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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:
Parents who engage in the age-old tradition of picture-book reading are not only encouraging early reading development in their children but are also teaching their toddlers about the world around them, according to a study in the November issue of Developmental Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
Parents of preschool children reported that they own dozens of children's picture books and spend approximately 40 minutes a day reading books to their small children.
To determine the extent of a young child's ability to learn from a picture-book, psychologist Gabrielle Simcock, PhD, University of Queensland and co-author and psychologist Judy DeLoache, PhD, University of Virginia, tested if toddlers could imitate specific target actions on novel real-world objects on the basis of a picture-book interaction.
In the first study, two groups of children ages 18, 24 and 30-months, were given one of two picture books.
This common form of interaction that takes place very early in children's lives, may provide an important source of information to them about the world around them," said lead author, Gabrielle Simcock.
The iconicity (similarity between the actual object and the likeness presented in the book) of the pictures in the books had the most influence on the youngest children's reenactment.
The 18-month toddlers were less able to follow the directions given in the book containing colored-pencil drawings then when they were when given directions from the books containing life-like color photographs.
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Posted on November 5, 2006 04:14 PM
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