Ty Partridge

Early Childhood Computer Experience and Cognitive Development among Urban Low-Income Preschoolers

This study investigates the association between home computer experience and cognitive development among preschool children in inner-city Head Start programs. Approximately 200 children enrolled in four Head Start centers in Detroit, Michigan were recruited to participate in this study. Data was collected from parents regarding the childrens experience with computers in the home environment, including their access to a computer, the amount of time spent on the computer, and types of programs used on the computer. Each child was assessed using the McCarthy Scales of Childrens Abilities (MSCA) and the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts, Third Edition Preschool (Boehm-3). Results suggest that using a computer is positively correlated with some aspects of cognitive development. After controlling for parents education and household income, children who had access to a computer in their home had significantly higher scores of the Verbal, Perceptual-Performance, and General Cognitive scales of the MSCA. Furthermore, frequency of childrens computer use was related to scores on the Boehm-3. These results suggest that early computer use at home may be a positive influence in young childrens cognitive development.

Effects of Placement Type on the Language Developmental Trajectories of Maltreated Children From Infancy to Early Childhood

This study describes the developmental trajectories of language skills in infants with substantiated maltreatment histories over a 5-year period and evaluates the effect of three different custodial placements on their language trajectories over time: in-home (remaining in the care of the biological parent/parents), nonkin foster care, and nonparental kinship care. Participants included 963 infants reported to child protective services prior to their first birthday and whose maltreatment was substantiated. Results from covariate-controlled growth modeling revealed no significant placement effects. Across all groups, children’s auditory and expressive communication scores decreased significantly from Wave 1 (intake) in the infants’ first year to Wave 4, when children were about 3.5 years of age, then improved to baseline levels by Wave 5, when children were about 6 years old. Despite these fluctuations, children’s average language scores in each placement group remained below the population mean at each wave of the study.

Age-Related Differences in Acquisition of Perceptual-Motor Skills: Working Memory as a Mediator

ABSTRACT Aging is associated with reduced performance on information processing speed, memory, and executive functions tasks. Although older adults are also less apt in acquiring new perceptual-motor skills, it is unclear whether and how skill acquisition difficulties are associated with age-related general cognitive differences. We addressed this question by examining structural relations among measures of cognitive resources (working memory) and indices of perceptual-motor skill acquisition (pursuit rotor and mirror tracing) in 96 healthy adults aged 19–80 years of age. Three competing structural models were tested: a single (common) factor model, a dual correlated factors model, and a hierarchical dual-factor model. The third model provided the best fit to the data, indicating age differences in simple perceptual-motor skill are partially mediated by more complex abilities.

Infants placed in foster care prior to their first birthday: Differences in kin and nonkin placements†

Using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, this study examines differences between kinship and foster placements for infants placed in out-of-home care prior to their first birthday. The differences examined include developmental status at time of placement, differences in the home and neighborhood environments, and the duration of time in placement. Participants included 457 infants placed in either kinship or foster care and their caregivers. Findings suggest that infants placed with kin had fewer developmental concerns 2 to 6 months after the initial Child Protective Services investigation and spent significantly less time in placement. The quality of foster and kinship homes and neighborhoods also differed: Foster homes were generally of better quality and located in safer neighborhoods. Overall, for both kin and foster care, the data suggest that even after passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA, Public Law 105-89), infants remain in care for a long time: Approximately one third of infants are still in out-of-home care 3 years after the initial investigation.

Methodological Advances Toward a Dynamic Developmental Behavioral Genetics: Bridging the Gap

Over the last decade there have been substantial advances in developmental science in theory and research methods. Concurrently, remarkable advances have been made in the field of molecular genetics. We are now at the point in both disciplines where greater integration must occur for there to be further advances in understanding the role of genes and environments in human development. This article in focuses on the inherent limits of standard behavioral genetic approaches and provides an overview of new systems oriented methods which are better suited for the more relational dynamic nature of gene–environment transactions emerging from molecular genetic findings.

Integrative Levels, the Brain, and the Emergence of Complex Behavior

The aim of this article is to bring clarity and unification to the question of how certain complex behaviors, such as feeding, learning, language, culture, and neural complexity, are related. Three critical ideas—the organizing principle of integrative levels, the tendency for increased complexity with evolutionary change, and the contextual nature of behavioral events—are central to the discussion. A theoretical framework is presented that synthesizes existing knowledge in a meaningful way. Data are drawn from the behavioral, neuroanatomical, cognitive, and linguistic sciences and integrated within an organized and unified theoretical perspective referred to as developmental dynamic systems theory.

Parental Involvement in Young Children's Computer Use and Cognitive Development.

ABSTRACT Increasingly, young children are using computers; however, the role of the parent in facilitating this type of learning is not yet clear. This study investigates the relationship between parental involvement in computer use and cognitive development in their children. Parents of Head Start children who owned a computer (n = 136) reported on the frequency and type of involvement with their children while at the computer. Children of parents who reported active involvement with them on the computer had higher scores on cognitive measures than children with nonactive parental involvement. Additionally, a linear relationship was found between the number of active interactions and many of the subscales. Children of parents reporting all 4 types of active interactions scored higher on subscales of cognitive assessment (verbal, quantitative, general cognitive, and memory) than children with less parental involvement. This study shows that active parental involvement in young childrens computer use is r...