University of Louisville
A Longitudinal Analysis of Maternal Scaffolding with Head Start Children in a Problem-Solving Task
Institution
University of Louisville
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Julia Robinson
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate how maternal verbal scaffolding behaviors change over time in families living in poverty. Bridging a gap between cognitive research and affect research, this study connects developing cognitive systems with socioemotional characteristics. Previous research has shown that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are at risk for a number of learning and academic problems (Cambell & Ramsey, 1990) and have high rates of attentional disorders (Eisenberg et al., 1997). Also, these particular factors are being examined because it has been shown that attention develops in a social context (Vygotsky, 1978). Verbal scaffolding is one way in which the adult supports the child’s problem-solving performance. This scaffolding may be one factor that serves to buffer the detrimental impact of poverty on children’s attention regulating abilities. Furthermore, scaffolding could also be a key factor in assisting impoverished children to attend to the critical elements of tasks while they are developing early problem-solving skills. Not only will this study examine the impact of maternal verbal scaffolding on children’s attention regulation, but will also look at how these maternal scaffolding behaviors change across time. Transcripts from a parent-child puzzle completion task will be coded to identify the frequency and types of verbal scaffolding. In addition, analyses will be done to determine if specific types of parental verbalizations in the parent-child task relate to performance in a child-alone task. Data coding and analysis is in progress.
A Longitudinal Analysis of Maternal Scaffolding with Head Start Children in a Problem-Solving Task
The purpose of this study is to investigate how maternal verbal scaffolding behaviors change over time in families living in poverty. Bridging a gap between cognitive research and affect research, this study connects developing cognitive systems with socioemotional characteristics. Previous research has shown that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are at risk for a number of learning and academic problems (Cambell & Ramsey, 1990) and have high rates of attentional disorders (Eisenberg et al., 1997). Also, these particular factors are being examined because it has been shown that attention develops in a social context (Vygotsky, 1978). Verbal scaffolding is one way in which the adult supports the child’s problem-solving performance. This scaffolding may be one factor that serves to buffer the detrimental impact of poverty on children’s attention regulating abilities. Furthermore, scaffolding could also be a key factor in assisting impoverished children to attend to the critical elements of tasks while they are developing early problem-solving skills. Not only will this study examine the impact of maternal verbal scaffolding on children’s attention regulation, but will also look at how these maternal scaffolding behaviors change across time. Transcripts from a parent-child puzzle completion task will be coded to identify the frequency and types of verbal scaffolding. In addition, analyses will be done to determine if specific types of parental verbalizations in the parent-child task relate to performance in a child-alone task. Data coding and analysis is in progress.