Causally-Rich Group Play: A Powerful Context for Building Preschoolers’ Vocabulary

Abstract

This work explores whether the facilitative effect of causal information on preschoolers’ word learning observed in the laboratory might be relevant to boosting children’s vocabulary in a group-play context. Forty-eight 3- to 4-year-old children learned six novel words for novel tools introduced during a small group-play session. Half of the groups used the tools according to their specified function to construct a fruit salad. The remaining children used the same tools to decorate a castle of blocks. In this way, some children learned about the causal properties of the tools, while others did not. Although children in both conditions comprehended the novel words equally well when tested shortly after the play session, learning in the Causal condition was more robust. Children’s comprehension scores in the Causal condition increased over time (a 7–20 day delay), such that children in this group performed better than children in the Non-Causal condition when tested in a follow-up session. These results demonstrate a striking benefit of causal enrichment to word learning in a context that could feasibly be implemented in preschool classrooms, playgroups, and individual households. Highlighting the causal properties of objects during playtime might offer a powerful approach to building children’s vocabulary, thereby providing a stronger foundation for early literacy and success in school more generally speaking.

Children’s Preference for Causal Information in Storybooks

“…Confirming the generalizability of children's causal stance is important because attunement to causal information has developmental consequences (Mantzicopoulos et al, 2008;Stahl and Feigenson, 2015;Bauer et al, 2016). Perhaps most intuitively, interest in the causal properties of objects, and animals might be fundamental to children's engagement in scientific inquiry in both naturalistic and academic learning environments (Conezio and French, 2002;Legare, 2014).…”

Small Group Learning for Understanding the Specialized Language in students of occupational Health

“…Bauer JR et al demonstrated the effectiveness of teaching by attention to group work as a useful method. 2 This research also discussed the results of small group learning and working with others. In some studies promotion of learning levels with new and suitable educational methods was emphasized.…”

“…Use of suitable educational methods plays a major role in education. 1,2 Medical sciences students should be read and translate specialized textbooks and journals and they need to learn and understand scientific language very well. 3,4 Some studies have shown the effectiveness of educational methods on students' learning.…”

Orthogonality: Developing a structural/perspectival approach for improving theoretical models

“…Although identifying causal connections may be difficult (Sprites, Glymour, & Scheines, ), the benefits are worth the effort because understanding causal relationships improves our actionable knowledge (Johnson‐Laird, ) necessary for effective decision making (Sloman & Hagmayer, ) especially in business settings (Axelrod, ). Also, understanding causal relationships supports long‐term learning in children (Bauer et al, ).…”

“…In short, it seems to be increasingly accepted that theories are more useful when they indicate causal relationships (cf. Bauer, Booth, & McGroarty-Torres, 2016;Bryson, Ackermann, Eden, & Finn, 2004;Bureš, 2017;Deegan, 2011;Goodier, Austin, Soetanto, & Dainty, 2010;McGlashan, Johnstone, Creighton, de la Haye, & Allender, 2016;Panetti, Parmentola, Wallis, & Ferretti, 2018;Pearl, 2000;Sloman & Hagmayer, 2006;Waldmann, Holyoak, & Fratianne, 1995).…”