Susan Hegland

Predictors of Global Quality in Family Child Care Homes: Structural and Belief Characteristics

Research Findings: With a substantial number of young children receiving care in family child care settings, an examination of the characteristics, both structural and attitudinal, that predict program quality is warranted. The current study examines gaps in the research by examining both structural characteristics and provider beliefs that influence observed global quality in family child care homes. Results of this study suggest that belief characteristics can predict the quality of family child care homes above and beyond structural characteristics alone. Practice or Policy: Providing support to help all providers understand appropriate developmental expectations for children and how to effectively guide children is critical for quality improvement efforts. In addition, providing support to decrease job stress and improve professional motivation is highlighted.

Helping Learners Construct Knowledge

Cunningham (1992) claimed that semiotics offers a special and valuable perspective for educational psychology and education. He further argued that contemporary educational psychology is neobehaviorist and positivistic and that it has not adequately considered the learner as an active constructor of the signs he/she uses to represent knowledge. This paper challenges Cunninghams view that modern educational psychology has not considered the learner as an active constructor of knowledge. We show that a conception of the learner as active has a long history in educational psychology and that, over the last 30 years, such a view has come to be the dominant force in educational psychology. Further, we demonstrate that Cunninghams description of constructivist alternatives to semiotics are incomplete or distorted. Finally, we show that several contemporary approaches to instruction incorporate and go beyond the contributions of semiotics as described by Cunningham.

Teacher-Child Interactions and Children’s Locus of Control Tendencies

Children and teachers were observed during free-play periods in a two-phase study examining the relationships among children’s locus of control tendencies, children’s behaviors, and teacher-child interactions. The Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview was administered to 51 children between 3 and 5 years of age. Eight children (four boys and four girls) with the highest and eight children with the lowest locus of control scores were observed interacting with peers, materials, and teachers. There were no significant relationships between children’s behaviors and locus of control measures. Teacher behaviors in response to the behaviors of the same 16 children also were observed. Teachers reinforced task and peer involvement in internal children and nontask involvement in external children.

Parent behaviors in free‐play and problem‐solving interactions in relation to problem behaviors in preschool boys

A stratified sample of 34 three‐year‐old to five‐year‐old boys and their parents (30 mothers) was observed in their homes during free‐play and problem‐solving interactions. Observer‐ratings of behaviors of parents in each interaction were examined in relation to teachers’ ratings of the boys’ problem behaviors in a childcare setting. Parent behaviors in the play, but not problem‐solving, interaction were significantly related to boys’ problem behaviors. Positive behaviors of the parent in play, such as sensitivity and responsiveness to the child, accounted for nine percent of the variance in boys’ externalizing scores above and beyond the 28% accounted for by the negative parent behaviors of intrusiveness and permissiveness. The addition of positive parent behaviors to the regression model also canceled the statistical significance of the negative behaviors. Negative behaviors appeared to be most influential in that they decreased the likelihood that positive behaviors would be demonstrated within the play interaction.

Developmental Aspects of Locus of Control in Preschool Children

Summary Locus of control (LOC), egocentrism, and verbal skills were measured in 174 children attending preschool. Responses to questions on the Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview were scored independently as measures of LOC orientation and egocentrism. Results indicated that LOC orientation for positive and negative social event outcomes are highly related; however, children perceived more control over negative than over positive outcomes. Contrary to predictions by Mischel, internal responses of young children were not predominantly egocentric; nor was LOC related to age. Children perceived significantly more control over social event outcomes involving parents than over peers and teachers. Results were interpreted as supporting the concept of LOC as a stable, unitary personality trait that develops in young children as a result of interactions with parents.

Locus of Control and Task Persistence in Preschool Children

Summary Preschool children were administered the Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview and were also observed interacting with peers, teachers, and materials in the classroom. It was predicted that internal children would show greater task persistence by spending more time in physical-motor, cognitive, and social activities, while external children would spend more time in non-task-involved behaviors, such as watching others and moving around. Results did not confirm this hypothesis. This nonconfirmation of earlier research is discussed in terms of a distinction between experimental and natural settings.

Locus-of-Control Dimensions in Preschool Children

Abstract To investigate relationships among social-nonsocial and positive/negative locus of control, the Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview (SDRCI) and the Stanford Preschool Internality-Externality Scale (SPIES) were administered to 111 preschoolers. Children perceived more control over positive and social outcomes than over negative and nonsocial outcomes on both scales. No correlations were observed between social and nonsocial locus of control. Positive and negative locus of control were highly correlated on the SDRCI but not on the SPIES; however, positive/social and negative/nonsocial items were confounded on the SPIES. Results were interpreted as supporting independence of social/nonsocial locus of control but not of positive/negative locus of control for preschool children.

Helping behaviors: An observational study of preschool children☆

The present study examined the stability and circumstances of helping behaviors in the preschool classroom. Frequencies of helping/nonhelping behaviors, including the type and circumstance of helping behavior, were observed for 51 children during free play by two judges. The frequency of helping behaviors was not correlated with age or sex and was not stable over four 10-min observation periods. Helping behaviors may depend on the details of evoking situations. The majority of all helping acts are performed during nonimaginary play. Each child performed at least one real helping act: the majority of children performed at least one self-initiated helping act. Most helping acts occur in response to a request from a teacher. Results were interpreted to support that most preschool children are capable of engaging in helping acts; however, in the preschool classroom, teachers elicit most helping behaviors.

Social Initiation and Responsiveness in Parent-Infant Interaction.

Thirty-eight infants were observed interacting separately with their mothers and fathers in the home at seven and 12 months of age. Social initiative measures together with reciprocal parental response measures adopted from Clarke-Stewart were used. The infants distributed their social initiatives equally to both parents but made fewer initiatives when older. Ma ternal and paternal contingent responsiveness was highly correlated at both age levels. However, infants played more with their fathers than with their mothers. It is argued that the stylistic differences in how mothers and fathers responded to their infants represent differences in typical performance but not in optimal performance. Both parents become attachment figures because of their contingent responsiveness but with complementary, not redundant, roles.