Anthony D. Pellegrini

Joint Book Reading Makes for Success in Learning to Read: A Meta-Analysis on Intergenerational Transmission of Literacy:

The current review is a quantitative meta-analysis of the available empirical evidence related to parent-preschooler reading and several outcome measures. In selecting the studies to be included in this meta-analysis, we focused on studies examining the frequency of book reading to preschoolers. The results support the hypothesis that parent-preschooler reading is related to outcome measures such as language growth, emergent literacy, and reading achievement. The overall effect size of d = .59 indicates that book reading explains about 8% of the variance in the outcome measures. The results support the hypothesis that book reading, in particular, affects acquisition of the written language register. The effect of parent-preschooler reading is not dependent on the socioeconomic status of the families or on several methodological differences between the studies. However, the effect seems to become smaller as soon as children become conventional readers and are able to read on their own.The current review is a quantitative meta-analysis of the available empirical evidence related to parent-preschooler reading and several outcome measures. In selecting the studies to be included in this meta-analysis, we focused on studies examining the frequency of book reading to preschoolers. The results support the hypothesis that parent-preschooler reading is related to outcome measures such as language growth, emergent literacy, and reading achievement. The overall effect size of d = .59 indicates that book reading explains about 8% of the variance in the outcome measures. The results support the hypothesis that book reading, in particular, affects acquisition of the written language register. The effect of parent-preschooler reading is not dependent on the socioeconomic status of the families or on several methodological differences between the studies. However, the effect seems to become smaller as soon as children become conventional readers and are able to read on their own.

School bullies, victims, and aggressive victims : Factors relating to group affiliation and victimization in early adolescence

The occurrence of bullying, victimization, and aggressive victimization was documented in a sample of 5th graders. Bullies comprised about 14% of the sample, whereas aggressive victims and victims comprised, respectively, 5% and 18%. Bullying and aggressive victimization was positively related to yo

Child Development and Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary developmental psychology involves the expression of evolved, epigenetic programs, as described by the developmental systems approach, over the course of ontogeny. There have been different selection pressures on organisms at different times in ontogeny, and some characteristics of infants and children were selected in evolution to serve an adaptive function at that time in their life history rather than to prepare individuals for later adulthood. Examples of such adaptive functions of immaturity are provided from infancy, play, and cognitive development. Most evolved psychological mechanisms are proposed to be domain specific in nature and have been identified for various aspects of childrens cognitive and social development, most notably for the acquisition of language and for theory of mind. Differences in the quality and quantity of parental investment affect childrens development and influence their subsequent reproductive and childcare strategies. Some sex differences observed in childhood, particularly as expressed during play, are seen as antecedents and preparations for adult sex differences. Because evolved mechanisms were adaptive to ancestral environments, they are not always adaptive for contemporary people, and this mismatch of evolved mechanisms with modern environments is seen in childrens maladjustment to some aspects of formal schooling. We argue that an evolutionary perspective can be valuable for developing a better understanding of human ontogeny in contemporary society and that a developmental perspective is important for a better understanding of evolutionary psychology.

Bullies and victims in school: A review and call for research

Bullies are youngsters who systematically victimize a target group of their peers. While there is information from varied samples on bullies and passive victims in school, we know little about aggressive victims. This group in many ways is the most vulnerable of all. In this paper I review this literature on bullies and victims, paying particular attention to aggressive victims. Guided by social cognitive and dominance theories, I consider research questions that are useful in addressing this problem. Specifically, I recommend the use of direct observational techniques to determine the costs and benefits bullies and victims accrue from the relationships with each other.

Ten years after: a reexamination of symbolic play and literacy research

The past decade has witnessed a tremendous interest in the ways in which children become literate. An interdisciplinary group of researchers has been posing questions basic to the very nature of literacy and the ways in which children from different segments of the population become literate. Developmental psychological constructs have also been introduced to help chart the ways in which literacy develops in children. In this article we will examine the way in which one such construct, symbolic play, has been applied to the study of literacy. Though the study of the interrelations between symbolic play and literacy dates back to the early 1970s (e.g., Wolfgang, 1974), most of the work in this area has appeared in the last 10 years (thus the title of this article). This latter corpus of research will be reviewed in terms of the ways in which it informs us about the developmental processes involved in symbolic play and literacy and about the related issue of teaching young children. We begin with a brief review of early research on symbolic play and literacy to set the historical context.

School Recess: Implications for Education and Development

In this article the empirical research on the role of school recess is reviewed. Recess is first defined, and then the effects of child-level variables (e.g., gender, age, and temperament) and school-level variables (e.g., recess timing and duration) on children’s recess behavior are reviewed. The implications of recess are discussed in terms of impact on classroom behavior and on measures of social and cognitive competence. It is concluded that recess has important educational and developmental implications. Further research in this area is urgently needed, and some promising areas of inquiry are suggested.

The Effects of Recess Timing on Children’s Playground and Classroom Behaviors

Three field experiments were conducted to determine the effects of different recess timing regimens on children’s classroom and recess behaviors. Experiment 1 involved children in Grades K, 2, and 4. The timing of their recess was experimentally varied by 30 minutes. Students’ classroom behavior before and after recess was observed as was their outdoor recess behavior. Children’s prerecess inattention varied as a function of deprivation duration. Further, children, but especially boys, were more socially interactive on the playground following the long deprivation, compared to the short deprivation. Recess behaviors did not relate significantly to postrecess inattention. However, inattention rates were higher before recess than after. Experiment 2 utilized a similar paradigm with a sample of second and fourth graders from the same school. Experiment 2, generally, replicated results from Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, which utilized a replication sample design, children s recess was also manipulated, but the recess period was indoors. Results of the two samples replicated each other and the preceding experiments. Results are discussed in terms of play deprivation theory and massed versus distributed practice.

The Effects of Thematic-Fantasy Play Training on the Development of Children’s Story Comprehension

This study examined the effects of three modes of story reconstruction training on the development of children’s story comprehension. One hundred and eight children in grades K-2 were assigned randomly to one of three training conditions: thematic-fantasy play, adult-lead discussion, or drawing. Children were read three books on separate occasions and exposed to the appropriate conditions in relation to each book. Story comprehension data, as measured by a two-factor, criterion-referenced test and a retell task, collected after the third session, were analyzed. Second graders’ performance on all comprehension measures was superior to the younger children’s comprehension. Thematic-fantasy play was the most effective facilitator of all measures of comprehension, particularly for kindergarteners. Enacting specific play roles seemed to have a direct effect on the ability to retell stories.

Breakfast Frequency and Quality May Affect Glycemia and Appetite in Adults and Children

Observational studies of breakfast frequency in children and adults suggest an inverse (protective) association between the frequency of eating breakfast and the risk for obesity and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. More prospective studies with stronger designs are needed, as are experimental studies on this topic. In addition, above and beyond breakfast frequency, the roles of dietary quality and composition need to be studied in the context of eating or skipping breakfast. Experimental studies are also necessary to rigorously test causality and biological mechanisms. Therefore, we conducted 2 pilot experimental studies to examine some of the effects of breakfast skipping and breakfast composition on blood glucose and appetite in children and adults. Our results suggest that breakfast frequency and quality may be related in causal ways to appetite controls and blood sugar control, supporting the hypothesis that the breakfast meal and its quality may have important causal implications for the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The Development of Play During Childhood: Forms and Possible Functions

In this review we consider the nature and possible developmental functions of three forms of play: pretend, social, and locomotor. Play is defined in terms of dispositional and contextual criteria. First, the frequency of occurrence of each form of play across the period of childhood is documented. Developmental function of play is conceptualised in terms of immediate or deferred beneficial consequences. Four strategies for examining developmental function are reviewed: arguments from design, correlational analyses, experimental enrichment and deprivation, and cost-benefit analyses. Whereas most theories of play implicitly assume that during childhood it occurs frequently and has benefits deferred until adulthood, we suggest that some benefits of play are immediate.