Asking children to clarify themselves promotes their ability to uniquely identify objects in referential communication tasks. However, little is known about whether parents ask preschoolers for clarification during interactions and, if so, how. Study 1 explored how mothers clarify their preschoolers' ambiguous descriptions of the characters in…

This study examined if a functional relationship exists between video modeling (VM) of peer models and increased outcomes in social communication goals for preschool-age children in an integrated public school setting. Six preschool students received the VM treatment in the classroom using a withdrawal design (A-B-A-B-C); two additional students…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience significant difficulties engaging in meaningful play. Although enabling their playful engagement in social interactions is an important objective, little is known about which interventions effectively promote it. The aim of this was study to conduct a scoping study to map the breadth and…

The article discussed the issue of the diagnosis with the use of task-support-task procedure. A theoretical model of diagnosis based on the concepts by L. S. Vygotski, R. Case, and A. Bandura was described and developed. The model was tested on a group of non-disabled preschool children, and children with mild and moderate intellectual disability…

We investigated whether the tendency to imitate or emulate is influenced by the availability of causal information, and the amount of information available in a display. Three and 5-year-old children were shown by either a live or video model how to obtain a reward from either a clear or an opaque puzzle box. Some of the actions in the sequence…

The authors argue that imitation is a flexible and adaptive learning mechanism in that children do not always reproduce all of the details they can from a demonstration. Instead, they vary their replications depending on their interpretation of the situation. Specifically, the authors propose that when children do not understand the overall reason…

Examines extent to which knowing that certain things go together and knowing how they do are independent aspects of developing cognitive systems. Indicates that children use temporal order as organizing principle by three years of age. Suggests an earlier developmental horizon as the origin of ordering abilities. (Author/BE)

Investigates the manner in which preschool children use two sources of sex-appropriateness information (labeling and modeling) to direct their subsequent behavior and preferences for associated items. It is suggested that young children give lesser weights to the sex of a single model than to labels that may summarize general rules of conduct.…

Assessed whether the effects of vicarious reinforcement and observational learning were maintained and controlled by contingencies of reinforcement among six Japanese preschool children. Findings suggest that some effects of vicarious reinforcement and simple modeling were not maintained without direct reinforcement. (RH)

Presents a study of preschoolers' imitation of a model's irrelevant hand gestures while performing easy and difficult tasks. (BD/BR)

The purposes of this study were to examine (1) the extent to which three-year-old children converged noncontent speech to that of adults and (2) whether a talkativeness-reticence factor influenced the degree of convergence. Four three-year-old girls individually interacted with six to eight unfamiliar adults in free-play settings. From…

This study explored the effects of three types of maternal modeling on the tactual curiosity behavior of forty-eight 4- to 6-year-old children. Results indicated that imitative tactual curiosity occurred significantly more frequently among children exposed to maternal modeling of similar behavior. (BD)

Investigated the effects of peer reinforcement and various clinician reinforcement schedules on the imitation accuracy of language-delayed children in small treatment groups. (SJL)

Experimenter modeled affectionate physical contact in group of preschool children who imitated the behavior. This induced significant increase of affectionate behavior during free-play period. A group which imitated "neutral" physical contact and another that had imitated "warm" verbal contact did not show significant increase in affectionate…