The regulation of task activities in natural and idealized dyadic interactions with adults and preschool children: A Vygotskyian approach.
Item
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Title
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The regulation of task activities in natural and idealized dyadic interactions with adults and preschool children: A Vygotskyian approach.
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Identifier
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AAI9000719
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identifier
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9000719
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Creator
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Pacifici, Caesar.
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Contributor
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Adviser: David Bearison
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Date
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1989
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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 | Education, Early Childhood
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Abstract
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A Vygotskyian perspective, framing a theoretical and methodological basis for understanding the social origins of knowledge, was used in examining relationships between aspects of adult-child interaction activities and pre-to-post-interaction improvements in children's independent learning. Preschool children (2.6 to 3.5 years) were randomly assigned to either a natural dyadic interaction condition (n = 20) in which mothers provided instructional assistance (regulations) on a puzzle task, or an idealized dyadic interaction condition (n = 9) in which a trained experimenter provided theoretically optimal instructions. All dyads completed two trials of puzzle activity. Pre- and post-interaction trials included two tasks; an analogous puzzle task (near transfer), and a block design task (far transfer).;Adults' regulations were hierarchically categorized into levels of explicitness. Contingency measures reflected whether adults appropriately modified their ongoing task regulations, by making them more explicit or implicit, in response to children's cognitive competencies. The magnitude of regulations measured the average number of levels adults shifted from one intervention to the next.;Findings generally supported the major hypotheses. Consistent with Vygotsky's idea of the zone of proximal development, interactions that were proportionately more contingent, and therefore more directed toward children's learning potentials, were positively associated with greater gains in children's independent learning in pre- and post-interaction performances. Regression analyses showed that regulations that were not contingent, or were contingent and represented shifts of more than two levels of explicitness, were not predictive of children's independent functioning. Also, the average number of levels mothers moderated their regulations from one intervention to the next, whether they were contingent or not, was negatively associated with gains in children's independent learning.;Children in the idealized instructional group showed greater pre-to-post-interaction gains than children in the natural interaction condition.;Findings in the above hypotheses were limited to the near transfer task. In addition, no evidence was found for microgenetic improvements in interactions across trials.;A set of ancillary analyses explored aspects of mother-child activities during interactions. Contingent regulations were followed by more correct, compared with incorrect, children's activities. Also, mothers intervened more often after children's incorrect, compared with correct, activities.
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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.
