George E. Forman

Observations of Young Children Solving Problems with Computers and Robots

Abstract Children from age 3 to 7 years were observed in spontaneous and structured situations using computer graphics and battery-operated robots. The computer graphics included graphic tablets, light pens, and joystick-operated cartoon animation. The robot construction kit had plastic limbs that could be configured into different machines and vehicles with motors that were attached by insulated wire to a switch console. These observations are summarized according to the developmental trends found within five areas of problem solving: cause and effect relations, spatial relations, binary logic relations, the coordination of multiple variables, and reflectivity. It was discovered that computer graphics, because of unique operative features, can enhance reflectivity in ways not possible with conventional media. It was also found that the robots present a rich problem-solving environment for pairs of children as they try to coordinate their commands to a single robot.

The development of an understanding of balance and the effect of training via stop-action video☆

Childrens rule-governed, scientific reasoning in relation to the physical principles involved in balance has been studied by many, for example, Inhelder and Piaget (1958), Karmiloff-Smith and Inhelder (1974), as well as Siegler (1978). Although Siegler criticized the Genevan research on both methodological and conceptual grounds, his work can be criticized for being narrow in scope thus making his data a result of his task and design, rather than a true representation of the rules children employ naturally as they develop an understanding of balance. The work described herein is an attempt to integrate the methodologies of the Piagetian School and Siegler by making use of current video technology to naturalistically assess childrens rule-governed behaviors but to also empirically validate them. The first part of this study (N=128, ages 4-9 years) used video to microanalytically assess the strategies children used as they attempted to balance a set of symmetrical, asymmetrical, and weighted blocks on a fulcrum. After validating on ordinal progression of strategies, the study used stop-action video feedback, in a predict-consequence paradigm, to focus reflection on (a) the action of the block, (b) the placement of the block, and (c) the episode in general. A two-way interaction between entering level and type of video feedback was significant. The results are interpreted in terms of Piagets theory of equilibration suggesting that reflection and cognitive conflict can improve understanding if the child assimilates the feedback to the confirmation or refutation of an initial assimilatory scheme regarding balance.

Documentation and Accountability: The Shift From Numbers to Indexed Narratives

As currently written, early childhood learning standards have little discriminative power and create a mindset that children have skills, rather than minds. In order for behaviors to be compared across different programs, the behavioral indicators necessarily are written as often-cited skills rather than unique appropriations of intelligent strategies. This article proposes that program evaluators could embrace unique demonstrations of intelligent behavior if all interested parties could see that behavior on demand. Video can record those specific behaviors but cannot be reviewed efficiently. However, indexed digital video clips present a convergence of summary and context. Each video clip of children at play or work can be tagged with an index, be it unique or common. Programs become accountable based on the quality of the indexes. Interested parties can check the validity of unique tags by viewing the video data on demand. Additionally, such a system would create a national video database useful for professional development.

Visual decentration: from stereometric points to planeometric forms.

19 3-yr.-olds chose to put blocks together to produce good continuation across stereometric edges. 4 mo. later they began to produce good continuation across planeometric edges. A group of 15 4-yr.-olds chose to produce symmetrical forms rather than simply to align edges. Symmetrical form was produced across planeometric surfaces but not across stereometric contours. These data suggest that visual decentration is first a shift from looking at single points touched to single points displaced from touch and, at a still later age, a shift to the organization of many points. The failure of the older group to produce a symmetrical form across stereometric contours could have resulted from the cultural press to attend to planeometric information.