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In this article, I illustrate how research from cognitive science and the science of reading can inform research on the science of reading instruction. This purpose is accomplished by focusing on four recently published randomized control trials of instruction designed to teach alphabet letters to 3‐ and 4‐year‐old children (N = 342) attending preschool in the United States. Approximately 35% of the children were dual‐language learners. Instruction ranged from 10 to 12 weeks' duration and was implemented in small groups taught by research assistants. Evidence for the value of explicit instruction in which paired‐associate learning connecting visual letter forms with their verbal letter labels (names and sounds) for learning letters is reviewed. The effectiveness of explicit instruction for promoting children's motivation and engagement is identified. The relation of these studies to important features of a science of reading is discussed. Collective and individual instructionally related implications from the studies are elaborated, including replicated evidence of the benefit of visual–verbal paired‐associate learning of printed letters and their spoken names or sounds; the positive effects on motivation and engagement of such instruction; and the benefit of decontextualized letter instruction over letter instruction contextualized within storybook reading, real words, and personal names. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors investigated the influence of teaching letter names and sounds in isolation or in the context of storybook reading on preschool children's early literacy learning and engagement during instruction. Alphabet instruction incorporated paired‐associate learning of correspondences between letter names and sounds. In decontextualized treatment activities, children practiced saying the letter names and sounds that matched single letters presented on cards and in letter books, and speeded recognition of taught letters. In contextualized treatment activities, letter names and sounds were taught and practiced during oral reading of storybooks, recognizing letters in children's printed names, and speeded recognition of taught letters in words. Subjects were 127 preschool children, including 48 dual‐language learners, in five public schools with low‐income eligibility thresholds. Children were randomly assigned within classrooms to small groups randomly assigned to one of the two treatments. Research assistants provided 10 weeks of instruction, 12–15 minutes per day, four days per week. Both groups made statistically significant growth from pretest to posttest on measures of alphabet learning and phoneme awareness. Children in the decontextualized treatment small groups had statistically significantly higher gains than did children in the contextualized treatment small groups on taught letter sounds and phonemic awareness measured by identification of initial sounds in spoken words. There were no treatment differences between dual‐language learners and non‐dual‐language learners. Children's engagement during instruction was statistically significantly higher in the decontextualized treatment. Findings support explicit decontextualized alphabet instruction emphasizing the relation between verbal letter labels and letter forms that enlists paired‐associate learning processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study, the authors addressed two areas of inquiry: the influence of enlisting three underlying cognitive learning processes in alphabet learning, and order effects for letter name and letter sound instruction. Alphabet instruction was designed to enlist paired‐associate learning (PAL) only, PAL plus orthographic learning, or PAL plus articulatory learning. Subjects were 94 preschool children, including 35 dual‐language learners, in eight public preschool classrooms with low‐income eligibility thresholds. Children were randomly assigned within each classroom to small groups that were randomly assigned to one of the three treatments and to one of two orders in which letter names and letter sounds were taught. Research assistants provided 10 weeks of instruction for 12–15 minutes per day, four days a week. All children in the three treatments made significant growth from pretest to posttest on all measures of alphabet learning. Children in the PAL‐only condition had significantly higher gains than the sample average on four of the five alphabet measures. Post hoc tests showed that PAL only significantly outperformed the other two conditions on four of the five measures but only for native English‐speaking children. No evidence of differences among treatments was found for dual‐language learners. Additionally, there was no main effect for order of letter name or letter sound instruction, although teaching letter sounds before letter names was statistically significantly better in the PAL‐only treatment. Findings support explicit alphabet instruction emphasizing the relation between verbal letter labels and letter forms that enlists PAL processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common recessive condition affecting the White British population. Facilitating reproductive decision making for couples at genetic risk for CF is an important aspect of genetic counseling practice in the UK. The purpose of this study was to explore the reproductive decision making process for 31 members of CF carrier couples (15 men and 16 women) with or without an affected child. The design involved a qualitative approach consisting of semi-structured interviews and data analysis informed by grounded theory methodology. Sex and personal experience of CF were identified as factors that may influence reproductive decision making. Findings suggest these hypotheses: (1) CF carrier couples who have an affected child/pregnancy, are more likely to embark on another pregnancy than couples who have a healthy child from an at-risk pregnancy, and (2) men and women play different roles in the reproductive decision making process. Data analysis resulted in development of a structured framework modeling the reproductive decision making process, which may be helpful in guiding genetic counseling with CF carrier couples and other at risk couples making reproductive decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how providing either primary- or English-language storybooks for home reading followed by classroom storybook reading and vocabulary instruction in English influenced English vocabulary acquisition. Participants in the study were preschool children (N= 33), from low socioeconomic status families, whose primary language was either Hmong or Spanish. There were two 6-week sessions of home combined with classroom storybook reading. Children were randomized to either a primary- or English-language home storybook-reading treatment in the first session. In the second session, children switched treatment and participated in home storybook reading with books written in the alternate language. Children learned a substantial number of words from the combined home and classroom storybook reading experiences. Home storybook reading in a primary language was at least as effective as home storybook reading in English for English vocabulary learning. Significant gains in vocabulary recognition were documented after home reading and again after classroom experiences in English. Family-caregiver participation in the parent-support part of the program rose from 50% to 80% between the two 6-week sessions. Family caregivers' English oral-language skills and the number of English-language children's books in the home were related to English vocabulary learning. Discussion focuses on the viability of combining primary- or second-language home storybook reading with second-language classroom storybook reading as a means to enhance second-language vocabulary learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines preschool-age children's performance expectations for themselves and another child as a function of the incentive value success and the salience of past performance. Manipulation of the incentive value of success by offering a reward for perfect success; Lowering of children's expectations for their own future performance.