ABSTRACT

Research Findings: This study examined performance on self-regulatory tasks, in addition to individual characteristics including cognitive ability, receptive and expressive language skills, planning, and behaviour as contributing factors to early learning difficulties. Twenty-nine children born with ELBW and 30 comparison children at four years of age completed self-regulatory tasks. Results indicated no differences between groups for the Gift task; however, comparison children performed better on the Delay of Gratification task than children with ELBW. Although similar numbers from both groups violated the delay protocol, comparison children were more likely to wait for the researcher to return and children with ELBW were more likely to recall the researcher for an immediate, lesser reward. Cognitive ability, language abilities and planning were correlated with Delay of Gratification. Group membership was the best predictor of performance on the Delay of Gratification task; however, maternal education, cognitive ability and expressive language were also significant predictors of Delay of Gratification. Practice or Policy: It is considered that the small sample size and exclusion of children with significant neurodevelopmental disabilities may have contributed to better performance on the self-regulatory measures in this study.

摘要

研究成果：这项研究检查了自我调节任务的表现，以及个人特征，包括认知能力、接受和表达语言技能、计划和行为，这些都是导致早期学习困难的因素。29 名 ELBW 出生的儿童和 30 名 4 岁的对照儿童完成了自我调节任务。结果表明，Gift 任务组之间没有差异；然而，比较儿童在延迟满足任务上的表现优于 ELBW 儿童。尽管来自两组的相似数字违反了延迟协议，但比较儿童更有可能等待研究人员回来，而患有 ELBW 的儿童更有可能为了立即获得较少的奖励而回忆起研究人员。认知能力，语言能力和计划与延迟满足相关。小组成员资格是延迟满足任务表现的最佳预测指标；然而，母亲教育、认知能力和表达语言也是延迟满足的重要预测因素。实践或政策：据认为，小样本量和排除患有严重神经发育障碍的儿童可能有助于在本研究中更好地执行自我调节措施。