Active Learning from Infancy to Childhood (eBook)

Megan M. Saylor, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University in the Department of Psychology and Human Development. She received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley in 1996, where she studied psychology and linguistics. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt after completing her doctorate at the University of Oregon in 2001. Her research focuses on the social and cognitive mechanisms that support the acquisition of language in infants and preschoolers. Patricia A. Ganea, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Bucharest in 1996, where she studied psychology and philosophy. Following one year at the University of Oxford as a Soros visiting student, she completed her doctorate in Developmental Psychology at the University of Virginia in 2004. She was Assistant Professor at Boston University from 2007 until 2011, when she joined University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the social, linguistic, and representational aspects of young children's learning.

Dedication 5
Contents 6
Contributors 8
About the Editors 11
Part I: Foundations of Active Learning 12
Chapter 1: Introduction: How Children Propel Development 13
References 20
Chapter 2: Curious Learners: How Infants’ Motivation to Learn Shapes and Is Shaped by Infants’ Interactions with the Social World 22
Introduction 22
Curiosity 23
Curiosity in Early Life 25
Asking Questions Without Words 27
Social Referencing 27
Babbling 29
Pointing 31
From Seeking Information to Choosing Social Partners 35
Nurturing Young Children’s Curiosity 38
Conclusions 40
References 40
Chapter 3: Taking Center Stage: Infants’ Active Role In Language Learning 47
Introduction 47
Foundational Language Skills 48
Statistical Learning 48
Contingency Detection 49
Summary 50
Real-Time Behaviors 50
Vocalizations and Gestures 50
Object Manipulation and Play 51
Summary 52
Developmental Changes 53
Developments in Play and Language 53
Developments in Motor Skills 55
Summary 56
Future Directions 57
Conclusions 57
References 58
Part II: Cognitive and Linguistic Skills that Enable Active Learning 62
Chapter 4: Curiosity, Exploration, and Children’s Understanding of Learning 63
Introduction 63
Children’s Understanding of How Learning Occurs 65
Learning and Action 66
Children’s Developing Metacognition and Their Understanding of Learning 67
Children’s Reflections on Their Own Learning 69
Curiosity and the Development of a Concept of Learning 72
Conclusion 75
References 75
Chapter 5: The Process of Active Word Learning 81
Introduction 81
What Do Children Need to Understand to Ask a Question About a Word Meaning? 82
Knowing What They Don’t Know 83
Wanting to Know About a Word 85
Information-Seeking Skills 88
Conclusion 96
References 96
Chapter 6: Understanding When and How Explanation Promotes Exploration 100
Introduction 100
Recognizing Faulty Explanations 102
Determining if an Explanation Is Satisfactory 104
Recognizing Gaps in Self-Explanations 106
When Do Explanations Prompt Exploration? 108
Personal Influences on Explanation and Exploration 109
Social Influences on Explanation and Exploration 111
Conclusions 113
References 114
Chapter 7: Explanation Scaffolds Causal Learning and Problem Solving in Childhood 118
Introduction 118
Explanation and Causal Learning 120
Explanation and Problem Solving 124
Conclusion 127
References 129
Part III: Epistemic Trust: Selectivity in Children’s Learning 133
Chapter 8: Insights into Children’s Testimonial Reasoning 134
Introduction 134
Reliability Assessments 136
Knowledge Attributions 137
Error Forgiveness 138
When Epistemic Reliability and Socio-Moral Information Conflicts 141
Individual Differences in Epistemic Trust 143
Summary 145
References 146
Chapter 9: Mechanisms of Selective Word Learning: Evidence and Implications 150
Introduction 150
Why Are Children Selective Social Learners? 152
Two Possible Mechanisms of Selective Word Learning: Inattention and Semantic-Blocking 153
Evidence for Semantic-Blocking 154
Behavioral 154
Event-Related Potentials 156
Eye-Tracking 159
New Directions 160
Standard Model of Word Learning 160
Challenging the Standard Model of Word Learning 161
Conclusion 165
References 165
Chapter 10: The Role of Testimony in Children’s Belief in the Existence of the Unobservable 170
Introduction 170
Testimony as a Mechanism for Belief in the Existence of the Unobservable 172
The Role of Physical Possibility in Constraining Belief in the Unobservable 175
Belief in Religious Narratives 178
The Importance of Community-Based Testimony 180
Conclusions 182
References 184
Part IV: Active Learning in Diverse Contexts 189
Chapter 11: How Conversations with Parents May Help Children Learn to Separate the Sheep from the Goats (and the Robots) 190
Introduction 190
Why Focus on Parent–Child Conversation? 191
Why Focus on Animal Concepts? 192
Study 1: Everyday Family Conversations About Animals 193
Study 2: Parent–Child Talk about Animals, Artifacts, and Edge Cases 197
Conversations About Clear Cases 197
Conversations About Atypical Animals and Animal Toys 198
Sea Star 199
Stuffed Animal Toy 201
Robotic Dog 202
Study 3: Parent–Child Conversations About Animals that Vary in Similarity to Humans 203
Pronouns and Properties 203
Parental Responses to Children’s Statements 205
Conclusions and Implications 207
Preparing for Learning Conversations 208
Initiating Learning Conversations 208
Maintaining and Extending Learning Conversations 209
Evaluating Information and Learning in Parent–Child Conversations 210
References 211
Chapter 12: Choosing to Learn: Evidence Evaluation for Active Learning and Teaching in Early Childhood 214
Introduction 214
Evidence Selection in Choosing to Explore 216
Evidence Selection in Choosing Informants 220
Evidence Selection in Teaching 223
Evaluating Other’s Evidence Selection 226
Final Remarks 227
References 229
Chapter 13: Bilingual Children: Active Language Learners as Language Brokers 233
Introduction 233
One Language System, Two Languages 234
Cognitive Flexibility, Perspective Taking, and Mental State Understanding 235
Bilingualism and Babies 236
Linguistic and Metalinguistic Skills and Strategies 237
Having Successful Conversations (Pragmatics) 238
Language Brokering in Bilingual Families 239
Challenges Facing Bilingual Students 241
Bilingual Children and School 245
Innovations to Promote Bilingual Language Learning 246
Hablame Bebe (Talk to Me, Baby) 246
Language Brokering During Shared eBook Reading 247
A Digital Character to Train Parents in Dialogic Questioning 248
Conclusion 251
References 251
Correction to: Taking Center Stage: Infants’ Active Role In Language Learning 260
Index 261