Today's complex issues require technical expertise as well as the application of innovative social science techniques within Extension contexts. Researchers have suggested that a social science approach will play a critical role in water conservation, and people who use home landscape irrigation comprise a critical target audience for agriculture…

Research Findings: The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between social play and involvement in the outdoor preschool environment. The study included 173 children ranging in age from 3 to 6 years (M[subscript age] = 3.95, SD = 0.82) and attending 19 preschools in the Basque Country (Spain). A total of 51 teachers…

In addition to the empirical validation of "health and happiness" determinants, theoretical models suggesting where to ground actions are necessary. In the beginning of the twentieth century, intervention models focused on evaluation and empirical validation were only concerned about overt behaviours (verbal and non-verbal) and covert…

The goal of this study was to provide a preliminary evaluation of a social skills and facilitated play early intervention programme to promote social interaction, prosocial behaviours and socio-communicative skills among young extremely shy children in China. Participants were a sample of n = 16 extremely shy young children attending kindergarten…

Purpose: The purpose was to examine specific linkages between early visual-motor integration skills and executive function, as well as between early object manipulation skills and social behaviors in the classroom over the preschool year. Method: 92 children between the ages of 3-5 years old (mean age 4.31 years) were recruited to participate in…

In the present study, the associations between emotion regulation, temperament, and the quality of social relationships in early childhood were investigated. Thirty-one grade-one students were the focus of the study. Teachers completed the "School Social Behavior Scale" [Merrell, K. W. (1993). Using behaviour-rating scales to assess…

Integrating generic information about categories with knowledge of specific individuals is a critical component of successful inductive inferences. The present study tested whether children's approach to this task systematically shifts as they develop causal understandings of the mechanisms that shape individual action. In the current study, 3-and…

Educators worldwide face challenges surrounding academic integrity. The development of honor codes can promote academic integrity, but understanding how and why honor codes affect behavior is critical to their successful implementation. To date, research has not examined how students' "relationship" to an honor code predicts…

Script-fading procedures have been shown to be effective for teaching children with autism to initiate and participate in social interactions without vocal prompts from adults. In previous script and script-fading research, however, there has been no demonstration of a generalized repertoire of vocal interactions under the control of naturally…

In this paper, we examine how ethnically diverse, inclusive schools manage their legitimacy in an educational quasi-market. These schools are often threatened with a loss of legitimacy as ethnic majority parents perceive an ethnically diverse student population and radical pedagogical practices as signs of lower quality education. However,…

The developmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) has been associated with an atypical social profile of hyper-sociability and heightened social sensitivity across the developmental spectrum. In addition, previous research suggests that both children and adults with WS have a predisposition towards anxiety. The current research aimed to explore…

The "accordion effect" is an effect of language which allows us to describe one and the same thing more or less narrowly. Social capital has been conceived in terms of our access to institutional resources, but also in terms that extend to the levels of trust and related resources found in the social networks we are embedded in. The…

This article reviews the Social Responsiveness Scale-Second Edition (SRS-2), a 65-item rating scale measuring deficits in social behavior associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as outlined by the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed., text rev.; "DSM-IV-TR"; American Psychiatric Association,…

Current reforms in mathematics education advocate the development of mathematical learning communities in which students have opportunities to engage in mathematical discourse and classroom practices which underlie algebraic reasoning. This article specifically addresses the pedagogical actions teachers take which structure student engagement in…

A new model of reflective practice for student teachers on school placement was implemented into a teacher education program. The model aimed to encourage critical reflection that challenged hegemonic assumptions and power relations. In contrast to this, the analysis of the student teachers' reflections revealed a desire to fit in and conform.…