Title: Measuring children's behavioral regulation in the preschool classroom: An objective, sensor‐based approach
Abstract
Children's abilities to regulate their behaviors are critical for learning and development, yet researchers lack an objective, precise method for assessing children's behavioral regulation in their everyday environments such as their classrooms. This study tested a sensor‐based approach to assess preschool children's behavioral regulation objectively, precisely, and naturalistically. Children wore accelerometer devices as they engaged in center‐based play in their preschool classrooms for roughly 45 min (N = 50 children, 48% female, mean age = 4.5 years). Set to record data each second, these devices collected information about children's movement (N = 140,564 observations). From these data, the authors extracted concrete behaviors hypothesized to index behavioral regulation and compared them with teacher and observer ratings of the same. Initiating movement more frequently, staying seated in activities for shorter amounts of time, and spending a greater amount of time in motion were related to lower ratings of attention and inhibitory control by teachers and by observers of classroom group time, medianr = .45,p < .01. These same objectively measured behaviors showed only weak associations with children's performance on assessments of cognitive regulation, medianr = .11,p = .47. The findings indicate that ambulatory accelerometers can capture movement‐based indicators of children's behavioral regulation in the classroom setting and that performance on measures of cognitive regulation does not strongly predict children's behavior in the classroom. As an unobtrusive and objective measure, actigraphy may become an important tool for studying children's behavioral regulation in everyday contexts.
Quintero, Michaela; Hasty, Leslie; Li, Tianyu; Song, Seowon; Wang, Zhe(
, British Journal of Educational Psychology)
Background
Math anxiety (MA) and math achievement are generally negatively associated.
Aims
This study investigated whether and how classroom engagement behaviors mediate the negative association between MA and math achievement.
Sample
Data were drawn from an ongoing longitudinal study that examines the roles of affective factors in math learning. Participants consisted of 207 students from 4th through 6th grade (50% female).
Methods
Math anxiety was measured by self‐report using the Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Children (Chiu & Henry, 1990,Measurement and valuation in Counseling and Development, 23, 121). Students self‐reported their engagement in math classrooms using a modified version of the Math and Science Engagement Scale (Wang et al., 2016,Learning and Instruction, 43, 16). Math achievement was assessed using the Applied Problem, Calculations, and Number Matrices subtests from the Woodcock‐Johnson IV Tests of Achievement (Schrank et al., 2014,Woodcock‐Johnson IV Tests of Achievement. Riverside). Mediation analyses were conducted to examine the mediating role of classroom engagement in the association between MA and math achievement.
Results
Students with higher MA demonstrated less cognitive‐behavioral and emotional engagement compared to students with lower MA. Achievement differences among students with various levels of MA were partly accounted for by their cognitive‐behavioral engagement in the math classroom.
Conclusions
Overall, students with high MA exhibit avoidance patterns in everyday learning, which may act as a potential mechanism for explaining why high MA students underperform their low MA peers.
Hill, Kaylin E.; Kujawa, Autumn; Humphreys, Kathryn L.(
, Infant Mental Health Journal)
Abstract
Longstanding theories of emotion socialization postulate that caregiver emotional and behavioral reactions to a child's emotions together shape the child's emotion displays over time. Despite the notable importance of positive valence system function, the majority of research on caregiver emotion socialization focuses on negative valence system emotions. In the current project, we leveraged a relatively large cross‐sectional study of caregivers (N = 234; 93.59% White) of preschool aged children to investigate whether and to what degree, caregiver (1) emotional experiences, or (2) external behaviors, in the context of preschoolers’ positive emotion displays in caregiver–child interactions, are associated with children's general positive affect tendencies. Results indicated that, in the context of everyday caregiver–child interactions, caregiver‐reported positively valenced emotions but not approach behaviors were positively associated with child general positive affect tendencies. However, when examining specific caregiver behaviors in response to everyday child positive emotion displays, caregiver report of narrating the child's emotion and joining in the emotion with their child was positively associated with child general positive affect tendencies. Together, these results suggest that in everyday caregiver–child interactions, caregivers’ emotional experiences and attunement with the child play a role in shaping preschoolers’ overall tendencies toward positive affect.
Mitsven, Samantha G.; Perry, Lynn K.; Tao, Yudong; Elbaum, Batya E.; Johnson, Neil F.; Messinger, Daniel S.(
, Developmental Science)
Abstract
Over half of US children are enrolled in preschools, where the quantity and quality of language input from teachers are likely to affect children's language development. Leveraging repeated objective measurements, we examined the rate per minute and phonemic diversity of child and teacher speech‐related vocalizations in preschool classrooms and their association with children's end‐of‐year receptive and expressive language abilities measured with the Preschool Language Scales (PLS‐5). Phonemic diversity was computed as the number of unique consonants and vowels in a speech‐related vocalization. We observed three successive cohorts of 2.5–3.5‐year‐old children enrolled in an oral language classroom that included children with and without hearing loss (N = 29, 16 girls, 14 Hispanic). Vocalization data were collected using child‐worn audio recorders over 34 observations spanning three successive school years, yielding 21.53 mean hours of audio recording per child. The rate of teacher vocalizations positively predicted the rate of children's speech‐related vocalizations while the phonemic diversity of teacher vocalizations positively predicted the phonemic diversity of children's speech‐related vocalizations. The phonemic diversity of children's speech‐related vocalizations was a stronger predictor of end‐of‐year language abilities than the rate of children's speech‐related vocalizations. Mediation analyses indicated that the phonemic diversity of teacher vocalizations was associated with children's receptive and expressive language abilities to the extent that it influenced the phonemic diversity of children's own speech‐related vocalizations. The results suggest that qualitatively richer language input expands the phonemic diversity of children's speech, which in turn is associated with language abilities.
Background The classic Marshmallow Test, where children were offered a choice between one small but immediate reward (eg, one marshmallow) or a larger reward (eg, two marshmallows) if they waited for a period of time, instigated a wealth of research on the relationships among impulsive responding, self-regulation, and clinical and life outcomes. Impulsivity is a hallmark feature of self-regulation failures that lead to poor health decisions and outcomes, making understanding and treating impulsivity one of the most important constructs to tackle in building a culture of health. Despite a large literature base, impulsivity measurement remains difficult due to the multidimensional nature of the construct and limited methods of assessment in daily life. Mobile devices and the rise of mobile health (mHealth) have changed our ability to assess and intervene with individuals remotely, providing an avenue for ambulatory diagnostic testing and interventions. Longitudinal studies with mobile devices can further help to understand impulsive behaviors and variation in state impulsivity in daily life. Objective The aim of this study was to develop and validate an impulsivity mHealth diagnostics and monitoring app called Digital Marshmallow Test (DMT) using both the Apple and Android platforms for widespread dissemination to researchers, clinicians, and the general public. Methods The DMT app was developed using Apple’s ResearchKit (iOS) and Android’s ResearchStack open source frameworks for developing health research study apps. The DMT app consists of three main modules: self-report, ecological momentary assessment, and active behavioral and cognitive tasks. We conducted a study with a 21-day assessment period (N=116 participants) to validate the novel measures of the DMT app. Results We used a semantic differential scale to develop self-report trait and momentary state measures of impulsivity as part of the DMT app. We identified three state factors (inefficient, thrill seeking, and intentional) that correlated highly with established measures of impulsivity. We further leveraged momentary semantic differential questions to examine intraindividual variability, the effect of daily life, and the contextual effect of mood on state impulsivity and daily impulsive behaviors. Our results indicated validation of the self-report sematic differential and related results, and of the mobile behavioral tasks, including the Balloon Analogue Risk Task and Go-No-Go task, with relatively low validity of the mobile Delay Discounting task. We discuss the design implications of these results to mHealth research. Conclusions This study demonstrates the potential for assessing different facets of trait and state impulsivity during everyday life and in clinical settings using the DMT mobile app. The DMT app can be further used to enhance our understanding of the individual facets that underlie impulsive behaviors, as well as providing a promising avenue for digital interventions. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03006653; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03006653
Carpenter, Kimberly L. H.; Hahemi, Jordan; Campbell, Kathleen; Lippmann, Steven J.; Baker, Jeffrey P.; Egger, Helen L.; Espinosa, Steven; Vermeer, Saritha; Sapiro, Guillermo; Dawson, Geraldine(
, Autism Research)
Commonly used screening tools for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) generally rely on subjective caregiver questionnaires. While behavioral observation is more objective, it is also expensive, time‐consuming, and requires significant expertise to perform. As such, there remains a critical need to develop feasible, scalable, and reliable tools that can characterize ASD risk behaviors. This study assessed the utility of a tablet‐based behavioral assessment for eliciting and detecting one type of risk behavior, namely, patterns of facial expression, in 104 toddlers (ASDN= 22) and evaluated whether such patterns differentiated toddlers with and without ASD. The assessment consisted of the child sitting on his/her caregiver's lap and watching brief movies shown on a smart tablet while the embedded camera recorded the child's facial expressions. Computer vision analysis (CVA) automatically detected and tracked facial landmarks, which were used to estimate head position and facial expressions (Positive, Neutral, All Other). Using CVA, specific points throughout the movies were identified that reliably differentiate between children with and without ASD based on their patterns of facial movement and expressions (area under the curves for individual movies ranging from 0.62 to 0.73). During these instances, children with ASD more frequently displayed Neutral expressions compared to children without ASD, who had more All Other expressions. The frequency of All Other expressions was driven by non‐ASD children more often displaying raised eyebrows and an open mouth, characteristic of engagement/interest. Preliminary results suggest computational coding of facial movements and expressions via a tablet‐based assessment can detect differences in affective expression, one of the early, core features of ASD.
Lay Summary
This study tested the use of a tablet in the behavioral assessment of young children with autism. Children watched a series of developmentally appropriate movies and their facial expressions were recorded using the camera embedded in the tablet. Results suggest that computational assessments of facial expressions may be useful in early detection of symptoms of autism.
Koepp, Andrew E., Gershoff, Elizabeth T., Castelli, Darla M., and Bryan, Amy E. Measuring children's behavioral regulation in the preschool classroom: An objective, sensor‐based approach. Developmental Science 25.5 Web. doi:10.1111/desc.13214.
Koepp, Andrew E., Gershoff, Elizabeth T., Castelli, Darla M., & Bryan, Amy E. Measuring children's behavioral regulation in the preschool classroom: An objective, sensor‐based approach. Developmental Science, 25 (5). https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13214
Koepp, Andrew E., Gershoff, Elizabeth T., Castelli, Darla M., and Bryan, Amy E.
"Measuring children's behavioral regulation in the preschool classroom: An objective, sensor‐based approach". Developmental Science 25 (5). Country unknown/Code not available: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13214.https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10370200.
@article{osti_10370200,
place = {Country unknown/Code not available},
title = {Measuring children's behavioral regulation in the preschool classroom: An objective, sensor‐based approach},
url = {https://par.nsf.gov/biblio/10370200},
DOI = {10.1111/desc.13214},
abstractNote = {Abstract Children's abilities to regulate their behaviors are critical for learning and development, yet researchers lack an objective, precise method for assessing children's behavioral regulation in their everyday environments such as their classrooms. This study tested a sensor‐based approach to assess preschool children's behavioral regulation objectively, precisely, and naturalistically. Children wore accelerometer devices as they engaged in center‐based play in their preschool classrooms for roughly 45 min (N = 50 children, 48% female, mean age = 4.5 years). Set to record data each second, these devices collected information about children's movement (N = 140,564 observations). From these data, the authors extracted concrete behaviors hypothesized to index behavioral regulation and compared them with teacher and observer ratings of the same. Initiating movement more frequently, staying seated in activities for shorter amounts of time, and spending a greater amount of time in motion were related to lower ratings of attention and inhibitory control by teachers and by observers of classroom group time, medianr = .45,p < .01. These same objectively measured behaviors showed only weak associations with children's performance on assessments of cognitive regulation, medianr = .11,p = .47. The findings indicate that ambulatory accelerometers can capture movement‐based indicators of children's behavioral regulation in the classroom setting and that performance on measures of cognitive regulation does not strongly predict children's behavior in the classroom. As an unobtrusive and objective measure, actigraphy may become an important tool for studying children's behavioral regulation in everyday contexts.},
journal = {Developmental Science},
volume = {25},
number = {5},
publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell},
author = {Koepp, Andrew E. and Gershoff, Elizabeth T. and Castelli, Darla M. and Bryan, Amy E.},
}
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