Paola Perucchini

Cognitive socialization by computer games in two cultures: inductive discovery or mastery of an iconic code

Abstract This research is a cross-cultural and experimental examination of computer games as cultural tools of cognitive socialization. It also investigates the cognitive processes involved in mastering computer games. The research took place in two countries, the United States and Italy, which differ in their exposure and attitudes to computer technology. Exposure to computer technology, either over the long term, as a member of a culture, or in the short term of our experimental computer game treatments, was associated with greater skill in decoding scientific-technical information graphically represented on a computer screen and with a preference for iconic diagrams, rather than the written word, in communicating this information.

Brief report: a longitudinal examination of the communicative gestures deficit in young children with autism.

There is agreement in the recent literature on the finding that children with autism show a rather severe deficit in the development of gestural communication along with impaired joint-attention skills (cf. Abrahamsen & Mitchell, 1990; BaronCohen, 1989; Curcio, 1978; Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1994; Mundy, Sigman, Ungerer, & Sherman, 1986; Sigman, Mundy, Ungerer, & Sherman, 1986; Wetherby & Prutting, 1984). Several investigators have observed that autistic children seem quite able to formulate requests for objects, actions, and social routines and to persist until their goal is satisfied. To make these nonverbal requests they use mainly contact gestures, for example, leading a person by the hand toward a desired object/place or putting the adults hand on a toy they want to activate. Less frequently they make requests for objects or actions via distal gestures, such as pointing, showing, offering/giving, and ritualized requests.3 In one of the first

PROFILES OF SENSORIMOTOR DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM AND WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY

Aim of the study was (1) to evaluate sensorimotor development of children with autism in comparison with that of children with developmental delay, (2) to verify the possible unevenness of the developmental profiles through correlations amongst domains and between domains and chronological age. 46 children with autism were compared with 45 children with developmental delay. Mean chronological age was 3.7 yr. in children with autism and 3.6 yr. in children with mental retardation. Mean mental age was 1.3 yr. in children with autism and 1.1 yr. in children with developmental delay. Ordinal scales of Uzgiris-Hunt show that the two groups score significantly differently on the scales of Object Permanence, Means-Ends, Operational Causality, and Spatial Relations and that scores were higher for the children with autism. The comparison made between the developmental levels of each group indicate that the sensorimotor profile in children with developmental delay is fairly homogeneous, while it appears uneven in autistic children, for whom Object Permanence appears to be the most advanced skill, Verbal and Gestural Imitation and Schemes for Relating to Objects the lowest. The results are in keeping with the assumption that the pivotal defect of autism is a deficit in social interactive skills.

Content and structure in toddlers’ social competence with peers from 12 to 36 months of age

The present study examines both the structure and the content of peer social interaction during the second and third years of life. Three dimensions of childrens social behavior were considered: imitative interactions, complementary interactions and conventional social games. The aim was to analyse age‐related changes occurring in the frequency, quality and variety of both imitative/ complementary interactions and social games over an extended age range. Twenty children, equally distributed in five age groups (12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months of age) participated in the study. Ten dyads of familiar same‐aged peers were formed and observed during dyadic play sessions (2 for each dyad) videotaped inside the day‐care centre in which all the children were enrolled. The results support earlier suggestions that imitative relations are gradually replaced by complementary relations toward the end of the second year of life. In the third year of life the most consistent developmental trend was an increase in the numb...

Green Breaks: The Restorative Effect of the School Environment’s Green Areas on Children’s Cognitive Performance

Restoration involves individuals’ physical, psychological, and social resources, which have diminished over the years in the process of meeting the demands of everyday life. Psychological restoration can be provided by specific environments, in particular by natural environments. Studies report a restorative effect of nature on human beings, specifically in terms of the psychological recovery from attention fatigue and restored mental resources that were previously spent in activities that require attention. Two field studies in two Italian primary schools tested the hypothesized positive effect of recess time spent in a natural (vs. built) environment on pupils’ cognitive performance and their perceived restorativeness, using standardized tests. In Study 1, children’s psychological restoration was assessed by measuring sustained and selective attention, working memory, and impulse control, before and after the morning recess time. Team standardized playtime was conducted in a natural (vs. built) environment, and the perceived restorativeness was measured after each recess time. Results showed a greater increase in sustained and selective attention, concentration, and perceived restorativeness from pretest to posttest after the natural environment condition. In Study 2, the positive effect of free play recess time in a natural (vs. built) environment was assessed during the afternoon school time on sustained and selective attention and perceived restorativeness. Results showed an increase in sustained and selective attention after the natural environment condition (vs. built) and a decrease after the built environment break. Higher scores in perceived restorativeness were registered after the natural (vs. built) environment condition. Team standardized playtime and individual free play recess in a natural environment (vs. built) support pupils’ attention restoration during both morning and afternoon school times, as well as their perceived restorativeness of the recess environment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in terms of nature’s role both for the school ground design or redesign and for the organization of the school’s activities.