Symbolic play as a zone of proximal development: An analysis of informational exchange

Symbolic play has long been considered a beneficial context for development. According to Cultural Learning theory, one reason for this is that symbolically-infused dialogical interactions constitute a zone of proximal development. However, the dynamics of caregiver-child interactions during symbolic play are still not fully understood. In the current study, we investigated informational exchange between fifty-two 24-month-old infants and their primary caregivers during symbolic play and a comparable, non-symbolic, functional play context. We coded over 11,000 utterances for whether participants had superior, equivalent, or inferior knowledge concerning the current conversational topic. Results showed that children were significantly more knowledgeable speakers and recipients in symbolic play, whereas the opposite was the case for caregivers, who were more knowledgeable in functional play. The results suggest that, despite its potential conceptual complexity, symbolic play may scaffold development because it facilitates infants’ communicative success by promoting them to ‘co-constructors of meaning’

Caraid nan Gaidheal and 'Friend of Emigration': Gaelic emigration literature of the 1840s

This study focuses on Gaelic emigration literature which was published in the aftermath of the Highland potato famine of 1836-37 and before that of 1846-50. The end of the eighteenth century had witnessed a steady flow of emigrants out of the Highlands in response to a complex mix of factors, including landlord pressure, population growth and the prospect of a more prosperous future elsewhere

Symbolic play provides a fertile context for language development

In this study we test the hypothesis that symbolic play represents a fertile context for language acquisition because its inherent ambiguity elicits communicative behaviours that positively influence development. Infant-caregiver dyads (N = 54) participated in two 20-minute play sessions six months apart (Time 1 = 18 months, Time 2 = 24 months). During each session the dyads played with two sets of toys that elicited either symbolic or functional play. The sessions were transcribed and coded for several features of dyadic interaction and speech; infants’ linguistic proficiency was measured via parental report. The two play contexts resulted in different communicative and linguistic behaviour. Notably, the symbolic play condition resulted in significantly greater conversational turn-taking than functional play, and also resulted in the greater use of questions and mimetics in infant-directed speech (IDS). In contrast, caregivers used more imperative clauses in functional play. Regression analyses showed that unique properties of symbolic play (i.e., turn-taking, yes-no questions, mimetics) positively predicted children’s language proficiency, whereas unique features of functional play (i.e., imperatives in IDS) negatively predicted proficiency. The results provide evidence in support of the hypothesis that symbolic play is a fertile context for language development, driven by the need to negotiate meaning

Language, culture, and group membership: An investigation into the social effects of colloquial Australian English

Languages are strong markers of social identity. Multiple features of language and speech, from accent to lexis to grammatical constructions, mark speakers as members of specific cultural groups. In the current article, we present two confederate-scripted studies that investigated the social effects of the Australian hypocoristic use (e.g., uggie, uni, derro)—a lexical category emblematic of Australian culture. Participants took turns with a confederate directing each other through locations on a map. In their directions, the confederate used either hypocoristic (e.g., uni) or standard forms (e.g., university). The confederate’s cultural group membership and member prototypicality were manipulated by ethnic background and accent: In a highly prototypical in-group condition, the confederate had an Anglo-Celtic background and Australian English (AusE) accent; in a low prototypical in-group condition, the confederate had an Asian background and AusE accent; and in the out-group condition, the confederate had an Asian background and non-AusE accent. Hypocoristic use resulted in significantly higher participant-rated perceived common ground with the confederate when the confederate was an in-group but not an out-group member, which in some instances was moderated by in-group identification. The results suggest that like accents, culturally significant lexical categories function as markers of in-group identity, which influence perceived social closeness during interaction

The Goldilocks Effect: Human Infants Allocate Attention to Visual Sequences That Are Neither Too Simple Nor Too Complex

Human infants, like immature members of any species, must be highly selective in sampling information from their environment to learn efficiently. Failure to be selective would waste precious computational resources on material that is already known (too simple) or unknowable (too complex). In two experiments with 7- and 8-month-olds, we measure infants’ visual attention to sequences of events varying in complexity, as determined by an ideal learner model. Infants’ probability of looking away was greatest on stimulus items whose complexity (negative log probability) according to the model was either very low or very high. These results suggest a principle of infant attention that may have broad applicability: infants implicitly seek to maintain intermediate rates of information absorption and avoid wasting cognitive resources on overly simple or overly complex events

Teachers Building Trusting Relationships With Students In Elementary Schools And The Principals Who Support Them

Trusting relationships between teachers and students is a cornerstone of success in the classroom. As a means for continuous professional growth, teachers should have an understanding of other teachers’ positive experiences with and accessible strategies for how to build these relationships. Current research is missing the narrative voices of elementary general education teachers in the discussion on trust in the classroom. In addition to how they can achieve trusting relationships, teachers need support from their principals. This study provides a phenomenological analysis of teachers’ perceptions of their responsibilities and actions that led to trusting relationships with students and the ways their principals have supported or interfered with their efforts. Three principals selected three teachers each to participate in the study for a total of 12 educators. Each of the participants agreed to one interview designed to address the five facets of trust: benevolence, honesty, openness, reliability, and competence. The interviews were coded to identify additional themes beyond the facets and strategies that support the development of each facet within the themes. Each participant addressed all five facets. Recommendations are presented for policy and practice in the areas of benevolence, openness, and reliability, the three facets that participants addressed most predominately in the interviews, while various forms of communication were the most commonly cited strategies for achieving trusting relationships. Readers will gain access to the heart of teachers’ efforts and how principals support these teachers in fostering high trust relationships with their students. This study helps fill the gap in research and supports teachers with building trusting relationships with students

Intraventricular Sialidase Administration Enhances GM1 Ganglioside Expression and Is Partially Neuroprotective in a Mouse Model of Parkinson\u27s Disease.

BACKGROUND: Preclinical and clinical studies have previously shown that systemic administration of GM1 ganglioside has neuroprotective and neurorestorative properties in Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) models and in PD patients. However, the clinical development of GM1 for PD has been hampered by its animal origin (GM1 used in previous studies was extracted from bovine brains), limited bioavailability, and limited blood brain barrier penetrance following systemic administration. OBJECTIVE: To assess an alternative therapeutic approach to systemic administration of brain-derived GM1 to enhance GM1 levels in the brain via enzymatic conversion of polysialogangliosides into GM1 and to assess the neuroprotective potential of this approach. METHODS: We used sialidase from Vibrio cholerae (VCS) to convert GD1a, GD1b and GT1b gangliosides to GM1. VCS was infused by osmotic minipump into the dorsal third ventricle in mice over a 4-week period. After the first week of infusion, animals received MPTP injections (20 mg/kg, s.c., twice daily, 4 hours apart, for 5 consecutive days) and were euthanized 2 weeks after the last injection. RESULTS: VCS infusion resulted in the expected change in ganglioside expression with a significant increase in GM1 levels. VCS-treated animals showed significant sparing of striatal dopamine (DA) levels and substantia nigra DA neurons following MPTP administration, with the extent of sparing of DA neurons similar to that achieved with systemic GM1 administration. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that enzymatic conversion of polysialogangliosides to GM1 may be a viable treatment strategy for increasing GM1 levels in the brain and exerting a neuroprotective effect on the damaged nigrostriatal DA system