity participation

An increasing body of research supports the positive physical, social and psychological health benefits of adolescent involvement in structured out-of-school leisure activities. Analysis of data from 1280 12–17-year-old Western Australian metropolitan high school students, found that several factors were associated with adolescent involvement in structured leisure activities, including parent support of the activity (both active and passive), intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy. There were no significant gender differences in the rate of participation or hours spent participating in structured leisure activities overall. More female than male students, however, were involved in structured creative activities and male students spent significantly more time involved in structured physical group activities. Recommendations for supporting adolescent involvement in structured leisure activities are discussed.

Survey of Ethics Education in Australian University Schools and Departments of Psychology

In 2000 the Ethics Committee of the APS conducted a survey of ethics education and training in all Australian University Psychology Academic Organisational Units (AOUs). Content analysis of course syllabi received directly from AOUs and/or obtained from accreditation documentation lodged by them with the APS as part of the 5-year APS course accreditation cycle showed that ethics education appeared in less that one quarter of syllabi for years 1–3 and approximately 90% of syllabi for years 4 and 5–7, with a clear emphasis on the integrative approach in years 1–3 and roughly equal emphasis on integration within or separation from the core curriculum in years 4 and 5–7, and with roughly equal emphasis on philosophical and code-based instruction in years 1–3, but mainly the latter instruction in years 4 and 5–7. Research ethics constituted the predominant theme in years 1–3; a comprehensive listing of professional topics was covered in years 4 and 5–7, with few thematic differences between these year levels. ...

Phonological and syntactic processing and the role of working memory in reading comprehension among secondary school students

The performance of 60 13-year-old students was examined on tasks measuring phonological processing, syntactic processing, and reading comprehension. The students were also tested on several measures of working memory relating to the phonological loop and central executive. A series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that phonological processing and syntactic processing were both predictors of reading comprehension, and that the presence or absence of the latter distinguished good and poor readers respectively. The phonological loop, but not the central executive, was found to play a small but significant role in the processes involved in reading comprehension.

Influence of perceived family environment on adolescent leisure participation

The purpose of the present study was to examine if, and to what extent, the family environment can influence adolescent leisure participation. Measures of leisure participation, leisure satisfaction and with whom adolescents participate during leisure activities plus the Family Environment Scale (FES) Form R were administered to 313 high school students between 13 and 16 years of age. The results demonstrated a relationship between leisure activity and with whom adolescents participated, that the time spent in leisure activities and the amount of satisfaction gained was linked to the activities that gender predicted the types of leisure activities preferred, and that the satisfaction of the adolescents leisure needs is related to the type of perceived family environment.

Does social sensitivity influence collaborative problem solving in children? A preliminary investigation

Abstract This study explores whether social sensitivity influences children’s problem solving skills or learning after collaboration with a peer. Most research into the impact of collaborative problem solving on individual skills demonstrates that the problem solving skills an individual brings to the collaborative process are a key factor in predicting the presencelabsence of cognitive change. Only recently have other attributes and/or skills, such as social or interpersonal sensitivity, been considered within this framework. This study investigates whether interpersonal sensitivity contributes to differential outcomes in learning after collaborative problem solving. One hundred 8-year-old children participated in a pre-test/collaboration/post-test design study where four groups based on pre-test problem solving ability (high/low) and pre-test social sensitivity scores (high/low) were constructed for the collaborative problem solving task. Low ability/high sensitivity children showed pre- to post-test improvement in their problem solving when paired with high ability children. Social sensitivity only predicted final problem solving in high sensitivity children. Pre-test and collaborative problem solving levels predicted post-test problem solving for children classified as high problem solving/high sensitivity. Results are discussed in relation to how social sensitivity may differentially affect the problem solving skills of children with different patterns of ability.

Specific Aspects of the Transition from Primary School to High School

In considering specific aspects of the transition from primary school to high school, childrens expectations were sought prior to their making the transition. This paper examines the expectations 335 students had of five aspects of high school, elicited by means of a questionnaire. The five aspects were: (a) the high school building; (b) the rules and discipline at high school; (c) the work; (d) the teachers; and (e) the other, older, students. The attitudes and expectations were found to reflect the degree of contact the students had had with the high school, itself dependent on the policy of the high school with respect to induction programs for in-coming students. A call is made for greater liaison between educational institutions, in the form of greater continuity and sequencing of curricula and transition programs in order to allay the expressed anxieties and to dispel any misconceptions.

Word meaning, cognitive development, and social interaction

This review proposes that Blooms linkage of word meaning with more general cognitive capacities could be extended through examination of the social contexts in which children learn. Specifically, the childs developing theory of mind can be viewed as part of the process by which children learn word meanings through engagement in social interactions that facilitate both language and strategic behaviours.