Florrie Fei Yin Ng

The role of children's competence experiences in the socialization process: A dynamic process framework for the Academic arena

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the case that the experiences around competence (e.g., perfomance in school and perceptions of ones ability to do well in school) that children bring to their interactions with parents represent one such dimension in parent socialization of children. The chapter deals with the role of childrens competences in the socialization process. Childrens competence experiences may represent a central dimension of children that affects the socialization process not only in the academic arena but also in other arenas. Indeed, a general principle may be that the need for psychological Resources that children bring to their interactions with others has a significant influence in determining the course of the socialization process. This chapter focuses on the academic arena, because this is an arena in which issues of competence are particularly salient. Indeed, once children enter school, they spend a large portion of each day in activities aimed at developing their academic competencies.

Inhibitory Control in Preschool Predicts Early Math Skills in First Grade: Evidence from an Ethnically Diverse Sample.

Preschoolers’ inhibitory control and early math skills were concurrently and longitudinally examined in 255 Chinese, African American, Dominican, and Mexican 4-year-olds in the United States. Inhibitory control at age 4, assessed with a peg-tapping task, was associated with early math skills at age 4 and predicted growth in such skills from age 4 to age 6 among these ethnic minority children after adjusting for ethnic background. Chinese children outperformed other groups on inhibitory control at age 4 and early math skills across ages. Mediation analyses indicated that their advanced inhibitory control at age 4 partially accounted for their advantage in early math skills concurrently at age 4 and longitudinally at age 6, highlighting the role of inhibitory control in the early math skills of ethnic minority children.

Maternal Teaching During Play With Four-Year-Olds: Variation by Ethnicity and Family Resources

Mothers’ spontaneous teaching of their 4-year-olds was observed during block play in 230 dyads from low-income African American, Mexican, Dominican, and Chinese backgrounds. Blocks contained graphics that could be used to teach concepts in literacy, math, construction, or body/color. Coders noted how often mothers taught each of the concepts, and whether they taught at basic (“This is an ‘A’”) or advanced (“C-a-t spells cat”) levels. Additionally, mothers’ negative and positive affect and feedback were coded. Ethnic differences were seen in the concepts that mothers taught, the levels of their teaching, and the amount and valence of mothers’ feedback and affect towards their children. Within immigrant families, English-language use was positively associated with amount of teaching, engagement in advanced teaching, and feedback to children. The sociodemographic characteristics of families shape parents’ structuring of learning opportunities for children and in turn influence children’s developing skills and school readiness.

Efficiency of Executive Function: A Two-Generation Cross-Cultural Comparison of Samples From Hong Kong and the United Kingdom:

Although Asian preschoolers acquire executive functions (EFs) earlier than their Western counterparts, little is known about whether this advantage persists into later childhood and adulthood. To address this gap, in the current study we gave four computerized EF tasks (providing measures of inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning) to a large sample (n = 1,427) of 9- to 16-year-olds and their parents. All participants lived in either the United Kingdom or Hong Kong. Our findings highlight the importance of combining developmental and cultural perspectives and show both similarities and contrasts across sites. Specifically, adults’ EF performance did not differ between the two sites; age-related changes in executive function for both the children and the parents appeared to be culturally invariant, as did a modest intergenerational correlation. In contrast, school-age children and young adolescents in Hong Kong outperformed their United Kingdom counterparts on all four EF tasks, a difference consistent with previous findings from preschool children.

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

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 of children’s learning reflects parents’ love and duty. Mothers also reported on the extent to which their worth is based on children’s performance. Chinese (vs. American) mothers believed more that children’s learning reflects morality and parents’ support of children’s learning reflects love; these differences accounted for their feelings of worth being more dependent on children’s performance. Chinese (vs. American) mothers believed less that parents’ support is a duty.