This study investigates 12 prespeech vocal behaviors which are taken to reflect children's phonological, communicative and early symbolic development. It explores their development (onset, duration and extinction) and their relation to early lexical development. A structured parental questionnaire on prespeech vocalizations was developed, validated and used for the evaluation of 1005 Spanish children's early vocal development (8-30 months). In parallel, the same children's productive vocabulary was assessed using the vocabulary section of the European-Spanish MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories. Results highlight a global inverted U-shaped developmental pattern which emerges from the asynchronous development of the vocal behaviors examined, relating both their emergence and extinction to advances in linguistic development. Moreover, the protracted coexistence of prespeech vocalizations with early speech and their significant correlations with vocabulary size reveal a gradual transition into language. Overall results reinforce and extend previous findings on the development of prespeech vocalizations and establish their relevance as early indexes of linguistic development. Finally, positive evidence on the use of an assisted parental report method for reliably evaluating these developments is provided. Results are discussed within theoretical frameworks that conceive language as the emergent product of complex developmental processes.

The use of the task-evoked pupillary responses (TEPRs) methodology is emerging in the psycholinguistics literature, as a sensitive, reliable and dynamic psychophysiological measure of the cognitive effort produced by various aspects of language processing. This preliminary study aimed to assess the functionality and effectiveness of a TEPRs design for measuring the cognitive effort required for the processing and spontaneous (non-explicitly prompted) short-term retention of novel phonological forms presented auditorily. Twenty-four young adult participants (aged 19–28 years, M = 20.3, SD = 2.13) were auditorily presented with a series of pseudowords differing in their number of syllables and their syllabic complexity. Then, they were asked to produce a response to a delayed pseudoword–color matching task aimed to induce the short-term retention of the novel forms. Results on the size and timing of the TEPRs reveal a significant pupillary activation, starting immediately after the presentation of the auditory stimuli, peaking at 1080 ms and not subsiding significantly during the protracted retention period. Moreover, the differential complexity of the novel words phonology significantly affected pupillary activation. Overall, these preliminary results point to the effectiveness of pupillometry as a technique for capturing the cognitive effort entailed in the short-term maintenance of novel word forms in the phonological loop, a process deemed crucial in the everyday novel word learning process. Results are discussed in view of future research that could establish and extend their implications.

Extensive research has been conducted on educational robotics (ER) platforms to explore their usage across different educational levels and assess their effectiveness in achieving desired learning outcomes. However, the existing literature has a limitation in regard to addressing learners’ specific preferences and characteristics regarding these platforms. To address this gap, it is crucial to encourage learners’ active participation in the design process of robotic platforms. By incorporating their valuable feedback and preferences and providing them with platforms that align with their interests, we can create a motivating environment that leads to increased engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses and improved learning outcomes. Furthermore, this approach fosters a sense of absorption and full engagement among peers as they collaborate on assigned activities. To bridge the existing research gap, our study aimed to investigate the current trends in the morphology of educational robotics platforms. We surveyed students from multiple schools in Greece who had no prior exposure to robotic platforms. Our study aimed to understand students’ expectations of an ideal robotic companion. We examined the desired characteristics, modes of interaction, and socialization that students anticipate from such a companion. By uncovering these attributes and standards, we aimed to inform the development of an optimal model that effectively fulfills students’ educational aspirations while keeping them motivated and engaged.

Το νόημα των εκφωνημάτων κατά τη μετάβαση από την ηρολεκτική στη λεκτική επικοινωνία:Δεδομένα αnό δυο ελληνόφωνα παιδιά.

Τομ. 4, 2015Οι γονείς πηγή πληροφοριών για την επικοινωνιακή και γλωσσική ανάπτυξη των παιδιών τους: μελέτη συγχρονικής εγκυρότητας του Τεστ Επικοινωνιακής ως Ανάπτυξης (ΤΕΑ) 153Parents as informants of their children's communication and language skills: concurrent validity study of the Communication Development Report (CDR). Αlexandra Karousou & Kyriaki NikolaidouDemocritus University of Thrace

The abstract is available in the PDF

Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder which prevents a child from speaking in specific social situations, while (s)he has the ability to do so. Children with selective mutism face important difficulties at school, as they lag behind in important expressive and social skills, facing great difficulties in the establishment of social relationships both with their teachers and with peers. Selective mutism, also, poses serious challenges for their educators who have to support and integrate these children in the educational process. The purpose of this qualitative research was to study, within the Greek educational context, various parameters that jointly shape the social and pedagogical relationships and interactions of an eleven-year-old child with selective mutism. For the purposes of this case-study, data were collected by means of (a) a sociometric test aimed to measure the popularity of this particular student, (b) two questionnaires aimed at collecting data on his verbal communication in varying social contexts, namely: a teacher report questionnaire, the “School Speech Questionnaire” (SSQ), as well as a parent report questionnaire, the “Selective Mutism Questionnaire” (SMQ), (c) semi-structured interviews with both the child’s caregivers and teachers, concerning his social interactions and participation in the educational process, as well as their personal views, strategies, difficulties and needs, and d) a direct non-participant observation of the child during the school breaks. Overall, the picture that emerges is that of a silent, reserved and ignored child at school, whose teachers feel that they do not have the appropriate knowledge and training to respond to his specific needs and to support him. Outside the educational context, he appears to be a typically developing child, maintaining verbal interactions with both his family and friends. Overall, this research shows various aspects of the life of a child with selective mutism highlighting the need for studying systematically the school life of children with selective mutism, especially in the Greek context, for fostering the relevant knowledge and skills of the educators, as well as for developing particular guidelines, strategies and tools that would help them support those children.

<p class="summary">H παρούσα μελέτη διερευνά τις συνθήκες κάτω από τις οποίες η αφήγηση ιστοριών στην τάξη μπορεί να αποτελέσει αποτελεσματική δραστηριότητα εμπλουτισμού του λεξιλογίου σε παιδιά πρώτης σχολικής ηλικίας. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, η έρευνα εξετάζει τη «Γρήγορη Συμπτωματική Μάθηση» νέων λέξεων, μετρώντας τις επιδόσεις 96 μαθητών Α, Β και Γ Δημοτικού στη χαρτογράφηση του νοήματος τεσσάρων ψευδολέξεων μετά από μία μόνο έκθεση σε αυτές στα πλαίσια ενός αφηγήματος. Επίσης, εξετάζει την συγκράτησή τους στη μνήμη μετά από τρεις εβδομάδες χωρίς τη μεσολάβηση κάποιας παρέμβασης/υπενθύμισης, καθώς και την αποτελεσματικότητα τριών διαφορετικών παρεμβάσεων (επαναφήγηση της ίδιας ιστορίας, αφήγηση μίας διαφορετικής ιστορίας με τις ίδιες ψευδολέξεις, και συνδυασμός των ανωτέρω) στην παγίωση των ψευδολέξεων. Τα αποτελέσματα δείχνουν  αναπτυξιακές διαφορές στις επιδόσεις των παιδιών στη δοκιμασία γρήγορης συμπτωματικής μάθησης των ψευδολέξεων ανά τάξη, καθώς και ποιοτικές διαφορές στη χαρτογράφηση των διαφορετικών ψευδολέξεων. Επίσης, καταδεικνύουν βέλτιστη παγίωση των λέξεων στα παιδιά που παρακολούθησαν όλες τις παρεμβάσεις, ακολουθούμενα από τα παιδιά που παρακολούθησαν την ίδια ιστορία δύο φορές. Στα παιδιά που παρακολούθησαν δύο διαφορετικές ιστορίες όπως και σε αυτά που δεν έλαβαν καμία παρέμβαση καταγράφηκε, σε μικρότερο ή μεγαλύτερο βαθμό αντίστοιχα, λήθη των ψευδολέξεων.</p>