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The effects of adult guidance and peer discussion on the development of children's representations: Evidence from the training of pedestrian skills
Author(s) -
Tolmie Andrew,
Thomson James A.,
Foot Hugh C.,
Whelan Kirstie,
Morrison Sheila,
McLaren Brian
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1348/000712604x15545
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , context (archaeology) , attunement , peer tutor , appropriation , peer group , training (meteorology) , representation (politics) , apprenticeship , pedestrian , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , social psychology , applied psychology , pedagogy , philosophy , alternative medicine , law , linguistics , environmental health , pathology , engineering , biology , paleontology , political science , medicine , physics , politics , meteorology , transport engineering
It was hypothesized that practical training is effective in improving children's pedestrian skills because adult scaffolding and peer discussion during training specifically promote E3 level representation (linguistically‐encoded, experientially‐grounded, generalizable knowledge), as defined by Karmiloff‐Smith's (1992) representational redescription (RR) model. Two studies were conducted to examine in detail the impact of this social input in the context of simulation‐based training in roadside search skills. A group of 5–8‐year‐olds were pre‐tested on ability to detect relevant road‐crossing features. They then participated in four training sessions designed to promote attunement to these, under peer discussion versus adult guidance conditions (Study 1), and adult–child versus adult–group conditions (Study 2). Performance at post‐test was compared with that of controls who underwent no training. Study 1 found that children in the adult guidance condition improved significantly more than those in the peer discussion or control conditions, and this improvement was directly attributable to appropriation of E3 level representations from adult dialogue. Study 2 found that progress was greater still when adult scaffolding was supplemented by peer discussion, with E3 level representation attributable to the children's exploration of conflicting ideas. The implications of these findings for the RR model and for practical road safety education are discussed.