Using Observational Tools to Understand the Development of Self-regulation in Young Children: Moving Beyond and Before Language

• In Event: Innovative Methods for Studying Children’s Self-Efficacy, Self-Regulation, and Self-Determination In and Out of School Settings

Abstract

Metacognition and self-regulation (SR) are considered in the literature as complex skills emerging late in development, at around the age of 8 to 10 years (Veenman, Van Hout-Wolters, & Afflerbach, 2006). Children’s SR is frequently measured using self-report and experimental methodologies highly reliant on verbal skills. However, in the recent years, it has been recognized that these methodologies may underestimate significantly children’s abilities, especially for young children whose verbal abilities are not fully developed (Winne & Perry, 2000). Moreover, studies using methodologies based on systematic observation in natural settings, that include analysis of non-verbal behaviors, have demonstrated that these techniques are more sensitive and age appropriate for young children, providing evidence that SR behaviors can be identified from the age of 3 (Whitebread et al., 2009).

In this paper we discuss an approach to the analysis of non-verbal behavior, such as conventional actions with objects, gestures, and gazes, which provides a window to explore the emergence of SR skills in young children, even at a pre-linguistic level. For this purpose we point out parallelisms between a challenging problem-solving task developed for 3 to 7 year olds (Whitebread et al., 2010) and the observation of toddlers’ uses of objects from 14 to 18 months old in interaction with their parents. In the first case, children had to build a train track of a certain shape by copying a diagram, and in the second case, the objects selected were toys with functional social uses implying challenging goal directed actions: placing balls in holes and using a hammer to knock them through the holes, stacking shapes in a shape sorter, and using keys to open house doors.

Coding schemes have been developed which capture nonverbal behaviors that indicate children’s metacognitive processes of self-regulation such as planning, monitoring, control and motivation (Whitebread et al, 2010). Examples of such behaviors are looking at the diagram before proceeding in constructing the train track (planning), or changing a piece from one place to another when detecting an error (monitoring and control). We also identified and analyzed gestures, either directed to others in a communicative way (e.g.: showing a shape to the adult requesting help with how to proceed) or directed to the self (e.g.: clapping after achieving a goal and carrying on with the activity, with no observable indication, like gaze alternation, that the gesture was intended for sharing with others). The latter are referred to as private gestures in analogy with private speech (Rodríguez & Palacios, 2007; Rodríguez, 2009; Basilio & Rodríguez, 2011).

We argue that evidence obtained in these studies illustrates the usefulness of the observational settings and coding schemes developed, allowing researchers to gain understanding of early development of SR in ecologically valid situations. We also discuss the potential implication of these methods from a developmental point of view focusing on on-going processes rather than on task performance or established skills.

Authors

• Marisol Basilio, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid

• David Whitebread, University of Cambridge