Background: Children with Down syndrome (DS) are at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). They are often diagnosed later than other children in part due to difficulty differentiating ASD-related impairment from that associated with DS. The psychometric properties of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder in Mental Retardation Scale (PDD-MRS) were…

There is currently a hot debate in the literature regarding whether or not infants have a true theory of mind (ToM) understanding. According to the mentalistic view, infants possess the same false belief understanding that older children have but their competence is masked by task demands. On the other hand, others have proposed that preverbal…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between two structural factors of quality: organisation form (stable groups versus flexible groups) and staff-child ratio, in relation to interaction quality in toddler groups in Norwegian early childhood education and care (ECEC). Data were collected from 206 kindergarten groups in the…

Peer-mediated intervention (PMI) is most commonly defined as a treatment approach that engages typically developing peers to teach children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) social skills and increase their social interactions, mainly in a school setting. In this letter, we address the limitations of such understanding of PMI and review the…

OTHERISM is the disuniting of a country or varying sizes of groups. Otherism is the process of unconsciously planned and contradictory "preparation" to "push" an individual(s) "out" of a group to "defend" against the entry of a person into a group or arrange "downward" in rank the person in the…

Informed by symbolic interactionism, this study examines how positive emotional experiences in teaching, teacher identity, and student behaviors are associated. According to the symbolic interactionism perspective, positive student behaviors signify that teachers have successfully embodied the teacher identity, which results in positive emotional…

A large portion of an infant's or toddler's day involves bodily care routines, including diapering. Tuning in to the uniqueness of a child's individuality during diapering by responding with sensitivity, encouragement, and in an unhurried manner, sends a powerful message to the child about his or her body, bodily functions, and crucially, that the…

Code-mixing, which denotes switches between languages as well as a phenomenon reflecting grammars of both languages in interpersonal interactions simultaneously, is a universal language-contact phenomenon present in both individual bilingualism and societal bilingualism, and individual differences exist in both frequency and complexity of…

The aim of this study investigate to the reasons why the usage of Social Network Sites (SNS) makes users happy. To this end, the study was conducted with as a qualitative research method. The phenomenological design, which is a qualitative research method, was utilized for determining why SNS usage cause happiness and having a better to understand…

Home-based child care or childminding as it is commonly known in the United Kingdom (UK) is a service often used by parents and families in many countries. However, despite its prevalence, there is a paucity of research on the subject. Addressing this gap, this study presents new empirical data to better understand this type of provision in…

Persistence is an important indicator of academic success in higher education. Academic stress, which influences individuals' learning motivation and behaviors, is inevitable in college life; however, individuals handle it differently based on their expectancy and value beliefs. In this study, academic stress, academic self-efficacy, and task…

New interactive music educational technologies are often seen as a 'force of change', introducing new approaches that address the shortcomings (e.g. score-based, teacher-centred and disembodied) of the so-called traditional teaching approaches. And yet, despite the growing belief in their educational potential, these new technologies have been…

This study investigates how mentor talk unfolds in a community of learners during an entire school year in the context of practice teaching in university teacher education. Specifically, it focuses on how emergent styles and patterns of mentor's talk shaped power relations in the discourse, promoting different kinds of learning environments. Data…

Distance learning is expanding rapidly in universities. While theoretical and qualitative literature stress the critical role of effective interpersonal interactions in motivating students and facilitating learning in online environments, quantitative evidence on the benefits of increased interpersonal interactions on student learning outcomes is…

Interactive learning is vital to schooled learning because it encourages and enables the exploration and application of knowledge. The difficulty of providing for this learning-based interaction among students who never meet in person has been a continuing concern in online education. This paper describes six different interactive structures…