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This study investigated a seven sessions interaction between a peer-tutor robot and Dutch preschoolers (5 years old) during which the children learned English. We examined whether children's engagement differed when interacting with a tablet and a robot using iconic gestures, with a tablet and a robot using no iconic gestures and with only a tablet. Two engagement types were annotated (task engagement and robot engagement) using a novel coding scheme based on an existing coding scheme used in kindergartens. The findings revealed that children's task engagement dropped over time in all three conditions, consistent with the novelty effect. However, there were no differences between the different conditions for task engagement. Interestingly, robot engagement showed a difference between conditions. Children were more robot engaged when interacting with a robot using iconic gestures than without iconic gestures. Finally, when comparing children's word knowledge with their engagement, we found that both task engagement and robot engagement were positively correlated with children's word retention., QC 20230404

09 december 2021, Contains fulltext : 241216.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)

Contains fulltext : 227090.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access), Culture influences the way parents shape children's environment. Two studies examined cross-cultural differences in parental practices related to motor development in Israel and the Netherlands. In the first study, 198 Dutch and 206 Israeli parents of infants aged 1-7.5 months completed questionnaires measuring parental practices and beliefs regarding motor development. In the second study, 30 Dutch and 30 Israeli parents completed the same questionnaires when their children were 2 and 10 months old. While similarities were found across the cultures, Israeli parents practiced infant prone positioning more. Additionally, Dutch infants spent substantial more time in the playpen. Furthermore, beliefs stressing stimulation and stimulating practices (both more frequent within Israeli parents) predicted better prone skills, shown by the Israeli infants. Findings highlight the diversity of parental practices related to infant motor development.

Uit eerder onderzoek blijkt dat een lage zelfcontrole in de kindertijd tot verschillende problemen in het latere leven kan zorgen en dat ouderlijke zelfcontrole en opvoeding factoren zijn die van invloed zijn op de zelfcontrole van kinderen. Het doel van deze studie was om te onderzoeken of er een verband is tussen de zelfcontrole van peuters op 30 maanden en diens ouders en welke rol de manier van disciplineren in dit verband speelt. Deze studie is onderdeel van een cross-sectioneel onderzoek met één meetmoment. Er hebben 30 peuters met diens ouders deelgenomen. De ouderlijke zelfcontrole is gemeten aan de hand van de Parent trait self-control questionnaire en de manier van disciplineren aan de hand van de twee opvoedschalen positieve en negatieve discipline van de CECPAQ. De zelfcontrole van peuters is gemeten met behulp van een wachttaak. Het verband tussen deze variabelen is onderzocht met behulp van een logistische regressieanalyse met mediatie. Er bleek geen positief verband te bestaan tussen ouderlijke zelfcontrole en de zelfcontrole van diens peuters en geen negatief verband tussen ouderlijke zelfcontrole en de manier van disciplineren. Ook bleek er geen positief verband te bestaan tussen positieve discipline en de zelfcontrole van peuters en geen negatief verband tussen negatieve discipline en de zelfcontrole van peuters. De manier van disciplineren speelde geen mediërende rol. Bij het interpreteren van de resultaten moet rekening worden gehouden met de kleine steekproef van deze studie. Daarom wordt vervolgonderzoek aangeraden.

Het doel van de huidige studie is om kennis te verkrijgen over of de mate van zelfcontrole een verklaring kan zijn voor geslachtsverschillen in externaliserend gedrag bij 2.5-4 jarigen. Er is veel onderzoek beschikbaar over geslachtsverschillen in externaliserend gedrag en zelfcontrole afzonderlijk, echter is er weinig bekend over het verband tussen deze twee. Daarnaast is onderzoek over zowel externaliserend probleemgedrag en zelfcontrole onder peuters minimaal. Deze studie heeft getracht hier een bijdrage aan te leveren door te toetsen of zelfcontrole het verband tussen geslachtsverschillen in externaliserend gedrag medieert. Om externaliserend gedrag te meten hebben ouders een vragenlijst (SDQ) ingevuld, om de mate van zelfcontrole te meten zijn twee wachttaken middels uitgestelde beloning uitgevoerd onder peuters tussen de 2.5 en 4 jaar oud. Informatie van 40 participanten is verkregen. Uit de resultaten bleek dat geslacht geen significante voorspeller is van externaliserend gedrag en zelfcontrole is geen significante mediator van dit verband. Wel werden een significante geslachtsverschillen gevonden in zelfcontrole, waarbij meisjes een hogere mate van zelfcontrole hadden. Omdat de huidige studie een cross-sectionele studie bevatte kon er niet gesproken worden over causaliteit. Voor vervolgonderzoek is het nodig een longitudinale studie te gebruiken om de verbanden tussen geslacht, zelfcontrole en externaliserend gedrag opnieuw te onderzoeken onder peuters.

Dit onderzoek heeft de relatie tussen sociaaleconomische status (SES) en internaliserend- en externaliserend probleemgedrag onderzocht bij Nederlandse peuters, waarbij is gekeken of taalontwikkeling een mediator is. Voor dit onderzoek is data gebruikt van het EVENING-onderzoek. De steekproef bestond uit 52 participanten verdeeld in een groep tweeëneenhalf jarigen (N=26; Mleeftijd=32 maanden; SD=2.16) en vierjarigen (N=24; Mleeftijd=46 maanden; SD=1.56), 2 participanten zijn niet geïncludeerd. Alle participanten hadden recht op voorschoolse educatie en 60% van de participanten was man. Er is een hiërarchische regressieanalyse gedaan en de resultaten laten geen significante relatie zien tussen SES internaliserend probleemgedrag. Taalontwikkeling was geen mediator in deze relatie. De resultaten laten een significant verband zien met een gemiddeld effect tussen SES en externaliserend probleemgedrag. Er is geen bewijs gevonden dat taalontwikkeling een mediator is in deze relatie. Mogelijk was de steekproef van dit onderzoek te klein of zijn er andere onderliggende mechanismen die deze relatie kunnen verklaren.

When children learn to walk they have the possibility to explore their surroundings in a different way. They will cover more distance and the distance between them and their parents will increase. Whereas the child is further away, parents might rely more on distal, verbal communication to regulate their child’s behaviour. However, evidence about possible changes of verbal regulatory responses during the transition from crawling to walking are scarce. The aim of the current study was to examine the change of the verbal regulatory response from parents when their children made the transition from crawling to walking. The hypotheses were that (1) when children were able to walk the parents would use more responses that discouraged or prevented the child’s behaviour and (2) that they would use less responses that encouraged or elicited the child’s behaviour. For this purpose a sample of 16 children around the age of 1 year was used. The verbal regulatory response was measured during a natural home-based play interaction between the parent and child. These interactions were videotaped and analysed. Furthermore parental reports were used to measure walking status. Determining walking status created a group of children who were able to walk independently and a group who were only able to crawl. The hypotheses were tested by mixed repeated measures ANOVAs. The children’s age was taken as a covariate in the analyses. Results showed no significant increase in parental verbal discouragement and no significant decrease in parental verbal encouragement. In conclusion no relation was found between the transition from crawling to walking to a change in the parents' verbal regulatory response to their child's behaviour. However, due to the small sample size more research is needed to examine this relationship.

Objective: The focus of this study was to investigate the relations between language skills and internalizing behaviour and the potential moderating effects of gender and negative affect. Method: The data were collected using a convenience sample, in which 84 children participated. To measure the receptive vocabulary and the ability to repeat sentences, children were tested with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III-NL (PPVT-III-NL) and Litmus- SRT task. The parents filled out the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Children's Behaviour Questionnaire (CBQ) or Temperament in Middle Children Questionnaire (TMCQ) to measure internalizing behaviour and negative affect. Results: This study did not find any relations between language skills and internalizing behaviour. The only relation that was found was between internalizing behaviour and negative affect. This relation between internalizing behaviour and negative affect was expected.

Achtergrond Meisjes hebben op 2- tot 6-jarige leeftijd over het algemeen een grotere woordenschat en op latere leeftijd een hogere mate van zelfcontrole dan jongens. De verschillen in woordenschat tussen meisjes en jongens zijn nog niet voldoende verklaard. Bekend is dat door zelfcontrole iemand impulsen kan onderdrukken die op korte termijn bevrediging geven, waardoor het van invloed is op het leerproces. Het doel van huidig onderzoek is om te onderzoeken of zelfcontrole de relatie tussen geslacht en woordenschat op 2,5- tot 4-jarige leeftijd medieert. Methode 15 meisjes en 17 jongens in de leeftijdscategorie 2,5 tot 4 jaar hebben deelgenomen aan deze kwantitatieve en cross-sectionele studie. Tijdens één testmoment bij de deelnemers thuis zijn twee zelfcontrole taken afgenomen en één test voor woordenschat. Het mediatieverband werd getoetst middels de hiërarchische multipele regressieanalyse in SPSS. Resultaten Er is geen significant verschil gevonden in de grootte van woordenschat tussen meisjes en jongens. Ook kan het verband niet worden verklaard door de mate van zelfcontrole. Er is een significant verband gevonden tussen geslacht en zelfcontrole, waarbij meisjes een hogere mate van zelfcontrole hebben dan jongens. Er is geen significant verschil gevonden tussen zelfcontrole en woordenschat. Conclusie De mate van zelfcontrole is geen significante voorspeller voor de verschillen in woordenschat tussen meisjes en jongens. Meisjes hebben een hogere mate van zelfcontrole dan jongens op 2,5- tot 4-jarige leeftijd en lieten meer stabiliteit zien in de mate van zelfcontrole. Huidig onderzoek geeft aanleiding tot vervolgonderzoek naar oorzaken voor de verschillen in zelfcontrole op voorschoolse leeftijd.

Background. Several studies have indicated that the development of language should be seen in context of interactions between a person’s physical body and the physical world. In line with the embodiment theory, empirical literature indicates that walking independently can cause an increase in social interactions with the environment and especially the interactions with parents. These changes in interactions with parents could promote an increase in language development. Aim. The present study examined the relationship between locomotor status and productive speech with parental responsiveness as a possible mediator. Method. 21 children (53,3% girls, aged 11 to 16 months), participated in the study. Parental responsiveness was established through a coding scheme. In addition, parental questionnaires were administered to determine the locomotor status and the productive speech. Results. No significant results were found in either of the relationships. Locomotor status did not predict higher levels of productive speech or parental responsiveness. Also, the levels of responsiveness did not predict higher levels of productive speech. Therefore, this study shows that no mediation effect of parental responsiveness can be found between the locomotor status of children and the levels of productive speech. Conclusion. Further research that investigates the relation between locomotor status, productive speech and parental responsiveness is needed to fulfill the gap in knowledge in these relations.

Introduction. For children who are raised in families with a low SES and a migration background there is a big chance that at the age of two years, they already lag behind in cognitive and language skills. Good quality of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) can offer an opportunity to close this gap. But the question is: are the children with disadvantaged background represented in the high quality ECEC? Method. This research looked at the correlation between process quality and the number of children from families with low SES and migration background, in day-care and in pre-school. Data from the National Early Childhood Education and Care Quality Monitoring measurements (LLK) over 2017, 2018 and 2019 was used, in combination with CLASS Toddler observation scores. In this research 74 day-care centers and 91 pre-schools were investigated. Results. The results showed that there was no correlation between process quality and the number of children from families with low SES and migration background, in day-care and in pre-school. The educational process quality was better for pre-schools, although the educational process quality was low till moderate for both day-care and pre-schools. Also the number of children from families with low SES and migration background was higher in pre-schools. Conclusion. This study concluded that children with disadvantaged backgrounds are not overrepresented in ECEC with low process quality. This may be due to the measures taken by the Dutch government to facilitate equal opportunities in ECEC. More research is recommended to confirm and to deepen this results.

Introductie: Taal is een positieve voorspeller voor prosociaal gedrag. Syrische vluchtelingen die naar Nederland zijn gekomen, hebben een achterstand in de Nederlandse taal waardoor deze kinderen wellicht minder prosociaal gedrag vertonen. Echter spelen cultuur en meertaligheid een belangrijke rol in de ontwikkeling van prosociaal gedrag waardoor het niet zeker is hoe de prosociale ontwikkeling van Syrische kinderen is in vergelijking met Nederlandse kinderen. Doel: Het doel van de studie was om te onderzoeken wat het verband was tussen de Nederlandse taalvaardigheid en prosociaal gedrag bij Syrische vluchtelingen en eentalige Nederlandse schoolkinderen. Tevens is onderzocht of cultuur invloed heeft op het verband tussen taal en prosociaal gedrag. Deelnemers: De onderzoeksgroep bestond uit 145 deelnemers waarvan 93 eentalige Nederlandse kinderen met een gemiddelde leeftijd van 83 maanden en 52 Syrische kinderen met een gemiddelde leeftijd van 105 maanden. Methode: Prosociaal gedrag is gemeten met een vragenlijst die door ouders is ingevuld en de taalvaardigheid is gemeten middels een zinsherhaaltest bij de kinderen zelf. Resultaten: Er werd geen significant verschil gevonden in prosociaal gedrag tussen taalvaardigheid en cultuur. Wel is uit het onderzoek gebleken dat leeftijd een significante voorspeller is voor prosociaal gedrag.

The present article investigates if joint attention (JA) in babies from 9 to 16 months increases when they attain independent walking. JA is important for the baby’s language development, learning to walk may play a central role in this process. This study is divided in two subquestions. The first subquestion is about the reaction on JA initiated by the parent and the second subquestion is about the JA initiated by the baby. A total of 15 babies were observed in interaction with one of their parents, by using a coding scheme. In addition, a questionnaire was administered regarding the development of the baby. A MANCOVA was used to analyze the data. This study found no significant influence of being able to walk on the amount of JA. A possible explanation for this finding is a too small sample. In addition, the environmental conditions of the observation settings differed too much. The raw data showed a higher mean for the JA initiated by the child as well as a higher mean for the response to JA initiated by the parent. Despite that there is no significant effect, JA is an important aspect to investigate further. In follow-up research, a larger sample can be used and the environmental conditions can be more defined. As an extension in follow-up research, a distinction can be made between the different forms of JA. It can be concluded that in this study no significant relationship was found between the amount of JA and the ability to walk.

Objective: This study investigates the relation between the motor milestone independent walking and receptive vocabulary, with a possible mediating factor moving bids, by children aged 11-15 months. This study also investigates possible gender differences in the variables. The first hypothesis is that the relationship between independent walking and receptive vocabulary is mediated by moving bids. The second hypothesis is that gender differences will only be found in receptive vocabulary. Method: The participants were 20 children aged 11 to 15 months. Two questionnaires were filled in by their parents in order to measure the children’s vocabulary and to determine whether or not the children have achieved the ability of independent walking. To measure the amount of moving bids, the children were observed while playing with a parent. The hypotheses were tested by a hierarchical regression analysis, a MANOVA and a Fisher’s exact test. Results: There is no significant relation found between independent walking and receptive vocabulary, and between independent walking, receptive vocabulary and moving bids. There were also no differences found in the variables between boys and girls. Conclusion: In this study, no results were found for the mediating role of moving bids within the relation between independent walking and receptive vocabulary. No gender differences were found in the 3 variables. An explanation why no significant results were found is the small sample size. Further research should focus on a larger sample.

Utrecht University, 14 juni 2019, Promotor : Leseman, P.P.M. Co-promotores : Verhagen, J., Oudgenoeg-Paz, O., Contains fulltext : 214552pub.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)

Robots are used for language tutoring increasingly often, and commonly programmed to display non-verbal communicative cues such as eye gaze and pointing during robot-child interactions. With a human speaker, children rely more strongly on non-verbal cues (pointing) than on verbal cues (labeling) if these cues are in conflict. However, we do not know how children weigh the non-verbal cues of a robot. Here, we assessed whether four- to six-year-old children (i) differed in their weighing of non-verbal cues (pointing, eye gaze) and verbal cues provided by a robot versus a human; (ii) weighed non-verbal cues differently depending on whether these contrasted with a novel or familiar label; and (iii) relied differently on a robot's non-verbal cues depending on the degree to which they attributed human-like properties to the robot. The results showed that children generally followed pointing over labeling, in line with earlier research. Children did not rely more strongly on the non-verbal cues of a robot versus those of a human. Regarding pointing, children who perceived the robot as more human-like relied on pointing more strongly when it contrasted with a novel label versus a familiar label, but children who perceived the robot as less human-like did not show this difference. Regarding eye gaze, children relied more strongly on the gaze cue when it contrasted with a novel versus a familiar label, and no effect of anthropomorphism was found. Taken together, these results show no difference in the degree to which children rely on non-verbal cues of a robot versus those of a human and provide preliminary evidence that differences in anthropomorphism may interact with children's reliance on a robot's non-verbal behaviors., European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program L2TOR Project; European Union (European Union)

Het aangeboden krijgen van gebaren speelt een faciliterende rol in het proces van woordleren bij jonge kinderen (Iverson & Goldin-Meadow, 2005). Door een talige uiting gepaard te laten gaan met een gebaar wordt de overgebrachte informatie namelijk beter opgeslagen (Gallese & Lakoff, 2005). In het huidige onderzoek wordt er gekeken naar wat de invloed is van het aanbieden van specifiek iconische actiegebaren op hoe goed kinderen nonwoordnamen koppelen aan een referent. Alle zes kinderen (met een leeftijd tussen 2 en 4 jaar) kregen houten figuren met bijbehorende namen aangeboden. De items waren verdeeld over een met-gebaren conditie en een zonder-gebaren conditie. Vervolgens werd er gemeten hoeveel namen de kinderen aan de juiste referent konden koppelen. Uit de analyse van de data blijkt dat kinderen in de met-gebaren-conditie significant meer namen hadden onthouden dan in de zonder-gebaren-conditie. Daarnaast werd er gekeken naar of oudere kinderen meer baat hadden bij het aanbieden van gebaren dan jongere kinderen, maar dat kon aan de hand van het huidige onderzoek en de grootte van de steekproef niet worden aangetoond.

Background. Working in a residential institution with youth with severe problems can put professional child care workers (PCCW) at risk for higher levels of perceived job strain (PJS), which is seen as a preliminary stage of burnout. The wellbeing of the PCCW is important for de quality and continuity of care they give. Aim. To investigate the level of PJS of PCCW and which child and employee factors are related to this, in order to give advice to residential youth care institutions on how to prevent high levels of PJS among their PCCW. Method. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to measure PJS, employee and child factors. The Utrechtse Coping Lijst was used to measure coping strategies of the PCCW. 53 PCCW participated in this study. Results. The average scale score for PJS was 2.12 (SD = 0.72), with an item score of 2 representing experiencing 'a little' JS. The results indicate that those PCCW who are more often confronted with physical aggression of clients, more often physically intervene, more often isolate a client, and work on groups with mostly children functioning at a lower cognitive level, showed higher levels of PJS. Discussion. To decrease the level of PJS, it seems important to provide the PCCW with more specific skills and knowledge. This can be done by organizing training, coaching and intervision. These sessions could, for instance, focus on further enhancing PCCW's understanding of youth with mental disorders and teaching them (preventive) aggression management methods.

23 november 2018, Contains fulltext : 197960pub.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)