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| Research
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| Current
Research at the Children's School | |
| Research Course Work | |
Research Coursework At this point in the spring 2009 semester, the students in Dr. Anna Fisher’s Developmental Research Methods course are beginning their first lab at the Children’s School. The Sorting Game: It is well-known that when presented with various objects younger children are more likely to group them thematically (e.g., dog and bowl) whereas older children are more likely to group things taxonomically (e.g., dog and bear). In the class project, students will try (1) to replicate this finding by testing 3- and 5-year-old children and (2) to investigate children’s ability to group things taxonomically in the absence of thematic choices. Examples of the stimuli are presented below.
The Research Methods students are also preparing their final projects for the semester. Though the research procedures are still being finalized, the topics are listed below. Families whose children participate will receive fuller parent descriptions via the child’s backpack. Everyone can read the study descriptions on the Research Bulletin Board outside the Children’s School Office. Notice the interesting range of important topics in early childhood development! Effects of Modeling on Cognitive Flexibility in Sorting - testing 3 and 5 year olds’ ability to shift from sorting “presents” by color to sorting the same set of objects by shape, either with verbal directions or a adult modeling the task (The Present Game) Predicting Emotions of Story Characters - testing 3 and 5 year olds’ ability to predict the emotion a story character will feel, either when hearing the stories orally or when the oral story is accompanied by pictures (The Stories Game) Flexibility in Gender Profiles - testing 3, 4, and 5 year olds’ ability to choose gifts, party activities, and a party theme based on knowledge of a child’s preference profile, both when the profile fits common stereotypes and when it contradicts them (The Birthday Game) Effects of Teaching Venue on Learning - testing 4 and 5 year olds’ ability to learn a simple block design from an adult demonstrating the pattern “live” vs. on video (The Block Pictures Game)
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| The Children's School, MMC 17, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (412)268-2199 |
