Picture-Book Reading in Mother-Infant Dyads Belonging to Two Subgroups in Israel Anat Ninio Hebrew University of Jerusalem NINIO, ANAT. Picture-Book Reading in Mother-Infant Dyads Belonging to Two Subgroups in Israel. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 587-590. This study investigated vocabulary acquisi- tion in the context of joint picture-book reading in mother-infant dyads belonging to 2 social classes. 20 middle-class and 20 lower-class dyads were observed, the infants ranging in age between 17 and 22 months. In both groups interaction focused on the eliciting or the provision of labeling information. The most frequent formats consisted of cycles headed by "What's that?" questions, by "Where is X?" questions, and by labeling statements emitted by the motiier. Cluster analysis revealed that these formats and other measures of input language fell into 3 groups, each apparently representing a different dyadic interaction style. In the hi^-SES group, each style was associated with the size of a different vocabulary in the infant: productive, comprehension, and imitative vocabularies. In the low-SES group, the proportion of matemal "what" questions was correlated with the infant's level, whereas "where" questions and labeling statements were not adjusted to the infant's level. Low-SES mothers talked less and provided less vaded labels for actions and attributes. They asked less "what" questions and more "where" questions. High-SES infants had a bigger productive vocabulary, and low-SES infants had a bigger imitative vocabulary. The rate of development was slower in the low-SES group, as evidenced by lower correlations with the age of the infant. The Israeli population contains two major Apart from this suggestion, which has not been subgroups which differ in their socioeconomic documented yet by systematic research, very status as well as in their ethnicity. The Oriental little is known about mother-infant interaction Jews, originating from Asian and North African in the African-Asian lower class, although chil- countries, arc on the average of lower educa- dren from this background comprise about 60% tion and hold lower-level occupations than Jews of all the child population in Israel. originating from Europe and North America. r> • u i j-a: o b f Previous research on class difterences m Children from lower-class. Oriental fami- the interaction pattems of mother-infant dyads lies exhibit an intellectual deficit, which is well (e.g.. Snow, Arlman-Rupp, Hassings, Jobse, established by 4 years (Lieblich, Ninio, & Joosten, & Vorster 1976) does not provide a Kugelmass 1972). This study attempts to trace good starting point for the exploration of this some antecedents of this deficit in the second population. This body of research tended to year of life. It is widely believed today that one focus on the linguistic analysis of matemal in- major source of class-related intellectual deficit put language rather than on describing the is impoverished mot.

1. Picture-Book Reading in Mother-Infant Dyads
Belonging to Two Subgroups in Israel
Anat Ninio
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
NINIO, ANAT. Picture-Book Reading in Mother-Infant Dyads
Belonging to Two Subgroups in
Israel. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 587-590. This study
investigated vocabulary acquisi-
tion in the context of joint picture-book reading in mother-
infant dyads belonging to 2 social
classes. 20 middle-class and 20 lower-class dyads were
observed, the infants ranging in age
between 17 and 22 months. In both groups interaction focused
on the eliciting or the provision
of labeling information. The most frequent formats consisted of
cycles headed by "What's
that?" questions, by "Where is X?" questions, and by labeling
statements emitted by the motiier.
Cluster analysis revealed that these formats and other measures
of input language fell into 3
groups, each apparently representing a different dyadic
interaction style. In the hi^-SES group,
each style was associated with the size of a different vocabulary
in the infant: productive,
comprehension, and imitative vocabularies. In the low-SES
group, the proportion of matemal
"what" questions was correlated with the infant's level, whereas
"where" questions and labeling
statements were not adjusted to the infant's level. Low-SES
mothers talked less and provided

2. less vaded labels for actions and attributes. They asked less
"what" questions and more "where"
questions. High-SES infants had a bigger productive
vocabulary, and low-SES infants had a
bigger imitative vocabulary. The rate of development was
slower in the low-SES group, as
evidenced by lower correlations with the age of the infant.
The Israeli population contains two major Apart from this
suggestion, which has not been
subgroups which differ in their socioeconomic documented yet
by systematic research, very
status as well as in their ethnicity. The Oriental little is known
about mother-infant interaction
Jews, originating from Asian and North African in the African-
Asian lower class, although chil-
countries, arc on the average of lower educa- dren from this
background comprise about 60%
tion and hold lower-level occupations than Jews of all the child
population in Israel.
originating from Europe and North America. r> • u i j-a:
o b f Previous research on class difterences m
Children from lower-class. Oriental fami- the interaction
pattems of mother-infant dyads
lies exhibit an intellectual deficit, which is well (e.g.. Snow,
Arlman-Rupp, Hassings, Jobse,
established by 4 years (Lieblich, Ninio, & Joosten, & Vorster
1976) does not provide a
Kugelmass 1972). This study attempts to trace good starting
point for the exploration of this
some antecedents of this deficit in the second population. This
body of research tended to
year of life. It is widely believed today that one focus on the
linguistic analysis of matemal in-

3. major source of class-related intellectual deficit put language
rather than on describing the
is impoverished mother-infant interaction, in actual content of
interaction,
particular in its linguistic coniponents (e.g., ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^ ^ ^
j^^j^^ ^^^ . y ^ ^ j ^ ^ ^
Tulkm & Kagan 1972). Certamly the evidence differences in
dyadic interaction in the context
is strong that in Westem societies lower-class ^^ picture-book
reading. This activity be-
mother-infant dyads engage less in talking than ^J ^ ^ ^ ^^^.j ^^
interactions vis-a-vis repre-
middle-class dyads (e.g., Wooton 1974). Ob- ^gntational
materials which are considered by
servers of new immigrant families from Asia ^^^^ ^̂ ^^ ^^ .^^
importance for language
and North Africa in Israel have also described acquisition (e.g.,
Wemer & Kaplan 1963).
them as having very little verbal interaction ^
with infants (Feitelson 1954; Goshen-Gottstein Ninio and
Bmner (1978) described joint
1975; Kohls 1956; Weintraub & Shapiro 1968). picture-book
reading in a single middle-class
This research was carried out with the aid of a grant by the
Human Development Center
of the Department of Psychology, Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. The author wishes to thank
Ms. Michal Salmon, who collected the data in partial fulfillment
of her requirements for an
M.A. degree in psychology. Author's address: Department of
Psychology, Hebrew University,
Jerusalem, Israel.
[Child Devdopment, 1980, 51, 587-590. ® 1980 by the Society
for Research in Child Development, Inc.

4. 0009-3920/80/5102-0036$00.75]
588 Child Development
dyad over a span of 10 months. Matemal be-
haviors within this context were aimed either
at imparting labeling information or, more fre-
quently, at eliciting active behaviors from the
infant by means of "What's that?" questions.
Any active behavior was accepted as an attempt
at labeling, with the mother immediately sub-
stituting the adult label for the infant's non-
verbal or nonstandard communications.
The present study investigated the book-
reading behavior of 40 mother-infant dyads,
half of high SES and of European origin, half
of low SES and of Asian and North African
origin. The SES was measured by a score rep-
resenting the father's educational level and oc-
cupational status (Lieblich et al. 1972). Mean
SES scores were 6.20 for the low-SES group
(SD = .77) and 11.70 for the high-SES group
(SD = .66), the difference significant, *(38) =
7.43 > 2.42, p < .01. The infants were Jewish,
firstbom, 10 males and 10 females in each status
group. They were 17-22 months old (in the
high-SES group, mean age = 19.3 months, SD
= 1.8; in the low-SES group, mean = 19.8, SD
= 1.7).
Each dyad was observed once at home.
The mother was provided with two picture
books and asked "to look at the books' with

5. her infant. After finishing with these, a third
book was provided, and the mothers were asked
to elicit from the infants a demonstration of
"all the words he knows which are shown in
the book." Three measures of "book-reading
vocabulary" were obtained this way: the pro-
ductive, the imitative, and the comprehension
vocabularies, which were measured by the num-
ber of different words the children produced,
imitated, or pointed to.
The sessions were recorded by audiotape
and also by hand. The records were transcribed
according to the framework of Ninio and Brun-
er (1978), including the content of verbal ut-
terances as well as several nonverbal behaviors,
such as vocalizations, smiles, gestures at the
book, and the direction of child's gaze. Tran-
scripts were prepared by one experimenter.
Further analysis was done by two independent
coders. Intercoder reliability ranged between
85% and 100% for different variables, with a
mean of 96%.
The book-reading interaction of the first
two books was analyzed into interaction cycles,
each focusing on -a different picture. Content
analysis revealed the existence of three recur-
ring formats, consisting of cycles headed by
matemal "What's that?" questions, "Where is
X?" questions, and labeling statements. These
headings were usually followed by the child's
response—^verbal, gest:ural, or echoic—to which
the mother provided positive or negative feed-
back. "What" questions started a mean of 48%

6. of all matemal cycles in the high-SES group,
and 35.7% in the low-SES group. The SES dif-
ference was significant (tested by a partial cor-
relation with SES, with the age of the infant
controlled, r = .31, p < .05). "Where" ques-
tions started a mean of 6.7% of cycles in the
high-SES group versus 15.5% in the low-SES
group, r = —.32, p < .05. Labeling cycles oc-
curred equally frequently in both groups (37.1%
and 38.8%).
There were no SES differences in the
structural aspects of the book-reading dialogue,
such as tum taking, or the length of interaction
cycles. Mothers in both groups initiated most
cycles and participated actively in nearly all of
them. There were no differences in the quanti-
ty, positiveness, or informativeness of feedback.
However, high-SES mothers emitted, on the
average, 20% more words and 30% more utter-
ances than low-SES mothers, r = .28, .27, both
p's < .05. Although similar class differences in
the quantity of talk have been observed in
other societies, this pattem in the Israeli low-
SES group is probably inffuenced by traditional
Oriental-Jewish child-rearing practices.
Low-SES mothers used a relatively mea-
ger vocabulary to describe the pictures. They
pointed out and taught the names of 17% less
objects, 24% less actions, and 47% less attributes
(SES difference significant only for attributes
and actions). In this they proved themselves to
be adequate teachers of a basic nominal vocab-
ulary but less than adequate in providing more
advanced language input.

7. There were no SES differences in the read-
iness of infants to initiate or to participate in
book reading, to emit vocalizations, and to emit
well-formed labels in various types of cycles.
However, lower-class infants had a smaller pro-
ductive vocabulary, r = .30, p < .05, and a big-
ger imitative vocabulary, r = —.30, p < .05. In
the high-SES group, a median of 75% of all the
different words the infants exhibited knowledge
of was productive, as compared to only 36.5%
in the low-SES group. This reflects a genuine
difference in knowledge and not in the tend-
ency to answer questions or the tendency to
imitate, since there were no SES differences in
the emission of labels in cycles beginning, re-
spectively, with "what" questions and with ma-
temal labels.
The intercorrelational structure of matemal
and infant variables was subjected to a cluster
analysis (Sattath & Tversky 1977). A good fit
was achieved: the proportion of variance ac-
counted for was 87% and 68% in the high- and
low-SES groups, respectively.
In both groups, three clusters formed, con-
taining similar variables. These clusters might
be best interpreted as representing three differ-
ent dyadic interaction styles. The first of these
focuses on the production of labels by the in-
fant. Labels are elicited by "what" questions,
and new information is provided in the form
of feedback utterances. Apart from the relevant

8. matemal variables, this cluster also contains all
the variables refiecting the infant's readiness to
emit active behaviors in general and vocaliza-
tions and labels in particular. In other words,
the "eliciting style" is used with active infants
who frequently emit behavioral responses,
which then might be shaped by the mother in
the manner of operant conditioning.
The second cluster, including "where"
questions, represents an interaction style in
which the mother preempts most of the talking
and the infant is required merely to indicate
comprehension by pointing. The mother imparts
information in large quantities, with great vari-
ety. Positive feedback tends not to include a
label, probably because the label has already
been uttered by the mother in her "Where is
X?" question, and because the infant tends not
to provide a verbal behavior which requires
semantic or phonetic modification.
The third cluster represents a style pri-
marily focused on information giving by the
mother rather than on information eliciting from
the child. The style consists of the tendency
to open cycles by a maternal labeling statement
and of the mother's emitting many labeling ut-
terances in general. Feedback tends to be posi-
tive. The frequency with which the labeling
style is employed is negatively correlated in
both groups with all measures of infant lan-
guage development, such as activity level
( - . 5 2 , - . 6 1 ) ; vocalization ( - . 5 3 , - . 2 2 ) ; the
probability of a vocalization being a well-formed
word ( - . 3 7 , — .30); emission of labels in cycles

9. initiated by "what" questions ( — .32, —.56),
by labeling statements ( - . 5 4 , - . 2 5 ) , or ini-
tiated by the child ( - . 4 0 , - . 2 0 ) . Labeling
statements, then, represent the mother's way
of coping with an essentially incompetent, non-
participatory infant.
In the high-SES group, each interaction
style was associated with a related vocabulary
Anat Ninio 589
size: the label-eliciting style with productive
vocabulary, the gesture-eliciting style with com-
prehension vocabulary, and the labeling style
with imitative vocabulary. This implies that in
high-SES dyads the frequency of the various
styles is finely adjusted to the specific benefit
the infant gets out of playing the games. In the
low-SES group, all three vocabulary-size vari-
ables fell into the label-eliciting cluster, imply-
ing a lack of fine adjustment.
Although low-SES infants as well as high-
SES ones tended more to emit labels when
asked for them, that is, in cycles beginning with
a "what" question (with a .80 and .74 prob-
ability), and less in cycles beginning with ma-
temal labels (.20 and .30) or with "where"
questions (.18 and .02), low-SES mothers ini-
tiated a lower proportion of cycles with "what"
questions than high-SES mothers. In other
words, low-SES mothers were less skilled in
eliciting words from their infants. This might
account, in part, for the relatively fewer pro-
ductive items in their infants' vocabulary. It is

10. not unreasonable to suggest that this deficit is
a forerunner of the pronounced linguistic and
intellectual deficit of this group at 3-4 years
of age.
Despite the limited age range of the sam-
ple, all infant variables were positively corre-
lated with age. However, the correlations were
consistently higher (and only significant) in the
high-SES group. This probably indicates that
in the 17-22-month age range, the rate of de-
velopment is slower in the low-SES group. Re-
garding matemal variables, the same pattern
emerges. Whereas in the high-SES group there
is a significant increase with age in the behav-
iors making up the "eliciting style," no such age
trends occur in the low-SES group. For the low-
SES mothers, this is definitely not a period for
increased activation, informativeness, or for the
provision of more difBcult information.
In conclusion, low-SES mothers might be
thought of as adequate teachers of vocabulary
for their infants* present level of development,
but their teaching style is not future oriented,
not sensitive to changes in the infant's needs
and capabilities, and therefore probably inade-
quate for the enhancing of rapid progression
to more complex levels of language use. Al-
ready, their lack of skill in eliciting active label-
ing from their infants has probably resulted in
the latter having a less firmly established pro-
ductive vocabulary than high-SES infants of
the same age.

11. 590 Child Development
These results open a number of directions
along which intervention programs aimed at the
low-SES population might be developed.
Referenees
Feitelson, D. [Education of the small child amongst
the Kurdish community.] (In Hebrew.) Mega-
mot, 1954, 5, 95-109.
Goshen-Gottstein, E. R. Potentially harmful child-
rearing practices. Israeli Annals of Psychiatry
and Related Disciplines, 1975, 13, 85-104.
Kohls, M. [Culture pattems and adjustment pro-
cesses of Moroccan inmiigrants from rural
areas.] (In Hebrew.) Megamot, 1956, 7, 345-
376.
Lieblich, A.; Ninio, A.; & Kugelmass, S. Effects of
ethnic origin and parental SES on WPPSI
performance of pre-school children in Israel.
Joumal of Cross-culturtd Psychology, 1972, 3,
159-168.
Ninio, A., & Bruner, J. S. The achievement and
antecedents of labelling. Joumal of ChUd Lan-
guage, 1978, 5, 1-15.
Sattath, S., & Tversky, A. Additive similarity trees.
Psychometrica, 1977, 42, 3 1 9 - ^ 5 .
Snow, C. E.; Arlman-Rupp, A.; Hassings, Y.; Jobse,

12. J.; Joosten, J.; & Vorster, J. Mothers' speech
in three social classes. Joumal of Psycholin-
guistic Research, 1976, 5, 1-20.
Tulkin, S. R., & Kagan, J. Mother-child interaction
in the first year of life. Child Development,
1972, 4 3 , 31-41.
Weintraub, D., & Shapiro, M. The traditional fam-
ily in Israel in the process of change-crisis and
continuity. British Jourrud of Sociology, 1968,
19, 284-299.
Werner, H., & Kaplan, B. Symbol formation. New
York: Wiley, 1963.
Wooton, A. J. Talk in the homes of young children.
Sociology, 1974, 8, 277-295.
The Effect of Repetition on Infants’
Imitation From Picture Books Varying
in Iconicity
Gabrielle Simcock
Early Cognitive Development Unit
School of Psychology
University of Queensland
Judy S. DeLoache

13. Department of Psychology
University of Virginia
Although picture-book reading is commonplace during infancy,
little is known about
the impact of this activity on learning. A previous study showed
that 18- and
24-month-olds imitated a novel action sequence presented in a
book that was illus-
trated with realistic color photos, whereas they failed to imitate
from books illus-
trated with less realistic drawings. In the research reported here,
we hypothesized
that increasing infants’ exposure to a picture book would
increase learning from
books illustrated with both color photos and drawings.
Independent groups of 18-
and 24-month-olds were exposed to a picture book either twice
in succession or 4
times in succession. The results showed that, regardless of the
iconicity of the illus-
trations, increasing the number of reading sessions significantly
improved the in-
fants’ imitation scores, compared to age-matched, no-
demonstration controls. The
results are discussed in relation to representational insight and
cognitive flexibility.
From early in development, very young children actively
participate in parent–child
picture-book reading interactions, pointing to pictures (Murphy,
1978), vocalizing
and verbalizing (DeLoache & DeMendoza, 1987; Murphy, 1978;
Wheeler,
1983), sustaining rapt attention to the book (Cornell, Senechal,

14. & Broda, 1988),
Infancy, 13(6), 687–697, 2008
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1525-0008 print / 1532-7078 online
DOI: 10.1080/15250000802459102
Correspondence should be sent to Gabrielle Simcock, Early
Cognitive Development Unit, School of
Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072,
Australia. E-mail: [email protected]
and initiating interactions (DeLoache & DeMendoza, 1987)
during the reading
event. More than merely providing enjoyment, picture-book
reading provides an op-
portunity for infants to learn new information about the world
(Ganea, Pickard, &
DeLoache, 2008; Simcock & DeLoache, 2006; Simcock &
Dooley, 2007).
Recently, Simcock and DeLoache (2006) read 18-, 24-, and 30-
month-olds a
book depicting and describing the construction of a novel toy
rattle. When shown a
book illustrated with color photographs, all age groups
subsequently reenacted the
target actions to make the toy rattle. Their performance,
however, varied as a func-
tion of the iconicity of the illustrations: 18-month-olds failed to
imitate when
shown a book with color pencil drawing and 24-month-olds
failed to do so with a
book illustrated with black-and-white line drawings.

15. Before infants can extend what they learn from a book to the
corresponding
real-world objects, a certain level of understanding of the nature
of pictures is re-
quired—a fact that parents often fail to realize because the
nature and use of pic-
tures is so transparent to them. Mature understanding of the
representational nature
and conventional use of pictures is termed pictorial competence
(DeLoache, 1991;
DeLoache, Pierroutsakos, & Troseth, 1996). The difficulty that
very young chil-
dren have achieving pictorial competence is well documented
(DeLoache, 1991;
DeLoache & Burns, 1994; Preissler & Carey, 2004). Infants do
not fully appreciate
the difference between pictures and real objects until around 18
months, when they
begin to label pictures, extend novel words learned from
pictures to the real objects
they depict, and imitate from picture books (DeLoache,
Pierroutsakos, Uttal, Rosen-
gren, & Gottlieb, 1988; Ganea et al., 2008; Murphy, 1978;
Preissler & Carey, 2004;
Simcock & DeLoache, 2006). The symbolic understanding of
pictures continues to
develop over the next several years (Callaghan, 2000;
DeLoache, 1991; DeLoache &
Burns, 1994; DeLoache et al., 1996; Suddendorf, 2003).
Understanding and using pictures as symbols may be
challenging for infants, as
all depictions are degraded relative to their referents (Ittelson,
1996); there is al-
ways less perceptual information in a picture than in the real

16. object or scene it de-
picts. For example, pictures are smaller and contain fewer depth
and no motion
cues in comparison to real objects and events. Consequently, a
relatively impover-
ished memory representation is formed from a perceptually
degraded 2D image
compared to 3D input (Barr & Hayne, 1999; Johnson, 1997,
2000; Schmitt & An-
derson, 2002).
It is, however, often important to extend 2D representations to
their 3D referents
(Barr, Muentener, & Garcia, 2007; Barr, Muentener, Garcia,
Fujimoto, & Chavez,
2007). Research has shown that doing so depends on the degree
to which the de-
picted objects match the real objects (Barr & Hayne, 1999;
Hayne, 2004; Hayne,
Herbert, & Simcock, 2003; Schmitt & Anderson, 2002; Simcock
& DeLoache,
2006). For example, retrieval is superior if the encoded
attributes closely match the
test cues and, inversely, retrieval is inferior if there is a
discrepancy between the
memory representation and the test cues (Hayne, Barr, &
Herbert, 2003; Hayne,
MacDonald, & Barr, 1997; Herbert & Hayne, 2000a).
688 SIMCOCK & DeLOACHE
To the extent that a relatively impoverished memory
representation contributes
to infants’ difficulty using pictures symbolically, repeated

17. exposure should im-
prove their exploitation of pictorial information. Repetition
occurs naturally in ev-
eryday picture-book reading; many young children beg their
parents to read their
favorite books over and over (Fletcher & Reese, 2005; Sulzby,
1985; Sulzby &
Teale, 1987). Repeated readings of picture books have been
shown to increase tod-
dlers’ participation in reading interactions (Morrow, 1988;
Sulzby, McCabe-
Branz, & Buhle, 1993), attention to the story (Martinez &
Roser, 1985), spontane-
ous labelling of pictures (Fletcher & Jean-Francois, 1998), and
vocabulary skills
(Ninio, 1983; Snow & Goldfield, 1983). Furthermore, with
repeated readings, tod-
dlers’ focus shifts from simply labelling pictures in a book to
commenting on and
asking questions about story content (Martinez & Roser, 1985;
Morrow, 1988;
Sulzby, 1985; Sulzby & Teale, 1987; Yadden, 1988).
Prior research exploring the effects of repetition on imitation
has established
that increasing the number of live demonstrations increases
imitation performance
and long-term recall in 6-month-old infants (Barr, Dowden, &
Hayne, 1996; Barr,
Rovee-Collier, & Campanella, 2005). Moreover, doubling 12- to
21-month-olds’
exposure to a video demonstration increases infants’ imitative
performance from
television to levels equivalent to those obtained after a live
demonstration (Barr,
Muentener, & Garcia, 2007; Barr, Muentener, Garcia, et al.,

18. 2007). The timing of
the additional exposure also has an impact on learning; the
beneficial effects of
repetition are most likely to occur soon after initial learning
when the memory rep-
resentation is strongest (Barr et al., 1996; Barr et al., 2005).
In this study, we examined the effect of repeated readings of a
picture book on
18- and 24-month-olds’ imitation of a novel action sequence
presented in books
varying in iconicity. One group of infants experienced two
readings (2x) of the pic-
ture book (as in Simcock & DeLoache, 2006), and another
experienced four read-
ings (4x). The books were illustrated with highly realistic color
photos or less real-
istic drawings (color pictures for the 18-month-olds and black
and white line
drawings for the 24-month-olds, based on results from Simcock
& DeLoache,
2006). We expected that the degree of imitation would be
affected both by level of
exposure to the book and iconicity of the illustrations.
Two other age-matched groups also participated. To assess the
extent to which
the children might perform the target actions by chance, control
infants received no
book exposure. To compare learning from the book reading
versus direct experi-
ence, additional groups of infants saw the action sequence live.
METHOD
Participants

19. There were 60 full-term typically developing 18-month-olds (M
= 18.38 months,
SD = 0.42; 32 girls and 28 boys) and 60 24-month-olds (M =
24.17 months, SD =
REPETITION AND PICTURE BOOKS 689
0.52; 33 girls and 27 boys). The participants were primarily
White, English-speak-
ing Australians from middle-class families living in the suburbs
of Brisbane. They
were recruited by letter of invitation to parents from a database
of birth announce-
ments in local newspapers and word-of-mouth referrals. Six
additional infants
were excluded for fussiness. Ten children at each age,
approximately half of them
girls, were randomly assigned to the photo 2x, photo 4x,
drawing 2x, drawing 4x,
control, or live imitation conditions.
Materials
Three versions of a picture book depicting and describing a
child constructing a toy
rattle in a three-step action sequence were used (see Simcock &
DeLoache, 2006).
The pictures in each version of the book varied in iconicity:
color photographs, col-
ored pencil drawings, and black-and-white line drawings. Each
book of consisted of
six laminated pages (15 cm × 10 cm) bound with a cover. The
pictures in the books

20. depicted close-up shots of a child’s upper torso and the target
objects on a table in
front of her as she constructed a toy rattle. Each picture and the
accompanying text
appeared individually on the right side of the book facing a
blank page.
The toy rattle stimuli (Herbert & Hayne, 2000a, 2000b; Simcock
& DeLoache,
2006) consisted of three objects: a green wooden ball (3 cm ×
2.5 cm), a green
wooden stick (12.5 cm long) attached to a white plastic lid (9.5
cm in diameter),
and a clear plastic jar (8 cm × 5.5 cm) with a rubber diaphragm
occluding the open-
ing. The ball could be pushed into the jar through the rubber
diaphragm. The top of
the jar and bottom of the lid attached together with Velcro.
Procedure
Demonstration phase. The experimenter engaged the infant in
free play to
build rapport and during this time asked the parent to refrain
from interacting with
his or her infant during the study. After the warmup, the
caregiver, infant, and ex-
perimenter sat together on a large floor pillow in a lab
playroom. In the pic-
ture-book conditions the experimenter read the book aloud to
the infant twice in
succession, interacting with the infant in a naturalistic manner
and pointing to each
picture. The rattle was not visible during the reading session.
For the infants in the photo 2x and drawing 2x conditions, the

21. test phase began
immediately after the reading session. The infants in the photo
4x and drawing 4x
conditions were taken next door for an 8- to 10-min free play
break before return-
ing to the lab for the second set of picture-book readings, which
were identical to
the first set. (The play break ensured that the infants would
maintain their attention
to the book across all four readings.)
In the live imitation condition, the experimenter removed the
three compo-
nents of the rattle from within a box and placed them on the
floor out of the in-
690 SIMCOCK & DeLOACHE
fant’s reach. Saying “I can use these things to make a rattle,”
she proceeded to
construct the rattle twice in succession. The experimenter
narrated the three-step
action sequence during each part of the demonstration: (a) “I
can push the ball
into the jar”; (b) “I can put the stick onto the jar; and (c) “I can
shake the stick to
make a noise.”
Test phase. For all conditions (including the controls), the
experimenter
placed the three rattle components on the floor in front of the
infant, saying, “You
can use these things to make a rattle; show me how to make a
rattle.” The experi-

22. menter repeated this prompt once during the 60-sec test phase
and gave positive
feedback (e.g., “Good job!”) regardless of what the infant did
with the objects. The
experimenter never referred to the demonstration during the test
phase.
Coding and Reliability
The sessions were videotaped for later coding. The test phase
was coded for pro-
duction of each of the three target actions necessary to construct
the rattle: (a) put
the ball in the jar, (b) put the lid on the jar, and (c) shake the
stick. As in prior imita-
tion studies, the infants were given 60 sec from when they first
touched the stimuli
to perform the target actions, and the actions could be produced
in any order. A
second coder provided interobserver reliability for one third of
the sample: 92%
(Cohen’s κ = .81). All discrepancies between the coders were
resolved while re-
viewing the video again.
RESULTS
As initial analyses indicated no significant main effect or
interactions involving
gender, it was excluded from the analyses. Of primary interest
was the infant’s pro-
duction of the target actions as an index of learning from the
demonstration in
comparison to the control condition. The infant’s imitation
scores were subjected
to a 2 (age: 18 months, 24 months) × 6 (condition: photo 2x,

23. drawing 2x, photo 4x,
drawing 4x, live imitation, control) analysis of variance
(ANOVA) with follow-up
Student Newman–Kuels tests (SNK; all ps < .05). As shown in
Figure 1, the
24-month-olds (M = 1.77) produced more target actions than did
the 18-month-
olds (M = 1.40). The main effect of age was significant, F(1,
108) = 7.49, p < .01,
η2 = .07, but there was no significant Age × Condition
interaction, F(5, 108) = .69,
ns. Of most importance, there was a significant main effect of
condition, F(5, 108)
= 24.15, p < .001, η2 = .53.
The SNK post hoc analyses revealed that, as expected, the
infants in the live im-
itation group (M = 2.70) produced the most target actions and
the infants in the
control group (M = 0.60) produced the least. These results
establish that 18- and
REPETITION AND PICTURE BOOKS 691
24-month-olds are capable of learning the target actions from a
live model, but
rarely produce these actions spontaneously.
Most important for the purposes of this study, the post hoc test
also revealed a
positive effect of repetition on imitation from the books. The
infants who saw the
book four times produced significantly more target actions
(photo 4x, M = 2.20;

24. drawing 4x, M = 1.75) than those who saw the book twice
(photo 2x, M = 1.45;
Drawing 2x, M = 0.80). Moreover the infants in both photo
groups performed sig-
nificantly better than those in the control group, indicating that
they had learned
from the book. In contrast, those who saw the book illustrated
with drawings twice
did not outperform the controls, showing that with this level of
exposure they did
not learn from the book. With doubled exposure to the book
with drawings, how-
ever, both age groups imitated the actions. The infants in the
live imitation condi-
tion outperformed the infants in all picture-book conditions,
indicating that imita-
tion from a book is more difficult than imitating from a live
model.
The SNK test also revealed no significant difference between
the performance of
the infants in the photo 2x (M = 1.45) and drawing 4x (M =
1.75) conditions, show-
ing that more exposure was required to learn from books
illustrated with drawings
than from books with realistic color photos. Moreover, with
greater exposure to the
692 SIMCOCK & DeLOACHE
FIGURE 1 Mean imitation scores (+ 1 SE) from books
illustrated with color photographs or
drawings (color pictures for the 18-month-olds and line
drawings for the 24-month-olds) pre-
sented as a function of age and condition. Comparisons can be
made with age-matched control

25. groups and live imitation groups.
books illustrated with drawings (drawing 4x, M = 1.75), the
infants’ performance
was equivalent to that obtained with four readings of the photo
book (M = 2.20).
Finally, we ensured that the significant effects were not due to
differences in the
infant’s attention to the book. To assess attention, the
experimenter timed from
video the duration that the infant’s eye gaze was directed
toward the book during
the demonstration. The total amount of time that each infant
was judged to be at-
tending to the book as the experimenter read was divided by the
total duration of
the reading session to give a proportion of looking time. As
shown in Table 1, the
infants were extremely attentive to the book reading. A 2 (age)
× 4 (condition:
photo 2x, photo 4x, drawing 2x, drawing 4x) ANOVA yielded
no significant main
effects of age, F(1, 71) = .29, ns, or condition, F(3, 71) = .58,
ns, and no interaction,
F(3, 71) = .56, ns. Thus, regardless of age or condition, the
infants attended closely
to the book as the experimenter read.
DISCUSSION
In the research reported here, we examined the effects of
repetition on 18- and
24-month-olds’ imitation from picture books that varied in level

26. of iconicity. The
results showed that imitation by both age groups was
significantly higher after four
readings of the book than after only two readings. The positive
effect of repetition
was evident with highly realistic color photos from which the
infants imitated after
only two exposures, as well as with simple drawings from which
infants imitated
only after four exposures.
These results are consistent with prior research showing that
pictorial compe-
tence emerges around 18 months, when infants increasingly
point to and label pic-
tures in books (DeLoache et al., 1998) and can extend a novel
word learned for
a picture in a book to its real-world exemplar (Ganea et al.,
2008; Preissler &
REPETITION AND PICTURE BOOKS 693
TABLE 1
The Proportion of Time That the Children Attended to the
Picture Book
as a Function of Age and Condition
Age Group
18 Months 24 Months
Condition M SD M SD
Photo 2x .89 .02 .91 .02
Photo 4x .89 .02 .93 .02

27. Drawing 2x .90 .03 .87 .03
Drawing 4x .88 .03 .88 .03
Carey, 2004). As shown here, and consistent with our prior
research (Simcock &
DeLoache, 2006), around this age infants also begin to extract
information about a
novel action sequence depicted and described in a picture book
and can use it to
construct a novel toy rattle.
However, various factors clearly affect infants’ emerging ability
to use pictures
in a mature and conventional way. One factor that affects
infants’ ability to under-
stand the nature of pictures is their iconicity. Young infants
manually explore
highly realistic depictions more than less realistic ones
(DeLoache et al., 1998;
Pierroutsakos & DeLoache, 2003). Similarly, 18- to 30-month-
olds imitate more
from a picture book illustrated with color photos than from
drawings, showing that
it is easier to relate highly realistic pictures to their real-world
referents (Simcock
& DeLoache, 2006).
Another factor influencing early representational insight is
experience with
symbols. For example, transfer studies have shown that prior
experience using a
televised symbol as a source of information about a real event
subsequently in-
creased young children’s ability to use a picture symbolically

28. (Troseth, 2003b).
Recent studies have also shown that additional experience (i.e.,
double the expo-
sure) with a televised model increased infants’ imitative
behavior (Barr et al.,
1996; Barr, Muentener, Garcia, et al., 2007; Barr et al., 2005).
Similarly, this study
showed that increased encoding experience with pictorial
information facilitated
infants’ use of the symbolic information for imitation.
Moreover, repetition en-
hanced imitation from books illustrated with pictures of
relatively low iconicity.
Why might iconicity and repetition affect infants’ ability to use
pictures sym-
bolically? The results reported here support the notion that 2D
depictions are pro-
cessed more slowly than 3D objects (Barr, Muentener, Garcia,
et al., 2007; Carver,
Meltzoff, & Dawson, 2006; Johnson, 1997, 2000), and result in
an impoverished
memory representation in comparison to information encoded
from a 3D source
(Barr & Hayne, 1999; Schmitt & Anderson, 2002). The more
degraded the picture,
as with images of low iconicity that lack color and depth cues,
the more impover-
ished the resulting memory representation. Extended encoding
opportunities via
repetition, however, increase the attributes stored with the
memory representation,
resulting in a stronger, more complete memory representation.
In turn, the memory
representation that has more attributes in common with the 3D
referent results in a

29. better match to the real test objects used to cue retrieval of the
target information
(Hayne, 2004; Simcock & DeLoache, 2006).
Although repetition of the reading session clearly improved
infants’ imitation
scores, their performance was still inferior to those who saw a
live demonstration.
The difficulty young children have learning from media sources
in comparison to
direct experience has been well documented, initially from
video (Anderson &
Pempek, 2005; Barr & Hayne, 1999; DeLoache & Chiong, in
press; Hayne, Her-
bert, & Simcock, 2003; Troseth, 2003a; Troseth & DeLoache,
1998) and recently
from picture books (Simcock & DeLoache, 2006; Simcock &
Dooley, 2007).
694 SIMCOCK & DeLOACHE
These results provide further empirical support for the widely
held assumption
by parents that their infants can learn new information from
picture-book reading
interactions. It is clear that repetition substantially increased
the infants’ ability to
extend depicted information to the corresponding real-world
objects, especially
with respect to drawings. Past research and anecdotal reports
indicate that repeti-
tion characterizes young children’s early book reading
interactions—they often
adopt a favorite book and request that it be read to them over

30. and over again. Sev-
eral beneficial effects of repeated picture-book reading of
favorite books have been
documented (Fletcher & Jean-Francois, 1998; Martinez &
Roser, 1985; Morrow,
1988; Ninio, 1983; Snow & Goldfield, 1983; Sulzby, 1985;
Sulzby & Teale, 1991;
Yadden, 1988). The current research provides experimental
documentation that
repetition enhances infants’ learning from picture-book reading
interactions.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was supported by a University of Queensland
Early Career Re-
searcher Grant to Gabrielle Simcock and National Institutes of
Health Grant 25271
to Judy S. DeLoache. We would like to thank the families that
participated in this
research and Crystal Crawford for her assistance with data
collection and coding.
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REPETITION AND PICTURE BOOKS 697
Effects of Parental Conflict on Adolescent Adjustment
Catherine Jewell
ESPY 621
Comparative Analysis
The purpose of this presentation is to compare two research
studies.
The topic of the comparison is the effect of parental conflict on
adolescent adjustment.

37. Research includes four studies of which two will be compared.
Study A – Forehand, McCombs, Long, Brody, and Fauber
Conducted by: Rex Forehand, Amanda McCombs, Nicholas
Long, Gene Brody, and Robert Fauber
Title: Early adolescent adjustment to recent parental divorce:
The role of interparental conflict and adolescent sex as
mediating variables
Date of study: December 30, 1987
Purpose of the study
To determine if a relationship exists between parental conflict
after divorce and adolescent adjustment and whether gender of
the child influences the outcome.
Study Summary
Studied 96 adolescents aged 11 – 15 years old.
Participants were equally divided between gender.
Used teacher completed measures of behavior to assess:
Social and social withdraw behavior.
Cognitive function.
Externalization of problems.
Study sought to determine if parental conflict was causal to
poor adolescent adjustment and if there were any differences
between male and female adolescents.

38. Study Design
This study was conducted using a correlational design.
Researchers conducted study to determine if relationships
between high parental conflict and adolescent adjustment
existed.
Researchers compared several groups of adolescents from
homes with intact parents, divorced parents, high conflict, and
low conflict to determine relationship.
No changes were made within the groups to affect an outcome.
Method
Original sample size: 170
Participants included: 96 adolescents equally divided by gender
and their mothers
Participants were recruited through notices, fliers, direct mail
advertising, and local media advertising.
Participants were selectively placed in eight groups of 12
students.
Groups were broken down by socioeconomic status, parental
marital status, parental conflict (high vs. low), and gender.
Parental conflict was determined using the O’Leary-Porter
Scale. High conflict was defined as means lower than 30; low
conflict was defined as means higher than 30.
Findings were based on surveys completed by the child, parent,
and teacher and observational sessions.

39. Method II
Several survey instruments were utilized in the study:
O’Leary-Porter Scale – determinant of level of parental conflict.
> 30 – High conflict family
< 30 – Low conflict family
Married family average mean – 30
Four groups were classified low conflict – mean 34
Four groups were classified high conflict – mean 24
Teacher’s Rating Scale of Child’s Actual Competence (TRS) –
assesses the teacher’s judgment of actual competence of the
child.
The Revised Behavior Problem Checklist Subscales Conduct
Disorder and Anxiety Withdrawal (RBPC) – used to assess
internalization and externalization of problems.
Method III
Independent variables
Parental marital status – married vs. divorced
Parental conflict – low vs. high
Gender of adolescent – male vs. female
Dependent variables
Cognitive functioning – GPA & TRS Cognitive Scale
Social Withdrawal – (RPBC Anxiety Withdrawal Scale,
behavioral ratings of social problem-solving, positive
communication, and depression.
Externalizing problems – RBPC Conduct Disorder Scale,
behavioral rating of conflict

40. Method IV
Videotaped observational data of mother/child interactions were
rated by observers unaware of study purpose.
Six observers used a Likert scale range from very little to very
much to rate the following:
Social problem-solving ability
Positive communication
Conflict
Adolescent’s level of depression
Observers’ mean score was used in analysis.
Reliability was calculated to overcome interrater variability.
Academic grades were noted.
Adolescents’ social studies teachers completed the Teacher’s
Rating Scale and the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist.
Method V
Researchers present a correlation matrix of dependent variables
to conduct an analysis of covariance.
Statistical calculations include:
Analysis of covariance.
Standard error of the sample
Standard deviation
Mean
Multivariate analysis of variance
The researchers conducted a similar study with different
participants but similar results to provide replication results.
Review of Method

41. Researchers offered payment to participants which questions
validity of the sample.
Observation time was only 3 minutes which limits validity and
reliability.
Inter-rater reliability was overcome by using six different
observers who have no knowledge of study focus.
Generalization is questionable due to restrictions in the study.
Sampling is questionable due to methodology used to find
participants.
Study Findings
Researchers did find correlations between parental conflict and
adolescent adjustment.
Little support for findings that divorce causes negative
adolescent adjustment.
Study provided evidence that high parental conflict is
detrimental to cognitive functioning of the adolescents resulting
in reduced grade point averages.
Gender did not mediate effects of parental conflict.
Conclusions
Study determined that high parental conflict is detrimental to
both cognitive and social functioning of early adolescents.
Both boys and girls suffer from increased social withdrawal,
depression, and reduced grades when parental conflict is high.

42. Theoretical Perspective
The researcher’s hypothesis that high parental conflict causes
poor functioning among early adolescents shows a contextual
perspective.
Contextual theorists believe that the environment must factor
into development. This study seeks to show a negative
environment caused by parental conflict negatively impacts
adolescent development.
In my opinion, the environment does impact development and
this study is an excellent example of one mitigating negative
impact, parental conflict and its impact on the adolescent’s
development.
Citation
Forehand, R., McCombs, A., Long, N., Brody, G., & Fauber, R.
(1988). Early adolescent adjustment to recent parental
divorce: The role of interparental conflict and adolescent
sex as mediating variables. Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology, 56(4), 624-627. doi: 10.1037/0022-
006x.56.4.624
Study B – Davies and Lindsay
Conducted by Patrick T. Davies and Lisa L. Lindsay
Title: Interparental conflict and adolescent adjustment: Why
does gender moderate early adolescent vulnerability?
Date of study: May 13, 2003
Purpose of study
To determine what role gender plays in adolescent adjustment

43. of children from homes where high parental conflict is present.
Hypothesis
Maladjustment is higher among girls than boys when parental
conflict is high.
Study Summary
Studied 270 children aged 10 – 15 years old.
Children completed survey packets at school with a trained
research assistant.
Parents were asked to complete mailed surveys which assessed
levels of conflict and child functioning within the home.
To address adolescent adjustment, children completed the Youth
Self-Report; parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist.
Study sought determine if adolescent adjustment varied between
gender in cases with interparental conflict present.
Study Design
The study was conducted using a correlational design.
Researchers conducted study to determine if a relationship
existed between adolescent development and parental conflict.
Researchers compared groups of children and parents to
determine conflict and adjustment levels.
No changes were made to the groups.

44. Method
Original sample size: 1,032 students
Participants included: 270 children divided equally between
gender.
Used parental and child self-reported surveys to assess:
Interparental conflict
Child functioning
Study sought to determine if moderate levels of parental
conflict negatively impacted adolescent adjustment and if there
were any differences between gender.
Method II
Several survey instrument were utilized in the study:
Children completed:
The Frequency, Intensity, Resolution, and Content subscales of
the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale
Children’s Sex Role Inventory
Anxious/Depressed, Withdrawn, Delinquent Behavior, and
Aggressive Behavior scales from the Youth Self-Report and
Child Behavior Checklist
Parents completed:
Comparable subscales from the Conflict and Problem-Solving
Scales & the Verbal Aggression, Physical Aggression, and Child
Involvement subscales.
Anxious/Depressed, Withdrawn, Delinquent Behavior, and
Aggressive Behavior scales from the Youth Self-Report and
Child Behavior Checklist
Method III
Independent Variables

45. Parental marital status – married, separated, divorced
Parental conflict – low vs. high
Gender of adolescent – male vs. female
Dependent Variables
Internalizing problems – Withdrawn and Anxious/Depressed
Scale
Externalizing problems – Delinquent and Aggressive Behavior
Scale
Method IV
Researchers provide substantial statistical information for each
factor.
Statistical calculations include:
Alpha Coefficient
Mean
Standard Deviation
Intercorrelation
Researchers include information for replication, internal
consistency, reliability, and validity.
Review of Method
Researchers offered rewards for participation to both the
parents and children which calls motive into question.
Researchers include information to show that reward did not
distinguish those included in the sample and those who did not
participate.
Researchers provide statistical evidence of internal consistency,
reliability, and validity for each measure.
Generalization is questionable due to limitations of the study

46. including limited ethnic and socioeconomic diversity.
Sampling is questionable because study only used one
geographic area with little ethnic or socioeconomic diversity.
Study Findings
Researchers did find evidence of relationship between high
parental conflict and problems in adolescent adjustment.
Study determined girls internalize issues while boys externalize.
Researchers encourage the use of the study to assist teachers,
parents, and psychologists in helping adolescents adjust to
divorce and continued parental conflict.
Study encourages using different techniques for teaching boys
and girls coping skills.
Conclusions
Study determined that girls and boys do develop different
adaptive skills when dealing with high parental conflict.
Both boys and girls struggle with adjustment when homes
include high amounts of parental conflict.
Understanding these differences will allow teachers, parents,
and psychologists to assist in teaching productive coping and
problem-solving skills.
Theoretical Perspective
The hypothesis that high conflict homes cause differences in
development between boys and girls shows a contextual
perspective.

47. Contextual theorists believe that environmental factors
influence and impact development.
The study determined the negative environment of high parental
conflict negatively impacts both male and female adolescent
development.
In my opinion, this study offers substantial evidence that
negative environment can create adjustment problems for
children which is the key theory of contextual development.
Citation
Davies, P., & Lindsay, L. (2004). Interparental conflict and
adolescent adjustment: Why does gender moderate early
adolescent vulnerability. Journal of Family Psychology,
18(1), 160-170. doi: 10.1037/0893-3200.18.1.160
Take Home Message
Both studies show a correlation between high parental conflict
and adolescent adjustment and depression.
As instructors, psychologists, and child-development experts
this information needs to be incorporated into school counselor
programs and family courts.
While more study needs to be done, I believe the results of both
studies agree that parental conflict needs to be controlled if
adolescent development is to occur in a positive manner.
Strategies need to be implemented in schools to realize the
impact high parental conflict has and to recognize the issue in
students.

48. References
Davies, P., & Lindsay, L. (2004). Interparental conflict and
adolescent adjustment: Why does gender moderate early
adolescent vulnerability. Journal of Family Psychology,
18(1), 160-170. doi: 10.1037/0893-3200.18.1.160
Forehand, R., McCombs, A., Long, N., Brody, G., & Fauber, R.
(1988). Early adolescent adjustment to recent parental divorce:
The role of interparental conflict and adolescent sex as
mediating variables. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology, 56(4), 624-627. doi: 10.1037/0022-
006x.56.4.624
Johnson, P., Thorngren, J., & Smith, A. (2001). Parental divorce
and family functioning: Effects on differentiation levels of
young adults. The Family Journal, 9(3), 265-272. doi:
10.1177/1066480701093005
Long, N., Slater, E., Forehand, R., & Fauber, R. (1988).
Continued high or reduced interparental conflict following
divorce: Relation to young adolescent adjustment. Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56(3), 467-469. doi:
10.1037/0022-006x.56.3.467
Rubric
Evaluation Rubric for Research Presentation
Total Assignment = 100 pts (=23% of course grade)
10 pts -- Your research question/ appropriate selection of
articles and presentation length--total presentation should be no
shorter than 20 and no longer than 40 slides
45 pts -- Summary of each study; please include for each study
the following.

49. a. Purpose of Study--what are the study's research questions? (6
pts)
b. Design --First, answer this question: is this study
experimental?, quasi-experimental?, or correlational?
Experimental=are there randomly assigned groups that were
treated differently?, Quasi-Experimental--are there groups that
naturally occurred--e.g., smokers vs. non-smokers--that were
treated differently by the researcher?, Correlational--a group is
described and the results show differences among the group
members? Second, IF the study has a developmental focus,
analyze the developmental design: cross-sectional, longitudinal,
or sequential. (6 pts)
c. Methods--include participants, materials/instruments, data
collection techniques, and data analysis techniques. After
summarizing the methods, analyze what the researchers did in
terms of the criteria of 1) objectivity, 2) reliability, 3) validity,
4) representative sampling, and 5) replication. (21 pts)
Rubric II
d. Findings--look for information indicating significant
differences--connect the findings back to the research
hypotheses. The findings should be contained in the Results
section of the paper (6 pts)
e. Conclusions--summary of authors' interpretations from
Discussion section (6 pts)
15 pts--Theoretical Perspective--what are the researchers'
(probably implicit) perspectives on human development?--
defend your decisions for each study with reasons (from the
purpose, design, data collection and analysis, results, and

50. interpretation); you should 1) identify (2 pts), 2) explain (5 pts),
and 3) defend (8 pts) whether the perspective of each study is
organismic, cognitive-developmental, cognitive-learning,
behavioral, psychodynamic, contextual, or humanistic. If
possible to determine the specific theory being tested by the
study, further analyze the origins of the developmental approach
being used. Be sure to defend your point of view.
15 pts -- Take Home Message--having read these two studies
(notice this is a comparative analysis), what do you now
believe? (=conclusions, 5 pts) What other questions do you
have? (=future research questions, 5 pts) What can you not
know for sure? (=limitations, 5 pts)
Rubric III
15 pts -- Communicative Effectiveness
a. Presence of a brief introduction and conclusion (2 pts)
b. Does paper flow? (please use headings) (3 pts)
c. Are words misspelled or used incorrectly, are subject-verb
agreements correct? (4 pts)
d. Correct use of in-text citation (e.g., refer to studies by the
authors' last names and year of publication)--please note that
the only proper way to refer to a study in formal writing is by
the last names of the authors and the year of publication. No
article titles should appear in the narrative. (3 pts)
e. Style of references (3 pts)
For both d. and e. please follow the APA Manual of Style, 6th
ed. An APA tutorial is available under the Cunningham
Memorial Library's home page (see online tutorials).

51. Please post your presentation as an attachment (with document
in Power Point or Word or rtf, preferably) under the Research
Presentations Forum of the Discussion Board by the due date
listed in the Calendar (under Tools).
Does Early Childhood Reading Influence Mathematics
Achievement among elementary school children's
Jiss Mathew
EPSY 621
November 13th, 2013
Dr. Linda Sperry

52. Grimm, K. J. (2008). Longitudinal associations between reading
and mathematics achievement. Developmental
Neuropsychology, 33(3), 410-426.
Hooper, S. R., Roberts, J., Sideris, J., Burchinal, M., & Zeisel,
S. (2010). Longitudinal predictors of reading and math
trajectories through middle school for african american versus
caucasian students across two samples. Developmental
Psychology, 46(5), 1018-1029.
Comparative Analysis
Summary
Purpose
Identify relationship between early reading and Mathematical
achievements
Hypothesis
Children who read well in the early grade will have higher
achievement in Mathematic compared to children who do
engage in early reading.
Article #1
Longitudinal Associations Between
Reading and Mathematics Achievement

53. Design
It is a co-relational study
The researcher conducted the study and identify relationship
between early reading and Mathematical ability of elementary
school children’s
Method
The researcher compared sample groups based on the ethnicity.
Source of achievement measure- Iowa Test of Basic Skills
(ITBS); a standardized measure developed at the University of
Iowa

54. Participants
Sample size-46,373
Age range- 3rd to 8th grade students
Number of boys- 24,098
Number of girls- 22,275
Ethnic breakup of sample
African-American- 25,799, 56% of sample
Hispanic- 14,200, 31% of sample
White/Non-Hispanic -4,936, 11% of sample
Asian- 1,342, 3% of sample
Native Americans- 96, <1% of sample

55. The students’ third grade reading achievement scores were
positively related to the rate of change for each mathematics
component to varying degrees.
The strongest effect was for Problem, Solving and Data
Interpretation, followed by Math Concepts and Estimation, and
Mathematical Computation.
Results
Early reading does have influence in applications and
conceptual understanding of mathematics, same time early
reading does not influence in performing mathematical
operations.
Mathematics achievement involves the use of a diverse
collection of skills such as reasoning, executive functioning,
working memory, short-term memory, processing speed, and
phonological processing.
Students who have greater reading capacity in third grade
tended to show greater increases in mathematics skills for a
given level of early mathematics achievement.

56. Conclusion
Purpose
This study’s primary purpose was to examine the relative
contribution of social-behavioral predictors to reading and math
skills.
Hypothesis
The early social-behavioral functions is related later academic
skills.
Article #2
Longitudinal Predictors of Reading and Math Trajectories
Through Middle School for African American Versus Caucasian
Students Across Two Samples
Design
It is a co-relational study
The researcher attempts to identify the relationship between
early reading and Mathematical ability of elementary school
children’s for 1st grade to 9th grade students
The research sample groups based was formulated based on

57. education level of mothers.
Participants
Sample size-1,364
Age range- 1rd to 9th grade students
Equal representation of Boy’s and girl’s
Ethnic breakup of sample
Caucasian
African American
Result
Reading out come
Early reading, mathematics, and expressive language skill are
positively related to later reading skill.
Social skills, aggressive behavior and attention were not related
to later reading growth.
Inverse relation between early mathematics skill related to later
reading skill.

58. Results
Mathematic out come
Early expressive language skill is positively related to lather
mathematic scores.
No significant evidence of early social skills positively related
to later mathematics ability.
Early reading and early mathematics skills both positively
related to later mathematics outcome.
Significant correlation found between early internalizing
behavior and later mathematics skill.
Conclusion
Early expressive language has positive influence on early
reading and later mathematical skills.
Theoretical perspective
Mathematical skill is a combination of different intelligence

59. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)
It is the human ability to discriminate among living things
(plants, animals) as well as sensitivity to other features of the
natural world (clouds, rock configurations).
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)
Logical-mathematical intelligence is the ability to calculate,
quantify, consider propositions and hypotheses, and carry out
complete mathematical operations.
Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)
* Linguistic intelligence is the ability to think in words and to
use language to express and appreciate complex meanings.
Spatial Intelligence (“Picture Smart”)
Spatial intelligence is the ability to think. The Core capacities
include mental imagery, spatial reasoning, image manipulation,
graphic and artistic skills, and an active imagination.
Further Questions
Does all children’s with early reading ability could have strong

60. mathematical skills?
Why some children’s are interested in mathematics and some
are not?
In human life does linguistic ability or mathematical ability
begins first?
Research Presentation instructions
****NOTICE****
1) PLEASE BEFOR YOU START YOU HAVE TO READ THE
INSTRUCTIONS AS WELL(CAREFULLY)
2) PLEASE CHOSE TOPIC AS EXPLAINED HERE AND
WRITE CITATIONS BETWEEN 3-4 REFERENCES AND
THEN START WITH THE Research Presentation I HAVE TO
SEND THE TOPIC TO MY TEACHER BEFORE.
TOPIC
3-4CITATIONS NEEDED TODAY BUT THE Research
Presentation AFTER 4 DAYS
3) I WILL PAY FOR THIS HOMEWORK FOR 15 pages=50 $
Evaluation Rubric for Research Presentation
Total Assignment = 100 pts (=23% of course grade)
10 pts -- Your research question/ appropriate selection of
articles and presentation length--total presentation should be no

61. shorter than 20 and no longer than 40 slides
45 pts -- Summary of each study; please include for each study
the following.
a. Purpose of Study--what are the study's research questions? (6
pts)
b. Design --First, answer this question: is this study
experimental?, quasi-experimental?, or correlational?
Experimental=are there randomly assigned groups that were
treated differently?, Quasi-Experimental--are there groups that
naturally occurred--e.g., smokers vs. non-smokers--that were
treated differently by the researcher?, Correlational--a group is
described and the results show differences among the group
members? Second, IF the study has a developmental focus,
analyze the developmental design: cross-sectional, longitudinal,
or sequential. (6 pts)
c. Methods--include participants, materials/instruments, data
collection techniques, and data analysis techniques. After
summarizing the methods, analyze what the researchers did in
terms of the criteria of 1) objectivity, 2) reliability, 3) validity,
4) representative sampling, and 5) replication. (21 pts)
d. Findings--look for information indicating significant
differences--connect the findings back to the research
hypotheses. The findings should be contained in the Results
section of the paper (6 pts)
e. Conclusions--summary of authors' interpretations from
Discussion section (6 pts)
15 pts--Theoretical Perspective--what are the researchers'
(probably implicit) perspectives on human development?--
defend your decisions for each study with reasons (from the
purpose, design, data collection and analysis, results, and
interpretation); you should 1) identify (2 pts), 2) explain (5 pts),
and 3) defend (8 pts) whether the perspective of each study is
organismic, cognitive-developmental, cognitive-learning,

62. behavioral, psychodynamic, contextual, or humanistic. If
possible to determine the specific theory being tested by the
study, further analyze the origins of the developmental approach
being used. Be sure to defend your point of view.
15 pts -- Take Home Message--having read these two studies
(notice this is a comparative analysis), what do you now
believe? (=conclusions, 5 pts) What other questions do you
have? (=future research questions, 5 pts) What can you not
know for sure? (=limitations, 5 pts)
15 pts -- Communicative Effectiveness
a. Presence of a brief introduction and conclusion (2 pts)
b. Does paper flow? (please use headings) (3 pts)
c. Are words misspelled or used incorrectly, are subject-verb
agreements correct? (4 pts)
d. Correct use of in-text citation (e.g., refer to studies by the
authors' last names and year of publication)--please note that
the only proper way to refer to a study in formal writing is by
the last names of the authors and the year of publication. No
article titles should appear in the narrative. (3 pts)
e. Style of references (3 pts)
For both d. and e. please follow the APA Manual of Style, 6th
ed. An APA tutorial is available under the Cunningham
Memorial Library's home page (see online tutorials).
Please post your presentation as an attachment (with document
in Power Point or Word or rtf, preferably) under the Research
Presentations Forum of the Discussion Board by the due date
listed in the Calendar (under Tools).
Citations and Research QuestionThe Research
Presentation begins with a research question and a bibliographic
search.
You should identify 2 to 4 studies that address the same

63. research question from different research laboratories (look for
different authors). Please send your References to me with
citations written in APA style --see APA Manual of Style, 6th
ed.
no later than the date listed in the Calendar. I will use your
Research Question to peruse the titles to make sure they look
like original reports of empirical studies that are all on the same
research question, and I will do an APA check on one of your
citations.
part of your presentation grade depends on using appropriate
articles and writing your References page in APA style.
If you are in doubt about whether a study is an "original report
of an empirical study," feel free to attach it to the Citations and
RQ email.
Please start early on this assignment and plan to spend several
hours searching for the right kind of articles that are all on the
same research question.
If you need assistance with APA style, please consult the Kail
and Cavanaugh text References for many examples of APA-
style reference citations. You may also take the APA Style
Guide tutorial available on the library's website.
The APA Manual of Style upgraded to the 6th edition in June,
2009. I will only accept citations in 6th edition style.
Citations and RQs that include your name, your research
question and 2 to 4 article citations in APA style are due no
later than the date listed in the Calendar
Research Presentation
The Research Presentation should be focused on a comparative
analysis of the designs, methods, and results of the two most
closely related studies from your bibliography. One of the
purposes of this assignment is to develop your research
awareness as a consumer. How do we know when to believe a
research report? In order to take full advantage of the wealth of
research that is published on given topics, it helps to consider

64. the theoretical and methodological orientations of the authors.
The first task in this assignment is to summarize accurately the
studies (since your readers will not have access to the articles
themselves.) You should summarize the PURPOSE (include the
research hypotheses, if these are mentioned); the METHOD
(including the design, the participants, the materials, the data
collection procedures, and the data analysis procedures); the
RESULTS; and the DISCUSSION.
With regard to the design of the study (first item under method),
please explain why the design is experimental, quasi-
experimental,correlational, or qualitative. Experiments must
contain more than one group of participants, all of whom are
randomly assigned to their group by the researcher, and there
should be references to the control group versus treatment
group(s). A subset of experiments is quasi-experimental studies
that begin with the selection of different groups, but there is no
random assignment by the researcher to the groups (e.g.,
alcoholics vs. non-alcoholics). However, quasi-experimental
studies treat the non-random groups in an experimental fashion-
-with control and treatment groups. Correlational designs begin
with a single sample (which may include two or three groups,
e.g., students older than grade level, students right age for grade
level, and students younger than grade level), and look for
correlations among variables measured in common (e.g., self-
esteem and peer relations quality). A final design is qualitative,
ethnographic, or grounded theory. Qualitative designs typically
do not begin with hypotheses and depend on interviews or
extended observations. The goal is usually to explore why
people act as they do or to uncover different ways that people
approach an issue (in bereavement, for example).
Another dimension in research design is the quality of the
developmental design. There are three broad categories: cross-
sectional, longitudinal, and sequential. Decide if your studies
are utilizing a developmental design and explain why it is either
cross-sectional, longitudinal, or sequential. Please note that
many studies that are interesting to us and appropriate for this

65. assignment do not actually have a specifically developmental
design.
Regarding procedures, if we apply scientific criteria, there are
ideals. A scientific study’s procedures should be a) objective, b)
reliable, c) valid, d) capable of being replicated, and e) have a
sample that is representative. One of your tasks in this
assignment is to figure out how close these studies’ methods
come to the ideals and explain your reasoning.
Another important task in the assignment--worth 15% of your
RP grade-- is to label and defend the authors' perspective on
development. I am specifically looking for you to argue that a
given study is organismic, developmental, learning/behavioral,
contextual, psychodynamic, or humanistic. Please include a
spirited defense of why you think the theory or
perspective applies. Think about what the author argues makes
development happen in eachstudy. Consider the research
question, the methods used, and the interpretation of the
findings in particular. Use these sections (purpose, methods,
and discussion) to defend the label you've selected for the
study's developmental perspective. You need to include at least
three specific examples (from the purpose, the methods, and the
discussion) to receive full credit.
Finally, having read these two studies, what is the take-home
message? Summarizing across both studies, what information is
still needed? Which questions are left unresolved? How might
these aggregated research findings be applied to help real
people? Make sure you address three issues in your comparative
take-home message analysis: a) conclusions that can be drawn
from reading both of these studies, b) limitations of the
research, and c) future research.
My evaluation of the Research presentation will be based on
accuracy and coherence of summaries (including your design,
methodological, and theoretical analyses), communicative
effectiveness, and analysis of the comparative take-home

66. message (focused on conclusions, limitations, and future
research). A rubric for the evaluation of presentations is located
under Course Documents and it will be used by me. Note that
all 100 points of the RP assignment are accounted for in the
rubric. If you do not include the appropriate sections, you will
lose all the points for those sections. Please post the
presentation under the appropriate forum on the Discussion
Board (the one labeled Research Presentations).