Early adolescents (aged 12-15) were observed during dyadic conflict discussions with their siblings (n = 23) and mothers (n = 32) in their homes. The verbal conflict behaviors and affect of family members were coded continuously. Sequential analyses identified temporal associations between individuals' affect and their own and their partners'…

Background: Prior research has shown that homophobia and transphobia are widespread in schools, some studies even indicate that the prevalence of harassment towards LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer etc.) individuals in schools is higher than in other social contexts. Recently, several qualitative studies have been published in…

The publicly funded early intervention program for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Nova Scotia, Canada, uses the pivotal response treatment (PRT) model. Parents are coached in use of PRT strategies during their children's first week of treatment. We explored whether parents of older preschoolers with limited verbal ability…

Disfluencies, such as 'um' or 'uh', can cause adults to attribute uncertainty to speakers, but may also facilitate speech processing. To understand how these different functions affect children's learning, we asked whether (dis)fluency affects children's decision to select information from speakers (an explicit behavior) and their learning of…

This embedded mixed methods study explores how cultural differences in language socialization practices influence parent-child verbal interactions. The Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) System audio recorded families of children who are and are not deaf and hard of hearing in Canada and Vietnam. Software automatically calculated an average…

This study used an ethological approach to explore the behavioural adaptation of nineteen infants during their first six weeks in Residential Care (RC), or a Foster Family (FF) or an Infant-Mother Centre (IMC). Direct observations were conducted once a week at bath time. Observed behaviours were: sleep-wake states, visual exploration, motor…

To successfully navigate their social worlds, children must adapt their behaviors to diverse situations and do so in a fluid fashion. The current study explored preschool-aged children's sensitivity to a gameplay context (cooperative/competitive) and messages from another (fictional) player (team-oriented/self-oriented) while distributing gameplay…

Affirmative consent initiatives advocate that college students understand sexual consent and refusal. There has been an influx of research focused on students' definitions or understanding of consent; however, research examining students' definitions of sexual refusals is limited. Additionally, different terminology (e.g., non-consent vs. sexual…

This qualitative study examined classroom Teachers verbal abuse by reviewing a sample of the decisions of the discipline committee of the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT). Data were collected from the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CANLII) online database, which provided a record of all the OCT discipline committee decisions, with…

Describing events may be challenging for any child, but children who use communication aids may face unique linguistic, pragmatic, and strategic challenges in conveying information with the communication means they have available. This study explores strategies used by young, aided communicators when describing the content of a video unknown to…

This study examined children's use of narrative strategies and social purposes in dramatic play through a sociocultural theoretical lens. We analysed language and nonverbal communication in play scenarios involving 17 kindergarteners and their teacher. Children used language and other communication modes to develop plot, character, and setting.…

Maljkovic and Nakayama (1994) found that pop-out search performance is more efficient when a singleton target feature repeats rather than switches from 1 trial to the next--an effect known as priming of pop-out (PoP). They also reported findings indicating that the PoP effect is strongly automatic, as it was unaffected by knowledge of the upcoming…

Given recent attention to emotion regulation (ER) as an important factor in personal well-being and effective social communication, there is a need for detection mechanisms that accurately capture ER and facilitate adaptive responding (Calvo & D'Mello, 2010). Current approaches to determining ER are mainly limited to self-report data such as…

This research explores young Indigenous children's multimodal meaning-making to carry out social intentions in dramatic and construction/materials play settings. The participants are two teachers and 21 children from two Northern Canadian Indigenous communities. Underpinned by social semiotic theory, the research involves inductive analyses of six…

This article examines relationships between children and youths' judgments and their justifications of truth telling and verbal deception, in situational and cultural contexts. Han Chinese, Euro-Canadians and Chinese-Canadians, seven- to 17-years of age were presented competitive scenarios in which protagonists told either lies to protect, or…