The role of delay of gratification and self -regulation in preschoolers' social, cognitive, and coping competence.
Item
-
Title
-
The role of delay of gratification and self -regulation in preschoolers' social, cognitive, and coping competence.
-
Identifier
-
AAI3083697
-
identifier
-
3083697
-
Creator
-
Opper, Michele Alyson.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Barry Zimmerman
-
Date
-
2003
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Education, Educational Psychology | Education, Early Childhood | Psychology, Developmental
-
Abstract
-
The aim of the present study was to test whether delay of gratification (DOG) in preschool children had a direct, causal relation to cognitive, academic, and social competence, or an indirect, causal relationship that was mediated through self-regulation. Also, the relation between parent and teacher ratings of children's behavior was explored. Previous research (e.g., Shoda, Mischel, & Peake, 1990) showed that preschoolers' performance on a DOG task correlated positively with cognitive, coping, and social competence in adolescence. These researchers conceptualized DOG as a measure of self-regulation, but there is no evidence in the literature of a correlation between the DOG paradigm and well-established measures of self-regulation. Delay of gratification may be a component of a larger capability to self-regulate, but no study has investigated (1) the relation between delay of gratification and self-regulation in preschoolers; (2) the relation of children's performance on the DOG task and preschoolers' ability to wait in the real world; and (3) the relation between children's performance on Mischel's DOG task concurrently with preschoolers' competencies.;The results showed that parents' and teachers' ratings of children's delay behavior and self-regulation loaded on separate factors, and thus, separate models for teachers and parents were proposed. Also, children's performance on the DOG did not load significantly on either the parent or teacher factor. In the teacher model, the self-regulation factor significantly predicted children's competencies and children's performance on the DOG task. Also, teachers' ratings of students' cognitive competence significantly predicted students' performance on an IQ test. Parents' ratings of their children's behavior did not significantly predict their children's performance on any "objective" measures (i.e., the IQ or DOG task). The parent self-regulation factor significantly predicted only parent ratings of their children's competencies. In addition, children's performance on the DOG task was negatively correlated with all parental ratings of their children's behavior. This suggests that parents and teachers are seeing very different aspects of the same behaviors at home and at school. Moreover, it is self-regulation that is important for predicting children's competencies in both the parent and teacher models. Future research may be directed toward teaching preschoolers self-regulation skills.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
