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A study of environmental stimulation: An orphanage preschool project.Research plan.

A study of environmental stimulation: An orphanage preschool project.: Research plan. The purpose of the research studies was to determine the effects of preschool education introduced into the lives of underprivileged children of average and below average intelligence. Specifically this was to be accomplished through comparing the children enrolled in preschool with children of equal initial status who were experiencing the same environment in every other respect save the one variable under consideration—attendance at preschool. In studies of the effects of preschool education the problem of possible inequalities in home background and home influences has usually been a pertinent one and a difficult one to control. It was felt that the orphanage offered a unique opportunity to study the development of children whose "home" influences were as nearly equal as it would be possible to make them. At the beginning of the preschool project, the children were divided into two groups matched on chronological age, mental age, intelligence quotient, sex, nutritional status, and length of residence in the orphanage. Wherever possible the children were paired, one member to attend preschool and the other to be in the control group. In October 1934, when the preschool building was opened for occupancy, there were twenty-one paired children ranging in age from eighteen months to five and one-half years. The preschool group included twelve boys and nine girls and the control group twelve boys and nine girls. After the preschool project had begun, new admissions during the three-year period were added to each of the groups with an attempt continually to equalize the two groups in relation to the factors considered in the original matching. A rather comprehensive program of research measurements on various aspects of development was undertaken. The phases of development studied were intelligence as measured by the Binet scale and as measured by the Merrill-Palmer scale of performance tests, vocabulary according to the Smith-Williams test, language usage and achievement as measured by a scale devised by Williams and Little, motor achievements on the McCaskill series, general information measured by scales devised by Lancaster and Maughan under the direction of Updegraff, social competence according to the Vineland Scale of Social Maturity, ratings of social behavior on the Berne scale, and observations on adjustments to the preschool regime. It was felt that if differences arose between the two groups they could be attributed to preschool attendance, since the groups were similar in so many respects, preschool attendance being the outstanding variable in which they differed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A study of environmental stimulation: An orphanage preschool project.Research plan.

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Publisher
University of Iowa
Copyright
Copyright © 1938 American Psychological Association
Pages
10 –19
DOI
10.1037/13507-002
Publisher site
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Abstract

The purpose of the research studies was to determine the effects of preschool education introduced into the lives of underprivileged children of average and below average intelligence. Specifically this was to be accomplished through comparing the children enrolled in preschool with children of equal initial status who were experiencing the same environment in every other respect save the one variable under consideration—attendance at preschool. In studies of the effects of preschool education the problem of possible inequalities in home background and home influences has usually been a pertinent one and a difficult one to control. It was felt that the orphanage offered a unique opportunity to study the development of children whose "home" influences were as nearly equal as it would be possible to make them. At the beginning of the preschool project, the children were divided into two groups matched on chronological age, mental age, intelligence quotient, sex, nutritional status, and length of residence in the orphanage. Wherever possible the children were paired, one member to attend preschool and the other to be in the control group. In October 1934, when the preschool building was opened for occupancy, there were twenty-one paired children ranging in age from eighteen months to five and one-half years. The preschool group included twelve boys and nine girls and the control group twelve boys and nine girls. After the preschool project had begun, new admissions during the three-year period were added to each of the groups with an attempt continually to equalize the two groups in relation to the factors considered in the original matching. A rather comprehensive program of research measurements on various aspects of development was undertaken. The phases of development studied were intelligence as measured by the Binet scale and as measured by the Merrill-Palmer scale of performance tests, vocabulary according to the Smith-Williams test, language usage and achievement as measured by a scale devised by Williams and Little, motor achievements on the McCaskill series, general information measured by scales devised by Lancaster and Maughan under the direction of Updegraff, social competence according to the Vineland Scale of Social Maturity, ratings of social behavior on the Berne scale, and observations on adjustments to the preschool regime. It was felt that if differences arose between the two groups they could be attributed to preschool attendance, since the groups were similar in so many respects, preschool attendance being the outstanding variable in which they differed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Published: Dec 12, 2011

Keywords: preschool education; development; orphanage; children; environment

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