Search results for: toddlers

Authors: Florence A. Undiyaundeye, Aniashie Akpanke

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Early identification of developmental disorders in infants and toddlers is critical for the well being of children. It is also an integral function of the primary care medical provider and the early care given in the home or crèche. This paper is focused at providing information on special need infants and toddlers and strategies to support them in developmental concern to cope with the challenges in and out of the classroom and to interact with their peers without stigmatization and inferiority complex. The target children are from birth through three years of age. There is a strong recommendation for developmental surveillance to be incorporated at every well child preventive care program in training and practical stage of formal school settings. The paper posits that any concerns raised during surveillance should be promptly addressed with standardized developmental screening by appropriate health service providers. In addition screening tests should be administered regularly at age 9+, 19+ and 30 months of these infants. The paper also establishes that the early identification of these developmental challenges of the infants and toddlers should lead to further developmental and medical evaluation, diagnosis and treatment, including early developmental school intervention, control and teaching and learning integration and inclusion for proper career build up. Children diagnosed with developmental disorders should be identified as children with special needs so that management is initiated and its underlying etiology may also drive a range of treatment of the child, to parents. Conselling and school integration as applicable to the child’s specific need and care for sustenance in societal functioning.

Keywords: care, special need, support, infants and toddlers, management and developmental disorders

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Authors: Priyadarshini Kiran, Gulshan Kumar

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: Social media are becoming the most important tools for interaction among learners, pedagogues and parents where everybody can share, exchange, comment, discuss and create information and knowledge in a collaborative way. The present case study attempts to highlight the role of social media (WhatsApp) in nurturing learning habits in toddlers with the help of parents in primary education. The Case study is based on primary data collected from a primary school situated in a small town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India. In research methodology, survey and structured interviews have been used as a tool collected from parents and pedagogues. The findings Suggest: - To nurture learning habits in toddlers, parents and pedagogues use social media site (WhatsApp) in real-time and that too is convenient and handy; - Skill enhancement on the part of Pedagogues as a result of employing innovative teaching-learning techniques; - Social media sites serve as a social connectivity tool to ward off negativity and monotony on the part of parents and pedagogues in the wake of COVID- 19

Keywords: innovative teaching-learning techniques, pedagogues, social media, nurture, toddlers

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Authors: Ming Fang Hsieh

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the reading responses of infants and toddlers across different contexts in nursery centers. The study adopted Sipe’s framework for children’s literacy education to explore the reading behavior of infants and toddlers. The study was conducted at two nurseries. The sample comprised 46 infants and toddlers and 6 caregivers. The methods of data collection included observation of various reading activities, including shared reading in a group, one-on-one reading, and unstructured reading activities, as well as interviews with caregivers. The data obtained through observations and interviews were transcribed and analyzed. The caregivers and the children’s parents signed an informed consent form before the start of the study. There was no risk anticipated during the course of the study. The analysis revealed five types of reading responses exhibited by the infants and toddlers: (1) linguistic- verbally responding to reading, repeating vocabulary, and answering questions; (2) affective- concentrating on reading or requesting for repeated reading, leaning on books, and gazing at caregivers; (3) explosive- children under 18 months were observed manipulating books through their bodies or different movements like flipping, rotating, or tapping on books; (4) social- during unstructured reading context, children were seen interacting with peers or following the rules of reading, sitting properly, and choosing one book at a time; and (5) distracted responses- paying attention to something else instead of reading, walking around, and playing, which was usually observed during shared reading in a group. The study concluded that children’s distraction and explosive reading behaviors may be a part of the process of their emergent reading behavior. As children develop, they demonstrate an increase in verbal responses, improved concentration, and better behavior. The study suggests that adults should continue to provide appropriate reading opportunities beginning from infancy to nurture children’s reading behaviors.

Keywords: reading response, infants and toddlers, early reading, picture books

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Authors: Crisostomo Hart A., Cruz Anna Cecilia R., Cruz Bianca Isabelle A., Cruz John Edward Ligzurc M., Cruz Mikaela Denise P.

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Aim/purpose: The researchers aimed to determine the effect of Ylang-ylang aroma in decreasing the anxiety levels of parents with hospitalized toddlers diagnosed with pneumonia. Method: Quantitative Quasi-experimental one-group pre-test post-test design was utilized in the study. The study includes a pretest, an intervention, and a posttest on the same experimental group. Participants are parents aged 20 – 35 years old with a hospitalized toddler who is diagnosed with pneumonia. Anxiety levels were measured before the intervention using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory by Spielberger. Those who scored 41-120 proceeded to receive the intervention. The intervention was a 3-day course of aromatherapy where the participants inhaled the Ylang-ylang flower at a distance of 10 – 15 cm away from the face for 10 minutes. The post-test using the same instrument measured the levels of anxiety after the 3-day aromatherapy. Paired T-test of SPSS 21.0 was used to analyze the pre-test and post-test scores. Results: Study yielded a p value of 0.047 which shows significant difference between the levels of anxiety before and after the intervention. Conclusions: Based on the data analysis, the researchers concluded that inhalation of Ylang-ylang aroma is effective in reducing the anxiety level of the parents of hospitalized toddlers diagnosed with Pneumonia.

Keywords: Ylang-ylang, Pneumonia, Toddlers, Aromatherapy

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Authors: Yungtai Lo

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Two-part random effects models have been used to fit semi-continuous longitudinal data where the response variable has a point mass at 0 and a continuous right-skewed distribution for positive values. We review methods proposed in the literature for analyzing data with excess zeros. A two-part logit-log-normal random effects model, a two-part logit-truncated normal random effects model, a two-part logit-gamma random effects model, and a two-part logit-skew normal random effects model were used to examine effects of a bottle-weaning intervention on reducing bottle use and daily milk intake from bottles in toddlers aged 11 to 13 months in a randomized controlled trial. We show in all four two-part models that the intervention promoted bottle-weaning and reduced daily milk intake from bottles in toddlers drinking from a bottle. We also show that there are no differences in model fit using either the logit link function or the probit link function for modeling the probability of bottle-weaning in all four models. Furthermore, prediction accuracy of the logit or probit link function is not sensitive to the distribution assumption on daily milk intake from bottles in toddlers not off bottles.

Keywords: two-part model, semi-continuous variable, truncated normal, gamma regression, skew normal, Pearson residual, receiver operating characteristic curve

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Authors: Yungtai Lo

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The current study follows an educational intervention on bottle-weaning to simultaneously evaluate the effect of the bottle-weaning intervention on reducing bottle use, daily milk intake from bottles, and daily energy intake in toddlers aged 11 to 13 months. A shared parameter model and a random effects model are used to jointly model bottle use, daily milk intake from bottles, and daily energy intake. We show in the two joint models that the bottle-weaning intervention promotes bottleweaning, and reduces daily milk intake from bottles in toddlers not off bottles and daily energy intake. We also show that the odds of drinking from a bottle were positively associated with the amount of milk intake from bottles and increased daily milk intake from bottles was associated with increased daily energy intake. The effect of bottle use on daily energy intake is through its effect on increasing daily milk intake from bottles that in turn increases daily energy intake.

Keywords: two-part model, semi-continuous variable, joint model, gamma regression, shared parameter model, random effects model

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Authors: Juliana da Silva Cardoso, Cláudia Correia, Rita Gomes, Carolina Fraga, Inês Cascais, Sara Monteiro, Beatriz Teixeira, Sandra Ribeiro, Carolina Andrade, Cláudia Oliveira, Diana Gonzaga, Catarina Prior, Inês Vaz Matos

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The average daily screen time (ST) has been increasing in children, even at young ages. This seems to be associated with a higher incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders, and as the time of exposure increases, the greater is the functional impact. This study aims to compare the daily ST of toddlers and preschoolers previously and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A questionnaire was applied by telephone to parents/caregivers of children between 1 and 5 years old, followed up at 4 primary care units belonging to the Group of Primary Health Care Centers of Western Porto, Portugal. 520 children were included: 52.9% male, mean age 39.4 ± 13.9 months. The mean age of first exposure to screens was 13.9 ± 8.0 months, and most of the children were exposed to more than one screen daily. Considering the WHO recommendations, before the COVID-19 pandemic, 385 (74.0%) and 408 (78.5%) children had excessive ST during the week and the weekend, respectively; during the lockdown, these values increased to 495 (95.2%) and 482 (92.7%). Maternal education and both the child's median age and the median age of first exposure to screens had a statistically significant association with excessive ST, with OR 0.2 (p = 0.03, CI 95% 0.07-0.86), OR 1.1 (p = 0.01, 95% CI 1.05-1.14) and OR 0.9 (p = 0.05, 95% CI 0. 87-0.98), respectively. Most children in this sample had a higher than recommended ST, which increased with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These results are worrisome and point to the need for urgent intervention.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, preschoolers, screen time, toddlers

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Authors: Hidehiro Endo, Taizo Shigemichi

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Introduction & Objectives: In 2008, the revised course of study for elementary schools was published by MEXT, and from the beginning of the academic year of 2011-2012, foreign language activities (English lessons) became mandatory for 5th and 6th graders in Japanese elementary schools. Foreign language activities are currently offered once a week for approximately 50 minutes by elementary school teachers, assistant language teachers who are native speakers of English, volunteers, among others, with the purpose of helping children become accustomed to functional English. However, the new policy has disclosed a myriad of issues in conducting foreign language activities since the majority of the current elementary school teachers has neither English teaching experience nor English proficiency. Nevertheless, converting foreign language activities into English, as a subject in Japanese elementary schools (for 5th and 6th graders) from 2020 is what MEXT currently envisages with the purpose of reforming English education in Japan. According to their new proposal, foreign language activities will be mandatory for 3rd and 4th graders from 2020. Consequently, gaining better access to English learning opportunities becomes one of the primary concerns even in early childhood education. Thus, in this project, we aim to explore some nursery schools’ attempts at providing toddlers with online English lessons via Skype. The main purpose of this project is to look deeply into what roles online English lessons in the nursery schools play in guiding nursery school children to enjoy learning the English language as well as to acquire English communication skills. Research Methods: Setting; The main research site is a nursery school located in the northern part of Japan. The nursery school has been offering a 20-minute online English lesson via Skype twice a week to 7 toddlers since September 2015. The teacher of the online English lessons is a male person who lives in the Philippines. Fieldwork & Data; We have just begun collecting data by attending the Skype English lessons. Direct observations are the principal components of the fieldwork. By closely observing how the toddlers respond to what the teacher does via Skype, we examine what components stimulate the toddlers to pay attention to the English lessons. Preliminary Findings & Expected Outcomes: Although both data collection and analysis are ongoing, we found that the online English teacher remembers the first name of each toddler and calls them by their first name via Skype, a technique that is crucial in motivating the toddlers to actively participate in the lessons. In addition, when the teacher asks the toddlers the name of a plastic object such as grapes in English, the toddlers tend to respond to the teacher in Japanese. Accordingly, the effective use of Japanese in teaching English for nursery school children need to be further examined. The anticipated results of this project are an increased recognition of the significance of creating English language learning opportunities for nursery school children and a significant contribution to the field of early childhood education.

Keywords: teaching children, English education, early childhood education, nursery school

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Authors: Zena Ebrahim, Susan Woodhouse

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Previous research shows that mothers’ experiences of trauma are linked to their child’s later socioemotional functioning. However, the mechanisms involved are not well understood. One potential mediator is maternal insensitive responses to child distress. This study examined the link between maternal trauma, mothers’ responses to toddler distress, and toddlers’ socioemotional outcomes among a socioeconomically diverse sample of 110 mothers and their 12- to 35-month-old toddlers. It was hypothesized that a mother’s difficulty in responding sensitively to her child’s distress would mediate the relations between maternal trauma and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Two mediational models were tested to examine non-supportive responses to distress as a potential mediator of the relation between maternal trauma and toddler mental health outcomes; one model focused on predicting child internalizing symptoms and the other focused on predicting child externalizing symptoms. Measures included assessment of maternal trauma (Life Stressor Checklist-Revised), mothers’ responses to child distress (Coping with Toddlers’ Negative Emotions Scale), and toddler socioemotional functioning (Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment). Results revealed that the relations between maternal trauma and toddler symptoms (internalizing and externalizing symptoms) were mediated by maternal non-supportive response to child distress for both internalizing and externalizing domains of child mental health. Findings suggest the importance of early intervention for trauma-exposed mothers and target areas for parenting interventions.

Keywords: trauma, parenting, child mental health, transgenerational effects of trauma

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Authors: Michael Hast

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Within their first year, infants can differentiate between objects based on their weight. By at least 5 years children hold consistent weight-related misconceptions about the physical world, such as that heavy things fall faster than lighter ones because of their weight. Such misconceptions are seen as a challenge for science education since they are often highly resistant to change through instruction. Understanding the time point of emergence of such ideas could, therefore, be crucial for early science pedagogy. The paper thus discusses two studies that jointly address the issue by examining young children’s search behaviour in hidden displacement tasks under consideration of relative object weight. In both studies, they were tested with a heavy or a light ball, and they either had information about one of the balls only or both. In Study 1, 88 toddlers aged 2 to 3½ years watched a ball being dropped into a curved tube and were then allowed to search for the ball in three locations – one straight beneath the tube entrance, one where the curved tube lead to, and one that corresponded to neither of the previous outcomes. Success and failure at the task were not impacted by weight of the balls alone in any particular way. However, from around 3 years onwards, relative lightness, gained through having tactile experience of both balls beforehand, enhanced search success. Conversely, relative heaviness increased search errors such that children increasingly searched in the location immediately beneath the tube entry – known as the gravity bias. In Study 2, 60 toddlers aged 2, 2½ and 3 years watched a ball roll down a ramp and behind a screen with four doors, with a barrier placed along the ramp after one of four doors. Toddlers were allowed to open the doors to find the ball. While search accuracy generally increased with age, relative weight did not play a role in 2-year-olds’ search behaviour. Relative lightness improved 2½-year-olds’ searches. At 3 years, both relative lightness and relative heaviness had a significant impact, with the former improving search accuracy and the latter reducing it. Taken together, both studies suggest that between 2 and 3 years of age, relative object weight is increasingly taken into consideration in navigating naïve physical concepts. In particular, it appears to contribute to the early emergence of misconceptions relating to object weight. This insight from developmental psychology research may have consequences for early science education and related pedagogy towards early conceptual change.

Keywords: conceptual development, early science education, intuitive physics, misconceptions, object weight

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Authors: Jennifer Sturgeon

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Stable relationships provide a predictable and trusting environment and are essential for early development, but high teacher turnover rates in childcare settings make it challenging for infants and toddlers to form stable relationships with their teachers. This can have an adverse effect on development and learning. The qualitative study discussed in this article draws from the experiences of early Head Start teachers and administrators to describe both the impact of teacher turnover and the motivational factors that contribute to teacher retention. A case study approach was used and included classroom observations, a review of exit interviews, and perceptions from focus groups of early Head Start staff in an urban early Head Start childcare center. Emerging from the case study was the discovery that teacher turnover has an impact on the social-emotional development of toddlers, particularly in self-regulation. Additional key findings that emerged include teacher turnover leading to negative effects on learning, a decrease in preschool preparation, and increased chaos in the classroom and center. Motivational factors that contributed to teacher retention included positive leadership, the mission to make a difference, and fair compensation.

Keywords: early childhood, teacher turnover, continuity of care, early head start

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Authors: Oktia Woro Kasmini Handayani, Sri Ratna Rahayu, Efa Nugroho, Bertakalswa Hermawati

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The double burden of nutrition problem must be faced by Indonesia as developing country. The implemented program did not improve the nutritional status, therefore need to consider to utilize local potential. The objective of this research was to find out the effectivity of magnification model of early detect through local potential utilization in urban region, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. The research used an experimental design with the quantitative-qualitative approach. The population was all toddlers under five within the research region, sample determination by purposive sampling, as many as 216 toddlers. Quantitative data analysis used effectively criteria by Sugiono. Qualitative data was analyzed using NVivo. The optimization of local potential in the effort of nutrition status improvement shows number of nutrition case found was increased 225% (very effective), number of cases treated was increased 175% (very effective), number of cases counselled was increased 200% (effective), and number of cases that have improvement increase 75% (effective). The local potential need to be utilized in the effort of nutrition program improvement one of it is through the community empowerment, particularly health care and health high education institution as partner.

Keywords: early detection, nutrition status, local potential, health cadre

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Authors: Pushpavathi M., Kavya V., Akshatha V.

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Introduction: Cleft lip and palate (CLP) is a congenital condition which hinders effectual communication due to associated speech and language difficulties. Expressive language delay (ELD) is a feature seen in this population which is influenced by factors such as type and severity of CLP, age at surgical and linguistic intervention and also the type and intensity of speech and language therapy (SLT). Since CLP is the most common congenital abnormality seen in Indian children, early intervention is a necessity which plays a critical role in enhancing their speech and language skills. The interaction between the timing of intervention and factors which contribute to effective intervention by caregivers is an area which needs to be explored. Objectives: The present study attempts to determine the effect of timing of intervention on the contributing maternal factors for effective linguistic intervention in toddlers with repaired CLP with respect to the awareness, home training patterns, speech and non-speech behaviors of the mothers. Participants: Thirty six toddlers in the age range of 1 to 4 years diagnosed as ELD secondary to repaired CLP, along with their mothers served as participants. Group I (Early Intervention Group, EIG) included 19 mother-child pairs who came to seek SLT soon after corrective surgery and group II (Delayed Intervention Group, DIG) included 16 mother-child pairs who received SLT after the age of 3 years. Further, the groups were divided into group A, and group B. Group ‘A’ received SLT for 60 sessions by Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), while Group B received SLT for 30 sessions by SLP and 30 sessions only by mother without supervision of SLP. Method: The mothers were enrolled for the Early Language Intervention Program and following this, their awareness about CLP was assessed through the Parental awareness questionnaire. The quality of home training was assessed through Mohite’s Inventory. Subsequently, the speech and non-speech behaviors of the mothers were assessed using a Mother’s behavioral checklist. Detailed counseling and orientation was done to the mothers, and SLT was initiated for toddlers. After 60 sessions of intensive SLT, the questionnaire and checklists were re-administered to find out the changes in scores between the pre- and posttest measurements. Results: The scores obtained under different domains in the awareness questionnaire, Mohite’s inventory and Mothers behavior checklist were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. Since the data did not follow normal distribution (i.e. p > 0.05), Mann-Whitney U test was conducted which revealed that there was no significant difference between groups I and II as well as groups A and B. Further, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test revealed that mothers had better awareness regarding issues related to CLP and improved home-training abilities post-orientation (p ≤ 0.05). A statistically significant difference was also noted for speech and non-speech behaviors of the mothers (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: Extensive orientation and counseling helped mothers of both EI and DI groups to improve their knowledge about CLP. Intensive SLT using focused stimulation and a parent-implemented approach enabled them to carry out the intervention in an effectual manner.

Keywords: awareness, cleft lip and palate, early language intervention program, home training, orientation, timing of intervention

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Authors: Iris Sirirada Pattara-Angkoon, Rory Devine, Anja Lindberg, Wendy Browne, Sarah Foley, Gabrielle McHarg, Claire Hughes

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Introduction: The “Terrible Twos” is a phrase used to describe toddlers 18-30 months old. It characterizes a transition from high dependency to their caregivers in infancy to more autonomy and mastery of the body and environment. Toddlers at this age may also show more willfulness and stubbornness that could predict a future trajectory leading to conduct disorders. Thus, an important goal for this age group is to promote responsiveness to their caregivers (i.e., compliance). Existing literature tends to focus on praise to increase desirable child behavior. However, this relationship is not always straightforward as some studies have found no or negative association between praise and child compliance. Research suggests positive emotions and affection showed through body language (e.g., smiles) and actions (e.g., hugs, kisses) along with positive parent-child relationship can strengthen the praise and child compliance association. Nonetheless, few studies have examined the influences of positive emotionality within the speech. This is important as implementing verbal positive emotionality is easier than physical adjustments. The literature also tends not to include fathers in the study sample as mothers were traditionally the primary caregiver. However, as child-caring duties are increasing shared equally between mothers and fathers, it is important to include fathers within the study as studies have frequently found differences between female and male caregiver characteristics. Thus, the study will address the literary gap in two ways: 1. explore the influences of positive emotionality in parental speech and 2. include an equal sample of mothers and fathers. Positive emotionality is expected to positively correlate with and predict child compliance. Methodology: This study analyzed toddlers (18-24 months) in their dyadic interactions with mothers and fathers. A Duplo (block) task was used where parents had to work with their children to build the Duplo according to the given photo for four minutes. Then, they would be told to clean up the blocks. Parental positive emotionality in different speech types (e.g., bids, praises, affirmations) and child compliance were measured. Results: The study found that mothers (M = 28.92, SD = 12.01) were significantly more likely than fathers (M = 23.01, SD = 12.28) to use positive verbal emotionality in their speech, t(105) = 4.35, p< .001. High positive emotionality in bids during Duplo task and Clean Up was positively correlated with more child compliance in each task, r(273) = .35, p< .001 and r(264) = .58, p< .001, respectively. Overall, parental positive emotionality in speech significantly predicted child compliance, F(6, 218) = 13.33, p< .001, R² = .27) with emotionality in verbal bids (t = 6.20, p< .001) and affirmations (t = 3.12, p = .002) being significant predictors. Conclusion: Positive verbal emotions may be useful for increasing compliance in toddlers. This can be beneficial for compliance interventions as well as to the parent-child relationship quality through reduction of conflict and child defiance. As this study is correlational in nature, it will be important for future research to test the directional influence of positive emotionality within speech.

Keywords: child temperament, compliance, positive emotion, toddler, verbal bids

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Authors: Petra Gergelova, Sofia Ioannidou, Davide Arcella, Alexandra Tard, Polly E. Boon, Oliver Lindtner, Christina Tlustos, Jean-Charles Leblanc

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Objectives: To assess chronic dietary exposure to food additives in different European countries and population groups. Method and Design: The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS) estimates chronic dietary exposure to food additives with the purpose of re-evaluating food additives that were previously authorized in Europe. For this, EFSA uses concentration values (usage and/or analytical occurrence data) reported through regular public calls for data by food industry and European countries. These are combined, at individual level, with national food consumption data from the EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database including data from 33 dietary surveys from 19 European countries and considering six different population groups (infants, toddlers, children, adolescents, adults and the elderly). EFSA ANS Panel estimates dietary exposure for each individual in the EFSA Comprehensive Database by combining the occurrence levels per food group with their corresponding consumption amount per kg body weight. An individual average exposure per day is calculated, resulting in distributions of individual exposures per survey and population group. Based on these distributions, the average and 95th percentile of exposure is calculated per survey and per population group. Dietary exposure is assessed based on two different sets of data: (a) Maximum permitted levels (MPLs) of use set down in the EU legislation (defined as regulatory maximum level exposure assessment scenario) and (b) usage levels and/or analytical occurrence data (defined as refined exposure assessment scenario). The refined exposure assessment scenario is sub-divided into the brand-loyal consumer scenario and the non-brand-loyal consumer scenario. For the brand-loyal consumer scenario, the consumer is considered to be exposed on long-term basis to the highest reported usage/analytical level for one food group, and at the mean level for the remaining food groups. For the non-brand-loyal consumer scenario, the consumer is considered to be exposed on long-term basis to the mean reported usage/analytical level for all food groups. An additional exposure from sources other than direct addition of food additives (i.e. natural presence, contaminants, and carriers of food additives) is also estimated, as appropriate. Results: Since 2014, this methodology has been applied in about 30 food additive exposure assessments conducted as part of scientific opinions of the EFSA ANS Panel. For example, under the non-brand-loyal scenario, the highest 95th percentile of exposure to α-tocopherol (E 307) and ammonium phosphatides (E 442) was estimated in toddlers up to 5.9 and 8.7 mg/kg body weight/day, respectively. The same estimates under the brand-loyal scenario in toddlers resulted in exposures of 8.1 and 20.7 mg/kg body weight/day, respectively. For the regulatory maximum level exposure assessment scenario, the highest 95th percentile of exposure to α-tocopherol (E 307) and ammonium phosphatides (E 442) was estimated in toddlers up to 11.9 and 30.3 mg/kg body weight/day, respectively. Conclusions: Detailed and up-to-date information on food additive concentration values (usage and/or analytical occurrence data) and food consumption data enable the assessment of chronic dietary exposure to food additives to more realistic levels.

Keywords: α-tocopherol, ammonium phosphatides, dietary exposure assessment, European Food Safety Authority, food additives, food consumption data

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Authors: Sherri Franklin-Guy

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Play activities have long been utilized to support the development of expressive language in young children. More specifically, stages of symbolic play, or pretend play, have served as indicators of levels of cognitive development, the foundation of language. This presentation will examine the relationship between symbolic play and language development in toddlers and preschoolers. Implications for clinicians and educators will be discussed.

Keywords: cognition, language development, pretend play, symbolic play

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Authors: Kristin Lewis, Howard Steele, Anne Murphy, Miriam Steele, Karen Bonuck, Paul Meissner

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The present study examines data collected during the randomized control trial (RCT) of the Group Attachment-Based Intervention (GABI©), a trauma-informed, attachment-based intervention aimed at promoting healthy parent-child relationships that support child development. Families received treatment at Treatment Center and were randomly assigned to either the GABI condition or the treatment as usual condition, a parenting class called Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP). Significant improvements in the parent-child relationship have been reported for families participating in GABI, but not in the STEP control group relying on Coding Interactive Behavior (CIB) as applied to 5-minute video-films of mothers and their toddlers in a free play context. This report considers five additional attachment-relevant 'clinical codes' that were also applied to the 5-minute free play sessions. Seventy-two parent-child dyads (38 in GABI and 34 in STEP) were compared to one another at intake and end-of-treatment, on these five-point dimensions: two-parent codes—the dissociation and ignoring; two child codes—simultaneous display of contradictory behavior and fear; and one parent-child code, i.e., role reversal. Overall, scores were low for these clinical codes; thus, a binary measure was computed contrasting no evidence with some evidence of each clinical code. Crosstab analyses indicate that child fear at end-of-treatment was significantly lower among children who participated in GABI (7% or 3 children) as compared to those whose mothers participated in STEP (29% or 10 children) Chi Sq= 6.57 (1), p < .01. Discussion focuses on the potential for GABI to reduce childhood fearfulness and so enhance the child's health.

Keywords: coding interactive behavior, clinical codes, group attachment based intervention, GABI, attachment, fear

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Authors: M. Lim Haslip

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This quantitative study explores the correlation between child gender and father-child interactions. The author analyzes data from videotaped interactions between African-American fathers and their boy or girl toddler to explain how African-American fathers and toddlers interact with each other and whether these interactions differ by child gender. The purpose of this study is to investigate the research question: 'How, if at all, do fathers’ speech and gestures differ when interacting with their two-year-old sons versus daughters during free play?' The objectives of this study are to describe how child gender impacts African-American fathers’ verbal communication, examine how fathers gesture and speak to their toddler by gender, and to guide interventions for low-income African-American families and their children in early language development. This study involves a sample of 41 low-income African-American fathers and their 24-month-old toddlers. The videotape data will be used to observe 10-minute father-child interactions during free play. This study uses the already transcribed and coded data provided by Dr. Meredith Rowe, who did her study on the impact of African-American fathers’ verbal input on their children’s language development. The Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES program), created to study conversational interactions, was used for transcription and coding of the videotape data. The findings focus on the quantity of speech, diversity of speech, complexity of speech, and the quantity of gesture to inform the vocabulary usage, number of spoken words, length of speech, and the number of object pointings observed during father-toddler interactions in a free play setting. This study will help intervention and prevention scientists understand early language development in the African-American population. It will contribute to knowledge of the role of African-American fathers’ interactions on their children’s language development. It will guide interventions for the early language development of African-American children.

Keywords: parental engagement, early language development, African-American families, quantity of speech, diversity of speech, complexity of speech and the quantity of gesture

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Authors: Larissa Pliska, Isabel Neitzel, Michael Buschermöhle, Olga Kunina-Habenicht, Ute Ritterfeld

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Visual preferences, which can be assessed using eye tracking technologies, are considered one of the defining hallmarks of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Specifically, children with ASD show a decreased preference for social images rather than geometric images compared to typically developed (TD) children. Such differences are already prevalent at a very early age and indicate the severity of the disorder: toddlers with ASD who preferred geometric images when confronted with social and geometric images showed higher ASD symptom severity than toddlers with ASD who showed higher social attention. Furthermore, the complexity of social pictures (one child playing vs. two children playing together) as well as the mode of stimulus presentation (video or image), are not decisive for the marker. The average age of diagnosis for ASD in Germany is 6.5 years, and visual preference data on this age group is missing. In the present study, we therefore investigated whether visual preferences persist into school age. We examined the visual preferences of 16 boys aged 6 to 11 with ASD and unimpaired cognition as well as TD children (1:1 matching based on children's age and the parent's level of education) within an experimental setting. Different stimulus presentation formats (images vs. videos) and different levels of stimulus complexity were included. Children with and without ASD received pairs of social and non-social images and video stimuli on a screen while eye movements (i.e., eye position and gaze direction) were recorded. For this specific use case, KIZMO GmbH developed a customized, native iOS app (KIZMO Face-Analyzer) for use on iPads. Neither the format of stimulus presentation nor the complexity of the social images had a significant effect on the visual preference of children with and without ASD in this study. Despite the tendency for a difference between the groups for the video stimuli, there were no significant differences. Overall, no statistical differences in visual preference occurred between boys with and without ASD, suggesting that gaze preference in these groups is similar at primary school age. One limitation is that the children with ASD were already receiving Autism-specific intervention. The potential of a visual preference task as an indicator of ASD can be emphasized. The article discusses the clinical relevance of this marker in elementary school children.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, eye tracking, hallmark, visual preference

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Authors: Aftab Yusuf Raj

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Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are complex carbohydrates. They are 3rd most abundant solid component found in breast milk, after lactose and lipids. HMO has profound beneficial health benefit effects on infants and toddlers. They have diverse roles, in immuno-modulation, development of neonatal gut, influencing the commensal microbiota of developing gut, and anti-inflammatory functions. HMOs, gut and commensal microbiota of the gut work synergistically to bring positive impact on infant and toddler health. HMO influences the gut-brain axis, maintains good mental health and cognitive function and inhibits neuronal inflammation. HMOs are now applied in infant nutrition, and supplementation of HMOs in infant formula is a promising innovation for infant nutrition.

Keywords: HMO’s, gut, epigenetic modulation, bacteria

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Authors: Ella Abaev, Shany Segal, Miri Gabay

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Background: Choking is a blockage of airways that prevents efficient breathing and air flow to the lungs. Choking may be partial or full and is an emergency situation. Complete or prolonged choking leads to apnea, lack of oxygen in the tissues of the body and brain, and can cause death. There are three mechanisms of choking: obstruction of internal respiratory tracts by food or object aspiration, any material that blocks or covers external air passages, external pressure on the neck or trapping between objects. Children's airways are narrower than that of adults and therefore the risk of choking is greater, due to the aspiration of food and other foreign bodies into the lungs. In the Child Development Center at Safra Children’s Hospital, Tel Hashomer in Israel are treated infants, toddlers, and children aged 0-18 years with various developmental disabilities. Due to the increase in reports of ‘almost an event’ of choking in the past year and the serious consequences of choking event, it was decided to give an emphasis to the issue. Incidence and methods: The number of reports of ‘almost an event’ or a choking event was examined at the center during the years 2013-2018 and a thorough research work was conducted on the subject in order to build a prevention program. Findings: Between 2013 and 2018 the center reported about ten cases of ‘almost choking events’. In the middle of 2018 alone three cases of ‘almost an event’ were reported. Objective: Providing knowledge leads to awareness raise, change of perception, change in behavior and prevention. The center employs more than 130 staff members from various sectors so that it is the work of multi-professional teams to promote the quality and safety of the treatment. The familiarity of the staff with risk factors, prevention guidelines, identification of choking signs, and treatment are most important and significant in determining the outcome of a choking event. Conclusions and recommendations: After in-depth research work was carried out in cooperation with the Risk Management Unit on the subject of choking, which include a description of the definitions, mechanisms, risk factors, treatment methods and extensive recommendations for prevention (e.g. using treatment and stimulation accessories with standards association stamps and adjustment of the type of food and the way it is served to match to the child's age and the ability to swallow). The expected stages of development and emphasis on the population of children with special needs were taken into account. The research findings will be published by the staff and parents of the patients, professional publications, and lectures and there is an expectation to decrease the number of choking events in the next years.

Keywords: children with special needs, choking, educational system, prevention guidelines

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Authors: Elvira Mustikawati P.H., Iis Dewi Ratih, Dita Amelia

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Bojonegoro has proclaimed a policy of zero malnutrition. Therefore, as an effort to solve the cases of malnutrition children in Bojonegoro, this study used the approach geographically Mixed Weighted Regression (MGWR) to determine the factors that influence the percentage of malnourished children under five in which factors can be divided into locally influential factor in each district and global factors that influence throughout the district. Based on the test of goodness of fit models, R2 and AIC values in GWR models are better than MGWR models. R2 and AIC values in MGWR models are 84.37% and 14.28, while the GWR models respectively are 91.04% and -62.04. Based on the analysis with GWR models, District Sekar, Bubulan, Gondang, and Dander is a district with three predictor variables (percentage of vitamin A, the percentage of births assisted health personnel, and the percentage of clean water) that significantly influence the percentage of malnourished children under five.

Keywords: GWR, MGWR, R2, AIC

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Authors: Norah Mohammed Alshahrani, Abdulaziz Almaleh

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition related to issues with brain development that affects how a person recognises and communicates with others which results in difficulties with interaction and communication socially and it is constantly growing. Early recognition of ASD allows children to lead safe and healthy lives and helps doctors with accurate diagnoses and management of conditions. Therefore, it is crucial to develop a method that will achieve good results and with high accuracy for the measurement of ASD in children. In this paper, ASD datasets of toddlers and children have been analyzed. We employed the following machine learning techniques to attempt to explore ASD and they are Random Forest (RF), Decision Tree (DT), Na¨ıve Bayes (NB) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). Then Feature selection was used to provide fewer attributes from ASD datasets while preserving model performance. As a result, we found that the best result has been provided by the Support Vector Machine (SVM), achieving 0.98% in the toddler dataset and 0.99% in the children dataset.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, machine learning, feature selection, support vector machine

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Authors: Jorn Meyer, Stefan Sturmer

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The assessment of attachment patterns in toddlers and adults has been well researched, and valid diagnostic methods (e.g., Strange Situation Test, Adult Attachment Interview) are applicable. For middle and late childhood, on the other hand, there are only few validated methods available so far. For the Child Attachment Interview (CAI) promising validation studies from English-speaking countries are available, but so far a comprehensive study on the validity of a German sample is lacking. Within the scope of a longitudinal project, the results of the first point of measurement are reported in this study. A German-language version of the CAI was carried out with 111 primary school children (56% female; age: M = 8.34, SD = 0.49). In relation to psychometric quality criteria, parameters on interrater reliability, construct validity and discriminant, and convergent validity are reported. Analyses of the correlations between attachment patterns and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems from parent and teacher reports are presented. The implications for the German-language assessment of attachment in middle and late childhood in research and individual case diagnostics, e.g., in the context of conducting expert evaluation reports for family courts, are discussed.

Keywords: attachment, attachment assessment, developmental psychology, longitudinal study

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Authors: Sharifah Mousli, Sona Taheri, Jiayuan He

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental condition involving persistent difficulties with social communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behavior. The challenges associated with ASD can interfere with an affected individual’s ability to function in social, academic, and employment settings. Although there is no effective medication known to treat ASD, to our best knowledge, early intervention can significantly improve an affected individual’s overall development. Hence, an accurate diagnosis of ASD at an early phase is essential. The use of machine learning approaches improves and speeds up the diagnosis of ASD. In this paper, we focus on the application of unsupervised clustering methods in ASD as a large volume of ASD data generated through hospitals, therapy centers, and mobile applications has no pre-existing labels. We conduct a comparative analysis using seven clustering approaches such as K-means, agglomerative hierarchical, model-based, fuzzy-C-means, affinity propagation, self organizing maps, linear vector quantisation – as well as the recently developed optimization-based clustering (COMSEP-Clust) approach. We evaluate the performances of the clustering methods extensively on real-world ASD datasets encompassing different age groups: toddlers, children, adolescents, and adults. Our experimental results suggest that the COMSEP-Clust approach outperforms the other seven methods in recognizing ASD with well-separated clusters.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, clustering, optimization, unsupervised machine learning

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Authors: Stephen Hernandez, Nikita Sharma

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The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged as a worldwide pandemic at the beginning of 2020. The pandemic and its impact reached the shores of the United States by the second week of March. Once infections started to grow in numbers, early intervention programs, including those providing home-based services, recognized that to reduce the spread of the virus, many traditional in-person therapeutic interventions were going to be impossible due to social distancing and self-quarantine requirements. Initially, infants, toddlers, and their families were left without any services from their educators and therapists, but within a few weeks of the public health emergency, various states, including New York, approved the use of teletherapy/virtual visits for early intervention service provision. This paper will detail the results of a survey from over 400 E.I. service providers about their experiences utilizing teletherapy to deliver services to children in early intervention programs. The survey questions focused on how did COVID-19 stay-at-home orders impact E.I. services for young children with special needs? Sub-questions included topics such as availability of the parents, the amount of time that babies remained engaged, as well as the perceived success of teletherapy as a viable option to provide service by both parent and professional. The results of this study found that therapists found teletherapy to be a viable manner of providing services and could be very effective on a case by case basis.

Keywords: early intervention, teletheraphy, telehealth, COVID-19

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Authors: Visa I. Tyakaray, M. Abdulaziz, O. Badmus, N. Karaye, M. Dalhat, A. Shehu, I. Bello, T. Hussaini, S. Akar, G. Effah, P. Nguku

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Introduction: Nigeria has recorded outbreaks of meningitis in the past, being in the meningitis belt. A multi-state outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) from Neisseria meningitides occurred in 2017 involving 24 states, and Kano State reported its first two confirmed CSM cases on 22nd March, 2017. We conducted the outbreak investigation to characterize the outbreak, determine its associated risk factors and institute appropriate control measures. Method: We conducted an unmatched Case-control study with ratio 1:2. A case was defined as any person with sudden onset of fever (>38.5˚C rectal or 38.0˚C axillary) and one of the following: neck stiffness, altered consciousness or bulging fontanelle in toddlers while a control was defined as any person who resides around the case such as family members, caregivers, neighbors, and healthcare personnel. We reviewed and validated line list and conducted active case search in health facilities and neighboring communities. Descriptive, bivariate, stratified and multivariate analysis were performed. Laboratory confirmation was by Latex agglutination and/or Culture. Results: We recruited 48 cases with median age of 11 years (1 month – 65 years), attack rate was 2.4/100,000 population with case fatality rate of 8%; 34 of 44 local government areas were affected.On stratification, age was found to be a confounder. Independent factors associated with the outbreak were age (Adjusted Odds Ratio, AOR =6.58; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) =2.85-15.180, history of Vaccination (AOR=0.37; 95% CI=0.13-0.99) and history of travel (AOR=10.16; (1.99-51.85). Laboratory results showed 22 positive cases for Neisseria meningitides types C and A/Y. Conclusion: Major risk factors associated with this outbreak were age (>14years), not being vaccinated and history of travel. We sensitized communities and strengthened case management. We recommended immediate reactive vaccination and enhanced surveillance in bordering communities.

Keywords: cerebrospinal, factors, Kano-Nigeria, meningitis, risk

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Authors: Klea Ramaj

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Objectives: There have recently been increasing calls to better understand the intergenerational transmission of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In particular, little is known about the links between maternal (ACEs), maternal stress, maternal depression, and child abuse against toddlers in countries in South-East Europe. This paper, therefore, aims to present new descriptive data on the epidemiology of maternal mental well-being and maternal ACEs in the capital of Albania, Tirana. It also aims to advance our understanding of the overlap between maternal stress, maternal depression, maternal exposure to ACEs, and child abuse toward two-to-three-year-old. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted with a representative sample of 328 mothers of two-to-three-year-olds, recruited through public nurseries located in 8 diverse socio-economic and geographical areas in Tirana, Albania. Maternal stress was measured through the perceived stress scale (α = 0.78); maternal depression was measured via the patient health questionnaire (α = 0.77); maternal exposure to ACEs was captured via the ACEs international questionnaire (α = 0.77); and child maltreatment was captured via ISPCAN ICAST-P (α = 0.66). The main outcome examined here will be child maltreatment. The paper will first present estimates of maternal stress, depression, and child maltreatment by demographic groups. It will then use multiple regression to examine associations between child maltreatment and risk factors in the domains of maternal stress, maternal depression, and maternal ACEs. Results: Mothers' mean age was 32.3 (SD = 4.24), 87.5% were married, 51% had one child, and 83.5% had completed higher education. Analyses show high levels of stress and exposure to childhood adversity among mothers in Tirana. 97.5% of mothers perceived stress during the last month, and 89% had experienced at least one childhood adversity as measured by the ACE questionnaire, with 20.2% having experienced 4+ ACEs. Analyses show significant positive associations between maternal ACEs and maternal stress r(325) = 0.25, p = 0.00. Mothers with a high number of ACEs were more likely to abuse their children r(327) = .43, p = 0.00. 32% of mothers have used physical discipline with their 2–3-year-old, 84% have used psychological discipline, and 35% have neglected their toddler at least once or twice. The mothers’ depression levels were also positively and significantly associated with child maltreatment r(327) = .34, p = 0.00. Conclusions: This study provides cross-sectional data on the link between maternal exposure to early adversity, maternal mental well-being, and child maltreatment within the context of Tirana, Albania. The results highlight the importance of establishing policies that encourage maternal support, positive parenting, and family well-being in order to help break the cycle of transgenerational violence.

Keywords: child maltreatment, maternal mental well-being, intergenerational abuse, Tirana, Albania

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Authors: Yaara Shilo

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Early childhood education and care (ECEC)in Israel has undergone extensive reform and now requires daycare centers to meet internationally recognized professional standards. Since 1948, one of the aims of childcare facilities was to enable women’s participation in the workforce.A 1965 law grouped daycare centers for young children with facilities for the elderly and for disabled persons under the same authority. In the 1970’s, ECEC leaders sought to change childcare from proprietary to educational facilities. From 1976 deliberations in the Knesset regarding appropriate attribution of ECEC frameworks resulted in their being moved to various authorities that supported women’s employment: Ministries of Finance, Industry, and Commerce, as well as the Welfare Department. Prior to 2018, 75% of infants and toddlers in institutional care were in unlicensed and unsupervised settings. Legislative processes accompanied the conceptual change to an eventual appropriate attribution of ECEC frameworks. Position papers over the past two decades resulted in recommendations for standards conforming to OECD regulations. Simultaneous incidents of child abuse, some resulting in death, riveted public attention to the need for adequate government supervision, accelerating the legislative process. Appropriate care for very young children must center on quality interactions with caregivers, thus requiring adequate staff training. Finally, in 2018 a law was passed stipulating standards for staff training, proper facilities, child-adult ratios, and safety measures. The Ariav commission expanded training to caregivers for ages 0-3. Transfer of the ECEC to the Ministry of Education ensured establishment of basic training. Groundwork created by new legislation initiated professional development of EC educators for ages 0-3. This process should raise salaries and bolster the system’s ability to attract quality employees. In 2022 responsibility for ECEC ages 0-3 was transferred from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Education, shifting emphasis from proprietary care to professional considerations focusing on wellbeing and early childhood education. The recent revolutionary changes in ECEC point to a new age in the care and education of Israel’s youngest citizens. Implementation of international standards, adequate training, and professionalization of the workforce focus on the child’s needs.

Keywords: policy, early childhood, care and education, daycare, development

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Authors: Arkadiusz Gut, Robert Mirski

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The nativist-constructivist debate constitutes a considerable part of current research on mindreading. Peter Carruthers and his colleagues are known for their nativist position in the debate and take issue with constructivist views proposed by other researchers, with Henry Wellman, Alison Gopnik, and Ian Apperly at the forefront. More specifically, Carruthers together with Evan Westra propose a nativistic explanation of Theory of Mind Scale study results that Wellman et al. see as supporting constructivism. While allowing for development of the innate mindreading system, Westra and Carruthers base their argumentation essentially on a competence-performance gap, claiming that cross-cultural differences in Theory of Mind Scale progression as well as discrepancies between infants’ and toddlers’ results on verbal and non-verbal false-belief tasks are fully explainable in terms of acquisition of other, pragmatic, cognitive developments, which are said to allow for an expression of the innately present Theory of Mind understanding. The goal of the present paper is to bring together arguments against the view offered by Westra and Carruthers. It will be shown that even though Carruthers et al.’s interpretation has not been directly controlled for in Wellman et al.’s experiments, there are serious reasons to dismiss such nativistic views which Carruthers et al. advance. The present paper discusses the following issues that undermine Carruthers et al.’s nativistic conception: (1) The concept of innateness is argued to be developmentally inaccurate; it has been dropped in many biological sciences altogether and many developmental psychologists advocate for doing the same in cognitive psychology. Reality of development is a complex interaction of changing elements that is belied by the simplistic notion of ‘the innate.’ (2) The purported innate mindreading conceptual system posited by Carruthers ascribes adult-like understanding to infants, ignoring the difference between first- and second-order understanding, between what can be called ‘presentation’ and ‘representation.’ (3) Advances in neurobiology speak strongly against any inborn conceptual knowledge; neocortex, where conceptual knowledge finds its correlates, is said to be largely equipotential at birth. (4) Carruthers et al.’s interpretations are excessively charitable; they extend results of studies done with 15-month-olds to conclusions about innateness, whereas in reality at that age there has been plenty of time for construction of the skill. (5) Looking-time experiment paradigm used in non-verbal false belief tasks that provide the main support for Carruthers’ argumentation has been criticized on methodological grounds. In the light of the presented arguments, nativism in theory of mind research is concluded to be an untenable position.

Keywords: development, false belief, mindreading, nativism, theory of mind

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