Pretend play is an important, universal activity of early childhood, but research to date contains multiple inconsistencies in definitions and measurement of pretend play. To begin to resolve this issue, we conducted a first study of the multiple different behaviors of pretend play in the preschool years (3-5 years), and investigated their…

Early childhood practitioners frequently attempt to identify the cause of outcomes experienced by their learners. This is sometimes referred to as causal attribution. Causal attribution may be affected by prior success and failure of a learner, the amount of effort exerted by the learner, the ability level of the learner, and knowledge of any…

The notion of learning dispositions has extended conceptions of learning in early childhood education to incorporate dimensions such as habits of mind and patterns of behaviour. This paper conceptualizes learning dispositions through a Chinese lens, and with conceptualizing this notion, explores associated pedagogical practices. The data are drawn…

The goal of this research is to analyze the instrumental behavior of the caregiver at the Emmi Pikler nursery school in Budapest while dressing children from two to three years old to go outdoors to play in the garden. In order to study this routine in its usual context, the observational methodology has been chosen, adopting an "ad hoc"…

Universal public prekindergarten programs have been expanding in recent years, but not all eligible families apply to these programs, for reasons that are not well understood. Using two cohorts of students (N = 8,391) enrolled in Boston Public Schools, we use geographic information systems to combine administrative records with census data to…

The aim of this study was to explore patterns of children's agency enactment in second-language learning as reflected in their language learning and social interactions in a bilingual Arabic-Hebrew-speaking classroom. We examined the connection between these behaviour patterns and the children's L2 progress in the bilingual classroom. The study…

In this article we present results from research on how education environments may influence the propensity of education participants to engage in corrupt practices. We approached this task with the help of a conceptual framework that draws on rational choice and routine activity theory, and on economic models of human behaviour. The framework…

Research Findings: Drawing from a Dutch sample of 113 Dutch children (M age = 37 months, SD = 3.5) from 37 early care and education classrooms (19 child care centers and 18 preschools), this study examined whether the relation between classroom emotional and behavioral support and children's observed social integration and positive mood in a play…

Background: Autism prevalence has grown dramatically. Early interventions are effective in helping children with autism develop behavior patterns similar to children without the condition. It is important for health educators and teachers to recognize common autism symptoms among preschool children so they will benefit from early intervention.…

The purpose of the current study was to examine the role of theory of mind in fairness-related behavior in preschoolers and to introduce a tool for examining fairness-related behavior in children. A total of 68 preschoolers played the Ultimatum Game in a face-to-face setting. Acquisition of theory of mind was defined as the understanding of false…

This qualitative study examined whether and how preschoolers' social interactions during buddy "reading" supported their use and learning of theme-related vocabulary. Data included 32 transcribed videos of 14 preschoolers engaged in buddy "reading." Interaction analysis and constant comparative methods were applied to identify (1) patterns of…

Although previous research has identified a number of interesting aspects of future thinking in adults, little is known about the developmental trajectory and coherence of future-oriented behaviors during early childhood. The primary goal of this study was to explore these issues by administering a battery of tasks assessing different aspects of…

Three- and 4-year-old children were asked to judge which of a set of 3 lines was the longest, both independently and in the face of an inaccurate consensus among adult informants. Children were invariably accurate when making independent judgments but sometimes deferred to the inaccurate consensus. Nevertheless, the deference displayed by both age…

Anyone who has observed or played with young children probably has noticed how they imitate what they see--their friends, siblings, parents, and teachers; television, movie, and book characters; and sometimes even their family pets. Frequently, this imitation can help children learn appropriate behaviors, attitudes, and thinking patterns.…

Research Findings: The transition to school is a major developmental milestone, and behavior tendencies already evident at the point of school entry can impact upon a child's subsequent social and academic adjustment. The current study aimed to investigate stability and change in the social behavior of girls and boys across the transition from day…