ERIC Number: EJ1290279
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2227-7102
EISSN: N/A
Increasing Requests for Information by Preschoolers with and without Language-Based Disabilities
Speckman, JeanneMarie; Du, Lin; Greer, R. Douglas
Education Sciences, v11 Article 94 2021
We report two experiments on the emission of questions to request the names of unfamiliar stimuli by preschoolers. In the first experiment, 19 preschoolers with and without disabilities served as participants. Experiment 1 was a descriptive analysis of whether or not the 19 participants asked questions about unfamiliar pictures and objects in one-to-one and group settings. These were dependent variables in the second experiment as well. Four participants, who did not ask any questions in the first experiment, served as participants in the second experiment. During the intervention, the participants observed the peer confederates (1) ask questions (e.g., "What is that?"), (2) receive information from the experimenter, and (3) receive praise and tokens contingent on asking a question. A multiple probe design across participants was used. The data showed that the participants increased the number of questions when we returned to baseline conditions. Results are discussed in terms of where the reinforcement exists for asking questions about unfamiliar things in one's environment, and whether this truly measures the "need to know".
Descriptors: Information Seeking, Questioning Techniques, Personality Traits, Preschool Children, Familiarity, Stimuli, Novelty (Stimulus Dimension), Peer Relationship, Positive Reinforcement, Cognitive Development, Intelligence Tests, Delayed Speech, Preschool Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
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Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Preschool Language Scale; Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence; Boehm Test of Basic Concepts
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A