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READING‐RELATED BEHAVIOR IN AN OPEN CLASSROOM: EFFECTS OF NOVELTY AND MODELLING ON PRESCHOOLERS 1
Author(s) -
Haskett G. J.,
Lenfestey William
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1974.7-233
Subject(s) - reading (process) , novelty , psychology , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy
Eight preschool children were exposed initially to an unstructured (open) classroom in which, among other objects, a dozen different books were continuously available. Samples of the subjects' behavior over several weeks documented a very low frequency of reading‐related activity (attention to books). Introduction of novel books into the classroom increased some children's reading‐related behavior, but adults who modelled reading by reading aloud produced larger and more stable increases of such behavior. There was also a relative increase in frequency of independent and a relative decrease in mutual‐peer reading‐related activity, possibly as a result of modelling. The study calls attention to the need to evaluate the open‐classroom setting in a manner compatible with the experimental analysis of behavior in other applied settings—a manner that is also consistent with the real aims of open education.