Holly E. Recchia

Patterns in Mother-Child Internal State Discourse across Four Contexts

Internal state language is a unique indicator of childrens social understanding. In the current study, the role of context and type of internal state language was investigated. Mother-child internal state discourse in 32 middle-class Canadian families (child M age = 46.4 months) was examined across four contexts: (1) a reflective picture task, and (2) home interactions characterized by (a) neutral, (b) positive, and (c) negative exchanges. Type of mother and child internal state discourse (cognitions, goals, preferences, emotions) varied across and within the different contexts. The strength of the associations between different types of maternal and child talk also varied across and within contexts, which may illuminate the degree of responsiveness in mother-child discourse. Implications for developing greater family sensitivity to internal states, as well as links with current theory and research, are discussed.

Individual Differences in Sibling Teaching in Early and Middle Childhood.

Research Findings: Sibling teaching and learning behaviors were investigated in 2 studies of children in early and middle childhood. Study 1 addressed individual differences in teaching/learning and associations with dyadic age, age gap, gender, birth order, and relationship quality in 71 middle-class dyads (firstborns M age = 81.54 months; second-borns M age = 56.27 months). Half of the firstborn and half of the second-born siblings were assigned the role of teacher. Regression analyses indicated that dyadic age and age gap made unique contributions to teacher and learner behavior. Few birth order differences in approaches to teaching/learning were revealed. Findings highlight the reciprocal nature of sibling teaching and learning. Study 2 investigated longitudinal associations between sibling relationship quality and teaching in a second sample (at Time 1 firstborns = 46.8 months; second-borns = 14 months). Positive sibling interaction (including play) at Time 1 was associated with teaching/learning behaviors 4 years later. Practice or Policy: Findings are discussed in light of recent social constructivist notions that childrens development is facilitated in the context of intimate relationships.

Making Sense of Divergent Interpretations of Conflict and Developing an Interpretive Understanding of Mind

Our goals in this study were to develop a measure of childrens understanding of divergent interpretations of conflict and relate that measure to childrens more general interpretive understanding of mind (Carpendale & Chandler, 1996). Eighty-nine children between 4 and 9 years of age heard 4 conflict stories in which fault was ambiguous. Children overwhelmingly suggested that antagonists would blame each other and adequately justified those judgments. However, children under 7 years did not believe that it made sense for antagonists to disagree, and children were better able to explain why mutual blame made sense as they grew older. Childrens judgments of the legitimacy of and explanations for divergent conflict interpretations were correlated with similar measures assessing their understanding of the general interpretive quality of mind. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of everyday interaction for the gradual acquisition of interpretive understanding.

Sibling relationships as sources of risk and resilience in the development and maintenance of internalizing and externalizing problems during childhood and adolescence.

Sibling relationships are a unique and powerful context for childrens development, characterized by strong positive features, such as warmth and intimacy, as well as negative qualities like intense, potentially destructive conflict. For these reasons, sibling interactions may be both a risk and a protective factor for the development and maintenance of emotional and behavioral dysfunction. We review evidence indicating that sibling interactions are linked to internalizing and externalizing symptoms and identify possible mechanisms for these associations. Sibling conflict contributes uniquely to symptomatology and may be particularly problematic when accompanied by lack of warmth, which is generally associated with decreased internalizing and externalizing problems. On the other hand, greater warmth can be associated with heightened externalizing symptoms for later-born children who may model the behavior of older siblings. Although it will be important to monitor for increased sibling collusion, several intervention studies demonstrate that it is possible to reduce conflict and increase warmth between brothers and sisters, and that improving sibling interactions can teach children social-cognitive skills that are beneficial in other relationships (e.g., friendships). Developing brief assessment tools differentiating normative from pathogenic sibling conflict would assist clinical decision making. Future intervention work could provide a more stringent test of the hypothesis that strengthening sibling relationships improves childrens socio-emotional adjustment.

Sibling Relationships as a Context for Learning and Development

Close relationships are key contexts for young childrens development, and siblings in particular play a critical role in family dynamics and are important socialization agents for one another (Car...

“This Bird Can't Do It ‘Cause this Bird Doesn't Swim in Water”: Sibling Teaching During Naturalistic Home Observations in Early Childhood

Social-constructivist models of learning highlight that cognitive development is embedded within the context of social relationships characterized by closeness and intimacy (Vygotsky, 1978). Therefore, in contrast to prior research employing semistructured paradigms, naturalistic sibling-directed teaching was examined during ongoing interactions at home. Thirty-nine middle-class, two-parent families (older sibling, Mage = 6;3; younger sibling, Mage = 4;4) were studied. Intentional sequences of sibling-directed teaching were coded for: a) frequency; b) type of knowledge taught (i.e., conceptual or procedural); c) initiation of teaching by the teacher or following a request by the learner; d) teaching strategies (e.g., direct instruction, demonstration); and e) learner responses (e.g., active involvement, rejection). Findings indicated that teachers were most likely to initiate teaching spontaneously rather than respond to direct requests by learners. Teachers were most likely to initiate teaching of procedural knowledge, while learners were most likely to request the teaching of conceptual knowledge. The type of teaching strategy employed depended on who initiated the teaching and the type of knowledge taught. The response of the learner was associated with who initiated the teaching and the teaching strategies employed. These findings reveal the nuances and sophistication of young childrens attempts to teach one another naturally in their homes. Findings are discussed in light of recent empirical and theoretical work.

Canadian Parents' Knowledge and Satisfaction Regarding Their Child's Day-Care Experience.

The purpose of this study was to examine parental selection criteria and satisfaction with day care, knowledge about centre philosophy, teacher education and quality of the day-care environment. Parents (n = 261) and educators (n = 94) in 44 non-profit centres in three Canadian cities participated. Parent knowledge was assessed by phone interview, and day-care quality was rated. Many parents reported knowledge of the centre’s philosophy and were highly satisfied with the care but sometimes held inaccurate views of the teacher’s education. Parent education positively predicted parental knowledge of centre philosophy, while a trend was evident between parent knowledge of centre philosophy and the quality of the day-care environment (i.e. educator–child interaction), after accounting for site effects. Given that parent knowledge about their child’s day-care experience may sometimes be incomplete, more frequent and informative parent–educator communication is required, particularly about children’s learning and development.

“The driver doesn't sit, he stands up like the Flintstones!”: Sibling Teaching During Teacher-Directed and Self-Guided Tasks

Associations among sibling teaching strategies, learner behavior, age, age gap, gender, and social-cognitive skills (second-order false-belief and interpretive understanding of knowledge) were investigated in 63 sibling dyads in early and middle childhood. Two teaching tasks were introduced to the older sibling teacher: a teacher-directed task with unique subgoals (tractor construction) and a self-guided, repetitive task (tanagrams). Subsequently, the older sibling taught the younger sibling learner. Findings revealed effects for age and gender; older teachers employed a wider range of strategies, especially in the tractor task, and older learners were more successful and more involved. In the tractor task, teachers also used more instruction and encouragement with same-gendered siblings. Age-gap effects for teaching were evident in both tasks. Further, teachers employed more instruction, help, and demonstration strategies in the tractor task, whereas in the tanagrams task, they engaged in greater encouragement and verbal attention. Learner involvement in the two tasks was positively associated with teaching strategies reflecting guided participation but was negatively related to more controlling teaching strategies. Finally, the two social-cognitive measures were more strongly associated with teaching strategies in the teacher-directed tractor task. Findings are discussed in light of recent theory and research on sibling teaching and learning.

Youths Making Sense of Political Conflict: Considering Protective and Maladaptive Possibilities

It is widely recognized that adolescence is a time of unique adaptability as well as vulnerability. Indeed, the teenage years are often considered to be a distinct developmental period precisely because youths are in the midst of an unfinished process of constructing a sense of themselves in the world. This is equally the case for adolescents whose worlds have been turned upside down, as in the context of war. Nevertheless, research on youths exposed to political violence has rarely focused on the developmental implications of the interplay between adolescents’ capacities for adaptation and their unique vulnerabilities. As such, there is an urgent need to gain a more comprehensive understanding of adolescent development in relation to their experiences of political conflict, and in a way that recognizes the wide-ranging and far-reaching consequences of these events. Typically, past research on youths’ experiences with political conflict has characterized young people as victims of war. As such, studies have largely focused on trauma and the distress that results from their exposure to violence. Indeed, connections between war-related experiences and post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology are well established and far from surprising [Barenbaum, Ruchkin, & Schwab-Stone, 2004; Betancourt & Khan, 2008]. However, three recent books, including a volume edited by Brian Barber [2009a] as well as books by Colette Daiute [2010] and Phillip Hammack [2011], introduce and underscore the important and more novel proposition that youths are not just victims or passive recipients of warrelated experiences, but rather active participants in these contexts who interpret events through the lens of their own understandings. Indeed, given that young people are in the process of becoming the next adult generation, each volume emphasizes that ignoring their active abilities to adapt and to effect positive social change

Siblings’ Understanding of Teaching in Early and Middle Childhood:‘Watch Me and You’ll Know How to Do It’

This study examined siblings’ knowledge about the teaching concept during naturalistic teaching contexts, wherein children’s communicative interactions were used as a gateway to their social understanding (Turnbull, Carpendale, & Racine, 2009). Participants included 39 sibling dyads (older age group, Mage = 6;4; younger age group, Mage = 4;5) observed for six 90-min sessions at home. Teaching episodes were identified and coded for: a) initiation of teaching (i.e., assumes role or learner requests teaching), b) knowledge states (i.e., knowledge, lack of knowledge, questioning knowledge), c) transfer of knowledge (i.e., learning), and d) teaching strategies (e.g., direct instruction). Children who assumed the teaching role referenced knowledge and questioning knowledge, whereas learners requested teaching by referencing a lack of knowledge. Firstborn learners were more likely to reference knowledge versus second-born learners who referenced a lack of knowledge. Transfer of knowledge occurred when teachers referenced knowledge. When learners referenced knowledge states, teachers were more likely to use direct instruction, demonstration, and negative feedback. Results underscore the developmental significance of sibling teaching and demonstrate a novel approach to studying children’s social understanding in the teaching context (Turnbull et al., 2009).