COOPERATIVE PLAY AND PROBLEM SOLVING IN …

[Pages:127]COOPERATIVE PLAY AND PROBLEM SOLVING IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN by

Geetha Balaraman Ramani B.A., Bryn Mawr College, 1998 M.S., University of Pittsburgh, 2002

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Developmental Psychology

University of Pittsburgh 2005

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

This dissertation was presented by

Geetha Balaraman Ramani It was defended on August 25, 2005 and approved by

Susan Campbell, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology Carl Johnson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology in Education

Janet Schofield, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology Dissertation Director: Celia Brownell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

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COOPERATIVE PLAY AND PROBLEM SOLVING IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN Geetha Balaraman Ramani, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 2005

The effects of setting on cooperative play and problem solving in preschool children were examined. The study investigated whether a cooperative problem-solving setting that was more like informal social play promoted more effective cooperation and problem solving than a setting that was more structured, and whether the benefits of the play-like setting generalized to another problem solving task. The study also examined the development of cooperative problem solving skills across the preschool years. Four- and five-year-old same-age, same-sex dyads were randomly assigned to complete a problem solving building task in a more play-like, flexible, and child-driven setting or in a more structured and adult-driven setting. The older children built more complete, complex structures with a greater number of blocks than younger children. Children in the play-like setting built more complex structures and utilized observational learning more than children in the structured condition, although no significant condition differences emerged for cooperative behavior and communication. Performance differences also carried over into a subsequent joint problem solving task. Across both settings, individual differences in cooperative skills were related to children's task performance. The results suggest that problem solving skills develop through the preschool years, and that cooperative problem solving in age-appropriate play-like settings is an effective way to promote and investigate both cooperative behavior and cooperative learning in young children.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................................................... viii 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1

1.1. Theoretical Perspectives ................................................................................................. 3 1.2. Cooperative Planning and Problem solving in School Age versus Preschool Children. 5

1.2.1. Cooperative problem solving in school-age children ............................................. 5 1.2.2. Cooperative problem solving in preschool-age children ........................................ 8

1.2.2.1. Development of cooperative problem solving.............................................. 10 1.2.2.2. Preschool children's cooperative problem solving........................................ 11 1.2.2.3. Mechanisms of cooperative problem solving in preschoolers...................... 14 1.2.3. Factors That Limit Preschool Children's Cooperative Problem Solving.............. 18 1.2.3.1. Cooperative problem solving abilities .......................................................... 18 1.2.3.2. Setting and task factors ................................................................................. 19 1.3. Social Play: Cooperative Problem Solving in Play....................................................... 21 1.3.1. Cooperative problem solving in social play.......................................................... 22 1.3.2. Integrating features of informal play and formal cooperative problem solving ... 24 1.3.2.1. Role of adults: Freedom from externally imposed rules............................... 26 1.3.2.2. Flexibility of play.......................................................................................... 27 1.3.2.3. Scripts and familiar activities........................................................................ 28 1.4. Predictions..................................................................................................................... 30 2. METHODS ........................................................................................................................... 34 2.1. Participants.................................................................................................................... 34 2.2. Design ........................................................................................................................... 34 2.3. Materials ....................................................................................................................... 35 2.4. Procedures..................................................................................................................... 37 2.4.1. General procedures ............................................................................................... 37 2.4.2. Dyad pairing.......................................................................................................... 37 2.4.3. Pretest and posttest building tasks ........................................................................ 38 2.4.4. Experimental manipulation................................................................................... 39 2.5. Coding System .............................................................................................................. 41 2.5.1. Performance outcomes: Building performance and efficiency............................. 42 2.5.2. Social and learning process measures................................................................... 44 2.5.3. Motivational measures .......................................................................................... 48 2.5.4. Reliability.............................................................................................................. 49 2.6. Data Reduction.............................................................................................................. 51 3. RESULTS ............................................................................................................................. 58 3.1. Preliminary Analyses .................................................................................................... 58 3.2. Substantive Analyses .................................................................................................... 63 3.2.1. Age and gender differences .................................................................................. 63 3.2.2. Pretest differences................................................................................................. 67 3.2.3. Differences in play and structured conditions ...................................................... 69 3.2.4. Individual differences ........................................................................................... 77 4. DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................... 79 4.1. Development of Cooperative Problem Solving in Preschool Children ........................ 80

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4.2. The Role of Cooperation in Preschool Children's Dyadic Problem Solving ............... 83 4.3. Differences between Play and Structured Settings ....................................................... 87 APPENDIX A............................................................................................................................... 96 Experimental Session: Play Condtion Story (Female Version)............................................... 96 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................... 99 Experimental Session: Strucutred Condtion Story (Female Version) ..................................... 99 APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................. 102 Posttest Session Story ............................................................................................................. 102 APPENDIX D............................................................................................................................. 105 Pretest Administration Script.................................................................................................. 105 APPENDIX E ............................................................................................................................. 106 Children's Affect Rating Scale ............................................................................................... 106 APPENDIX F.............................................................................................................................. 107 Play Rating Scale .................................................................................................................... 107 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................... 108

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Percent agreement between coders for individual behaviors......................................... 50 Table 2. Means and standard deviations as a function of session for the performance, process,

and motivation measure ........................................................................................................ 53 Table 3. Correlations between performance, process and motivational measures for the pretest

session ................................................................................................................................... 54 Table 4. Correlations between performance, process and motivational measures for the

experimental session ............................................................................................................. 55 Table 5. Correlations between performance, process and motivational measures for the posttest

session ................................................................................................................................... 56 Table 6. Composite measures of performance outcomes, social and learning processes, and

motivation measures included in analyses............................................................................ 57 Table 7. Means and standard deviations as a function of age and gender for the performance,

process, and motivational measures averaged across sessions ............................................. 60 Table 8. Correlations between the cooperation and learning process measures across the 3

sessions ................................................................................................................................. 61 Table 9. Correlation between the outcome measures across the 3 sessions ................................ 62 Table 10. Correlations between motivational measures across the 3 sessions ............................ 62 Table 11. Means and standard deviations for the pretest performance, process, and motivational

measures for the two conditions ........................................................................................... 68 Table 12. Means and standard deviations of the performance, process, and motivational

measures for the experimental and posttest session for the play and structured conditions. 70

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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Total building performance between the two conditions in the experimental and

posttest sessions .................................................................................................................... 72 Figure 2. Observational learning between the two conditions in the experimental and posttest

sessions ................................................................................................................................. 73

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank the local child care centers for permitting me to conduct my project in their centers, and for being so considerate and helpful throughout the data collection. My special thanks go to the children for all of their help and cooperation and their parents who volunteered their time to participate in the study. I would also like to thank my committee members, Drs. Celia Brownell, Susan Campbell, Carl Johnson, and Janet Schofield for all of their invaluable insights, assistance, and guidance. I would especially like to thank Celia for not only being an amazing mentor, but also a wonderful friend. I am very grateful for her never-ending enthusiasm and passion for research. I cannot thank her enough for always believing in me and providing me with support, direction, and encouragement whenever I needed it. My great appreciation goes to Diana Whalen and Alina Volper for all of their hard work and dedication with assisting me on data collection and coding. My gratitude goes to Catherine Best, Lisa Newell, Melanie Nyhof, and Stephanie Zerwas not only for their friendship and support through the dissertation process, but also throughout my graduate career. Finally, I would like to thank my family, especially my Mom and Dad, for their constant support in all that I do. A very special thank you goes to my husband, Gautam, for all of his warm encouragement and support. I am very grateful to be able to share this with him.

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