The Adult-Child Dyad as a Problem-Solving System

Abstract

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Research on Developmental Psychology

“…Hence the children's competence levels alert the parents to how demanding their teaching strategies should be. Pellegrini et al further recommended the exploration of the sequence of parental teaching strategies, as parents found it necessary on occasion to switch from more demanding to less demanding strategies when the child encountered difficulty (see Wertsch et al 1980). In sum, the findings strongly support the Vygotsky model of parents teaching children through the zone of proximal development and the adjustment of parental teaching consistent with the competence level of their children.…”

Give me a hand: differential effects of gesture type in guiding young children’s problem-solving

“…Gutmann and Turnure's (1979) investigation of slightly older children (ages 2-3 and 4-5 years) further established that mothers appear to adapt their gestures to the developmental level of their child, as mothers of the 4-5 year olds used more, and more complex, gestures than did mothers of 2-3 year-olds. Similarly, Wertsch and colleagues (1980) found that mothers provided more verbal and gestural guidance (e.g., points, handling of pieces) to younger compared to older preschoolers during a puzzle-solving task. Thus, similar to the way that parents adapt their speech to young children, there is evidence that they also adapt and simplify their gestures based on children's age or ability level.…”

“…As reviewed above, there is evidence that parents’ gestures differ based on their child's age (Gutman & Turnure, 1979; Iverson et al, 1999) and perceived competence (Wertsch et al, 1980). However, to our knowledge, no studies have simultaneously examined how the characteristics and effectiveness of parents’ gestures vary by child age in an informal teaching-and-learning task.…”

Mother’s, father’s regulation and child’s self-regulation in a computer-mediated learning situation

“…By "environmental self-regulation", the learner adapts material means and local conditions of his or her learning environment (Zimmerman, 2000). Depending on the self-evaluation of his or her difficulties in solving the task, the learner mobilizes his or her social environment through communicative solicitations: either he or she regulates a partner's behaviour, by requesting help or a demonstration, in need, by searching for approval of his or her actions; or he or she initiates referential joint attention on the task with the partner (Bandura, 1997;Bruner, 1983;DeCooke & Brownell, 1999;Heckhausen, 1988;Nelson-Le-Gall et al, 1990;Pressley, 1995;Puustinen, 1998;Rogoff, 1990;Stipek et al, 1992;Szepkouski, Gauvain, & Carberry, 1994;Wertsch et al, 1980;Winnykamen, 1993;Wood & Wood, 1999;Zimmerman, 2000).…”

“…The shared responsibility in the dyad and the parental use of active coping behaviour towards the child have an impact on his or her involvement in self-regulated learning (Bynum & Brody, 2005;Bronson, 2001;Elbers, Maier, Hoerstra, & Hoogsteder, 1992;Gauvain & Rogoff, 1989;Moss, 1990;Vygotsky, 1978;Wertsch et al, 1980;Wood & Wood, 1999). Sinha and Kumari (2001) reported a high positive relationship between parental induction of self-regulation and a child's use of deep processing strategies, with the attribution of his or her success to controllable factors.…”