Communication in Development

1st Edition - January 28, 1981
Editor: W. P. Robinson
Language: English
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 6 6 8 6 - 2

Communication in Development is composed of papers derived from two sources. An International Conference on Social Psychology and Language was held in Bristol in July 1979.… Read more

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Communication in Development is composed of papers derived from two sources. An International Conference on Social Psychology and Language was held in Bristol in July 1979. Considerations of space rather than merit prevented some of the papers, given in supplementary sessions on language development, from being published in the proceedings. These papers are published in this volume. Also included are recent and hitherto unpublished papers from European researchers working in the field of language and cognitive development. The contents of this volume range from the early non-verbal communication to the emergence of the child's understanding about referential communication, and to between and within socio-economic status differences in maternal and child behavior. The kinds of verbal and non-verbal experience that promote intellectual development are considered within the frames of both observed changes within children and cross-sectional studies of individual differences in mother-child interaction. The idea that the child's performance is context sensitive is one of the general ideas that has been taken increasingly into account. Two chapters pay close attention to this issue; both treat it as a challenge to experimental and theoretical ingenuity, recognizing that the child is an active participant in situations where he is observed and that the challenge is to divine the principles regulating the child's behavior.

List of Contributors

Preface

1. Negativity in Early Infant-Adult Exchanges and Its Developmental Significance

Initial Observations

Theoretical Views of Early Negativity

Empirical Reports of Negativity

Naturally-Occurring Negativity

Discussion

Conclusion: Asocial and Social Negativity

Acknowledgments

References

2. Non-Linguistic Information Which Could Assist the Young Child's Interpretation of Adults' Speech

Introduction

Study 1: Contiguity of Reference and Manipulation

Study 2: The Emphasis of Names of Objects

Acknowledgments

References

3. Collaboration and Confrontation with Young Children in Language Comprehension Testing

Introduction

Pilot Studies

Main Experiments

Conclusions and Wider Issues

Acknowledgments

References

4. From Interaction Strategies to Social Representation of Adults in a Day Nursery

Introduction

Method

Results: Adults' Behavior in a Play Situation

Results: Adults' System of Rules and Social Representation

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes

References

5. Language Performance of Disadvantaged Children at 30 Months: Interpersonal and Other Environmental Influences

Introduction

Method

Results and Discussion

Two Case Studies: Zachary and Albert

Summary

General Conclusions

References

6. Mothers as Teachers and Their Children as Learners: a Study of the Influence of Social Interaction upon Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development and Social Mediation

Method

Results: Mother as Teacher

Results: The Child as Learner

Results: Mother-Child Relationships

Discussion

Acknowledgment

References

7. Mothers' Answers to Children's Questions: from Socio-Economic Status to Individual Differences

Introduction

SES Differences in Mothers' Reported Ways of Answering Children's Questions

SES Differences in the Ways Children Answer Questions

Associations between Mothers' Reports of Ways They Answer Their Children's Questions and Children's Answers: Mother-Child Pairs

Children's Answers and Questions in Relation to Mothers' Verbal Behavior

Discussion

References

8. Instruction Versus Conversation as Opportunities for Learning

Introduction

Seriation Training: Study 1

Kinds of Interaction in Relation to Progress in Seriation: Studies 2-5

Interpretation of Results

Changing Theoretical Context

Learning through Conversation: a Synthesis of Theories

Acknowledgments

References

9. Conflict and Cooperation as Opportunities for Learning

Is Learning an Individual Process?

The Interchange between the Child and the Social Setting: Communication, Understanding and Performance

Study 1: Social Context and Performance

Study 2: Social Context and Learning

Learning: a Process of Performing and Communicating within a Social Context

Acknowledgments

References

10. Conversational Tactics and the Advancement of the Child's Understanding about Referential Communication

Introduction

Deficiencies in the Young Child's Understanding about Verbal Referential Communication

Ways of Improving the Young Child's Performance and Understanding about Communication

Why Does Giving the Child Information Improve His Performance and Understanding?

Relationship between Mothers' Ways of Handling Communication Failure and Children's Understanding about Communication

Summary and Conclusions

Acknowledgments

References

11. Some Problems for Theory, Methodology, and Methods for the 1980s

Introduction

Theoretical Perspectives

Methodology

Methods of Study

Concluding Remarks

References

Author Index

Subject Index