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Objective: The aim of this study was to translate the original English language version of the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development (AHEMD) inventory and test its psychometric properties for use with Iranian children aged 18-42 months.Methods: For this purpose, the tool was translated into Farsi (a Persian language) using the forward-backward translation method and some of its psychometric properties were examined. Multistage stratified-cluster sampling was used to study 1019 families having children aged 18-42 months from among the regional divisions of Tehran urban community health centers. The questionnaire evaluated five factors: outside space, inside space, variety of stimulation, fine motor toys and gross motor toys. Expert opinion was used for content-related validity evaluation and confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine construct validity. For test-retest reliability, parents completed identical questionnaires two weeks apart. Internal consistency was evaluated using inter-examiner reliability, Cronbach's alpha and construct reliability. Linear regression analysis was used to explain and predict the effects of toys on AHEMD total score.Results: Results showed that content-related validity was 0.92. Data confirmatory factor analysis showed an acceptable fit to the original five factors. Reliability over time was 0.91 and internal consistency was 0.93. It was also found that fine- and gross-motor toys showed a significant 55% predictability of affordance provision in the home.Conclusion: The Farsi translation of the AHEMD is acceptable for use with Iranian children aged 18-42 month. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young children typically demonstrate low rates of tool innovation. However, previous studies have limited children's performance by presenting tools with opaque affordances. In an attempt to scaffold children's understanding of what constitutes an appropriate tool within an innovation task we compared tools in which the focal affordance was visible to those in which it was opaque. To evaluate possible cultural specificity, data collection was undertaken in a Western urban population and a remote Indigenous community. As expected affordance visibility altered innovation rates: young children were more likely to innovate on a tool that had visible affordances than one with concealed affordances. Furthermore, innovation rates were higher than those reported in previous innovation studies. Cultural background did not affect children's rates of tool innovation. It is suggested that new methods for testing tool innovation in children must be developed in order to broaden our knowledge of young children's tool innovation capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors consider the strengths and weaknesses of three different visuo-spatial constructive play object (VCPO) types-blocks, bricks, and planks-and their impact on the development of creativity in spatial thinking and higher learning during free play. Each VCPO has its own set of attributes, they note, leading to different purposes, functions, aesthetic outcomes, and narratives. They argue that one key to understanding the impact of these toys is to determine, based on the diversity of their attributes, each VCPO's level of affordance. The authors suggest that the specific qualities of some play materials may help establish the scientific, mathematical, and technological foundations required in such professional disciplines as architecture and engineering. In contrast, they argue that the use of VCPOs hobbled by formulaic, scripted play properties may have the opposite effect, that the use of products manufactured with specialized, commercialized themes runs the risk of impeding self-regulation and even creative ideation. They hope their findings serve as a starting point for future studies that examine the benefits and shortcomings of specific play objects on cognitive development and creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Expansion of affordances and acquisition of new possibilities for action depend on motor learning and development. Adolph considers affordances as continuous, probabilistic functions, representing an individual's likelihood of successful performance, across environmental increments. With this study we addressed the question of how the relation between educator and child in a difficult motor task, involving a process of expanding affordances, contributes to the acquisition of new possibilities for action [1,2,3] . Methods Sixty children 5 years old from 2 kindergartens in Treviso (Italy) were studied while performing structured and unstructured physical activity during one hour lessons at a common playground; frequency of lessons was 1/week and the total period of observation was for three months. Children of group A could rely on a teacher to get on a very difficult tool, a bar supported by two mobile springs; the teacher told them that they could jump down if they lost the balance or were scared of walking the bar. After the jump, they were encouraged to go up again at the same point of the bar. Children of group B received no help and were left alone to find out the best strategy to accomplish the task. Time and number of errors were measured and children were video recorded. Results At the beginning no children were able to climb on the bar. At the end of the 10 lessons, 20% only of the children of group B were able to climb on the bar by themselves, and none was able to walk. In group A, 80% of the children climbed on the bar by themselves, 17% requested help and three % could not climb. During free play, only children of group A used the spring bar. Conclusions The data indicate that teacher-mediated experiences promote child expansion of body scale and affordances. The data also suggest that successful experiences encourage autonomous child training thus further expanding perception of motor skill competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]