cover image: Head Start Evaluation and Research Center. Progress Report of Research Studies 1966 to 1967. Document 3, an Experimental Approach to Studying Non-Verbal Representation in Young Children.

Head Start Evaluation and Research Center. Progress Report of Research Studies 1966 to 1967. Document 3, an Experimental Approach to Studying Non-Verbal Representation in Young Children.

A current exploratory research project is directed toward developing means for gathering systematic data on nonverbal representation in young children. Tasks involving nonverbal representational functioning have been developed, evaluated in preliminary work with fifteen 4-year-old subjects, and revised. The revised series of tasks consists of four groups, designated as (1) play situations, (2) imitations, (3) spatial arrangements, and (4) picture-object matching. This revised instrument will be employed in a study of which the objectives are (1) the investigation of aspects of nonverbal representation in disadvantaged, as compared with middle class, preschool children, (2) the investigation of relationships between nonverbal symbolizing ability and linguistic competence, and (3) the development of a more refined series of evaluative tasks. In addition to the experimental instrument, three tests of language usage will be administered, and additional data will be accumulated concerning subject's test performance, background, and classroom behavior. For the comparative testing, 30 disadvantaged and 30 advantaged 4- and 5-year-olds will be matched for age and sex. Attachments to this report include the list of tasks and the inventory form for recording factors affecting test performance. (JS)

Authors

Franklin, Margery, Cobb, Judith

Authorizing Institution
Bank Street Coll. of Education, New York, NY.
Peer Reviewed
F
Published in
United States of America
Sponsor
Office of Economic Opportunity, Washington, DC.

Table of Contents