MATERNAL TEACHING STRATEGIES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL IMAGERY IN BLIND CHILDREN (INDEXING).
Item
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Title
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MATERNAL TEACHING STRATEGIES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL IMAGERY IN BLIND CHILDREN (INDEXING).
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Identifier
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AAI8409406
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identifier
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8409406
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Creator
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LANG, MARY ANN.
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Contributor
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David Bearison
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Date
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1984
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Developmental
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Abstract
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Studies of the relationship between imitation and the development of mental imagery have generally focused on imitation of visually-perceived actions. A study was conducted which investigated the development of mental imagery in the absence of vision. The role of the index in imagery development was explored. Piaget defines an index as a mobile sign which is detached from the action taking place. These mobile signs provide the child with a link between an observable body part or action and an unobservable one. It becomes a symbol which the child applies to these non-visible movements. Particular emphasis was placed on exploring the role of maternal index facilitating on the development of imagery in children.;Since there was no previous research on the role of the index in this process, literature was reviewed in five areas which converge on the problem. The five areas were: (1) Imitation in the development of mental imagery; (2) Representation in infancy and early childhood; (3) The role of vision in the development of mental imagery; (4) The early development of the blind child; and (5) The mother-child dyad in a teaching situation.;The subjects were 40 children from two through seven years of age, 20 of whom were congenitally blind (CB) and 20 sighted (S). Four tasks were administered. Two of these were carried out to determine each subject's level of mental imagery development. The third task was carried out with each subject and the child's mother and was used to determine the index-facilitation level for each mother. The fourth task was administered to determine the child's imitation ability under standardized conditions. Data were analyzed using Multiple Regression Analyses. The child's controlled imitation score obtained from task IV was analyzed as a covariate to partial out the effect of the child's imitation ability on the index-facilitation behavior of the mother.;No relationship was found between mothers' index-facilitation scores and imagery or imitation scores of children. A significant relationship was found between children's imitation and imagery development. Imitation and imagery scores increased with age for all subjects. Imitation scores were significantly higher for sighted subjects than for blind subjects. The difference between the blind and sighted subjects' imagery scores, however, decreased with age.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Educational Psychology
