Contributions to Language and Cognitive Development - Essay Example

?Contributions to Language and Cognitive Development What is it that the are trying to learn, discover or test? It seems that the aretrying to learn, what if any, are the influences of a father’s involvement with his children at the earliest stage, that is between 2 to 3 years, and the outcome of such involvement, in low-income groups. According to Black et al, as cited in Fathers and Mothers at Play With Their 2 and 3 Year-Olds: Contributions to Language and Cognitive Development, “Limited resources, unstable employment, and inadequate education often make it difficult for fathers to establish and maintain positive and emotionally supportive relationships with their children” (Black et al,1999 as cited in Fathers and Mothers at Play With Their 2 and 3 Year-Olds: Contributions to Language and Cognitive Development, pg 1806) Since little is known about the ways in which men in low-income families interact with their young children, the authors are trying to test if there are any immediate or long term effects of father engagements on children’s development. They are trying to evaluate the differences in the cognitive development that takes place in the child/ren in families, where a father lives in the home with the kids and their mother, gives them his time and has a good relationship with the mother; and those families where the father does not live with the mother and their kids. The test is to see if a father’s involvement in his kids makes a difference to their cognitive development during the crucial period between 24 and 36 months age. It also tries to examine whether there is a significant correlation between demographic characteristics, the mother-child relationship or the competencies of children and the relationship of the father and his child. The study aims to examine whether the engagement between mother and child and that with father and child result in similar outcomes in their children. It poses questions like whether, or how much, a resident father in a low-income group, can positively influence the outcomes in his young children. What was their choice of method (i.e. experiment, observation etc.) The choice of method in this case was observation after a representative group was identified. There were home visits where mother-child and father-child dyads were observed with their children aged 24 and 36 months. The visits also included interviews and videotaped sessions of parent-child play. All of this was conducted in the family’s primary language. A trained tester measured skills like problem solving, number concepts, ability to classify, vocalizations, language, and social skills. The focus of the investigation was a videotape of mother-child and father-child interactions during three activities. One of these was a ten minute free play session, in which a set of three toys were given to parents to play with their kids. The toys were different for fathers and mothers and appropriate for the age of the child - that is 24 months or 36 months. These sessions were separate for mother-child and father-child. To sustain the child’s interest, different toys were used at each session. Parents were asked to use the toys given in a particular sequence, and avoid the use of pacifiers so verbal skills of the child could be easily understood. The mother-child and father-child videotapes were assessed on parameters of sensitivity, positive regard, cognitive stimulation, intrusiveness, detachment and negative regard. Those who assessed these tapes were unaware of the children’s performance in other tests and were fluent in the primary language of the family. Why did they choose this method? This method was chosen because, not enough research had been done on the influence of fathers on their children in low-income groups. The researchers needed to have concrete proof that the cognitive and language competencies of children were to a great extent influenced by their interactions with the father. Besides, there was no research on the independent contributions of fathers in low-income groups who lived with their partners, after accounting for the effects of mother-child engagements and the father’s demographic characteristics. The study needed to examine whether demographic characteristics, effects of mother-child relationships or stability in children’s competencies are a result of father-child associations. This method was therefore chosen to test the overall influence of the father-child associations on the development of young children. What are the trade-offs in the selection of this method? What’s lost by using this method? The sample size is from the families enrolled in the National Evaluation of Early Head Start and hence does not constitute a representation of low income families in the US. The sample size is very small but the result of the study can help researchers and policy makers who try to increase positive father interaction in low income families. In this sample of participants, negative behaviors were observed very rarely, but then most of the participating families were those where there were resident fathers. The influence of a father has been stressed in various studies. While talking about fathers’ influence on children’s development, the opinion of Cabrera et al, as cited in the article Fathers and Mothers at Play With Their 2 and 3 Year-Olds: Contributions to Language and Cognitive Development says “In attempts to understand the complex associations that exist between father involvement and child outcomes, it is essential to study fatherhood in the context of a network of relationships that has both direct and indirect influences on children”. (Cabrera et al., 2000; Clarke-Stewart, 1977; Lamb, 1997, 2004; Lewis, Feiring, & Weinraub, 1981; Lewis & Weinraub, 1976).This study consistently shows that the father has an important role in his child’s cognitive development. It also proved that contrary to popular belief, “Fathers were just as sensitive, positive, and cognitively stimulating as mothers and did not display more negative or controlling behaviors.” (Tamis-LeMonda, Shannon, Cabrera, and Lamb, page 1815) Children with resident fathers also did better in language and cognitive tests than those with non resident fathers. What did they learn? What was the outcome of the study? The study revealed that there were some differences between families that had resident fathers, and those that did not. In the former, the fathers were usually married to the mothers and were the biological fathers of the children; which was not the case in the latter. Another finding related to the age and education of the parents,where both parents were older, more educated, than those who did not have resident fathers. The children too in families with resident fathers, achieved better scores in all tests both at 24 and 36 months. The study also revealed that both fathers and mothers handled their children with sensitivity and their behaviour towards children was positive; refuting commonly held assumptions that parents from low-income groups are harsh disciplinarians. Higher scores on sensitivity and positive regard as well as cognitive stimulation, were found among mothers whose partners had higher incomes and were better educated. The study also found that mothers who were more sensitive and less intrusive were those who were married. It was found that there was a definite link between positive and supportive parenting and children’s scores in both age groups. The study revealed that a father’s positive behavior directly benefits his children, and the level of the parent’s education also has a direct effect on children’s outcomes. The quality of a father’s engagement with his children appears to affect the children’s language and cognitive development, as well as the mother’s engagements with her children. How generalizable are the results? What are the limits? There are several limitations in this research. The participants were drawn from families enrolled in the National Evaluation of Early Head Start and hence do not constitute a representation of families in the US. Moreover this study focused on fathers who resided with their children at the age of two or three years or both. Since paternal residency cannot be taken for granted, the sample seems biased in terms of ethnicity and demographics. In the group studied, fathers tended to be employed, better educated and more likely to be married than other fathers in low-income families in National Evaluation of Early Head Start. Many of the biological resident fathers could not be visited either because mothers did not permit it or fathers themselves refused to participate. Besides, the observations of parent-child interactions during a 10 minute play period cannot conclusively be relied upon. This is another factor that can limit generalization. The tests that were conducted on the children (BSID & PPVT) “are limited in their ability to capture the rich variation that exists in children's semantic, pragmatic, and syntactic uses of language during this important development period.” (Tamis-LeMonda, Shannon, Cabrera, and Lamb, page 1816) How does the information learned from the article relate to you working with disabled people? The article talks about how a parent's positive response to his/her child goes a long way in creating confidence in the child and helps language and cognitive development. I think that working with disabled people is also in many ways like working with children. Developing confidence in one’s self is the precursor to success. Sensitivity which means accurately reading signals and responding to them and positive regard which means showing regard, respect and admiration are keys to developing confidence and these are things that can help me in my work with disabled people. After all working with disabled people needs the same kind of patience in teaching them skills and encouraging them with praise when they achieve their goals. Just as intrusiveness or controlling to a greater degree, and detachment or inattention is bad for a child's learning process, so also these factors need to be avoided while working with the disabled.I think these are the things that can help me in my work with disabled people. Works Cited Black et al African American fathers in low-income, urban families: Development, behavior, and home environment of their three-year-olds. Child Development, 70, 967-978. Cited from Tamis-LeMonda, Shannon, Cabrera, and Lamb Fathers and Mothers at Play With Their 2 and 3 Year-Olds: Contributions to Language and Cognitive Development Child Development, November/December 2004, Volume 75, Number 6, Pages 1806-1820 Cabrera, N. J., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Bradley, R. H., Hofferth, S., & Lamb, M. E. (2000). Fatherhood in the twenty-first century. Child Development, 71, 127-136. Cited from Tamis-LeMonda, Shannon, Cabrera, and Lamb Fathers and Mothers at Play With Their 2 and 3 Year-Olds: Contributions to Language and Cognitive Development Child Development, November/December 2004, Volume 75, Number 6, Pages 1806-1820 Tamis-LeMonda, Shannon, Cabrera, and Lamb Fathers and Mothers at Play With Their 2 and 3 Year-Olds: Contributions to Language and Cognitive Development Child Development, November/December 2004, Volume 75, Number 6, Pages 1806-1820 Read More