Contributing to Children’s Early Comprehension of Emotions: A Picture Book Approach

Previous studies have suggested that children’s emotion comprehension begins todevelop in the early stages of childhood and has been linked to prosocial behaviours, displays of empathy, and better interpersonal relationships, to name a few. However, children’s levels of emotion comprehension do not develop at the same rhythm, due to both environmental and biological factors. There are a few interventions that can help children in their development of emotion understanding, but these interventions are not readily accessible (e.g., due to cost, availability, duration). For example, the School Matters in Lifeskills Education Program (SMILE) is a theoretically based program aimed at improving children’s emotion comprehension. Unfortunately, since, for instance, it requires rigorous training to be administered, it is not accessible to all. To address some of the issues with previous programs, the current study examined the use of shared book reading and the effectiveness of picture books created on current theories and models of children’s emotion comprehension. Eighteen preschoolers were divided into an experimental and a control group. Over the course of multiple exposures to the experimental treatment, results revealed a significant gain for the experimental group compared to the control group. These results are promising by showing that a simple shared book reading approach can contribute to the development of emotion comprehension without requiring special training or expertise

Contrasting biological potency of particulate matter collected at sites impacted by distinct industrial sources

Association of biological effects in A549 cells with metal content in size-fractionated particles. Cytotoxic potencies according to lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and resazurin reduction were regressed against total, water-soluble, and non-water-soluble metals. Pearson product–moment correlation coefficient r-values are presented. LDH release. A) Total metals. UFP, r = 0.77, p = 0.13; PM0.1–2.5, r = −0.55, p = 0.34; PM2.5–10, r = 0.32, p = 0.60; PM>10, r = −0.68, p = 0.21. B) Water-soluble metals. UFP, r = 0.51, p = 0.38; PM0.1–2.5, r = −0.64, p = 0.25; PM2.5–10, r = −0.35, p = 0.57; PM>10, r = −0.68, p = 0.20. C) Non-water-soluble metals. UFP, r = 0.75, p = 0.14; PM0.1–2.5, r = −0.46, p = 0.43; PM2.5–10, r = 0.36, p = 0.55; PM>10, r = −0.68, p = 0.21. Resazurin reduction. D) UFP, r = −0.19, p = 0.76; PM0.1–2.5, r = −0.63, p = 0.26; PM2.5–10, r = −0.60, p = 0.28; PM>10,r = 0.18, p = 0.78. Water-soluble metals. UFP, r = −0.20, p = 0.74; PM0.1–2.5, r = −0.41, p = 0.49; PM2.5–10, r = −0.09, p = 0.88; PM>10, r = 0.04, p = 0.95. Non-water-soluble metals. UFP, r = −0.12, p = 0.84; PM0.1–2.5, r = −0.65, p = 0.24; PM2.5–10, r = −0.62, p = 0.26; PM>10, r = 0.18, p = 0.77. (PDF 43 kb

Two sides to every story: children learn words better from one storybook page at a time

Two experiments tested how the number of illustrations in storybooks influences 3.5-year-old children's word learning from shared reading. In Experiment 1, children encountered stories with two regular-sized A4 illustrations, one regular-sized A4 illustration, or one large-sized A3 illustration (in the control group) per spread. Children learned significantly fewer words when they had to find the referent within two illustrations presented at the same time. In Experiment 2, a gesture was added to guide children's attention to the correct page in the 2-illustration condition. Children who saw two illustrations with a guiding gesture learned words as well as children who had seen only one illustration per spread. Results are discussed in terms of the cognitive load of word learning from storybooks

Children’s trust in print: what is the impact of late exposure to reading instruction?

Prior research in England has indicated that, unlike pre-readers, young children who have learned to decode simple words view print-based information as a more authoritative source of knowledge than purely oral information. We predicted that children in Norway – who start to receive formal reading instruction at a relatively late age – would be slower to display this bias toward print-based information. Accordingly, we tested 4-6 year-olds (N = 96) in Norway. As expected, these children showed a delayed emergence of the bias toward print over speech. Unexpectedly, however, children who had successfully gained a basic reading ability prior to any exposure to formal reading instruction in school were no more trusting of print than their pre-reading peers. These results suggest that the ability to decode simple words is an important condition for selective trust in print-based information but that exposure to formal reading instruction in school may also be necessary