tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/cognitive-development-6527/articlesCognitive development – The Conversation2023-05-19T12:40:40Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2048732023-05-19T12:40:40Z2023-05-19T12:40:40ZTalking puppy or finger puppet? 5 tips for buying baby toys that support healthy development<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525990/original/file-20230512-25-2f6227.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tech toys may claim to be educational – but those claims often aren't backed by science. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/cute-little-boy-playing-with-a-railroad-train-toy-royalty-free-image/1281267794">boonchai wedmakawand/Moment Collection/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Picking out a baby toy – whether it’s for your own child or a friend’s kid or the child of a family member – can be overwhelming. Although Americans spend <a href="https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/ecommerce/toys-hobby-diy/toys-baby/united-states">US$20 billion</a> a year on baby toys, it’s difficult to know which toy will be fun, educational and developmentally appropriate. The options seem endless, with search results at common retail sites in the hundreds, if not thousands. Is price a reliable indicator of quality? Are technological enhancements useful? </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.museumofplay.org/app/uploads/2023/04/15-1-Article-2-Transforming-Toybox.pdf">peer-reviewed study</a> – published in the American Journal of Play in April 2023 – surveyed the toy market for babies and toddlers age 0-2 at two major U.S. national retailers, with an eye toward differences between battery-powered toys, like the <a href="https://store.leapfrog.com/en-us/store/p/speak-learn-puppy/_/A-prod80-610100">LeapFrog Speak and Learn Puppy</a>, and traditional toys, such as the <a href="https://www.homefurniturelife.com/shop/magic-years-jungle-animals-finger-puppets-4-pc-set/">Magic Years Jungle Finger Puppet</a>. </p>
<p>We found significant differences between these two toy types in terms of how they’re marketed – with more traditional toys marketed as supporting physical development and more technological toys aimed at cognitive development. However, these companies do not always have researchers investigating whether the toys actually help children learn.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=KhghzJQAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">researchers who study toys</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5KTeq2UAAAAJ&hl=en">how children learn and play</a>, we offer five tips before you buy your next baby toy.</p>
<h2>1. Consider your goal</h2>
<p>When purchasing a toy, consider whether you have any particular developmental goal in mind. For instance, do you want your baby to develop fine motor skills by playing with a <a href="https://reachformontessori.com/busy-boards/">busy board</a>, or to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/mono.12280">practice spatial skills</a> by building a block tower? </p>
<h2>2. Look for open-ended toys</h2>
<p>Many parents and caregivers know that children often <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-kids-like-the-box-more-than-the-toy-the-benefits-of-playing-with-everyday-objects-202301">love playing with the box</a> more than the toy inside it. One reason is that boxes are open-ended toys – they can become anything a young child dreams up. Conversely, a toy cellphone directs the type of play much more rigidly. </p>
<p>A good rule of thumb is to choose toys that require <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2018/12/10/the-science-of-toys-a-guide-for-the-perplexed-shopper/">90% activity from the child and only about 10% input from the toy</a>. For example, infants can explore a set of realistic miniature animals sensorially – usually by putting them in their mouths – and then later use them for pretend play, or even to create animal footprints in play dough. Contrast this experience with a large plastic elephant that needs to sit on the floor and lights up and makes elephant sounds. Here, a child is limited in play, with the goal being to make the object light up or play a sound. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Father and young son play together with toy cars" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526565/original/file-20230516-27-epnrbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526565/original/file-20230516-27-epnrbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526565/original/file-20230516-27-epnrbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526565/original/file-20230516-27-epnrbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526565/original/file-20230516-27-epnrbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526565/original/file-20230516-27-epnrbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526565/original/file-20230516-27-epnrbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parents tend to talk to kids more when they play together with traditional toys versus tech toys.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/cute-little-african-kid-son-playing-toy-cars-with-royalty-free-image/1158481693">iStock / Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Recognize gender biases</h2>
<p>Several major retailers have <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-target-gender-labeling-20150810-story.html">removed gender-based toy sections</a> over the past decade, opting for “kids” instead of “boys” and “girls.” </p>
<p>However, if you enter the store of one of those major toy retailers today, you will still find some aisles filled with pink toys and dolls, while other aisles feature monster trucks and primary-colored blocks. A toy sword might not be labeled as “for boys,” yet shoppers often perceive it that way based on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0858-4">their own gender socialization and beliefs</a>. If you look only in certain aisles or at stereotypical toys, you might miss out on toys that your child would enjoy regardless of gender. </p>
<h2>4. Be wary of marketing claims</h2>
<p>The makers of tech toys often make claims about their educational potential that are not backed by science. For example, an electronic shape sorter might claim to help children develop emotional skills because the toy says “I love you!” </p>
<p>Be skeptical of such claims, and use your own experience and insights to evaluate the educational potential of a toy. You might read the retailer and manufacturer descriptions, but also see what the toy actually does. If it fosters caregiver-child interactions or helps to develop a specific skill – like how building blocks support spatial skills, and finger puppets build fine motor skills – then it is likely a toy worth considering. </p>
<h2>5. Prioritize human interactions</h2>
<p>Keep in mind that toys are not chiefly designed to create baby geniuses – they are meant to be fun! So think broadly about whether you want a new toy to support physical, social, emotional, cognitive or creative development while keeping it fun. And remember that no toy can replace <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12378">joyful, high-quality interactions</a> between caregivers and children.</p>
<p>Research suggests that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-3348">caregivers are less responsive and communicative</a> when playing with tech toys versus traditional toys with their children. So choosing traditional toys, such as nonelectronic shape sorters and building blocks, may be one way to foster the types of interactions that support healthy development.</p>
<p>Overall, research suggests that, in most cases, traditional toys provide <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-3348">better interactions and experiences</a> than technological toys. When purchasing a toy, think through the experiences you want the baby in your life to have, think broadly about the goals of a particular toy, try to provide opportunities for <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01124">high-quality interactions</a> and remember to have fun.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204873/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer M. Zosh has consulted for the Lego Group. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brenna Hassinger-Das does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two experts on children’s play explain why you should be skeptical of toys that are advertised as being educational, and what to look for instead.Brenna Hassinger-Das, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Pace University Jennifer M. Zosh, Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2023012023-04-18T20:02:44Z2023-04-18T20:02:44ZWhen kids like the box more than the toy: The benefits of playing with everyday objects<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521611/original/file-20230418-1223-8sess3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=658%2C77%2C3604%2C3037&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If children love boxes and other upcycled items, do parents really need to invest in 'eco toys'? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many have observed that sometimes when given a toy as a present, <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-why-young-children-often-prefer-wrapping-paper-and-boxes-to-actual-presents-70671">children play with the box the toy came in, or even the gift wrapping</a>.</p>
<p>In earlier generations, children’s play materials were often homemade or relatively simple. Commercial or hand-made toys were made from durable and long-lasting materials. </p>
<p>Today, mass-produced plastic toys with <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ueQUEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA25&dq=Sluss,+2021+play+materials&ots=uHtTVA0FaS&sig=3Tyyl726iZarZtpM0QqOe13hgjc#v=onepage&q=Sluss%2C%202021%20play%20materials&f=false">limited purpose have permanently entered children’s learning environments</a>. These toys are often designed to be used in specific ways, with limited imaginative play opportunities. </p>
<p>A trend in <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1120194.pdf">the marketing of</a> sustainable toys coincides both with addressing ecological concerns, and with educational interest in play materials that <a href="https://fairydustteaching.com/2016/10/loose-parts">allow children to play</a> in many ways.</p>
<p>A type of play known by researchers and educators as “loose parts play” <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1225658.pdf">involves children</a> playing with and re-purposing materials that <a href="https://www.inspiringscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Loose-Parts-Play-Toolkit-2019-web.pdf">can be used in multiple ways</a>. This can include playing with everyday, natural or manufactured parts (like cardboard, sticks, pots and pans, sand or beads not originally intended for play) or with commercial toys like blocks or stackable cups.</p>
<p>The language of <a href="https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/SDEC/article/view/1204/1171">loose parts</a> to talk about the use of unrestricted items in children’s play was first used by architect Simon Nicholson in the 70s, who discussed a “theory of loose parts” when writing about playground and educational design.</p>
<p>My research with colleagues is examining which materials — including store-bought and natural or upcycled items — are most conducive to specific types of quality play in young children’s environments. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A toddler seen playing with blocks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Through play, children make connections and integrate their experiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is play?</h2>
<p>Play is often defined as an activity pursued <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2004-21781-011">for its own sake and characterized largely by its processes rather than end goals</a>. Although the exact definition of play is debated, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9680672/">researchers agree it is exceptionally complex</a>.</p>
<p>Play has also been described as an integrating process, <a href="https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/school-readiness/according-experts/role-schools-and-communities-childrens-school-transition">providing an ecosystem where children can make connections between previous experiences</a>, represent their ideas in different ways, imagine possibilities, explore and create new meanings. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mathematical-thinking-begins-in-the-early-years-with-dialogue-and-real-world-exploration-128282">Mathematical thinking begins in the early years with dialogue and real-world exploration</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Such complexity can be seen in children’s play themes, materials, content, social interactions, and the understandings children demonstrate in their play. </p>
<p>The more complex the play, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/IYC.0b013e31821e995c">more it impacts development</a>. Even a small dose of quality <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195395761.013.0011">play improves children’s performance on subsequent cognitive development tasks</a>. </p>
<h2>Complex play, skills and benefits</h2>
<p>The skills acquired in play — including overcoming impulses, behaviour control, exploration and discovery, problem-solving, social interaction, and attention to process and outcomes — are foundational <a href="http://www.tojet.net/articles/v18i4/1841.pdf">cognitive structures that also drive learning</a>.</p>
<p>Children’s play themes generally follow the <a href="https://www.exchangepress.com/catalog/product/bridging-research-and-practice-seven-loose-parts-myths-busted/5025634/">ideas inherent in the materials and toys available</a>. </p>
<p>However, as noted, materials and toys used for children’s play <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190319182447id_/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/82151298.pdf">have changed significantly over the years</a>, reflecting societal changes, technological advancements and shifts in understanding child development. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/acAv1C4LYVQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How to use stacking cups for speech and language development.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Early learning and child-care communities today widely incorporate loose parts for their perceived potential to offer high-quality play opportunities. Such opportunities allow children to use their <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-13642-018">imaginations and explore their surroundings</a> and support children’s cognitive development. </p>
<h2>Education in Canada</h2>
<p>In Canada, Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia’s education guidelines for early childhood explicitly discuss the importance of loose parts play. The Nova Scotia Curriculum, for instance, acknowledges that the use of loose parts encourages “<a href="https://www.ednet.ns.ca/docs/nselcurriculumframework.pdf">creativity and open-ended learning</a>.” </p>
<p>Six other provincial frameworks don’t use the words “loose parts,” but equally stress the importance of this kind of play. While many parents, educators and policy-makers recognize the benefits of involving children in play with loose parts, the basic evidence regarding children’s indoor play with loose materials is unknown. </p>
<p>There are only a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-017-9220-9">handful of empirical studies on indoor loose parts play with limited focus on its developmental benefits</a> beyond children’s physical and social development. Research has narrowly focused on children’s outdoor play with loose parts and mostly on <a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v42i4.18103">physical</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12025">social development</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children seen with sand and toys." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What is the relationship between children’s indoor play with loose parts and children’s cognitive skills?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Current research has not examined children’s indoor play with loose parts and its relationship to children’s cognitive skills. As a result, educators and policy-makers have little empirical evidence on which to base important decisions about what materials to invest in and integrate into children’s learning environments.</p>
<h2>Equitable play opportunities</h2>
<p>Children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds start kindergarten disproportionately behind their more affluent and privileged peers in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.91.1.116">knowledge and educational performance</a>. </p>
<p>Low-income families <a href="https://www.museumofplay.org/app/uploads/2022/01/5-2-article-the-use-of-play-materials-in-early-intervention_0.pdf">often cannot afford toys</a> for children. Could household objects (like plastic tubs or egg cartons) offer equitable play opportunities for all children, if early childhood programs and professionals supported parents with up-cycling items into play things? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-spotlights-equity-and-access-issues-with-childrens-right-to-play-137187">Coronavirus spotlights equity and access issues with children's right to play</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>My colleagues and I are conducting research to address gaps in our understanding of children’s loose parts play. Specifically, we examine the play types and play engagement levels of children between the ages of four and five who participate in our study. </p>
<p>We also take into account the effects of children’s cognitive development, parental income and education on how young children play with everyday objects, both when they play by themselves and with their parents. </p>
<p>We just finished collecting data in the first phase of our studies focused on children’s solitary play. Children were given opportunities to play with either a box of carefully curated loose parts like blocks, felt balls, yarn, pinecones or a toy that had only a limited function: percussion instruments.</p>
<h2>Cognitive and language development</h2>
<p>We collected data using video recordings of children’s play in two sessions (one with loose parts and the other session with the limited-purpose toy as a control), parent questionnaires and a cognitive measurement tool for benchmarking children’s cognitive and language development. </p>
<p>We are now analyzing crucial relationships between children’s play with different loose objects and children’s cognitive development, and considering key social determinants such as gender, socioeconomic status and maternal education. </p>
<p>Such knowledge will support educators and parents with an understanding of which materials are most conducive to specific types of quality play in young children’s environments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202301/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ozlem Cankaya is affiliated with Terra Centre and Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Child Care. MacEwan University funds Dr. Cankaya's loose parts play research. </span></em></p>How should we understand what toys or ‘loose part’ materials support children’s play, and what’s the relationship of parents’ education and income to this? A study aims to find out.Ozlem Cankaya, Assistant Professor, Early Childhood Curriculum Studies, MacEwan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1962472022-12-14T12:27:33Z2022-12-14T12:27:33ZUnderstanding dishonesty in children – when, how and why do kids lie?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500010/original/file-20221209-22427-9f9cod.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C68%2C9188%2C5932&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It takes a lot of self control not to peek</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/adorable-latin-toddler-wearing-casual-clothes-1856365738">Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When asked if they peeked at a toy, 40% of children falsely confessed to peeking, even though they did not do so, in a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0278099">recent study</a> of lying in toddlers. When so many children made up falsehoods with no benefit, there is more to it than cheeky fibs.</p>
<p>The researchers, from Poland and Canada, tested children’s self-control at the age of 18 months by asking them not to peek at a toy. The same 252 children were tested again at age two and then again six months later. Only 35% of the young participants disobeyed the request not to look, but 27% of the peekers falsely claimed they had done as they were told. </p>
<p>From an early age, children are taught lying is a moral failing. Yet, in some social contexts, children might also be encouraged to lie. Many parents <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/chso.12139">explicitly tell their children not to distort the truth</a>, emphasising the importance of being honest. However, they also give nuanced messages about honesty. For example, they might claim it is sometimes acceptable to tell white lies to protect other people’s feelings.</p>
<p>There are many reasons the children in the study may have made false confessions. They were so young they may have had trouble understanding the question. We know children tend to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20438461/">say yes more readily</a> than adults when asked yes-no questions. </p>
<p>Research shows children need to <a href="https://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/curriculum/pshe/download/file/SEAD.pdf">explore and test the boundaries of a new concept</a> before they understand it. Play and learning are intertwined, especially for children. </p>
<p>Fibbing emerges in the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3788848/pdf/nihms489244.pdf">pre-school years</a>. Children as young as two know how to do it. Lying goes hand in hand with the progression of children’s <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21887961/">social skills</a>. While lying is considered a problem behaviour, it also indicates healthy brain development in children and is a cognitive milestone. </p>
<p>Children’s initial lies are only a few words long. As their cognitive skills develop, <a href="https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/cdep.12023?casa_token=q2BUOjE4rCAAAAAA:-K-GEqsjvMR_eTDXCEmHulE4DbQ-VvRGWjV3lzAq1jSP5HxLtwNe-dak67qT5rYLBvI_htuzMEtdddp8">their lies become more complex</a>. The falsehoods involve more words and can be maintained over a longer period. </p>
<h2>Don’t tell tales</h2>
<p>To lie, children <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/desc.13096?casa_token=2GlkpXCd-k0AAAAA%3A-7e4qK7LDVl5pna1EQGPfYxncGReSAg6jcWyqk3JWfKl3phFwZP9LkT1vPjomFVfaz9V3R0Obw55-6Td">need to do three things</a>. One, they need to have enough self-restraint to overcome their tendency to tell the truth. In psychology, we call this inhibitory control. </p>
<p>Two, they need to access short-term memory, as well as simultaneously create alternative scenarios. And three, children need to be able to change back and forth between acting according to the truth and behaving in line with the falsehood they are constructing (cognitive flexibility).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Little girl wearing a floppy hat peers over a table, hold a coffee mug with a cheeky expression" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500066/original/file-20221209-34427-t8ib8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500066/original/file-20221209-34427-t8ib8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500066/original/file-20221209-34427-t8ib8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500066/original/file-20221209-34427-t8ib8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500066/original/file-20221209-34427-t8ib8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500066/original/file-20221209-34427-t8ib8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500066/original/file-20221209-34427-t8ib8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Plotting? Or just playing?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cute-little-girl-drinking-attractive-female-295052069">Photography Cornwall/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Children are more likely to tell white lies when they have <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022096520304999">high emotional understanding</a>: skills that help them understand the nature, causes and consequences of emotions related to themselves and to others. </p>
<p>Parenting styles play a role in the development of white lies. Children who lie to protect other people’s feelings are more likely to be raised by parents with an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022096511001317">authoritative style</a> who are nurturing, supportive and responsive to their children’s needs. In contrast, children who are exposed to a <a href="https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01663.x">punitive environment</a> are more likely to lie and stick with the lie, perhaps as self-protection against harsh punishment.</p>
<h2>Setting the example</h2>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/desc.12883">Adults’ behaviour</a> can influence whether or not children tell lies. Children who observe another person either <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022096517306811">receive a reward for telling the truth</a> or punishment for telling a lie are more likely to tell the truth. </p>
<p>Similarly, children who observe their peers rewarded for confessing a wrongdoing are more likely to tell the truth. So adults should be aware children are paying attention to actions as much as words. </p>
<p>Encouraging children to tell the truth by not lying in front of them and rewarding them for telling the truth, even when they acted in an undesirable way, can encourage them to be honest in the future.</p>
<p>As adults, many of us struggle to acknowledge how the shades of grey between honesty and dishonesty are the social lubricant of life. The 2009 comedy <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1058017/">The Invention of Lying</a>, starring Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Garner, is set in an alternative reality in which lying does not exist. The first character to learn how to lie in this film, Gervais’s Mark, initially lies for his own gain but realises dishonesty can be used to help others such as to comfort his dying mother. </p>
<p>Towards the end of The Invention of Lying, Garner’s character Anna asks Mark why he didn’t use his power to lie to manipulate her into marrying him. He responds that “it wouldn’t count”. If we can be honest with ourselves about our relationship with lying, we can help our children learn to tell the truth when it matters most.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196247/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gadda Salhab does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children get a hard time for being dishonest but it’s a sign of healthy brain development.Gadda Salhab, PhD Candidate, Forensic Psychology, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1909242022-09-27T13:12:02Z2022-09-27T13:12:02ZChild marriage comes with a heavy cost for young girls in Africa – but there’s one clear way out<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485643/original/file-20220920-11061-sp09wv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Early marriage has a number of negative effects on the lives of girls and their own children.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Riccardo Mayer/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>650 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday. That’s one of the startling figures contained in a <a href="https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Towards-Ending-Child-Marriage-report-2021.pdf">2021 UNICEF report</a> about child marriage. Africa’s sub-Saharan region is home to <a href="https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/">nine of the ten countries</a> with the highest rates of child marriage in the world. </p>
<p>Ingrained traditions and cultural practices typically entrench such early marriages. State or customary laws in <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/MarryingTooYoung.pdf#page=12">146 countries</a> allow girls younger than 18 to marry with the consent of their parents or other authorities. In <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/MarryingTooYoung.pdf#page=12">52 nations</a>, girls under 15 can marry with parental consent. </p>
<p>Early marriage among boys is <a href="https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/115-million-boys-and-men-around-world-married-children-unicef">also widespread</a>, though the numbers are far lower than they are for girls and young women. </p>
<p>And it is girls and young women who pay the heaviest costs for early marriage. Girls who marry before 18 are <a href="https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Towards-Ending-Child-Marriage-report-2021.pdf">more likely</a> to be subjected to domestic violence and less likely to continue schooling than their peers. They have worse economic and health outcomes, a burden they almost inevitably pass on to their children. </p>
<p>Early marriage has been linked to poorer <a href="https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Events/PDF/Slides/1_khatoon.pdf">cognitive development</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953617303283">stunting</a> among the children of such women. </p>
<p>Today, the practice is declining thanks to national and international policies, global treaties and, since 2016, the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage. But gains have been slow in sub-Saharan Africa.</p>
<p>What is it that drives the practice in the region? That’s what we examined in a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021909620966778">recent study</a>. Using statistical analysis, we looked at the socio-economic and demographic determinants of early marriage among young women the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mali and Niger. Each of the four countries has sought to introduce measures to discourage early marriage, but their challenges remain formidable.</p>
<p>We explored several possible explanations and variables: age at first intercourse, education and literacy, women’s current age, region and type of place of residence, family wealth index, ethnicity, employment status, and even mass media exposure.</p>
<p>One factor stands out across the four countries in our study: education. Women without formal education are more likely to marry early than those who completed secondary or higher education. </p>
<h2>Four study countries</h2>
<p>The four countries have a great deal in common, including high poverty levels and substantial under-15 and rural populations. </p>
<p>In each country, around 50% of people are younger than 15, and around half of the countries’ respective populations live in rural areas (a full 84% in the case of <a href="https://malawi.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/2018%20Malawi%20Population%20and%20Housing%20Census%20Main%20Report%20%281%29.pdf#page=23">Malawi</a>).</p>
<p>Among the four countries in our study, Niger has the highest child marriage prevalence worldwide – 76% of girls are married before the age of 18. The rates stand at 52% in Mali, 42% in Malawi, and 37% in the DRC. </p>
<p>For our analysis, we turned to the most recently available demographic and health surveys from each of the four countries. We then applied a framework that seeks to describe the important social-cultural and cognitive variables and their interrelationships that underlie behaviours and decisions around reproductive health. </p>
<h2>Statistical variables</h2>
<p>The answers we found as to why early marriage is so commonplace in these countries were not always clear-cut. What’s more, there were lots of statistical variations across the four countries and contradictions, as was to be expected.</p>
<p>For example, the average age of first marriage ranged from 15.3 in Niger to 17.1 in Malawi. There was also a range in the percentage of women from the poorest wealth category in the countries who had been married by 18: Niger (90.9%), Mali (80%), DRC (70.3%), Malawi (63.1%).</p>
<p>Rates of early marriage dropped among women from richer categories, but were still high: Niger (72.7%), Mali (65.4%), DRC (60.3%) and Malawi (42.5%).</p>
<p>The study also showed that young women living in rural areas were likely to marry earlier than those from urban areas.</p>
<p>These variations’ social, economic, and cultural underpinnings are likely complex and would need some unpacking. In some cultures, for example, girls are married off young as they are considered to be more likely to be virgins still and can thus fetch a higher payment of what’s known as the <a href="https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/child-marriage-brides-india-niger-syria/">bride price</a>. </p>
<p>Amid the many statistical variables that emerged, we were especially struck by the relationship between educational levels and average age at first marriage.</p>
<h2>The role of education</h2>
<p>We found that the average age at first marriage in Niger, Mali, DRC, and Malawi increased from young people with no education (15.1, 15.4, 16.2, and 16.4, respectively) to those with secondary and higher education (17.0, 16.6, 17.1 and 18.5 in that order). </p>
<p>In addition, we saw that the highest prevalence of early marriage (by 18 years) was found among young women with no education (90.6%, 80.3%, 70.9%, and 70.3%). It was lowest among women with secondary and higher education (64.2%, 62.9%, 58.9%, and 30.2%).</p>
<p>Malawi is the only one of the four countries where school education is universal, accessible and compulsory.</p>
<p>Education offers young women opportunities in life. In some African cultures, however, allowing girls to finish or even attend school <a href="https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/learning-resources/child-marriage-and-education/">is discouraged</a> as it is feared that an educated girl is less likely to get a husband or be a good wife.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/learning-resources/child-marriage-atlas/atlas/malawi/">In Malawi</a>, less than 15% of women have any secondary school education, and 42% of girls are married before the age of 18 – the twelfth highest rate of child marriage in the world. </p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>There is an urgent need for governments in these countries to introduce programmes that promote delaying the age at which girls first have sex and to equip adolescents with knowledge about responsible and safer sex. </p>
<p>Policymakers should also work to promote prolonged enrolment in school for adolescent girls. And, crucially, laws are needed – and must be enforced – that criminalise child marriages.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190924/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sathiya Susuman Appunni does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Though child marriage rates are declining globally, the practice remains worryingly common in some African countries.Sathiya Susuman Appunni, Professor of Demography, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1843002022-06-22T12:08:18Z2022-06-22T12:08:18ZPredictable and consistent parental behavior is key for optimal child brain development<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470089/original/file-20220621-17-rxnvwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4898%2C3262&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Predictable and consistent parental behavior can include set routines for meals and transportation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/8SwpPqFeoR4">Sue Zeng/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Scientists have long known that the experiences you have during infancy and childhood <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-019-0246-5">play an important role</a> in shaping how your brain matures and how you behave as an adult. But figuring out why this happens has been difficult.</p>
<p>Over the past 15 years, <a href="https://contecenter.uci.edu/">my team</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7jICvRYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">and I</a> have been studying child brain development to identify what aspects of early life experiences affect brain maturation. In our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn4016">recently published paper</a> summarizing our findings across multiple studies in animals and people, we found that unpredictable or inconsistent parental behavior can disrupt the development of a child’s emotional brain circuits. This can lead to an increased risk of mental illness and substance abuse later on in the child’s life.</p>
<h2>Predictability and consistency</h2>
<p>To tackle the challenge of figuring out what signals affect how the brain’s emotional systems develop, we took cues from how the brain’s sensory systems, like vision and hearing, develop. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.279.5350.566">Environmental signals</a> are important to sensory development. For example, if an infant is unable to see adequately because of a severe lazy eye, they may develop lifelong vision deficits. Similarly, an infant who is unable to make out the patterns and sequences of everyday sound due to frequent ear infections may develop lifelong hearing problems.</p>
<p>Because parents are often the primary source of the information an infant and young child receives from their environment, we thought it would be reasonable to assume that parental signals would be crucial to brain development. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2020.08.001">Previous research</a> over the decades have found that a caretaker’s behaviors and how responsive they were to their child’s needs were important to the child’s emotional growth. An absence of responses, such as from neglect, was associated with increased risk for emotional problems later in life. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WjOowWxOXCg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Attachment theory posits that a strong bond with a primary caregiver early in life is critical to child development.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While many studies have focused on the effects of “positive” or “negative” parental behaviors on child brain development, researchers have paid little attention to patterns of behavior, or a parent’s predictability and consistency. A parent who is predictable and consistent is one who reacts to new situations, such as when their child has a mild fall or asks for a new toy, in the same way. In the long term, predictability also means that a child knows who will pick them up from school and when they can expect lunch, dinner or bedtime.</p>
<p>We first conducted our studies in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110600">mice</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038%2Ftp.2015.200">rats</a> to be able to control how the mothers behaved toward their pups by limiting the amount of material available in the environment for nest building, altering their activity patterns toward their offspring. We then conducted studies in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ebiom.2019.07.025">people</a>, observing how mothers behaved in structured play sessions and how the patterns of their actions influenced the emotional and cognitive development of their children.</p>
<p>To quantify maternal behaviors in these sessions, we measured the degree that one behavior <a href="https://contecenter.uci.edu/measuring-unpredictable-maternal-sensory-signals/">predicted the next</a>. For example, how likely a mother was to speak to and show her child a toy was a good predictor of how often she would pick her child up. We also controlled for other aspects of parenting and environment, such as socioeconomic status. We assessed child and pup development by administering cognitive and emotional tests, as well as behavioral questionnaires for the children.</p>
<p>Across all our animal and human studies, we found that predictable parental behavior patterns led to better emotional and cognitive functioning in their children later in life. While our studies have focused primarily on mothers, it is very likely that the same principles apply to fathers as well.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470091/original/file-20220621-13681-6nfu9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Parent holding child at beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470091/original/file-20220621-13681-6nfu9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470091/original/file-20220621-13681-6nfu9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470091/original/file-20220621-13681-6nfu9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470091/original/file-20220621-13681-6nfu9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470091/original/file-20220621-13681-6nfu9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470091/original/file-20220621-13681-6nfu9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470091/original/file-20220621-13681-6nfu9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Patterns of parental behavior are just as important to a child’s brain development as the quality of the behavior.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/MRWHSKimBJk">Xavier Mouton Photographie/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Nurturing your child’s brain growth</h2>
<p>Our findings suggest it’s not just “positive” or “negative” parenting that affects a child’s development. It’s just as important for a child’s emotional brain development that their parents nurture them in predictable and consistent ways.</p>
<p>There are many adversities beyond a parent’s control that can impact their developing a child, such as poverty, war and migration. However, being aware of the role that predictable and consistent behavior plays in brain development can help parents create an optimal environment for their child as they grow emotionally.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184300/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tallie Z. Baram receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Bren Foundation, and the Hewitt Foundation for Biomedical Research.</span></em></p>Parents are often the primary source of information that children receive from their environment. How consistent parents’ interactions with their children are matters.Tallie Z. Baram, Professor of Pediatrics, Anatomy and Neurobiology, Neurology, Physiology and Biophysics, Neurological Sciences, University of California, IrvineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1778752022-05-02T16:17:11Z2022-05-02T16:17:11ZWhy children learn how to say ‘spoon’ before ‘sky’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458709/original/file-20220419-19828-hzx4t2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C333%2C7461%2C4472&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children’s physical experiences help them learn new words</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For adults, communicating in our first language feels easy and natural. Yet learning language is a complex process that is influenced by several factors. </p>
<p>When young children are beginning to learn language, some influences, such as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617742725">amount of speech a child hears</a> and the amount of time they spend in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617742725">back-and-forth language interactions</a> with others, have what may appear to be obvious connections to language learning. Perhaps less obvious is that children’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2012.06.016">own physical experiences</a> with their environment help them learn new words.</p>
<p>In new research in the cognitive sciences, we investigated how this is the case by considering how children learn words that refer to something you can touch, grasp and interact with. We asked parents to rate how easily a child can physically interact with the object, idea or experience that a word refers to. We found <a href="https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-022-01798-4">words that refer to objects that are easy for children to interact with are also words that are learned at an earlier age</a>. </p>
<h2>Spoon: Something you touch</h2>
<p>For instance, a word like <em>spoon</em> is usually learned earlier than a word like <em>sky</em>. And this relationship remains even when we consider other things that can affect word learning, like how common a word is in everyday language. </p>
<p>Words like <em>spoon</em> and <em>sky</em> are both relevant to everyday life, and so children will probably hear those words quite early in their development. One difference between them is that <em>spoon</em> refers to something you can touch, grasp and interact with, whereas <em>sky</em> does not. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a child seen picking up a spoon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459141/original/file-20220421-21-2kndr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459141/original/file-20220421-21-2kndr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459141/original/file-20220421-21-2kndr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459141/original/file-20220421-21-2kndr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459141/original/file-20220421-21-2kndr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459141/original/file-20220421-21-2kndr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459141/original/file-20220421-21-2kndr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If you can hold something, this helps understand what it is.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why physical experience helps</h2>
<p>Our findings agree with those of studies where babies and toddlers wore small head-mounted body cameras to record their interactions with objects. Those studies show that the children’s own physical experience helps them learn new words. </p>
<p>For instance, in one study researchers found that 18-month-old <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617742725">toddlers were more likely to learn the name of a new object when they held that object</a>, and less likely to learn the name if their parent held the new object. Another study found that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/desc.12816">15-month-olds who spent more time manipulating new objects had learned more nouns by the time they were 21 months old</a>. </p>
<p>Body cameras allow researchers to see the environment from a child’s point of view. This gives researchers clues as to why it is easier for children to learn the names of objects they get to touch and hold. At any given time, there are many different objects in a child’s vision. When a parent names an object in the environment, a child must figure out which object the parent is talking about. But when a child is holding or touching a specific object, that object is much closer to them and fills more of their vision, making it easier for them to connect the word the parent has used with the object they see.</p>
<h2>Child interactions</h2>
<p>Physical experience is also related to how children use and process language. Words like <em>spoon</em> that refer to objects that are easy for a child to interact with are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00317">named faster by children as young as six years old</a>. This is probably because the child’s physical experience makes it easier to connect a word’s meaning with the written letters or spoken sounds of the word itself, a process that happens every time we read or hear a word. </p>
<p>A more recent study also found words that refer to objects that are easy to interact with were easier to read and recognize for children in grades 2 and 4. Interestingly, the researchers also found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10238-2">children who had more screen time each day were less likely to show this benefit: they were not as fast or accurate when recognizing words that refer to easy-to-interact-with objects</a>. This is because increased screen time may reduce the quantity and quality of physical experiences that children have with objects in their environment.</p>
<h2>Play-and-tell matters</h2>
<p>Word learning is easier when a child can interact with an object while hearing that object’s name, rather than seeing the object presented by a parent or on a screen. This isn’t possible for all objects, and children will learn the words for concepts they can’t touch, like <em>sky</em>, even without physical interaction. But this research shows that it can be helpful to give children opportunities to touch and feel the things they are learning the words for, as long as it is safe to do so. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/writing-and-reading-starts-with-childrens-hands-on-play-125182">Writing and reading starts with children's hands-on play</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>When children get to touch, grasp and interact with things <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12289">in their environment they develop their motor skills</a>. By studying how children learn different sorts of words, our research exemplifies the ways that physical experiences are not just important to a child’s motor learning, but also to their word learning. </p>
<p>This means that giving children more opportunities to physically interact with their actual, rather than virtual, environment is good for their bodies and for their brains.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177875/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emiko Muraki receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penny Pexman receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and also from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </span></em></p>Children may hear a lot of words when sitting in front of or interacting with screens, but to learn language children need to interact with physical objects.Emiko Muraki, PhD Candidate, Brain & Cognitive Science, University of CalgaryPenny Pexman, Professor of Psychology, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1616732021-06-15T05:48:40Z2021-06-15T05:48:40ZGreen space around primary schools may improve students’ academic performance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404389/original/file-20210603-13-wbcepa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/children-rucksacks-standing-park-near-school-664225237">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Greenery around primary schools may improve students’ academic performance, while traffic pollution may be detrimental, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935121006198?dgcid=author">our study</a> shows.</p>
<p>With increasing urbanisation in Australia and globally, consideration needs to be given to the location of schools. Children need to grow and learn in environments that promote their physical health, as well as their cognitive development and academic learning.</p>
<p>Our research mapped greenery and traffic exposure around 851 primary schools across greater Melbourne.</p>
<p>We examined how greenery and traffic-related air pollution were associated with the average 2018 NAPLAN scores in years 3 and 5. The scores were in five domains: reading, writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation and numeracy. </p>
<p>People tend to see green leafy suburbs as more wealthy, and socioeconomic status is a significant predictor of academic scores. So to ensure we were looking at the effects of the greenery itself, we compared schools in the same socioeconomic bracket. We found more greenery was associated with better NAPLAN scores. Meanwhile, higher exposure to traffic-related pollution was associated with poorer scores.</p>
<h2>The importance of urban greenery</h2>
<p>A growing body of evidence shows access to green space — which includes parks, trees, shrubs and grass — <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/112/26/7937">is linked to</a> children’s healthy development. </p>
<p>We know greenery in urban areas may <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2739050">boost mental health</a> among older adults <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25862991/">and can offset</a> traffic emissions.</p>
<p>Research conducted internationally suggests greenness surrounding schools can lead to <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/112/26/7937">better cognitive development</a> in primary school-aged children. But there is <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30717301/">still debate</a> over whether greenery around schools can boost academic performance.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406360/original/file-20210615-3759-1j7f3ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three girls sitting in a park with their arms around each other." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406360/original/file-20210615-3759-1j7f3ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406360/original/file-20210615-3759-1j7f3ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406360/original/file-20210615-3759-1j7f3ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406360/original/file-20210615-3759-1j7f3ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406360/original/file-20210615-3759-1j7f3ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406360/original/file-20210615-3759-1j7f3ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406360/original/file-20210615-3759-1j7f3ko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Green space is linked to healthy development in children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/back-view-cute-girls-seated-on-273209597">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Exposure to traffic-related air pollution at school, where children spend much of their waking hours, has been <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30216772/">associated with poorer performance</a> in tests of brain health and development. Air pollution may be <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25495759/">more detrimental to the health</a> of children compared with adults, due to children’s physiology and rapid growth.</p>
<p>We wanted to investigate if greenery and traffic pollution have clear links with academic performance, an indicator of cognitive development.</p>
<h2>Children perform better with more greenery</h2>
<p>We measured the amount of greenery in the school grounds, and then the traffic pollution and greenery around the school grounds within distances of 100m, 300m, 1,000m and 2,000m.</p>
<p>We found school-level academic performance in reading, numeracy, grammar and punctuation was better on average for schools located in areas with more greenery.</p>
<p>Our statistical modelling included data on socioeconomic levels of the area as well as variations in schools, such as parental occupation and proportion of Indigenous students. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/peoples-odds-of-loneliness-could-fall-by-up-to-half-if-cities-hit-30-green-space-targets-161989">People's odds of loneliness could fall by up to half if cities hit 30% green space targets</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We compared the NAPLAN scores of similar socioeconomic-status schools and found higher scores in greener areas. For example, when comparing schools with the highest and lowest levels of green within 300 m, we found statistically significant differences of an average 20 points in reading scores for year 5.</p>
<p>Poorer performance was associated with higher levels of traffic-related air pollution surrounding schools. Reading scores in year 5 were around 16 points lower, on average, in schools with the highest levels of traffic-related air pollution within 300m of schools, compared with those with lowest levels. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406362/original/file-20210615-21-l09ixs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Boy kicking soccer ball." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406362/original/file-20210615-21-l09ixs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406362/original/file-20210615-21-l09ixs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406362/original/file-20210615-21-l09ixs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406362/original/file-20210615-21-l09ixs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406362/original/file-20210615-21-l09ixs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406362/original/file-20210615-21-l09ixs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406362/original/file-20210615-21-l09ixs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There is a link between more green space around schools and higher academic scores.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/boy-kicking-ball-while-playing-street-1792638313">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The specifics of the NAPLAN scores aren’t as important as the associations we found with greenery and traffic pollution. Our findings show preliminary evidence that greener environments with low traffic levels around primary schools may promote children’s academic performance.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-density-cities-need-greening-to-stay-healthy-and-liveable-75840">Higher-density cities need greening to stay healthy and liveable</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our exploratory study is the first of its kind in Melbourne, a metropolis with <a href="https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/policy-and-strategy/planning-for-melbourne/plan-melbourne">projected growth and plans</a> for future school developments and traffic infrastructure.</p>
<h2>How can greenery help?</h2>
<p>Greenery can <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25862991/">help reduce air pollution in several ways</a> including filtering the air through plant surfaces and foliage.</p>
<p>But other factors (not examined in our study) that may play a role in the association between greenery and academic performance are related to the type and location of greenery.</p>
<p>Better performance among children in greener areas could be due to attention restoration, stress reduction or reducing harmful environmental exposures (such as noise from traffic and air pollution). </p>
<p>Town and school planners, as well as educators, should consider where schools are located and how their surrounding environments may be improved to promote childhood learning and health.</p>
<p>Additional steps to reduce traffic levels around schools should be encouraged where possible, as well as active transport and use of public transport to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161673/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research in this article was conducted in collaboration with Joep Claesen and Dr Gonnie Klabbers at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and Professor Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, ACU and ISGlobal, Spain.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda J. Wheeler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A study showed that, on average, more greenery around primary schools was associated with better NAPLAN scores. Higher exposure to traffic-related pollution was associated with poorer scores.Alison Carver, Senior Research Fellow, Behaviour Environment and Cognition Program, Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic UniversityAmanda J. Wheeler, Senior Research Fellow Behaviour, Environment and Cognition Research Program, Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1591322021-04-21T20:14:40Z2021-04-21T20:14:40ZHow intimate partner violence affects children’s health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396196/original/file-20210421-19-bscgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5526%2C3692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Childhood should be a happy and carefree time, but often it doesn’t work out that way. Children are exposed to all the stresses and strains that affect the families and communities in which they grow up. Recent <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3048">research</a> shows this can have lifelong implications for health.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/12/e040891">study</a> conducted by our research group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, we found one in three children (and their mothers) in the study had experienced intimate partner violence or domestic abuse by the time the children in the study turned ten.</p>
<p>Findings from the same study, published today in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2020-320321">British Medical Journal’s Archives of Childhood Disorders</a>, show children exposed to intimate partner violence by age ten are two to three times more likely to have a psychiatric diagnosis and/or emotional and behavioural difficulties.</p>
<p>And it isn’t just children’s mental health affected, but their physical health and development too. We found children exposed to intimate partner violence were also two to three times more likely to have impaired language skills, sleep problems, elevated blood pressure and asthma.</p>
<p>Mothers in the study completed questionnaires three, six and 12 months after giving birth, and in the fourth and tenth years after having their first child.</p>
<p>At age ten, we studied a smaller group of the children via face-to-face activities designed to assess their cognitive and language development. We also interviewed mothers to assess their child’s mental health. </p>
<h2>How can services and schools help?</h2>
<p>Our <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2020-320321">findings</a> have important implications for policy. Up to half of all children in our study who had language difficulties and mental and physical health problems had been exposed to intimate partner violence before age ten.</p>
<p>The findings highlight the need for health services and schools to be very attentive to the role intimate partner violence might be playing in children’s health, behaviour and language development. </p>
<p>If child health services and schools don’t recognise and respond to intimate partner violence, interventions to support children with health and developmental problems are likely to be less effective. </p>
<p>Given one in three families are affected, and an even higher proportion of children experience health and language difficulties, this shouldn’t be something health services and schools put in the “too hard basket”. </p>
<h2>Mothers’ and children’s health are linked</h2>
<p>Our research highlights the extent to which the health and well-being of mothers and their children are inextricably linked. In our paper <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/12/e040891">published in BMJ Open</a> earlier this year, we showed mothers who had experienced intimate partner violence in the ten years after the birth of their first child were three to five times more likely to experience anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress (PTSD) symptoms. And they were around twice as likely to experience back pain and incontinence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mother giving a piggyback to child" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396202/original/file-20210421-17-muy20h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396202/original/file-20210421-17-muy20h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396202/original/file-20210421-17-muy20h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396202/original/file-20210421-17-muy20h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396202/original/file-20210421-17-muy20h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396202/original/file-20210421-17-muy20h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396202/original/file-20210421-17-muy20h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The health of mothers and their children are tightly connected.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This extra burden of ill health experienced by both women and children exposed to intimate partner violence compounds other social and economic challenges women face in trying to achieve safety for themselves and their children. It’s critical women and children in need of support to heal and recover from the impact of intimate partner violence are able to access affordable and culturally appropriate health care.</p>
<p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32266870/">Studies consistently show</a> there are many barriers women have to overcome, including shame, fear of judgement, and cost and availability of health care and other support services in regional communities. For women whose first language isn’t English, and Aboriginal women, there are extra cultural, language and systems-level barriers. Systems-level barriers include the persistence of cultural stereotypes, limited availability of language services, and experiences of discrimination when seeking care and support. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tackling-economic-abuse-of-women-must-be-part-of-our-domestic-violence-response-48376">Tackling economic abuse of women must be part of our domestic violence response</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Achieving the best possible outcomes</h2>
<p>While the type and severity of adversity may overwhelm some children, there’s <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30975671/">evidence</a> individual skills (such as the ability to regulate emotions), relationships with extended family, and supportive school environments that foster a sense of belonging do support children’s resilience.</p>
<p>Communities, schools and health services all have important roles to play in fostering children’s resilience and supporting mothers to access care for their children when needed. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/acting-on-family-violence-how-the-health-system-can-step-up-45592">Acting on family violence: how the health system can step up</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Anyone at risk of family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault can seek help 24 hours a day, seven days a week, either <a href="https://www.1800respect.org.au/">online</a> or by calling 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). Information is also available in 28 languages other than English.</em></p>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 22 4636.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159132/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Brown receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Royal Children's Hospital Research Foundation and the Geoff and Helen Handbury Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deirdre Gartland receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Royal Children’s Hospital Research Foundation.</span></em></p>Children exposed to intimate partner violence were two to three times more likely to have impaired language skills, sleep problems, elevated blood pressure and asthma.Stephanie Brown, Senior Principal Research Fellow, Murdoch Children's Research InstituteDeirdre Gartland, Research Fellow and Co-leader Strengthening Families Stream, Intergenerational Health Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1537732021-03-08T13:37:09Z2021-03-08T13:37:09ZIs gaming good for kids?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381188/original/file-20210128-19-s6hl9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C7%2C5017%2C3342&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In addition to being fun, video games can build real-world skills.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/close-up-of-boy-holding-game-controller-royalty-free-image/1182425001">Carol Yepes/Moment via Getty images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>My parents are always saying there’s so much bad stuff about video games, but is there any good stuff? – Ethan B., age 12, Geneva, Ohio</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>Gamers, have you ever noticed that you’re the first person to spot animals at the zoo? Or if someone drops candy on the ground, you know exactly where every piece landed? That may be because you play video games. </p>
<p>Research has shown people who play video games like Fortnite or Rocket League <a href="https://youtu.be/FktsFcooIG8">have higher visual acuity</a>, meaning they can keep track of multiple moving objects at once – or even see things in the fog or rain that others cannot. It’s one of the many benefits <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=KclUwh0AAAAJ">researchers like me</a> have discovered about playing video games. </p>
<p>For those who think video games are a waste of time or a negative force in your life, it might be worth showing them what the latest science has to say.</p>
<h2>Developing skills</h2>
<p>When you keep an eye on your enemies, grab the best loot and change your inventory without even looking at the controller, you are essentially flexing your brain. Your brain loves challenges like this – and can actually <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2013.120">grow from playing video games</a>. It is one reason why <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.142.2.181">video game players make better surgeons</a> and why <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/24/technology/circuits/we-have-to-operate-but-lets-play-first.html">some doctors even use video games to warm up</a> before big surgeries.</p>
<p>Video games can develop other skills, too. For example, they can teach you to never give up, no matter how many times it takes to beat the final boss or reach the next level. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.07.003">persistence you use in video games</a> shows that hard work will help you achieve your goals, both inside and outside the video game. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381190/original/file-20210128-21-i7a53u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A lively engaged girl sits on a couch playing video games." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381190/original/file-20210128-21-i7a53u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381190/original/file-20210128-21-i7a53u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381190/original/file-20210128-21-i7a53u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381190/original/file-20210128-21-i7a53u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381190/original/file-20210128-21-i7a53u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381190/original/file-20210128-21-i7a53u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381190/original/file-20210128-21-i7a53u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Your brain on video games is hopping.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teenage-girl-playing-video-games-at-home-royalty-free-image/1297616478">Riska/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To succeed in video games, you can’t just work harder; you have to work smarter, too. Beating the final boss or another really good player is not as simple as using the same strategy over and over again. Instead, video games train you to solve problems by considering and trying different solutions. </p>
<p>Think about your favorite games. They give you lots of different problems with multiple solutions, which makes you realize <a href="https://youtu.be/4aQAgAjTozk">solving problems can be really fun</a>. Playing video games can teach you critical thinking skills that, combined with hard work, will bring you a lot of success.</p>
<p>One of the very best things about playing video games is the friends – not just the new friends you make, but hanging out with your old friends, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.577639">especially during times when you may not be able to see them</a> at school or at their house. Video games provide friends a digital playground where <a href="https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000102">helping and sharing is encouraged and often required</a>. Helping each other build the biggest and best fort – or reviving a teammate when they’re down – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.10.023">strengthens friendships</a> and can even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650212456202">help mend broken ones</a>. </p>
<p>That’s because, even if it’s “just a game,” teammates who help each other in video games are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.02.015">more likely to help each other in the real world</a> and be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.1940">more helpful toward strangers</a>, too. Experiencing the benefits of being a team player teaches you the value of teamwork, which is something you can use for the rest of your life. If, however, you use video games to be mean to others – or let mean video game players stick around – you’ll miss out on most of these benefits. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381192/original/file-20210128-23-1awcgsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A father and son playing a video game together cheer in victory." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381192/original/file-20210128-23-1awcgsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381192/original/file-20210128-23-1awcgsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381192/original/file-20210128-23-1awcgsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381192/original/file-20210128-23-1awcgsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381192/original/file-20210128-23-1awcgsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381192/original/file-20210128-23-1awcgsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381192/original/file-20210128-23-1awcgsi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sweet victory often involves teamwork.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/father-and-son-playing-video-games-at-home-royalty-free-image/1203984161">martin-dm/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Applying skills to real life</h2>
<p>While you can turn on a video game and quickly feel <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702619859341">powerful, in charge and popular</a>, it’s good to remember games are a little like playing life on the easiest settings. Real life tends to be more challenging. </p>
<p>But think about how you get bored playing a game on the easiest setting – and how it suddenly becomes fun again when you increase the difficulty. For the same reason, life can be more rewarding than video games.</p>
<p>Take learning how to play an instrument, for example. I found that learning how to play a guitar is way harder and more frustrating than playing Rock Band on the hardest setting. But it’s so much more fun to shred a guitar in real life than it is to play one on Rock Band. </p>
<p>So enjoy developing your skills by playing video games. But also ask yourself: Are you up for the challenges waiting for you outside video games?</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153773/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Velez receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (Award#: 1855516-38- C-19). </span></em></p>Research shows multiple social and cognitive benefits of playing video games.John Velez, Assistant Professor of Communication Science, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1513512020-12-23T14:54:12Z2020-12-23T14:54:12ZMake room for play as we stumble through this pandemic holiday and new year<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375272/original/file-20201215-13-14hl64a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C22%2C4468%2C3280&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Play is integral to how children process and understand their experiences.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We hear constantly how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bank-canada-economy-covid-19-1.5780703">the economy</a>, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00078-eng.htm">personal finance</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/pandemic-learning-gap-1.5732441">education</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2020.1761076">health</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-say-goodbye-to-zoom-yet-most-people-want-to-get-back-to-the-office-but-not-for-the-full-week-151057">the work day</a>. But what about play — how has the pandemic affected play? </p>
<p>The community capacity to provide play opportunities has been diminished by COVID-19 restrictions or closures, yet <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6881629/coronavirus-lockdown-child-care/">parental workload at home</a> has generally grown, which in turn has strained parents’ <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html">mental well-being</a>. Children’s play is now largely determined by parents’ ability to facilitate play in or around the home.</p>
<p>Research at the University of Regina has explored the effects that the pandemic appears to have on play. A recent study analyzed 10 conversations of between 60 and 90 minutes with parent participants describing their experiences in one-on-one virtual meetings, as well as hundreds of electronically submitted stories about play (or lack thereof) during the pandemic. The study is now undergoing peer review. </p>
<p>Since many communities are facing challenging second wave lockdowns or restrictions, we wanted to share our current recommendations for supporting play at home during the COVID-19 pandemic through the holidays and into 2021 <a href="https://www.playyqr.ca/research.html">based on our early findings</a> and our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2017.1288391">research expertise in play</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child at a playground in winter." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Making an effort to get outside even for a few minutes every day appears to be a critical step towards play, health and happiness during these challenging times.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Whitney Blaisdell)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Prioritize your own wellness</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4152417/">Parental wellness</a> is a critical factor to play during the pandemic. Adults whose wellness is suffering are more likely to become not only less playful, but to actively resist play. Conversely, adult wellness spills over to benefit children through an increased ability to be fun-loving, relaxed and playful. It is recommended that adults prioritize their own wellness throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<h2>2. Value play</h2>
<p>Play is often <a href="https://www.dailyitem.com/news/fulbright-scholar-where-did-play-time-go/article_09bb48d4-c925-5c42-8e59-c4db605b3c46.html">undervalued</a>. A perceived importance of <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=jcHOugXx33wC&oi=fnd&pg=PA147&dq=info:Ff-k8OUoUI8J:scholar.google.com&ots=YKM6E8lD0r&sig=wFKX44MDVdR0pPUei2EJMdFi52c&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">academic achievement over play for small children</a> and an increasingly <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/9/9/3134">risk-avoidant society can threaten children’s opportunities to play</a>. </p>
<p>Play is a wonderful <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X034001013">tool for learning and cognitive development</a>. More importantly, play is fun and life is short. </p>
<p>In the midst of a pandemic that has placed constant demands on people to <a href="https://hbr.org/sponsored/2020/07/6-ways-to-avoid-isolation-fatigue-while-balancing-the-demands-of-remote-work">adapt their professional capacities</a> while <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/20/7417">lacking in-person contact</a>, play can become a vital avenue for both adults and children to strengthen our outlook and resilience. Approaching the pandemic, as much as possible, as a novel opportunity for family togetherness and play allows us to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic with greater joy and to foster resilience.</p>
<h2>3. Set a tone for neighbourhood play</h2>
<p>The visibility of children playing outdoors appears to be contagious. Parents can normalize free play by offering their children more freedom to play or even discussing their desire for a more playful community with neighbours. </p>
<p>Children have generally been <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/covid-19-return-to-school">expected to meet public health guidelines in school</a> that often include <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/In-Person-Learning/Health-and-Safety/Mask-and-Face-Covering-Requirements-For-TDSB-Students-and-Staff">wearing masks</a> and <a href="https://peopleforeducation.ca/our-work/tracking-canadas-education-systems-response-to-covid-19/">maintaining physical distance</a> from people outside of their household; parents can ask and reasonably expect children to follow the same guidelines in their outdoor play. The current <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-adult-sports-ban-1.5826300">lack of structured activities</a> combined with the professional obligations of many parents working from home has created an opportunity for community revitalization of children’s outdoor free play.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Brothers with a sled." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parents can play a role in normalizing free play by offering their children more freedom to play outside or talking with neighbours.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. See children as drivers of play</h2>
<p>Children often engage in play with items or ideas that appear unchildlike or unplayful. Their play may revolve around mature concepts like death, illness, justice and control. Psychologist Lev Vygotsky <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1070266.pdf">famously wrote</a>: “In play a child is always above his average age, above his daily behaviour; in play it is as though he were a head taller than himself. As in the focus of a magnifying glass, play contains all developmental tendencies in a condensed form; in play it is as though the child were trying to jump above the level of his normal behaviour.” </p>
<p>Seeing children as drivers of their own play who are capable of conceiving, planning and executing their play will offer children an opportunity to increase their play stamina, while putting less stress on parents to entertain their children.</p>
<h2>5. Arrange a playful environment</h2>
<p>Homes with access to a private yard stand out as an advantage in offering opportunities for play. Of course, this is a privilege that <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00009-eng.htm">many families do not have</a>. However, a playful environment can be arranged with little to no spending. First, make the home feel as safe as necessary, so children can freely explore the home environment with minimal supervision. </p>
<p>Next, minimize toys. Children’s play relies surprisingly little on toys, and tidying toys can be a burden to parents who are currently experiencing a heavier domestic workload.</p>
<p>Finally, make outdoor access as easy as possible. Visible and easily accessed outerwear and footwear, and mats or towels near exterior doors to minimize mess, help make outdoor play more enjoyable and attractive.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Girl with soccer ball." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Spending time playing outdoors has been found to greatly contribute to one’s overall well-being.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>6. Get outside</h2>
<p>Spending time playing outdoors has been found to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3">greatly contribute to one’s overall well-being</a>. </p>
<p>Trying to make an effort to get outside even for a few minutes every day appears to be a critical step towards play, health and happiness during these challenging times.</p>
<p>Overall, COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on our <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2008017">individual and collective health and social and emotional functioning</a>. As we stumble our way through this pandemic, let’s remember that <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-children-process-grief-and-loss-through-play">play itself is integral to how children can process and understand their experiences with the pandemic; it is how they make sense of the world</a>.</p>
<p>Through attending to our own wellness, examining our attitudes towards play, normalizing child-structured outdoor play, framing children as drivers of play, arranging a playful environment and spending time outside, we too are attempting to be more playful and joyful during this challenging time. We wish the readers all the best in their own pursuit of play.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151351/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick J Lewis is affiliated with Project Play YQR a non profit which works to promote Play. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Whitney Blaisdell is the founder of Project Play YQR, a non-profit organization that promotes play.</span></em></p>Supporting play begins with parents attending to their own wellness and seeing children as drivers of their own play.Patrick J Lewis, Associate Dean, Professor ECE, University of ReginaWhitney Blaisdell, Master's student, Faculty of Education, University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1246422019-10-06T09:02:56Z2019-10-06T09:02:56ZParenting in Ethiopia: lessons on raising children under tough conditions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295436/original/file-20191003-52852-157mvfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Ethiopia, rainfall is highly correlated with income and poorer parent’s ability to invest.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Investments made in early childhood last a lifetime, and the earlier in life, the greater the return, according to James <a href="https://heckmanequation.org/about-professor-heckman/">Heckman</a> who was awarded a Nobel Prize for economics. Conversely, shocks to child development also can last a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jeea.12088">lifetime</a>. For example, children who were young at the time of the 1984 famine in Ethiopia are 5cm shorter at adulthood, have lower education and are more likely to have recently been ill.</p>
<p>When assessing long-term effects of early life circumstances, it’s difficult to disentangle biological from social processes. An outstanding question is: why can’t children catch up after shocks to their development? </p>
<p>It’s hard to know whether those in Ethiopia in 1984 were permanently affected by the famine because there are biological processes at work which prevent them catching up, or because their parents stopped investing in them in favour of their siblings who were better off. In other words, do parents reinforce differences, or do they try to compensate for them?</p>
<p>To answer this question, we conducted a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00148-019-00752-7">study</a> to examine how parents in a very resource-constrained setting responded to differences in their children’s ability. We used data from the Young Lives cohort <a href="https://www.younglives.org.uk">study</a> in Ethiopia, which is a study of childhood poverty following children born at the turn of the millennium as they grow up. </p>
<p>The children’s ability was measured by how they scored on a vocabulary test. We assessed around 1 400 children aged between 5 and 8 years old. They were all pairs of two siblings. We took the difference between these test scores and examined the relationship between these and differences in spending on education for each child. </p>
<p>We found that parents tended to invest more in the child who has worse cognitive achievement and used their scarce resources to spend more on education. Even in a sample of extremely poor households, those who comparably had more resources were most likely to compensate for differences in ability. These differences are significant but marginal in value. </p>
<p>When following up the children three years later, we found no change in the gap between the siblings, despite parent’s efforts. This indicates that the achievement gap for those children who suffer from severe early life conditions is due to biological processes, even though their parents try to help them catch up. </p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>There is a possibility that differences in test scores were already caused by parents investing differently in each child up to the point that they took the test, which is a common problem in studies of this type. To deal with this problem, we attempted to isolate those differences in cognitive development that were caused by factors outside of the household’s control. </p>
<p>For this, we used the difference in rainfall levels during early childhood of the two siblings. In Ethiopia, rainfall is highly <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305750X15306392">correlated</a> with income and poorer parent’s ability to invest.</p>
<p>We see this as evidence of how poor households are trying to improve the life chances of all their children, and even a small improvement in their wealth leads to greater efforts to compensate for adverse shocks. But these efforts were not successful. We think this is due to the small resources at their disposal. The importance of interventions at the earliest stages of life also cannot be emphasised enough. </p>
<h2>Competing theories</h2>
<p>As part of our research, we explored existing economic theories about how parents allocate their scarce resources in the household. There are two competing ones.</p>
<p>Many economists subscribe to the idea that a family that wants to maximise the total income of all children should invest in the highest ability child, or <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1831106#metadata_info_tab_contents">reinforce</a> differences (the so-called efficiency argument). So, other things being equal, if you have a sibling who is smarter than you, your parents will invest in them more than in you.</p>
<p>However, a competing theory is that parents are averse to inequality between their children, and would rather <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1831229?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">compensate</a> for any differences. In developed countries, income is higher and the government plays a stronger role: schooling is compulsory, public education is free, and legislation prohibiting children from working full time is strongly enforced. </p>
<p>In developing countries, many poor parents face even tighter financial constraints, and the prevalence of child labour means there are starker trade-offs: invest in your child now to ensure a brighter, more prosperous future? Or, have them use their time to work in order to feed the family today? It’s often assumed that in the poorest countries, the constraints will outweigh the desire for equality, and therefore parents will reinforce differences.</p>
<h2>Going forward</h2>
<p>Ethiopia’s economy has been growing rapidly in the past ten years, and an expanded <a href="https://essp.ifpri.info/productive-safety-net-program-psnp/">social safety net</a>. But many households are still very poor and dependent on rain-fed agriculture. Malnutrition rates are high, and expansion in access to education has not translated into improved <a href="https://www.younglives.org.uk/sites/www.younglives.org.uk/files/YL-WP152-Learning%20outcomes%20in%20Ethiopia.pdf">learning outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>Protecting children from adverse events in early childhood will become even more important as Africa will face the consequences of <a href="https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2018-march-2019/global-warming-severe-consequences-africa">climate change</a>. Governments need to do more to support parents in what are expected to become increasingly tough conditions. This includes social additional social protection measures. And it should include interventions like <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/african-smallholder-farmers-get-insurance-payouts-us15-million-after-low-rainfall">rainfall insurance</a> and climate change adaptation to help parents do the best for their children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124642/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Porter receives funding from the UK Department of International Development. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wei Fan receives funding from the Young Lives Study at University of Oxford. </span></em></p>Contrary to the belief that resource strained parents invest in academically stronger children, studies show that Ethiopian parents tend to invest more in the child with lower academic capabilities.Catherine Porter, Senior lecturer, Economics, Lancaster UniversityWei Fan, PhD candidate in Economics, Heriot-Watt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1230722019-09-23T21:55:31Z2019-09-23T21:55:31ZYour preschooler’s forgetfulness isn’t bad behaviour and nagging them won’t help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293273/original/file-20190919-22450-sxc3dd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The ability to remember to carry out future intentions, known as prospective memory, is still developing in early childhood. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Another school year is upon us, and both parents and children have a lot to remember as people are coming and going on new schedules: make and take lunches, bring an item for show-and-tell, carry cups to the table for dinner when asked. </p>
<p>At this time of year, a young child’s forgetfulness can be frustrating for parents. They may be thinking (or saying) things like: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“How could you possibly forget to brush your teeth when I asked you one minute ago!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Or: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“What do you mean you left your lunch on the school bus?” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It might reassure parents to know that the ability to remember to carry out future intentions, known as prospective memory, is still developing in early childhood. </p>
<p>Research in my lab at Brock University has examined <a href="http://www.brockdmclab.com">how this type of memory improves over early childhood</a>. The results are clear: young children are still developing the skill of remembering their future intentions. Young children often forget to carry out their intentions and this is not due to bad behaviour. </p>
<h2>Forgetting for different reasons</h2>
<p>We see this in the lab, where children forget to carry out a simple intention (such as to place a specific card in a box) but seem completely unaware of their mistake. In fact, when asked to report what they should have done, most preschoolers rhyme off what they were supposed to do without any difficulty — despite forgetting to have done it.</p>
<p>Importantly, children at different ages seem to forget for two distinct reasons. Children aged two and three tend to forget the content of their intention: they cannot remember what it is they have to do. In contrast, children over the age of three usually to remember what they have to do, but fail to carry out the intention at the appropriate moment. </p>
<p>For example, while a two- or three-year-old might forget that they even had to feed their goldfish, a child over the age of three would likely remember that they had to feed their goldfish, but would fail to do it at the appropriate time. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293289/original/file-20190919-22429-1se3hsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293289/original/file-20190919-22429-1se3hsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293289/original/file-20190919-22429-1se3hsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293289/original/file-20190919-22429-1se3hsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293289/original/file-20190919-22429-1se3hsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293289/original/file-20190919-22429-1se3hsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293289/original/file-20190919-22429-1se3hsk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A child over the age of three would likely remember that they had to feed their goldfish but would fail to do it at the appropriate time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although children’s forgetfulness may be frustrating for parents, hopefully there is comfort in the knowledge that forgetting is unintentional and reflects normative development during the preschool years. By the time a child is six or seven, this type of memory is usually much better and it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2013.07.012">continues to improve during the middle childhood years</a>.</p>
<p>One study showed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2006.08.003">that 66 per cent of two-year-olds could not report what they had to remember to do, whereas by age four the majority of children had no trouble with this</a>
.</p>
<h2>Forgetting intention</h2>
<p>The gap between children’s knowledge of rules and what the child should actually do is called an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2014(96)90027-1">abulic dissociation, and is well-documented in young children’s thinking</a>. An important question is: What is driving this disconnect between remembering the intention but forgetting to act on it at the correct time? </p>
<p>Much of my recent research has suggested that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2014.08.001">self-regulatory abilities (known as executive functions) are contributing to children’s poor memory performance</a>. Children’s memory for future intentions is related to their ability to regulate their thoughts and actions, especially under demanding conditions. </p>
<p>As children’s self-regulatory capacities and prefrontal regions of the brain develop, so does their ability to carry out their future intentions.</p>
<h2>Visual cues may help</h2>
<p>But what can parents, teachers, and other caregivers do to improve children’s memory for future intentions? <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17405620802025643">Motivation</a> seems to help three-year-olds. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.1983.10533537">classic study</a> showed that even two-year-olds successfully reminded their mothers of high-interest events (such as buying ice cream). </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293291/original/file-20190919-22425-1lhf17z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293291/original/file-20190919-22425-1lhf17z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293291/original/file-20190919-22425-1lhf17z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293291/original/file-20190919-22425-1lhf17z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293291/original/file-20190919-22425-1lhf17z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293291/original/file-20190919-22425-1lhf17z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293291/original/file-20190919-22425-1lhf17z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A study found that even two-year-old children can remind their moms of high-interest events.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It might be most helpful to give children aged two and three strategies to remember what they have to do (for example, making a future intention into a song). For children older than four, you might provide more information about paying attention to cues in the environment that signal the right time to carry out an intention. </p>
<p>Making the relevant cue <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2014.01.006">more noticeable</a> also helps. For example, placing a child’s lunch box right in front of the door will likely result in less forgetting than if you leave it on the kitchen table.</p>
<h2>Verbal cues: not so much</h2>
<p>Nagging, however, does not make a difference. Recent research from my lab shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2018.06.004">verbal reminders have little effect on children’s ability to remember</a>. Neither reminders of what children should do nor reminders to pay attention boosted memory performance. In fact, the reminder to “keep paying attention” had a negative impact on four-year-olds’ abilities to remember a future intention. </p>
<p>It’s possible that preschoolers don’t benefit from verbal reminders because they are not yet aware that rehearsing what you have to do — for example, the instruction not to forget feeding the goldfish — might reduce forgetting.</p>
<p>As your child and family returns to the fall routines, be patient with your young child’s forgetfulness, know it is a developmental stage and try to focus on enjoying them as they are. </p>
<p>Like many aspects of children’s cognitive development, there is no point fighting over something that is a part of normal development and will change as your child gets older. </p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123072/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlin Mahy receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Science. </span></em></p>As children’s self-regulatory capacities and the prefrontal regions of their brains develop, so does their ability to carry out their future intentions.Caitlin Mahy, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1190662019-07-01T12:57:38Z2019-07-01T12:57:38ZMusic engagement and achievement predicts higher grades in math, science and English<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281163/original/file-20190625-81750-13pguyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students who were highly engaged in instrumental music were, on average, over one year ahead in their math, English and science skills.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What does maturing mean after elementary school? Here’s one thing it shouldn’t mean: dropping music at school. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I at the University of British Columbia studied over 110,000 public school students. We learned that students involved in extended music engagement (between grades 8 - 12) do one full year <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000376">better academically than non-music peers, particularly when engaged in instrumental music sustained over years of schooling</a>. Also, music achievement predicts academic achievement in math, science and English. </p>
<p>Music matters for its own sake, but also because, as our study shows, music engagement sustained from childhood into adolescence – particularly instrumental music that begins in elementary school – is significantly related to better high school achievement. </p>
<h2>Study: Rich data</h2>
<p>Thanks to rich educational and socio-economic data capturing the full population of B.C. public school students for several cohorts, we had an unprecedented opportunity to examine how student participation in music and music achievement predicted and related to <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/program-management/assessment/provincial-exams">provincial examination scores</a> in high school English, math and science subjects. We looked at scores from provincial testing from Grade 10 math, science and English as well as Grade 12 English in relationship to students’ participation in music. </p>
<p>In our study, we counted both the number of high school courses taken, as well as student high school involvement and grades in graduation program music courses (concert band, jazz band, orchestra, piano and choir) taken across public high school years (Grades 8-12).</p>
<p>Based on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14613800601127569">previous research</a> we inferred that music involvement that continued up to Grade 12 would be associated with (and predict) higher high school grades in mathematics, science and English. We expected instrumental music would have a more pronounced positive impact than vocal music. </p>
<p>We found that this is true, even when we take into account the following four factors: children’s prior elementary school educational achievement in numeracy and literacy, as captured by the B.C. Foundation Skills Assessment Grade 7 examination; gender; socioeconomic background (as gauged by the student’s home neighbourhood); linguistic diversity, captured by language spoken in the home.</p>
<p>We used a statistical regression model and adjusted our analyses to control for those four factors. We did this to demonstrate that these factors were not key determinants in musical or academic achievement and to address the problem of what researchers call confounding — unaccounted-for factors that might lead to incorrect findings. </p>
<p>While we are not yet able to infer causality — that music causes students to be smarter or improve their grades — we were able to identify a predictive relationship between music achievement and academic achievement, and demonstrate that more music engagement can be better for overall learning.</p>
<h2>Sustained engagement</h2>
<p>A handful of experiments <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X16300641">have found that</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01694">students randomly assigned to music training outperform those assigned to non-music groups</a>. </p>
<p>But music is an inherently complex phenomenon — there are many ways to make and engage with music. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885200617300790">Many other studies</a> have <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0002831217701830">examined music participation</a> but they didn’t take into account different types of music making such as instrumental music, vocal music, or other forms and amounts of engagement. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281670/original/file-20190627-76701-ht9y7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281670/original/file-20190627-76701-ht9y7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281670/original/file-20190627-76701-ht9y7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281670/original/file-20190627-76701-ht9y7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281670/original/file-20190627-76701-ht9y7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281670/original/file-20190627-76701-ht9y7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281670/original/file-20190627-76701-ht9y7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are many ways to make music.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Also, several earlier studies have been based on <a href="https://mp.ucpress.edu/content/29/2/147">small, unrepresentative samples</a> or considered only <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082007">brief exposure to music training</a> — whereas a central claim substantiated by our study underscores the academic achievement benefits from sustained engagement in music training over several years.</p>
<h2>Increased cognitive capacity</h2>
<p>Students in the present study who were highly engaged in instrumental music were, on average, over one year ahead in their math, English and science skills, compared to those peers not engaged in school music. </p>
<p>We say one year ahead because the math, science and English grades that music-engaged students obtained in Grade 10 could place them a full year ahead in their curricular studies. In practical terms, the effect sizes we measured when comparing adolescents in the very highly engaged instrumental music group with the no music group (even after adjustment) were of a magnitude similar to or <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2008.00061.x">greater than the average annual gains in reading, science and math that are seen during the high school years in the U.S. context</a> </p>
<p>We attribute these strong associations between music engagement and academic achievement to a combination of <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01198/full">increased cognitive capacity</a>. In the brain, instrumental music changes the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28397108">structure and function of the Heschl’s gyrus (HG) and the specific area which contains it, the auditory cortex (AC)</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281668/original/file-20190627-76722-1fstrli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281668/original/file-20190627-76722-1fstrli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281668/original/file-20190627-76722-1fstrli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281668/original/file-20190627-76722-1fstrli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281668/original/file-20190627-76722-1fstrli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281668/original/file-20190627-76722-1fstrli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281668/original/file-20190627-76722-1fstrli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students learn to ‘think music’ as their musical learning deepens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To make music in upper secondary grade levels, students need to go beyond simple button pushing and the mechanical playing of instruments. Students need to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/875512339201100104">“think music” through a process known as audiation</a>. Audiation is the ability to compare what was heard in the immediate past in music listening with the present, and to connect what was heard with our expectations of what might come next. Music audiation ability is significantly correlated to the structure and function of the Heschl’s gyrus in the auditory cortex. </p>
<p>We do not yet fully understand the mechanisms of how music learning transfers to other developmental areas, but our work and <a href="http://alm.plos.org/works/doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2014.11.020">numerous studies</a> suggest <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0028393295000455?via%3Dihub">that extended, engagement with music learning (particularly instrumental music) enhances cognitive mechanisms</a>.</p>
<p>It is also likely that prolonged and more music engagement results in higher motivation and self-efficacy, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02023/full">executive functions</a> and a positive impact on <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2012.714361">emotional development</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0305735604041491">self esteem</a>. </p>
<p>The patterns of our findings suggest that music participation – especially in instrumental music, and multiple years of engagement over time – confers cognitive benefits in the form of tangible differences in many aspects of academic learning.</p>
<h2>Significant associations</h2>
<p>When focusing solely on learners who took instrumental music, additional important and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2013.04.009">theoretically plausible</a> findings are revealed — namely that there is a “dose-response” type relationship. This means that higher levels of engagement (more classes) in music are related to incrementally higher exam scores. We also see significant, predictive relationships between higher grades in instrumental music courses and higher exam scores.</p>
<p>Music may not make you smarter, but we now know that music engagement sustained from childhood into adolescence — and more of it, especially instrumental music — may lead to doing better in high school.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vsb-cuts-music-1.4102896">emphasis on numeracy and literacy at the cost of other areas of learning, particularly music,</a> should not be acceptable in our public schools. </p>
<p>Let the band play on! </p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Scott_Emerson">Scott Emerson</a> contributed to this study’s literature review and statistical analyses.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119066/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Gouzouasis received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada for this research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Guhn received funding, together with Principal Investigator Dr. Peter Gouzouasis, from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC).</span></em></p>Researchers who looked at over 110,000 students found that learning an instrument in elementary school, and continuing music study into high school, significantly improves school achievement.Peter Gouzouasis, Professor, University of British ColumbiaMartin Guhn, Assistant Professor, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/996372018-08-19T19:51:32Z2018-08-19T19:51:32ZSix things you should do when reading with your kids<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227259/original/file-20180711-27036-1foaon8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stories take children on imaginary adventures.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Mazyar Hooshidar. </span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is magic in stories. We all remember hearing them as children, and we loved them. Imaginary adventures set in faraway places. Tales about how the dishwasher isn’t working. It doesn’t matter! Whether made up by parents or read from books, kids love to hear stories.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10888438.2018.1482901">recent work</a> showed reading to children positively impacts long term academic achievement more than many other activity (including playing music with them, or doing craft). We found the more frequently parents read to their children, the better their children’s NAPLAN scores in different areas. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-you-can-only-do-one-thing-for-your-children-it-should-be-shared-reading-95146">If you can only do one thing for your children, it should be shared reading</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In our most recent study, we asked parents to read a wordless storybook to their three to five-year-old children titled The Wolf and Seven Little Goats. We also tested children in many areas of their important cognitive skills, such as language proficiency, memory, self-control, and friendship skills. </p>
<p>Through examining the different ways parents tell stories, we have pinpointed which elements of shared reading are most beneficial for children’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775714000156">cognitive development</a>. </p>
<h2>1. Tune in to your child</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most important aspect of reading to children is to tune in to your child. Listen to your child’s cues. Do they like the story? Do they know the vocabulary? Are they paying attention to the pictures more, or the text? </p>
<p>Try to coach your child, not to instruct them. Instead of saying: “look they are going to cook some food, maybe they are hungry”, you can ask “what are they doing?” or “why do you think they’re doing that?”. </p>
<p>Be sensitive about whether they are listening and engaged or uninterested and disengaged. If they are disengaged, are there questions you can ask to make them more interested? Do you think they’ll like a different type of story better? The best books for your child are the ones they <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181204/110118.pdf">enjoy</a> most. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/research-shows-the-importance-of-parents-reading-with-children-even-after-children-can-read-82756">Research shows the importance of parents reading with children – even after children can read</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. Ask questions</h2>
<p>Parents who ask lots of questions engage in a more fun and informative way with their children. Ask them if they know the vocabulary, if they can guess what the characters are going to do next, and why they’ve done what they’ve done. </p>
<p>These questions are not only helpful because they help children gain new knowledge and ways of thinking, it also <a href="https://theconversation.com/reading-to-your-child-the-difference-it-makes-57473">helps strengthen</a> the emotional bond between parent and child. Children <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4337405/">like to feel</a> they’re a part of the task, not that they’re being told how to do things. </p>
<h2>3. Go beyond describing images or reading text</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232002/original/file-20180815-2924-grfzce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232002/original/file-20180815-2924-grfzce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232002/original/file-20180815-2924-grfzce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232002/original/file-20180815-2924-grfzce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232002/original/file-20180815-2924-grfzce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232002/original/file-20180815-2924-grfzce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232002/original/file-20180815-2924-grfzce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232002/original/file-20180815-2924-grfzce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How would you describe what’s happening in this scene?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In our study, we gave parents a wordless picture book. An important difference we observed between parents was some only describe what they see. Some go beyond the picture. </p>
<p>For example, when the mother goat in the picture book comes home and sees the door to the house open, one parent said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When their mother came home and was looking forward to seeing her children and hugging them and telling them a story, she suddenly saw that the door is open. She was shocked!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another parent said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The mother came home and saw the door is open; she went inside and looked for the children. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This parent is only describing the picture. </p>
<p>The first parent is imagining what is beyond the picture and text. This is a richer way to tell a story to children, and ultimately leads to better cognitive developmental outcomes for children. This is because it teaches abstract thinking, which is the basis for many of the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351236898/chapters/10.4324%2F9781351236904-7">higher order cognitive abilities</a> such as problem solving and critical analysis. </p>
<h2>4. Make logical links between different parts of the story</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232004/original/file-20180815-2918-1ugi4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232004/original/file-20180815-2918-1ugi4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232004/original/file-20180815-2918-1ugi4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232004/original/file-20180815-2918-1ugi4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232004/original/file-20180815-2918-1ugi4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232004/original/file-20180815-2918-1ugi4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232004/original/file-20180815-2918-1ugi4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232004/original/file-20180815-2918-1ugi4c4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This wolf is a cunning creature.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another element that has a strong link to the development of children’s cognitive skills is the way parents build logical links between different parts of the story. </p>
<p>Often the events in books unfold very quickly. One minute, the wolf eats the little goats, and the next minute he is found by the mother. Some parents try to make the sequence of events more logical than others. </p>
<p>For example, in this picture, when the wolf is coming to knock on the door, one parent said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The wolf, who realised the mother is not home, came and knocked on the door. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This sentence is lacking logical links. How did the wolf know the mother is not home? Why should he come and knock on the door? What did he want? </p>
<p>Another parent said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The wolf, who was sunbathing in the bush, saw that the mother is going to get some food. He thought, oh, the little goats are alone at home, and it’s a good time for me to go and trick them and maybe get a good lunch! </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The parent here is clearly providing logical links between these different parts of the story.</p>
<h2>5. Add relevant details</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232003/original/file-20180815-2921-1jx1umy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232003/original/file-20180815-2921-1jx1umy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232003/original/file-20180815-2921-1jx1umy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232003/original/file-20180815-2921-1jx1umy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232003/original/file-20180815-2921-1jx1umy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232003/original/file-20180815-2921-1jx1umy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232003/original/file-20180815-2921-1jx1umy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232003/original/file-20180815-2921-1jx1umy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Keep added details relevant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also found most parents add many details to the story to make it more interesting or comprehensive. But <em>relevant</em> details are the most useful in terms of improving children’s learning. Relevant details are the kind of details that help make the story easier to understand. </p>
<p>For example, one parent said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The little goat, who was wearing the yellow shirt and was the smallest said: ‘we shouldn’t open the door! How do we know this is our mother? She has just left.’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Here, wearing a yellow shirt is a descriptive detail, but it doesn’t add much to the story. </p>
<p>Another mother said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The smallest one, who was also the cleverest and very careful, said… </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This second parent is clearly adding a detail (that the smaller one is also the cleverest and careful) that makes the story more meaningful and easier to follow.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/enjoyment-of-reading-not-mechanics-of-reading-can-improve-literacy-for-boys-91321">Enjoyment of reading, not mechanics of reading, can improve literacy for boys</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>6. Talk about mental and emotional concepts</h2>
<p>We found parents who not only describe the events of a story but also discuss <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00506/full">abstract concepts</a> related to emotions, desires and thoughts tend to have children who are better cognitively skilled. These children develop a better understanding of others’ emotions, better friendship skills, and even improved memory and higher order cognitive skills that are useful in later life. These lead to <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=cvLWDQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=abstract+concepts+children+better+cognitive+ability&ots=DtILotRFSV&sig=FftCKFka4vA-j2mpu3iY8UxDopY#v=onepage&q=abstract%20concepts%20children%20better%20cognitive%20ability&f=false">academic success</a> as well as better skills to build friendships and perform well in social relationships.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99637/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Amelia Shay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Reading styles vary in effectiveness. Here are six things you can do, based on research, to help your child get the most out of shared reading.Dr Amelia Shay, Research Fellow in Developmental and Educational Psychology, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/978442018-06-28T20:54:03Z2018-06-28T20:54:03ZFive tips to manage screen time this summer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225379/original/file-20180628-117382-15qet9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Excess screen time for children and adolescents is linked to many negative outcomes such as obesity, language delays and antisocial behaviour. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Summer is finally here, which means we can all look forward to some fun in the sun! </p>
<p>The down side is that the Monday to Friday school routine is out the window. The lack of routine makes it easy to lose track of how much screen time our kids are getting. And this has many parents wondering — how much screen time is too much, and how can we manage it?</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/screen-time-and-young-children">Canadian Pediatric Society defines screen time as any time spent on a screen-based device</a>, including television, computers, smart phones, tablets, video games and even wearable technology such as a smart watch. </p>
<p>As these screen-based devices are becoming such a central part of our lives, along with emerging technologies such as virtual reality, it is important that we tune in to their potential impact on our kids’ health and development.</p>
<h2>Plugged in early and often</h2>
<p>Access to screen-based devices among children is on the rise. <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-kids-age-zero-to-eight-2017">Nearly all kids live in a home with a mobile media device</a>, according to a report by Common Sense Media. And in 2017, 42 per cent of kids (compared to only one per cent in 2011) had their own tablet or smart phone. </p>
<p>This same report shows that children under eight years of age spend an average of two hours and 19 minutes each day and children under two spend an average of 42 minutes per day, on screen media. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225380/original/file-20180628-117371-q8uhzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225380/original/file-20180628-117371-q8uhzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225380/original/file-20180628-117371-q8uhzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225380/original/file-20180628-117371-q8uhzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225380/original/file-20180628-117371-q8uhzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225380/original/file-20180628-117371-q8uhzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225380/original/file-20180628-117371-q8uhzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Having a family media plan can help to limit screen time and promote healthy summer activities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When examining daily screen time for older children and teenagers, a 2015 report showed that <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens">those aged eight to 12 years are spending more than 4.5 hours per day on a screen-based device</a>, and teenagers between 13 and 18 years of age are spending over 6.5 hours per day on one.</p>
<p>While screens can be used to support education with older children, experts are concerned about the impact that excess screen time may have on children’s health and developmental outcomes. </p>
<h2>Obesity and language delays</h2>
<p>Research has shown <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=A+randomized+trial+of+the+effects+of+reducing+television+viewing+and+computer+use+on+body+mass+index+in+young+children">a strong link between excess screen time and obesity</a>. This could be influenced by the sedentary nature of screen viewing and the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26794059">tendency to consume less healthy food items while engaging in screen-based activity</a>. </p>
<p>There is also research suggesting that excess screen time can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29093033">negatively impact a child’s cognitive development</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17974735">attention span</a>, and may even <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Television+viewing+associates+with+delayed+language+development">lead to language delays</a> among our youngest populations. </p>
<p>Within the adolescent population, research shows a link between <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Childhood+and+Adolescent+Television+Viewing+and+Antisocial+Behavior+in+Early+Adulthood">excessive screen viewing and antisocial behaviour in early adulthood</a>. </p>
<p>Thankfully, there are evidence-based guidelines to support parents in making informed decisions for the health of the whole family.</p>
<h2>Screen time recommendations.</h2>
<p>The recently published <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-017-4859-6"><em>Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years</em></a>, and the <a href="http://www.csep.ca/view.asp?x=696"><em>Canadian 24-hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth</em></a> provide recommendations for recreational screen time. </p>
<p>For children less than two years of age, screen time of any amount is not recommended. For children aged two to four years, screen time should be limited to no more than one hour each day. Children aged five to 17 years should limit recreational screen time to a maximum of two hours daily.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225381/original/file-20180628-117425-1twnz5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225381/original/file-20180628-117425-1twnz5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225381/original/file-20180628-117425-1twnz5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225381/original/file-20180628-117425-1twnz5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225381/original/file-20180628-117425-1twnz5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225381/original/file-20180628-117425-1twnz5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225381/original/file-20180628-117425-1twnz5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bedroom use of electronic devices is displacing sleep and lowering self-esteem among teenagers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now, if you’re reading this and thinking there is no way you have the mental stamina required to achieve these targets, don’t fret. There are a number of strategies parents can use:</p>
<h2><em>1. Set screen time limits</em></h2>
<p>It’s helpful to have a <a href="https://www.healthychildren.org/English/media/Pages/default.aspx#home">family media plan</a> that includes a screen-time limit for each child. Setting limits will help to set children’s expectations.</p>
<p>Research has shown that when parents set these limits, there is a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17482798.2015.997101">significant reduction in their overall screen time</a>. Of course, successful implementation requires consistency over time so children and adolescents develop a clear understanding of screen time rules.</p>
<h2><em>2. Keep meals media-free</em></h2>
<p>Meal time is the perfect time to connect with your children, learn about their day and share stories over food. Unplugging during meal time is helpful. </p>
<p>Research shows that children who watch television during meals <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15267431.2015.1013107">end up with more screen time overall</a>. A 2011 study showed that TV viewing during dinner was associated with an increase of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Parental+factors+associated+with+screen+time+in+pre-school+children+in+primary-care+practice%3A+a+TARGet+Kids!+study">69 minutes per day on weekdays and 122 minutes on weekends</a>.</p>
<p>Ditching devices while dining has the added bonus of improving dietary patterns. Research shows that children who use screens during meals consume <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=A+Review+of+Family+and+Social+Determinants+of+Children%E2%80%99s+Eating+Patterns+and+Diet+Quality">less healthy food options such as fruits and vegetables, and more snack foods and sugar sweetened beverages</a>.</p>
<p>For parents, removing your mobile media device from the dinner table shows your family that you are “plugged in” to the conversation. A 2015 study showed that when people brought a cell phone to the table, even when not in use, it resulted in a <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0013916514539755">reduced quality of conversation and undermined the depth of connection</a>.</p>
<h2>3. <em>Turn off so you can tune in</em></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270968213_Young_children%27s_screen_time_The_complex_role_of_parent_and_child_factors">The degree to which parents use their own screen based device is associated with their children’s screen time</a>. Avoiding screen use while engaging with your children is a great way to promote healthy behaviour.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IluEfa4LsEY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not only will this modeling help to reduce your children’s and adolescents’ overall screen time, but it prioritizes face-to-face interactions through conversation and active play.</p>
<h2><em>4. Don’t use screens to control behaviour</em></h2>
<p>It is tempting to use screen time as a means of controlling a child’s behaviour because it tends to result in an immediate response. However, this may cause an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3833950/">unintentional increase in screen use over the long term</a>. </p>
<p>An example of this would be providing screen time as a reward for good behaviour or taking it away as a punishment for bad behaviour. This can cause children to put a high value on screen time, and desire more of it.</p>
<h2><em>5. Bedrooms are for recharging bodies</em></h2>
<p>Keep mobile devices and charging stations out of the bedrooms! Teenagers need between <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29073412">eight to 10 hours of sleep</a> each night for proper growth and development, and to recharge themselves for another day. Studies have shown that bedroom use of mobile phones and other devices have been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Adolescent+sleep+patterns+and+night-time+technology+use%3A+results+of+the+Australian+Broadcasting+Corporation%27s+Big+Sleep+Survey.">displacing sleep time in the adolescent population</a>. </p>
<p>This displacement of sleep time <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28556891">decreases self-esteem and coping skills among our adolescents, and reduces their ability to manage behavioural impulses</a> Keeping devices out of bedrooms improves sleep quality and health among children and adolescents.</p>
<p>Parents play a strong role in guiding the media use of their children. Allowing children and teenagers opportunities to explore their natural environment away from screen-based devices promotes active play and creativity, and helps develop healthy behaviours now and in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97844/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jess Haines receives funding from Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Tang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>School is out and screens make tempting babysitters. Follow these recommendations to allow your child some screen time without compromising their health and development.Lisa Tang, PhD student in Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of GuelphJess Haines, Associate Professor of Applied Nutrition, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/961592018-05-10T10:49:17Z2018-05-10T10:49:17ZIdentifying with others who control themselves could strengthen your own self-control<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218304/original/file-20180509-34021-8of708.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=558%2C174%2C5060%2C3699&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If everyone else sticks with salad, maybe you will too.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/food-catering-cuisine-culinary-gourmet-buffet-429569989">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Is self-control something you can acquire, like a new language or a taste for opera? Or is it one of those things you either have or don’t, like fashion sense or a knack for telling a good joke?</p>
<p>Psychologist Walter Mischel’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2658056">famous results from the “marshmallow test”</a> seem to suggest self-control is relatively stable and not easily learned. In this test, children sit at a table in an otherwise empty room and are given a choice: They can have one marshmallow right away, or, if they can wait for the experimenter to get more marshmallows from another room, they can have two instead. Most children see this as a no-brainer and opt to wait for two marshmallows.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QX_oy9614HQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Kids trying their hardest not to eat the marshmallow.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The real test is waiting. Children are left alone in the room for up to 15 minutes or until they taste the marshmallow. Children vary in how long they can last without sampling the delectable treat in front of them, and it turns out that the longer they wait, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2658056">better they will fare later in life</a> – socially, emotionally and academically. Other tests find similar patterns. People who demonstrate more self-control in childhood are, as adults, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1010076108">healthier, wealthier and more law-abiding</a>.</p>
<p>Mischel himself has emphasized that children who showed more self-control used a variety of strategies that could be learned – like distracting themselves by singing and turning away from the marshmallow or distancing themselves from the marshmallow by imagining it as an inedible, fluffy cloud.</p>
<p>A less optimistic view holds that children who were good at distracting themselves had more self-control to begin with, which helped them activate self-distracting thoughts and behaviors rather than fixating on the sweet treat in front of them. And although Mischel found that children could be induced to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0076272">wait longer if they were taught these kinds of strategies</a>, there’s no evidence that such experimental interventions alter children’s spontaneous self-control behavior outside of the lab.</p>
<p>But don’t throw your hands up in resignation and reach for that second slice of chocolate cake just yet. A new wave of studies suggests that maybe self-control can be learned, provided that social forces encourage this learning. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617747367">In a new study</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=o-6sJAcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">my colleague</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=75UfqO0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">and I</a> found that children will use self-control if they believe others they identify with do.</p>
<h2>Everybody’s doing it</h2>
<p>Despite enormous interest in improving self-control, researchers have had limited success (so far) in figuring out how to train for it. The general approach has been to target the cognitive processes – called executive functions – that support self-control. </p>
<p>Researchers have children practice activities that activate these processes. Training can lead to some improvements on similar tasks, but typically <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00745.x">does not generalize to other untrained tasks or outcomes</a>. This is a real problem because a key goal of self-control training is to be able to transfer strengthened skills to real-world situations.</p>
<p>My colleague and I wondered if group influences might be key. Maybe capitalizing on social processes like group values and norms could have a broader influence on self-control skill development. So we designed a study to test whether group behavior influences children’s self-control.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218143/original/file-20180508-34009-uuaccv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218143/original/file-20180508-34009-uuaccv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218143/original/file-20180508-34009-uuaccv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218143/original/file-20180508-34009-uuaccv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218143/original/file-20180508-34009-uuaccv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218143/original/file-20180508-34009-uuaccv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218143/original/file-20180508-34009-uuaccv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218143/original/file-20180508-34009-uuaccv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A girl in the ‘green group’ works to resist the temptation of a marshmallow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sabine Doebel</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We randomly assigned American preschoolers to a group – for example, telling them they were in “the green group” and giving them a green T-shirt to wear. Then we told them that their group waited or didn’t wait for two marshmallows. We also told them about another group (the “out-group”) that did the opposite of their group (the “in-group”). This step was designed to enhance their identification with their own group. Other studies have shown that this kind of procedure leads to in-group favoritism <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01577.x">in preschoolers</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420030103">and adults</a> alike.</p>
<p>We found that children waited longer for two marshmallows if they were told their in-group members waited and that out-group members did not versus if they were told that their in-group members didn’t wait and out-group members did. Kids who were told their in-group members waited also lasted longer than other kids who didn’t learn anything about their group’s behavior.</p>
<p>Why did children follow their group? In a follow-up experiment, we found that children whose group members waited subsequently preferred other nongroup individuals who waited for things like stickers, candy and money. This suggests children weren’t simply copying what their group members did. Rather, it seems that the group’s behavior influenced the value the child subsequently placed on self-control.</p>
<p>We’ve since replicated these findings in another culture, finding that Japanese children will choose to wait for more stickers if they believe in-group members wait and out-group members don’t. Impressively, Japanese children still follow their group even if they are given reason to identify with the out-group.</p>
<h2>Outside influences on internal control</h2>
<p>This research is the first to show that group behavior motivates young children’s own actions that involve self-control. Identifying with a group can help kids use and even value self-control when they otherwise would not have.</p>
<p>These findings converge with other recent and classic findings that social forces influence self-control in children. Children will wait longer for two marshmallows if they believe the person dispensing them is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2012.08.004">reliable</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12388">trustworthy</a>. Children also <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0022655">model other people’s self-control behavior</a>. Even infants will work longer to achieve a goal if they <a href="https://theconversation.com/babies-can-learn-the-value-of-persistence-by-watching-grownups-stick-with-a-challenge-84327">see an adult try to achieve their own goal repeatedly</a>.</p>
<p>How do these findings of social influences on self-control square with the fact that the marshmallow test and others are so reliably predictive of later life outcomes? Do they mean that self-control actually isn’t stable? Not necessarily.</p>
<p>You could just be someone who likes to wait for or save things (there are 3-year-olds like this, believe it or not), but this doesn’t mean your behavior in a given moment isn’t subject to social influences. Even young children will adjust their baseline self-control tendencies depending on the context, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12401">saving less when saving turns out to be disadvantageous</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218306/original/file-20180509-4803-1bhdwhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218306/original/file-20180509-4803-1bhdwhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218306/original/file-20180509-4803-1bhdwhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218306/original/file-20180509-4803-1bhdwhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218306/original/file-20180509-4803-1bhdwhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218306/original/file-20180509-4803-1bhdwhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218306/original/file-20180509-4803-1bhdwhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218306/original/file-20180509-4803-1bhdwhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘I’ll be out in a bit, you know I always finish my homework first!’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/school-boy-working-on-personal-computer-390440224">FamVeld/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And social influences could, over time, play a role in shaping how much a person tends to use self-control generally. For instance, imagine a child grows up among peers who really value doing well in school and use self-control to complete homework before running off to play. Exposure to this group norm could influence the child to do the same. The idea is that the more you practice self-control, the easier it gets to use it. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2015.07.001">Repetition will strengthen the underlying neurocognitive systems</a> that support these skills.</p>
<p>So can self-control be learned? My answer is yes – what can seem like an inborn trait may actually be substantially influenced by social forces. Parents may be able to help kids build this skill by exposing them to role models (in real life or stories) who demonstrate and value self-control. Adults may be able to increase self-control by spending time around friends who use it. Ultimately, cultivating self-control as a personal value and norm may be critical to using and developing it, whether you are young or old. With a little help from your friends, resisting that second piece of cake may be easier than you think.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96159/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sabine Doebel receives funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of
the National Institutes of Health (award number F32HD079191).</span></em></p>Everybody wants more self-control, but it’s proven difficult to beef up through training. New research suggests that what your social group does might be key to enhancing your own self-control skills.Sabine Doebel, Postdoctoral Researcher in Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/950852018-04-17T14:30:23Z2018-04-17T14:30:23ZClinicians make mistakes about intellectual impairments – as new Rett syndrome findings show<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215020/original/file-20180416-570-1gowhl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rett syndrome affects one in 10,000 girls. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/silhouette-mother-daughter-holding-hands-sunset-483950449?src=v0u_7ZN9TZivHDrUQbuXWw-1-35">Nadya Eugene</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Intelligence is a difficult thing to measure. While IQ tests <a href="https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-27/edition-2/what-intelligence-tests-miss">have been</a> heavily criticised over the last 30 years, society still sets much store by them. Health and education professionals’ decisions about what placements and interventions are appropriate for disabled children are still informed by the child’s IQ score, for example. </p>
<p>This is paradoxical since if you can’t speak or use your hands, it’s impossible to do these tests. Severely disabled children score very poorly regardless of their ability. Even Stephen Hawking would have been categorised as severely intellectually disabled by this measure. </p>
<p>A growing movement in special education and speech/language therapy has <a href="https://www.disabilityisnatural.com/presume-comp-1.html">recently</a> been <a href="https://blog.theautismsite.com/presume-competence/">urging</a> practitioners to set aside test scores and “presume competence” in people with severe disabilities – meaning you assume an individual is competent in the absence of good evidence to the contrary. They point to growing signs that the abilities of some children have been grossly underestimated.</p>
<p>Recent developments in Rett syndrome are a case in point. Rett is a severely disabling neurological condition which affects around one in 10,000 girls (and far fewer boys). Several new research papers have found that by testing the intelligence of Rett children in other ways than IQ tests, they turn out to be much more capable than previously believed. </p>
<h2>Rett and wrongs</h2>
<p>Babies with Rett syndrome appear to develop normally at first, but <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/rett-syndrome/">start to regress</a> at around six to 18 months. Most children are left unable to talk or use their hands. Children who have learned to walk before the onset of regression become unsteady on their feet and many stop walking altogether. Most experience problems with their breathing and seizures are common. The condition requires life-long, round-the-clock care. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RtK_Alm7f_k?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The traditional assumption is that these children are severely intellectually disabled. When NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel’s son Henry was recently diagnosed, for example, Engel <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/lessons-war-raising-special-needs-son-help-him-we-must-ncna853841">was told</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s not just that he likely won’t walk or talk and may be confined to a wheelchair … he won’t understand what a wheelchair is, let alone how to operate it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This view has long been at odds with what parents, including ourselves, observe in our children. Parents often report that their child appears to show a considerable understanding of language, makes appropriate and intense eye contact and seems to communicate their intentions by looking in the direction of what they have in mind – known as <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/rett-syndrome/">eye-pointing</a>. </p>
<p>Advances in technology over the past ten years <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28862491">have begun to</a> use this eye-pointing to help people with Rett or other profoundly disabling conditions like late-stage motor neurons disease or cerebral palsy to make choices and communicate independently. Using a system known as eye gaze, they can now control computers by looking at particular items on a screen; this is detected by the computer through a series of lights and cameras. </p>
<h2>Latest findings</h2>
<p>Researchers have recently used eye gaze to challenge the old assumptions about Rett children’s intellectual abilities. In one <a href="http://www.ejpn-journal.com/article/S1090-3798(17)30116-2/fulltext">study</a>, a team in Tel Aviv modified a standard vocabulary test, the <a href="https://www.pearsonclinical.com/language/products/100000501/peabody-picture-vocabulary-test-fourth-edition-ppvt-4.html">Peabody</a> Picture Vocabulary Test version 4, for a group of 17 girls with Rett. </p>
<p>In a normal Peabody test, children are given sets of four pictures and asked to point to the one that best illustrates a word spoken by the examiner. In the modified version, the four pictures were displayed on a computer screen and the children indicated their response by looking at them. </p>
<p>Remarkably, almost a third of the girls showed a vocabulary at a level indicative of either mild intellectual impairment or even within the normal range. </p>
<p>In a second <a href="http://www.aaiddjournals.org/doi/10.1352/1934-9556-55.6.419">US study</a>, researchers at the Boston Children’s Hospital tested 47 girls with Rett using another standardised test of ability, the <a href="http://www.statisticssolutions.com/mullen-scales-of-early-learning-msel/">Mullen Scales of Early Learning</a>, which tests children’s developmental progress across the board. </p>
<p>The girls performed predictably poorly on the fine motor and expressive language elements of the test. But again using eye gaze, for the elements that assessed understanding, they showed a wide range of scores. While some showed severe impairment, others were well within the normal range. Children diagnosed with milder Rett syndrome and without a history of seizures typically performed better. </p>
<p>Are the results a good indication of intelligence? Certainly when you look at the testing protocols used by the researchers, it seems unlikely that they overestimated the children’s abilities. </p>
<p>On the other hand, they may have underestimated them. Eye gaze is not an easy technique to master: not all the girls were used to the technology, and they were being measured against scales developed using children who weren’t dealing with any kind of added complication. And when people caring for Rett girls presume the child is severely intellectually disabled, they probably don’t expose them to language in the same way they would a “normal” child. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FnDHKZ9UupI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>These results have profound implications for the future of people with this syndrome – and for the debate about presumed competence. If Rett children are only mildly intellectually impaired or even within the normal range of intelligence, it’s necessary to urgently revisit how they are supported and educated. Eye gaze technology promises to be the key to unlocking their potential. </p>
<p>It underlines the importance of presuming competence in people whose intellectual abilities may be unclear – this feeds into <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/07/locked-in-syndrome-richard-marsh">previous revelations</a> about the intellectual capabilities of some people with locked-in syndrome, to which Rett syndrome is sometimes compared. </p>
<p>Without presuming competence, even people as gifted as Stephen Hawking may be deemed intellectually disabled. Not only does this have severe consequences for the individual, the loss to society could be nothing short of galactic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95085/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gunter Loffler is the parent of a girl with Rett syndrome and has acted as an ambassador for the ReverseRett charity. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gael Gordon is the parent of a girl with Rett syndrome and has acted as an ambassador for the ReverseRett charity. </span></em></p>New evidence that old beliefs about people with conditions that prevent them from speaking or moving are not always right.Gunter Loffler, Professor of Optometry, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityGael Gordon, Senior Lecturer, Vision Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/881392018-01-07T10:31:54Z2018-01-07T10:31:54ZWhy African board games should be introduced into the classroom<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198543/original/file-20171211-10977-1jj13aq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Two men playing Morabaraba. Board games are a part of the social fabric of many African societies. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ConstantineD/flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When most of us think about learning, we imagine a teacher and a classroom. In reality most of the things we know, and a great number of the skills we acquire as children and adults, are learned outside the classroom – in conversations with peers, engaging in community service, on the playground. </p>
<p>Educators and researchers are increasingly recognising opportunities for growth presented <a href="https://due.mit.edu/initiatives/learning-outside-classroom">outside the classroom</a>, and are working to <a href="https://clalliance.org/why-connected-learning/">integrate</a> them into classroom learning experiences.</p>
<p>Games, in particular, are being seen as <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/06/01/408540387/exploding-myths-about-learning-through-gaming">learning spaces</a>. This is because they enable players to develop <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2013/03/01/games-education-tool-030113/">non-cognitive skills</a>, such as patience or discipline, which are important for career and life success. Gameplay also develops a number of <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/8132613/insight_3-1_vision.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1512683511&Signature=X%2FqgRB0QmdmxowTGHKm2JlW9Bwk%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DHarnessing_the_power_of_games_in_educati.pdf">cognitive skills</a>, including critical thinking and problem solving.</p>
<p>The African continent has a <a href="https://www.tripsavvy.com/games-played-in-africa-1454491">long history</a> of gameplay that <a href="http://www.africa-games.com/africa_games.html">extends back</a> to pre-slavery and precolonial times. Board games, in particular, have been used to teach, or reinforce, <a href="http://www.jpanafrican.org/docs/vol2no4/2.4_Shona_Traditional_Children.pdf">values</a> as well as <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/655354">cognitive</a> and <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/655357">motor skills</a>. </p>
<p>Games have been part of the social fabric of many African societies for hundreds of years. The Morabaraba board game was historically used to share <a href="http://www.africa-games.com/morabaraba.html">cattle herding strategies</a> in parts of southern Africa (for example South Africa, Bostwana and Lesotho) and discuss information related to <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39602/moruba">war strategies</a>. And legend has it that Oware was used in 1700s Ghana by Ashanti King <a href="http://www.thekingdomofasante.com/nana-opoku-ware-i/">Katakyie Opoku Ware I</a> to resolve <a href="http://mancala.wikia.com/wiki/Oware">issues between married couples</a>. Today, board games remain equally <a href="http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/african_diaspora_isp/1/">popular</a> and culturally significant. </p>
<p>Though a growing number of researchers around the world are making the connection between <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2013/03/01/games-education-tool-030113/">playing and learning</a>, the learning potential of African board games remains severely under-explored. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305764X.2017.1371671">My research</a> – which focuses on <a href="http://gamestudies.org/0802/articles/sicart">mechanics, rules</a> and context – suggests that the creative use of these games could play an important role in formal education.</p>
<h2>Similar but different</h2>
<p>The board games explored in <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305764X.2017.1371671">my research</a> include Oware (Ghana), Bao (Tanzania), Moruba (South Africa), Morabaraba (South Africa), as well as Omweso or Mweso (Uganda). </p>
<p>I broke down some of the mechanics and rules of each game, as well as the context in which they were and are played. This enabled me to identify some of the learning outcomes of each game’s mechanics. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196385/original/file-20171126-21820-rbdt9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196385/original/file-20171126-21820-rbdt9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196385/original/file-20171126-21820-rbdt9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196385/original/file-20171126-21820-rbdt9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196385/original/file-20171126-21820-rbdt9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196385/original/file-20171126-21820-rbdt9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196385/original/file-20171126-21820-rbdt9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196385/original/file-20171126-21820-rbdt9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Popular board games across the continent.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The boards games could be referred to as “strategic games” as they involve strategic thinking. Most – with the exception of Morabaraba – are also from the same family of games, <a href="https://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/43-1/Mancala.pdf">Mancala</a>. </p>
<p>My analysis shows that the board games should be viewed as unique, and different. Each has its own mechanics, requires specific skills and produces distinctive learning outcomes. This means that the games could potentially be used to teach a variety of concepts and skills across a number of subjects and at different educational levels. </p>
<h2>Focus on Oware</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.oware.org/">Oware</a> is one of the most played and known African board games in the world – and its rules show its learning potential.</p>
<p>It is played on a <a href="http://www.oware.org/abapa.asp">board of 12 holes</a>, with 48 seeds or pebbles equally distributed between two players. The seeds or pebbles are dropped one by one into consecutive holes by players who take turns to <a href="http://www.oware.org/abapa.asp">play</a>. The aim of the game is to capture 25 seeds. This requires players to use multiple strategies and techniques. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198556/original/file-20171211-27680-1o13zr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198556/original/file-20171211-27680-1o13zr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198556/original/file-20171211-27680-1o13zr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198556/original/file-20171211-27680-1o13zr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198556/original/file-20171211-27680-1o13zr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198556/original/file-20171211-27680-1o13zr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198556/original/file-20171211-27680-1o13zr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oware is one of the most popular games on the continent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adam Cohn/flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Playing Oware teaches <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305764X.2017.1371671">strategic thinking and arithmetic</a>. Patience, spatial thinking, communication, decision making and negotiation skills are some of the other <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0305764X.2017.1371671?scroll=top&needAccess=true">learning outcomes</a> it facilitates. </p>
<p>But the game mechanics of Oware suggest that it could even prove to be useful in a biology classroom. The life cycle of a cell is defined by a series of events that lead to its <a href="http://cyberbridge.mcb.harvard.edu/mitosis_3.html">division and replication</a>. Like the cell, Oware gameplay is characterised by a <a href="http://www.oware.org/abapa.asp">series of cyclical</a>, repetitive movements, guided by the game mechanics or rules. Thus, using Oware mechanics or rules, the concept of cell life cycle can be explained to students in a biology course.</p>
<p>The full learning potential of games like Oware is yet to be completely uncovered, but it’s clear that it can be used to introduce students to new concepts they may easily understand because of their familiarity with game. Learning is made fun and enjoyable. </p>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>Games are certainly <a href="https://dmlhub.net/newsroom/expert-interviews/games-learning-literacy-in-the-21st-century/">alternative spaces for learning</a> and can <a href="https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/07/03/games-can-advance-education-a-conversation-with-james-paul-gee/">advance education</a>. The educational potential of African board games has long been argued by ethnomatheticians (who study the relationship between mathematics and culture) and anthropologists – including scholars such as <a href="http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/IJES/IJES-08-0-000-15-Web/IJES-08-2-000-15-Abst-PDF/IJES-8-2-313-15-440-Owusu/IJES-8-2-313-15-440-Owusu-Tx%5b8%5d.pdf">James Owusu-Mensah</a>, <a href="http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/%7Epowellab/docs/articles/PowellTemple(2001)TCM.pdf">Arthur Powell, Oshon Temple</a>, and <a href="http://aa-rf.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/SAICE-2015-Proceedings.pdf#page=221">Kofi Poku Quan-Baffour</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199191/original/file-20171214-27575-1birlio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199191/original/file-20171214-27575-1birlio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199191/original/file-20171214-27575-1birlio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199191/original/file-20171214-27575-1birlio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199191/original/file-20171214-27575-1birlio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199191/original/file-20171214-27575-1birlio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199191/original/file-20171214-27575-1birlio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199191/original/file-20171214-27575-1birlio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mancala games can be played almost anywhere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">leo.laempel/flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The field of <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/category/discipline/game-studies">Game Studies</a> is emerging and, across the world, educators and researchers are exploring games to understand and enhance learning. But many of the digital games that are celebrated for their educational value are <a href="https://gamerant.com/video-game-prices-breakdown-514/">expensive</a> and inaccessible to most people. African board games, on the other hand, are simply made and can even be reproduced, or designed, in a playground by digging holes on the ground.</p>
<p>The moment is therefore ripe for African board games to assume their proper place in this emerging field. An <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271269323_The_South_African_Indigenous_Games_Research_Project_of_20012002_research_article">inventory of these games</a> is an excellent first step, but there is much work to be done.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88139/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Y. Bayeck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>African board games are learning spaces for players to develop cognitive and non-cognitive skills given the mechanics or rules embedded in these games.Rebecca Y. Bayeck, PhD Candidate, Learning Design & Technology & Comparative & International Education, Learning Performances Systems Department, College of Education, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/852692017-10-26T13:16:41Z2017-10-26T13:16:41ZSeven African countries show how the battle against malnutrition can be won<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191349/original/file-20171023-1746-dg306f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Africa has focused on tackling undernutrition caused by low calorie diets.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">IFPRI</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A number of African countries are taking bold action to tackle malnutrition. They have successfully implemented a range of actions that have started to improve nutrition for all. </p>
<p>Good nutrition contributes to cognitive development, better opportunities for children to realise their potential, and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/6924E83682BBB72E5F24394CE14044DB/S2040174409990158a.pdf/div-class-title-the-economic-cost-of-a-poor-start-to-life-div.pdf">higher earnings later in life</a>. This in turn supports macro-economic and societal growth. Poor nutrition, on the other hand, impairs productivity and acts as an impediment to national growth. </p>
<p>In the past, Africa and its development partners have focused almost exclusively on <a href="https://theconversation.com/food-insecurity-is-more-than-just-severe-hunger-46752">tackling undernutrition</a> caused by diets that are low in calories. But there is now broad consensus that attention to <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/commentaries/ending-malnutrition-opportunity/en/">micronutrient deficiencies and obesity</a> need to be a priority too.</p>
<p>The recently released <a href="https://www.mamopanel.org/">Malabo Montpellier Panel’s</a> report, on how Africa can build a <a href="https://www.mamopanel.org/media/uploads/files/nourished_infographic_english.pdf">future free from hunger and malnutrition</a>, presents a seven-country case study. It sets out how Senegal, Ghana, Rwanda, Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Togo significantly reduced undernourishment, child wasting, stunting and mortality over the past 16 years.</p>
<p>The report explains the institutional arrangements, programme interventions and implementation plans that enabled countries to reduce child undernutrition significantly. The findings show that the choices made at both the macro (policy) level as well as at the household level had a direct bearing on nutrition outcomes. It offers a roadmap of 12 policy priorities that African governments can follow to deliver on the nutrition targets set out in the <a href="https://sdgcompass.org/sdgs/">Sustainable Development Goals</a>. </p>
<p>The report is a product of the 17-member panel of experts that identified areas in which African countries are making progress on the ground. The panel also tried to understand what works, why and how. The report offers practical, <a href="https://www.mamopanel.org/media/uploads/files/nourished_infographic_english.pdf">evidence-based advice</a> on policies, programmes and interventions. </p>
<h2>Not just a health issue</h2>
<p>Some of the countries discussed in the report initially had high rates of malnutrition. But they have made remarkable progress in child nutrition. </p>
<p>One contributory factor is that countries started implementing multi-sectoral programmes rather than just relying on the health sector. In some cases this has involved creating units specially for the purpose of reducing malnutrition levels. </p>
<p>Take Senegal. A unit called the <a href="http://clmsn.org/">Cellule de Lutte contre la Malnutrition</a> was set up in the prime minister’s office. It provides technical help in defining and implementing national nutrition policy. </p>
<p>Similarly in Rwanda, the national nutrition policy is led by an <a href="https://www.spring-nutrition.org/sites/default/files/publications/case_studies/spring_rwanda_coordination_collaboration.pdf">inter-ministerial committee based in the prime minister’s office</a>. Other ministries are also starting to assume greater responsibility, particularly agriculture, often in cooperation with the private sector. </p>
<p>In Cameroon a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/nutrition-fiche-cameroon-2016_en.pdf">National Council on Food and Nutrition</a>] was set up eight years ago. It’s directly linked to the office of the president and has implemented a food security and nutrition policy. </p>
<p>At about the same time Angola established an <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3348e/i3348e.pdf">interdepartmental committee for food security</a>. This is made up of 19 ministries and chaired by the secretary general of the prime minister’s office. The aim has been to create a network of “parliamentarians for the fight against malnutrition.”</p>
<p>These inter-disciplinary approaches differed across countries. But they all also included tried and tested interventions. These included early detection and treatment of at risk children, promotion of breastfeeding, vitamin supplementation, fortification of foods, home production, school feeding programs and social grants. They also almost all exploited new developments in technology such as sharing nutrition knowledge through cell phones.</p>
<p>But more needs to be done. Concerted action is needed on a wide range of policies and practices, including institutional reforms, strengthening national agricultural and nutrition research and better data.</p>
<h2>Key policy lessons</h2>
<p>Some of the key lessons from the seven case study countries included:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Adopting a comprehensive policy on nutrition as a top priority and integrating these elements across sectors. </p></li>
<li><p>Designing programs that capture the synergies between agriculture, water, health and sanitation.</p></li>
<li><p>Establishing a high-level coordination system for visibility and accountability.</p></li>
<li><p>Creating a broad and inclusive partnership with stakeholders form the public, private and civil society sectors.</p></li>
<li><p>Strengthening food-system regulation and controls to increase the supply of safe and nutritious food while investing in the distribution of affordable and healthy foods for the poor.</p></li>
<li><p>Investing in crisis prevention and emergency intervention capacity to address the threat of conflict. This is an ongoing concern in Africa that adds an element of fragility and swells the number of people relying on humanitarian aid. This in turn detracts countries from development focused investment.</p></li>
<li><p>Building resilience by investing in programmes that protect the nutritional status of vulnerable populations during extreme weather events.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The case studies show that African countries that go beyond simply increasing the amount of food produced to making actual improvements in the quality and provision of nutritious foods can make a significant contribution to improving nutrition levels. This is particularly true if vulnerable groups are targeted. And if a range of sectors are involved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85269/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sheryl L Hendriks receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation, the Water Research Foundation and USAID. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrin Glatzel works for the International Food Policy Research Institute and receives funding from the African Development Bank, the UK Department for International Development and the German Federal Ministry Economic Cooperation and Development. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ousmane Badiane receives funding from the African Development Bank, the UK Department for International Development and the German Federal Ministry Economic Cooperation and Development.</span></em></p>Policy choices made by Senegal, Ghana, Rwanda, Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Togo over the past 15 years have led to significant reductions in child undernourishment.Sheryl L Hendriks, Professor in Food Security; Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development, University of PretoriaKatrin Glatzel, PhD, Director of Policy Innovation at Akademiya2063, Visiting researcher, Imperial College LondonOusmane Badiane, Director for Africa, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/841252017-09-25T17:00:07Z2017-09-25T17:00:07ZTechnology can help kids learn, but only if parents and teachers are involved<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187024/original/file-20170921-8233-bjbxpx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mauritian physics students hard at work during the project's testing phase.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mauritius Institute of Education</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Educational psychologist Dr Benjamin Bloom wanted to understand how people learn. So in 1965 he and his colleagues created <a href="https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/">Bloom’s taxonomy</a>: a system for identifying, understanding and addressing learning. They came up with a system that’s composed of two elements: thinking and the ability to apply knowledge, and then feelings and emotions. </p>
<p>When a student learns about gravity, the cognitive elements would include knowledge and understanding of the concept of a force pulling an object towards the Earth; acceleration, mass and so on. The moment the student has developed understanding, she would be in a position to apply (psychomotor) – the acquired knowledge and skills in new situations. For example, she might want to see what would happen if something different was done to the same object – would it experience the same acceleration?</p>
<p>This learning process doesn’t happen in an isolated context. It takes place during interactions with peers and teachers – what the model refers to as the affective domain. That is the elements of learning that affect emotional development. Elements of interest, motivation and values would help the student to appreciate the discussion and value the ideas as well as encourage her to develop social skills appropriate to working in groups. Eventually, development of this domain benefits broader communities and society as a whole.</p>
<p>Some researchers <a href="https://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/8-Studies-Show-iPads-in-the-Classroom-Improve-Education">claim</a> that integrating technology into teaching and learning improves students’ grades. Others argue that technology makes little difference to how students perform because traditional approaches to teaching still predominate. </p>
<p>A lot of research in this area has focused on technology as a tool. But what is the value of technology as a medium to encourage interactions between parents, teachers and students – tapping into the affective domain – and ensure that students construct knowledge?</p>
<p>Myself and other academics from the <a href="http://www.mie.ac.mu/">Mauritius Institute of Education</a> and London’s <a href="http://www.brunel.ac.uk/">Brunel University</a> wanted to know how technology could be used to transform the teaching and learning process into an innovative, interactive environment that promotes students’ cognitive development driven by the affective domain. So we embarked on <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20004508.2017.1343606">a study</a> that attempted to build a case for incorporating the affective domain in the teaching and learning of physics using technology. </p>
<h2>A space to develop the affective domain</h2>
<p>The study was carried out in two phases: exploratory and evaluative. The evaluative phase confirmed the findings made in the exploratory phase.</p>
<p>The exploratory phase involved one teacher, 22 students (all 13 and 14 years old) from a coeducational school situated in Mauritius’ central region and 19 parents.</p>
<p>In the evaluative phase 31 students from an all-girls’ school (in the same region as the first school), 15 parents and one physics teacher participated. </p>
<p>We developed a framework called the Pedagogical Technological Integrated Medium. It is founded on a well-documented framework, <a href="http://matt-koehler.com/tpack2/tpack-explained/">TPACK</a>, which was created to facilitate the use of technology in schools. Our framework helps learners to create knowledge and develop an understanding of physics through interactions between teachers, students and parents.</p>
<p>We created an <a href="http://science.mie.mu/physics/">interactive website</a> to monitor how parents, teachers and students were engaging with the framework. The site encompasses a series of home tasks (parent–student and parent-teacher interactions), in-class tasks (student-teachers) and out-of-school activities (parent-student-teacher interactions). </p>
<p>For instance, students used the website to consolidate their existing knowledge of <a href="https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/the-concept-of-measurement.257360/">measurement</a> as a concept in physics. They did this in collaboration with their parents before attending classes.</p>
<p>The experiment showed that learners benefited enormously from the approach we had adopted. By creating the affective domain through interactions with their parents (at home) and teachers (at school), the students were able to construct physics knowledge. The added dimension was that we used technology as a medium to meet this end.</p>
<h2>Benefits of our approach</h2>
<p>The framework was well received by students, parents and teachers. One parent told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I was happy that my daughter was discussing with me and I encouraged her to complete all the tasks and to tell me if she had any difficulty.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Students said they wanted to do more activities and be provided with more notes on the website because this would help them “to learn better”. One said, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I would like to try it first before learning it [the concept] at school.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The teachers were also happy. One said that, “the activities contained in the web lesson have helped me to understand in which specific areas students hold misconceptions”. The teacher also hailed the chance to “innovate in my teaching”. </p>
<p>Integrating the affective domain into our model has shown the potential of key educational stakeholders – parents, students and teachers – to collaborate. The teacher established a network with parents and learners and used the insights gained to construct her interactive lessons. </p>
<p>The schools we worked with are planning to use the website to sustain the interaction that’s been developed between teachers, students and parents. We also plan to get more schools in Mauritius using this system.</p>
<h2>The affective domain matters</h2>
<p>Our study has provided evidence of a change in students’ attitudes: they claimed to be interested, motivated and better prepared to learn new concepts in class. </p>
<p>It’s been known for a long time that educational technology can offer opportunities for cognitive development in learning science. We’ve now proved that this isn’t sufficient unless the affective domain forms an integral part of teaching and learning when technology is integrated into the process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yashwant Ramma receives funding from Mauritius Research Council. </span></em></p>The affective domain - motivation, interest and values and their inter-relationships - forms an integral component in facilitating learners’ construction of physics knowledge.Yashwant Ramma, Professor & Chair, Research, Mauritius Institute of EducationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/717942017-01-25T05:11:39Z2017-01-25T05:11:39ZDo you need to worry if your baby has a flat head?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154135/original/image-20170124-16066-ygodnr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The number of children with flat head has risen in recent years in part due to SIDS guidelines, which recommend placing babies on their backs to sleep. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/558740821?size=huge_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Flat head syndrome, also called positional plagiocephaly, develops in babies because of external pressures on the soft, malleable baby skull. It is more common now that babies sleep on their backs, as recommended by SIDS safety guidelines. </p>
<p>While one in five children are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27504717">affected</a> by flat head syndrome, parents receive mixed messages about whether it has an impact on development, and clinicians don’t have good evidence to allay fears.</p>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28009719">review</a> published this week shows that while not all children displaying a flat head will experience developmental problems, the syndrome can be used as a marker of potential developmental delay. We make the recommendation that children with flat head be assessed for developmental delays.</p>
<h2>What is flat head syndrome and why does it develop?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27504717">Flat head syndrome</a> presents as a flattened area on the back or side of a baby’s head. In severe cases it can affect the alignment of the ears, eyes and jaw. It’s typically noticed by the parent up to the fourth month of age. It can be present at birth or develop over time, up to about the 18 month mark when the baby’s skull bones are harder and fixed in place. </p>
<p>The syndrome develops because of external pressures to the soft, malleable baby skull. It’s become more common since 1992, when the SIDS safe sleeping campaign <a href="https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sts/campaign/Pages/default.aspx">Back to Sleep</a> (now known as Safe to Sleep) began. This campaign saved lives, and continues to do so.</p>
<p>With the need for rigorous information on whether flat head syndrome leads to developmental delay, we reviewed existing medical literature to inform clinicians and parents on the state of knowledge in this area. There were 19 studies that met our strict quality criteria, in which the children’s ages ranged from three months to ten years.</p>
<h2>Identifying risk</h2>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28009719">review</a> shows flat head syndrome is a marker of developmental delay. Delay can occur in one or multiple areas of development known as domains. For children with flat head, delays were observed most commonly in the motor domain, controlling muscular activities such as walking (gross motor) and holding a spoon (fine motor). The second and third most common delays were observed in language and cognition (such as speaking or understanding one’s own name).</p>
<p>Although we sought to address whether flat head leads to delays, or whether delays are causing flat head, none of the studies conducted to date are able to answer this question. Thus, given there is a link, but the direction is to be determined, we make the recommendation that children with flat head be assessed for developmental delays. </p>
<p>Simple developmental milestones should be met (within the normal variation). When not met, clinicians (GPs, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses) can use standardised assessment tools to more objectively assess the child’s development and refer for early intervention if necessary. </p>
<p>Our review found children with flat head who had developmental delays on multiple domains (such as motor, learning and cognition), or who had low muscle tone, were a special high risk group where intervention and longer-term follow-up would likely be helpful. </p>
<p>Our review found delays were more common in newborn to two-year-olds, but delays did persist to preschool and school aged children in some cases, although there is less knowledge on the older age groups.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154160/original/image-20170125-16083-1j9xo05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154160/original/image-20170125-16083-1j9xo05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154160/original/image-20170125-16083-1j9xo05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154160/original/image-20170125-16083-1j9xo05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154160/original/image-20170125-16083-1j9xo05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154160/original/image-20170125-16083-1j9xo05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154160/original/image-20170125-16083-1j9xo05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tummy time is important for babies, giving their malleable skulls a rest from the pressure of lying in one position.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/koadmunkee/5565679203/in/photolist-9tPywg-bfBwwK-ZDJvx-aCj96A-5F4xqN-zv5cG-RiuJ-6xFP5W-cicRKY-6kuKKg-4sCTmw-7iGTaf-6tN9oY-7UeDx4-5wd3m4-biyvA2-Riuw-biyu4B-4ynh9J-7qwz2T-gKwz76-67v5zx-gKfzen-imtJ3n-5EZdoK-6oFixb-6y66xQ-ajyb41-biyqZX-7oStLz-5ZCA25-biyL5M-biyzLn-biyCHz-jrEAWr-biyJnt-9EhUBL-3nEYM8-9Ef1Sk-5cTtCK-ePEJa2-biyEoi-ecCE8-biyB2n-biyTgR-biyPSn-biyGe6-doL8Dq-5gkTiw-9RZqyr">koadmunkee/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Most children with flat head syndrome will be fine</h2>
<p>While it is difficult to say with confidence what proportion of children with flat head will experience a developmental delay, it is likely most children with flat head will be fine in terms of their development. </p>
<p>In the studies included in the review, about 10-25% of the children had developmental delays beyond that expected (although the range observed was 3-51% depending on the study). Some studies presented this in terms of risk, and reported children with flat head were up to ten times more likely to experience developmental delays than children without flat head.</p>
<h2>How parents can prevent or reduce flat head</h2>
<p>The benefits of following the <a href="https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids">SIDS guidelines</a> far outweigh any concerns about flat head, given death could result from not following safe sleeping recommendations. Babies should be put to sleep on their backs in a firm, flat area, free of toys, pillows or other items, in a non-smoking environment. </p>
<p>Home prevention of flat head syndrome is possible. Tummy time while awake and supervised – a little bit every day starting from birth – can help strengthen neck muscles, and provide time off the back and sides of the head. Altering the position of baby while awake (holding, or in a carrier) is also helpful. </p>
<p>Some children are at heightened risk of flat head syndrome, such as premature babies, those with a challenging birth, or who have torticollis (also known as wry or twisted neck), so you should not feel guilty if your child has a flat head. If concerned at any time, you should seek advice from a health professional. Since babies receive vaccinations at several time points during their first year this can be an opportune time to seek assessment and advice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71794/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Martiniuk was funded by a University of Sydney Fellowship (2012-2015) and currently an NHMRC Translating Research into Practice (TRIP) Fellowship (2016-2017). She is currently working with Royal Far West.
She s working on ideas (potential devices) to assist in the prevention or treatment of positional plagiocephaly. No device has been developed or tested to date (January 2017). </span></em></p>Parents who notice their child has a flat head should talk to a GP or specialist to see if any treatment is needed.Alexandra Martiniuk, Associate Professor, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/679792016-11-18T03:27:17Z2016-11-18T03:27:17ZYoung children are terrible at hiding – psychologists have a new theory why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146491/original/image-20161118-19377-lc2xhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=625%2C74%2C4750%2C3186&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">I can't see you, you can't see me.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=260420891&src=lb-29877982">Child image via www.shutterstock.com.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Young children across the globe enjoy playing games of hide and seek. There’s something highly exciting for children about escaping someone else’s glance and making oneself “invisible.”</p>
<p>However, developmental psychologists and parents alike continue to witness that before school age, children are remarkably bad at hiding. Curiously, they often cover only their face or eyes with their hands, leaving the rest of their bodies visibly exposed. </p>
<p>For a long time, this ineffective hiding strategy was interpreted as evidence that young children are hopelessly “<a href="http://www.simplypsychology.org/preoperational.html">egocentric</a>” creatures. Psychologists theorized that preschool children cannot distinguish their <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2010.03.008">own perspective from someone else’s</a>. Conventional wisdom held that, unable to transcend their own viewpoint, children falsely assume that others see the world the same way they themselves do. So psychologists assumed children “hide” by covering their eyes because they conflate their own lack of vision with that of those around them.</p>
<p>But research in cognitive developmental psychology is starting to cast doubt on this notion of childhood egocentrism. We brought young children between the ages of two and four into our <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/labs/mid-la/">Minds in Development Lab</a> at USC so we could investigate this assumption. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2016.1243116">Our surprising results</a> contradict the idea that children’s poor hiding skills reflect their allegedly egocentric nature.</p>
<h2>Who can see whom?</h2>
<p>Each child in our study sat down with an adult who covered her own eyes or ears with her hands. We then asked the child whether or not she could see or hear the adult, respectively. Surprisingly, children denied that they could. The same thing happened when the adult covered her own mouth: Now children denied that they could speak to her.</p>
<p>A number of control experiments ruled out that the children were confused or misunderstood what they were being asked. The results were clear: Our young subjects comprehended the questions and knew exactly what was asked of them. Their negative responses reflected their genuine belief that the other person could not be seen, heard, or spoken to when her eyes, ears, or mouth were obstructed. Despite the fact that the person in front of them was in plain view, they flatout denied being able to perceive her. So what was going on?</p>
<p>It seems like young children consider mutual eye contact a requirement for one person to be able to see another. Their thinking appears to run along the lines of “I can see you only if you can see me, too” and vice versa. Our findings suggest that when a child “hides” by putting a blanket over her head, this strategy is not a result of egocentrism. In fact, children deem this strategy <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2011.594826">effective when others use it</a>.</p>
<p>Built into their notion of visibility, then, is the idea of bidirectionality: Unless two people make eye contact, it is impossible for one to see the other. Contrary to egocentrism, young children simply insist on mutual recognition and regard.</p>
<h2>An expectation of mutual engagement</h2>
<p>Children’s demand of reciprocity demonstrates that they are not at all egocentric. Not only can preschoolers imagine the world as seen from another’s point of view; they even apply this capacity in situations where it’s unnecessary or leads to wrong judgments, such as when they are asked to report their own perception. These faulty judgments – saying that others whose eyes are covered cannot be seen – reveal just how much children’s perception of the world is colored by others.</p>
<p>The seemingly irrational way in which children try to hide from others and the negative answers they gave in our experiment show that children feel unable to relate to a person unless the communication flows both ways – not only from me to you but also from you to me, so we can communicate with each other as equals.</p>
<p>We are planning to investigate children’s hiding behavior directly in the lab and test if kids who are bad at hiding show more reciprocity in play and conversation than those who hide more skillfully. We would also like to conduct these experiments with children who show an atypical trajectory in their early development.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146493/original/image-20161118-19356-1vxhfm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146493/original/image-20161118-19356-1vxhfm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146493/original/image-20161118-19356-1vxhfm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146493/original/image-20161118-19356-1vxhfm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146493/original/image-20161118-19356-1vxhfm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146493/original/image-20161118-19356-1vxhfm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146493/original/image-20161118-19356-1vxhfm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146493/original/image-20161118-19356-1vxhfm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children want to interact with the people around them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=6965902&src=lb-29877982">Eye contact image via www.shutterstock.com.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our findings underscore children’s natural desire and preference for reciprocity and mutual engagement between individuals. Children expect and strive to create situations in which they can be reciprocally involved with others. They want to encounter people who are not only looked at but who can return another’s gaze; people who not only listen but are also heard; and people who are not just spoken to but who can reply and thus enter a mutual dialogue.</p>
<p>At least in this respect, young children understand and treat other human beings in a manner that is not at all egocentric. On the contrary, their insistence on mutual regard is remarkably mature and can be considered inspirational. Adults may want to turn to these preschoolers as role models when it comes to perceiving and relating to other humans. These young children seem exquisitely aware that we all share a common nature as people who are in constant interaction with others.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67979/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Little kids cover their own eyes and feel hidden, even if they’re still fully visible. New research suggests this doesn’t mean children can’t understand others’ perspectives, as had been assumed.Henrike Moll, Assistant Professor in Developmental Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesAllie Khalulyan, Ph.D. Student in Developmental Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/536792016-01-26T16:16:38Z2016-01-26T16:16:38ZLearning handwriting is more about training the brain than cursive script<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109235/original/image-20160126-19660-uwpsud.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> </figcaption></figure><p>Schools in Finland, it has been reported, are <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/finnish-schools-phase-out-handwriting-classes-keyboard-skills-finland">phasing out the teaching of handwriting skills</a>, a claim that has led to arguments along the lines of whether technology has made handwriting obsolete and what the consequences of this might be. Some may feel teaching handwriting is a poor use of precious educational time these days – but the death of handwriting may have been greatly exaggerated. </p>
<p>That there are many more ways to communicate today than through the (hand)written word alone does raise questions about how we should teach writing to children. But the answers should surely focus more on how we can best use technology to improve childrens’ education, rather than concluding that responsibility should be devolved to a machine. In this regard, the debate about the use of technology to replace handwriting appears to capture the issues surrounding the benefits and dangers of technological advance. </p>
<p>It’s possible to argue that the invention of the internal combustion engine and the electric motor means humans no longer need to be physically active. This is certainly true in one sense – it is possible for the relatively affluent to live largely sedentary lifestyles in many societies. But as is suggested by the growing problem of obesity, physical activity may have benefits to individuals and to society that go beyond simply getting from A to B.</p>
<p>Similarly, there are many arguments that support the importance of teaching handwriting: here are three reasons why teaching writing skills is absolutely critical. </p>
<h2>Wiring the brain</h2>
<p>First, there are clear environmental advantages to using a pen and a piece of paper rather than relying on electronic gadgetry – there is great virtue in the simplicity afforded by a pencil and piece of paper. We would surely be doing a disservice to a generation if we failed to teach them the basics of textual communication and forced them to become reliant on electronics and the availability of printers.</p>
<p>Second, handwriting underpins many other skills. It requires children to learn to <a href="http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Gateway-to-Writing-Developing-handwriting.pdf">control the forces they apply to objects</a> held in their hands. It requires the use of visual feedback to correct errors and the ability to make predictions about the consequences of the commands the brain sends to the hand. These are fundamental control processes required in many other situations – think of using cutlery, tying shoelaces and playing ball sports for example. </p>
<p>Of course, these control processes are also required for controlling a computer mouse or the stylus provided with a touchscreen laptop. Handwriting provides an excellent opportunity to teach children the fundamentals of manual dexterity. A failure to teach school children these abilities would represent a neglect of the core building blocks that support a multitude of skills.</p>
<p>Finally, handwriting is intrinsically linked to other important skills such as reading. A <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1798/20140896.long">study</a> published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society has shown that a child’s ability to remember and then draw a visually presented shape is predictive of how well they will score on national writing tests. Interestingly, the ability to reproduce the memorised shape was also predictive of scores in reading tests. So this suggests, as have other studies, that there is a link between writing and reading.</p>
<p>It’s a link that may appear surprising at first, as reading and writing appear to constitute two rather different skills. But there is a growing body of evidence that suggests a close relationship between <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00787-015-0732-2">developing motor skills and developing cognitive skills</a>. For example, it’s often easier to type in a PIN than remember and verbally report the numbers. This shows how motor actions reinforce memory for certain forms of information. Indeed, there’s also strong evidence to suggest that processes related to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2010.03834.x/epdf">writing numbers also support mathematical development</a> (mathematicians are always found writing formulas with pencils or chalk).</p>
<h2>The best (teaching) tools for the job</h2>
<p>So this strong rationale for teaching handwriting skills makes it seem all the more incredible that Finland is to phase it out. But in fact, a closer inspection reveals a slightly more nuanced picture than the headlines might imply: children are still taught to write, but with <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/16/cognitive-benefits-handwriting-decline-typing">less emphasis on cursive</a>, or joined-up, handwriting skills and with more time given to teaching children the complementary skill of typing.</p>
<p>This is a very different proposition to not teaching the basics of handwriting. Indeed, the idea that education should focus more on the substance of creative ideas and understanding than the stylistic production of beautiful cursive scripts is not new. Any educationalist worth their salt would surely welcome any technological advance that helps children to learn. </p>
<p>But it’s worth noting that most universities assess the understanding of their undergraduates by locking them in cold gymnasiums and seeing how quickly they can write down information. So a failure to teach children this skill may place them at a serious disadvantage without changes to these traditions. Perhaps a fundamental overhaul of the whole educational system is required if we are to really benefit from the technological advances – but this will require serious thought, rather than simplistic notions of abandoning core elements of teaching practice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53679/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Mon-Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There’s more to learning handwriting than just joined-up letters.Mark Mon-Williams, Professor of Cognitive Psychology, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/467812015-09-11T05:33:23Z2015-09-11T05:33:23ZBilingual children lag behind in language learning early on, but catch up by age five<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94157/original/image-20150908-4353-1foec72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Harder when you first begin juggling two languages.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">calmmindphoto/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Given the increasing number of <a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/population-by-country-of-birth-and-nationality/2014/rpt-population-of-the-uk.html#tab-conclusions">non-English speaking families</a> in the UK, concern has increased over the impact that growing up in a bilingual or non-English speaking home environment may have on <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecoj.12054/abstract">children’s performance</a> and readiness for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/mar/05/teaching-eal-foreign-languages-students-integration-schools">school</a>. So are bilingual children at an educational disadvantage when starting school compared to their classmates who speak just one language? </p>
<p>Using <a href="http://growingupinscotland.org.uk/using-gus-data/">Growing Up in Scotland</a>, a nationally representative data set of 8,000 children, I compared cognitive and non-cognitive skills of three groups of children aged under six living in Scotland: those with two UK-born parents (90% of the sample); those with one UK and one foreign-born parent (9%); and those with two foreign-born parents (1%). Almost half of the children without two UK-born parents spoke both English and another language at home, compared to 1% of those children with UK-born parents. </p>
<p><a href="https://b1dbb26e-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/joannacliftonsprigg/research/Bilingualism_And_Skills_2015.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7crxeV5DFjHs3vpp-FXTvtIZ_l04YuwxELgvQd_OaU59ur5rODocEW3DO6lBEPYaztBX9Ay1742EPe-5SMA-0n29e0Kvw3TPuvaSyASSzuF-OkL-SuZTiRaTSWCypOYsKooS6qrUZkSivJsQxfQt5jsn0UhoB1S_90GTPuDsPnn5OFvb4LHPVHeUpgRtpbo-yXLsv52w4xYhUEwfn7UWJmzADzicJ7qLeGkjcgaLdH0mbc-kWaXXOpl27jlhbSX9D4hGqrIb&attredirects=0">The results of this research</a> suggests that acquiring two languages does not affect the cognitive and non-cognitive skills of young children, such as their ability to recognise objects, match pictures, or their responsiveness and behaviour in everyday situations. It does, however, temporarily affect their knowledge of English vocabulary. </p>
<p>While bilingual children can initially lag behind in naming vocabulary, however, the disadvantage disappears before the age of five for most of them, except for those who have two foreign-born parents.</p>
<h2>The role of parents</h2>
<p>Previous <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w18429.pdf">research</a> has established that children’s early educational attainment <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2164659">is essential</a> for their later schooling and adult life outcomes. Language is a particularly potent instrument because it influences a child’s ongoing performance as well as their ability to acquire new skills. </p>
<p>Linguists agree that bilingualism may give children an educational advantage over their peers <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-language-you-speak-changes-your-view-of-the-world-40721">by changing</a> their understanding of certain concepts and improving their creative thinking abilities. At the same time, some research has found that it may <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358777/">delay speech</a> as it requires <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=3107592&fileId=S1366728908003477">simultaneous acquisition</a> of vocabulary in two languages. </p>
<p>A child’s linguistic competence is shaped by their home environment and, therefore <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w15889">hinges significantly</a> upon their parents. Parents’ ability to teach a child two languages plays a crucial role in bilingualism and is often overlooked. In particular, two foreign-born parents may be in a worse position to raise a bilingual child due to their limited knowledge of the language spoken in the host country or lack of country-specific knowledge. Understanding this is increasingly important due to the growing number of multilingual and multicultural families in Europe.</p>
<h2>Catching up quickly</h2>
<p>I have not found evidence to confirm that the acquisition of two languages affects any skills other than the ability to name vocabulary in English. Children performed comparably in physical and behavioural tests, as well as in tasks testing their cognitive performance, such as matching pictures that contain common elements.</p>
<p>As a group, bilingual children at three-years-old scored lower than their monolingual peers in the vocabulary exercise, in which they were asked to name objects in a picture in English. But they had almost caught up by the age of five. My conclusions did not change when I accounted for a variety of other factors which may matter for the child’s performance, such as their family’s socio-economic background.</p>
<p>The picture gets more complicated when family composition is taken into account. Bilingual children with two foreign-born parents obtained a 25% lower score in the vocabulary naming task than monolingual children at the age of three. This is a big gap – as an average three-year-old scored 56% in the exercise. The significant difference between the two groups was still visible at the age of five.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, bilingual children with one UK-born and one foreign-born parent scored only slightly worse in the task at age three, but did not perform differently at the age of five. </p>
<h2>How to help</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Practice letters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ABC via Denis Vrublevski/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Understanding the source of this gap may help shape future education policy. For example, if the origins of a parent or the country-specific context where the child is growing up play a role in the way they learn languages, programmes that help assimilation could be put in place to support foreign families. </p>
<p>Although my work to analyse the role of parental background on these results remains ongoing, I’ve already found evidence that certain actions by parents help children improve their linguistic performance. For instance, those children whose parents reported practising letters with them had better attainment in the vocabulary naming test, and this was more pronounced for bilingual children than children who spoke one language.</p>
<p>Provision of formal childcare also helps address the performance gap by exposing children whose parents are not native English speakers to English. </p>
<p>Given the positive results of this research, particularly for children from a mixed-nationality background, it will remain to be established whether bilingual children go on to outperform their monolingual peers in skill tests as they grow older.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46781/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Clifton-Sprigg received research funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (+3 Studentship, 2011-2014).</span></em></p>Bilingual children’s progress in learning vocabularly depends on their parents.Joanna Clifton-Sprigg, Lecturer in Economics, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/470812015-09-07T04:07:27Z2015-09-07T04:07:27ZWhat the use of ochre tells us about the capabilities of our African ancestry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93984/original/image-20150906-14625-19q8v1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ochre is still used throughout parts of Africa as a form of sunscreen. Its uses go back 285,000 years. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The use of <a href="https://www.academia.edu/12090780/Ochre_use_at_Sibudu_Cave_and_its_link_to_complex_cognition_in_the_Middle_Stone_Age">ochre</a> dates to the <a href="http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/behavior/tools/middle-tools">Middle Stone Age</a> and <a href="http://archaeology.about.com/od/mterms/qt/middle_paleolit.htm">Middle Palaeolithic</a>. The earliest evidence of its use in Africa dates 285 000 years.</p>
<p>In Africa, ochre is used for protection from the sun and as a barrier from insects such as mosquitos. It has also been scientifically proven to inhibit the effects of UV radiation. There are many other uses. </p>
<p><a href="http://archaeology.about.com/od/oterms/qt/Ochre.htm">Ochre</a> is an umbrella term for a range of earthy, iron-rich rocks composed of iron oxides or oxyhydroxides, such as shales, sandstones, mudstones and specularite. </p>
<h2>Why the fuss</h2>
<p>Ochre appears in the archaeological record around the same time as anatomically modern humans. Its use became more frequent from about 100,000 years ago at many Middle Stone Age sites. </p>
<p>At the same time, we find other significant developments in the material culture, such as new tool technologies and the use of a wide range of raw materials. Consequently, ochre is often seen as an indicator of “modern human behaviour” and cognitive development through its use as an indicator of symbolic behaviour. </p>
<p>This is reinforced by the preferential use of bright red ochre and ochre powder, as well as the deliberate engraving of ochre. Therefore, archaeological studies of the use of ochre can give fresh insights into the cognitive development of our early ancestors.</p>
<h2>Past and present uses of ochre</h2>
<p>Current and ethnographic uses of ochre have influenced interpretations of how it was used in the Middle and Later Stone Age. This must be done with caution because ochre has many different uses and we cannot assume that it was used in the same way in the past as it is today. Nevertheless, a great deal is now known about the properties of ochre. Here are some of its confirmed uses:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Ochre is used as an adhesive. Its powder is an effective aggregate in resin adhesives to mount tools onto handles or <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/106/24/9590.full">shafts</a>. Evidence of it being used in this way is found in the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618212001140">Middle Stone Age</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>It was also used to tan hide. Ochre has anti-bacterial qualities which prevent the breakdown of collagen. This helps <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Riaan_Rifkin/publication/257944765_Assessing_the_efficacy_of_red_ochre_as_a_prehistoric_hide-tanning_ingredient/links/0deec5266bd1158551000000.pdf">preserve hides</a>. There is no direct evidence of its use as a hide tanning substance in the Middle Stone Age as no hides are preserved. But <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440310002761">traces</a> on the ochre pieces indicate that some pieces were rubbed on <a href="http://www.eva.mpg.de/evolution/pdf/Soressi%20et%20D'errico%202007%20in%20Vandermeersch%20et%20Maureille.pdf">soft materials</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>It is more commonly known for protection from the sun protection. Ochre-based pastes has been used as protection from the sun as well as a barrier from insects like <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Riaan_Rifkin/publication/264623585_Ethnographic_and_experimental_perspectives_on_the_efficacy_of_red_ochre_as_a_mosquito_repellent/links/559d2dd208ae76bed0bad645.pdf">mosquitos</a>. It has been scientifically proven to inhibit the effects of <a href="http://www.sajs.co.za/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/Rifkin_Research%20Article_0.pdf">ultra-violet radiation</a>. It is still used as a sunscreen today, for example, by the Ovahimba in Namibia. </p></li>
<li><p>Ochre pigments were, and still are, widely used in paint and artwork. Many of the red and yellow pigments in rock art panels around the world are made with ochre-based paints. There is limited evidence for the creation of ochre paint in the Middle Stone Age, but 30,000 years ago its use as a <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6053/219.full">paint</a> was established.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Connecting the dots</h2>
<p>Links between the visible uses of ochre and cognition have not been clearly defined. To reconstruct the technology and processes involved in using ochre, it is important to understand the physical and chemical qualities of this material, whether as pieces or in powdered form. It is then possible to conclude whether ochre was used in the same way in the ancient past as it was in the recent past.</p>
<p>The main ways that ochre was used in the Middle Stone Age was by grinding pieces on coarse sandstone slab to create powder, scoring (or engraving) pieces with sharp tools, or rubbing ochre on soft surfaces, such as animal hide or human skin. </p>
<p>Grinding, to create a powder, is the most common use trace on Middle Stone Age ochre pieces. Red ochre appears to be preferentially ground at many Middle Stone Age sites implying that bright red powder was desired. Additionally, ochre powder has been found on various archaeological artefacts in this period such as stone tools, grindstones, perforated shell beads and bone tools. </p>
<p>The construction of thought-and-action cognitive sequences for activities involving the use of ochre has helped to reconstruct which actions require enhanced cognitive functions.</p>
<p>To model these sequences, each activity performed with ochre <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9398689&fileId=S0959774314000663">must be considered</a> – from collection, to possible modification by heat, to use with other tools, to discard.</p>
<p>By reconstructing the series of actions we can look at the <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8589664&fileId=S095977431200025X">cognitive requirements</a> needed to perform them, such as problem solving abilities, the need to switch attention between two concurrent activities, long range planning and response inhibition.</p>
<p>The requirement for cognitively complex abilities in some of the ochre-related activities in the Middle Stone Age suggests that the people living then had the advanced mental capabilities of people today. Ochre use could be a proxy for cognitive capabilities, and can therefore shed light on the evolution of the modern mind.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is based on a submission by the author to the <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0959774314000663">Cambridge Archaeological Journal</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tammy Reynard receives funding from The Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences (CoE_PAL), The National Research Foundation (NRF), The Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) and The Mellon Fondation.</span></em></p>Ochre has many uses. It can be used to shed information on the evolution of the modern mind.Tammy Hodgskiss, Postdoctoral Fellow, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.