Tania Mara Sperb

A metacognição como estratégia reguladora da aprendizagem

Within Cognitive Psychology the Information Processing approach sees the mind as a cognitive system that allows the human being to interact in his/her environment. This system is capable of monitoring and self-regulating itself which, in turn, empowers the system all together. This capability has been defined as metacognition. The first aim of this study is to analyze the concept of metacognition, trying to capture its essence and functionality as a cognitive process. The second aim is to show and discuss the models provided by the different authors in the area. The final goal is to report a number of investigations that shows metacognition as a determinant factor for the instructional learning.

Hiv/aids Knowledge and Health-Related Attitudes and Behaviors among Deaf and Hearing Adolescents in Southern Brazil

HIV/AIDS knowledge and health-related attitudes and behaviors among deaf and hearing adolescents in southern Brazil are described. Forty-two deaf students attending a special nonresidential public school for the deaf and 50 hearing students attending a regular public school, ages 15–21 years, answered a computer-assisted questionnaire. (There was simultaneous video translation of questions to Brazilian Sign Language.) A branched decision-tree structure was used to determine level of sexual experience and hearing status. Deaf participants scored lower on HIV/AIDS knowledge, demonstrating a need to improve school-based instruction and develop campaigns tailored to this group’s requirements. Though the hearing students reported more sexual activity than the deaf students, no other significant differences were found in health-related attitudes and behaviors. Two findings of concern are the high rate of sexual abuse reported by deaf participants and the large number of deaf adolescents reporting having a friend with AIDS.

Avaliação da interação de crianças em pátios de escolas infantis: uma abordagem da psicologia ambiental

The physical-spatial aspects of environments and their relation to subjectivity and human behavior have been increasingly studied by psychologists. Thus, this study investigated the relationship between playgrounds of two public preschools of Porto Alegre and the interaction of 50 5 to 6 year-old children who were enrolled in these schools. Children were observed at the playgrounds, which presented differences in terms of area (size), density and materials. The interaction states observed were related to types of play and toys used. Results drawn from quantitative analyses showed that children established more associative and parallel interaction states in the large playground, and unoccupied and solitary in the small playground. As for the type of toy, the association of this aspect with the interaction in the large playground was smaller than in the small one. A higher association between interactions and types of play in the small playground was found. The study shows that concerning environmental aspects the large playground favors a variety of interactions states.

O brinquedo de pré-escolares: um espaço de ressignificação cultural

This article analyses the construction of the social meaning of play in a particular preschool group of children, five boys and five girls. To do that childrens mothers and teachers were interviewed to define their conceptions about play. After, children were filmed for twenty minutes while playing, both at home and in school, in order to analise how children organize their activities. Content analysis of interviews and the categorization of childrens play show that play activities are structured differently by gender and the context where play occurs. The microanalysis of the videotapes of four childrens play explicit that they actively reconstruct play, building news scenarios, and inventing new functions for existing objects in the culture. Children do that by redifining sexual roles stereotyped as masculine, feminine and undiferentiated by sociocultural context.

Teoria da mente : diferentes abordagens

A capacidade de compreender os estados mentais (i.e. sentimentos, desejos, crencas e intencoes) dos outros e de si mesmo e uma das caracteristicas sociais do ser humano. Quando essa habilidade emerge e como se desenvolve sao aspectos que tem sido pesquisados por psicologos desenvolvimentistas e cognitivistas sob o nome de Teoria da Mente das criancas. Nesse trabalho, procura-se relacionar os diferentes enfoques teoricos acerca da natureza, genese e desenvolvimento da teoria da mente com os achados empiricos e as metodologias empregadas. Questoes referentes a idade em que os pesquisadores entendem que emerge uma teoria da mente nas criancas e a necessidade de desenvolver uma visao que englobe os diferentes niveis de compreensao que elas tem da mente, a luz das teorias existentes, sao discutidas.

O brincar e os brinquedos nos conflitos entre crianças

This study investigated 77 conflict episodes, involving 3 to 4 year-olds enrolled in a public preschool in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Childrens gender, the context in which conflicts occurred (playground or classroom), types of toys and of play activities involved in conflict episodes were considered. Data were registered through video recording and field notes and were analyzed using Analysis of Correspondence and of Residues. Results indicated that while conflicts involving symbolic play occurred more often in the classroom and among boys, girls showed a greater number of conflicts when playing with blocks. Rule-based play showed conflicts more often when groups were mixed. While adult oriented toys related with conflicts in mixed groups, child oriented toys occurred more frequently in groups of boys only. No association was found between girls and type of toys used during conflict episodes.

Child-Rearing Values in Southern Brazil: Mutual Influences of Social Class and Parents’ Perceptions of Their Children’s Development

The authors examine social-class differences in parents’ child-rearing values for autonomy, self-direction, and conformity and the extent to which their values are influenced by their perceptions of their developing children’s characteristics. Parents from 25 middle-class or working-class families in a Brazilian city participated in interviews, observations, and completed Kohn’s Q-Sort measure when their children were 3, 36, and 72 months of age. Parents’ child-rearing values differed significantly by social class: middle-class parents were more likely to value autonomy and self-direction in their children, whereas working-class parents were more likely to value conformity. In addition, the strength and direction of parental values changed significantly as their children developed. Parents were less likely to value autonomy and self-direction when their children were 36 months than when they were either 3 or 72 months. Middle-class parents were more likely to value conformity when their children were 36 than when they were younger or older.

O contexto experimental e a teoria da mente

Fifty-eight middle-class 3 to 5 preschool children of Porto Alegre were given 3 tasks in order to examine the acquisition and development of the Theory of mind: false-belief, appearance-reality, and belief, standard and facilitated. The last one was introduced in order to investigate childrens best performance on the tasks. Childrens justifications to their answers were considered as another modality for the false-belief task, so children could confirm or correct their initial answers. ANOVA with repeated measures showed that 3 and 4-year-olds performed similarly, except for appearance-reality and belief, which was the easiest one. Results are discussed concerning the cognitive demands of each task. Also, childrens best performance on the justification modality of the false-belief task is discussed concerning methodological issues and the assessment of childrens theory of mind.

Crianças e a construção de limites: narrativas de mães e professoras

El tema de los limites en la educacion infantil se ha revelado como una dificultad para padres y maestros. En este estudio fueron investigadas las representaciones sociales de madres y maestras sobre limites en el desarrollo infantil. El estudio conto con la participacion de catorce madres y ocho maestras de educacion primaria de escuelas particulares de Porto Alegre. La entrevista narrativa y el analisis de los contenidos fueron utilizados como procedimientos de colecta de datos y analisis. Los resultados indicaron que los limites son representados como frontera a ser respetada en aras de la moralidad. El uso del dialogo es un recurso presente en los relatos de madres y maestras, asi como la importancia y necesidad de tolerancia. Madres y maestras muestran dudas y culpas que repercuten en el desarrollo de limites en los ninos. Las maestras atribuyen la responsabilidad por la falta de limites a las familias. Por otro lado, las familias no ven a la escuela como una aliada en el proceso de construccion de limites.The question of limits in preschool education has been considered difficult for both parents and teachers. In this study mothers and teachers’ social representations of limits in children’s development were investigated. Fourteen mothers and eight preschool teachers of private schools of Porto Alegre participated in the study. The narrative interview and content analysis were used as procedures of data collection and analysis. The results indicated the representation of limits as frontiers to be respected for the sake of morality. The use of dialogue as a resource was cited by mothers and teachers in their narratives, as well as the need for tolerance. However, both also expressed many doubts, guilt and insecurity which reflect in the development of children’s limits. While teachers attribute the responsibility of a lack of limits to the families mothers do not perceive the school as an ally in the process of limits construction.

Histórias de criança: as narrativas de crianças asmáticas no brincar

This study examined how asthmatic children construct meanings about asthma and the information given to them. A case-study design was used with three subjects involved in a Program of Asthma. A cultural approach which assumes the use of narratives was used to search for childrens meanings. Observations in the hospital and interviews with the childrens mothers were carried out. Narratives of play were examined to investigate childrens subjectivity. These narratives were analysed using Todorovs structural model. Results showed structural alterations in narratives generated in play which may be explained by asthmatic childrens psychological particularities. Culture features were strongly present allowing for the analysis of how children negotiate their personal and familiar meanings with the meanings of the medical culture in which they are embedded.