Tiia Tulviste - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Tiia Tulviste

Frontiers in Psychology, Jul 28, 2023

Background: Parental report measures such as the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Invent... more Background: Parental report measures such as the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) are frequently used to study communicative skills of children under 3 years of age. Less is known about the usability of such reports for assessing communication skills in older children due to their advanced language skills, and a higher variety of communicative partners and communication contexts. Aims: To assess the concurrent and predictive validity of the Estonian (E) CDI-III at ages 3;0 and 4;0 years. The first research goal was to examine its concurrent variability-associations with teacher reports and directly measured language skills. The second goal of the study was to investigate the predictive validity of parent reports-the degree to which parent-and teacher-reported language scores for children at age 3;0 are useful for predicting examiner-administered language comprehension and production scores 1 year later. Methods: Estonian monolingual children were investigated longitudinally at ages 3;0 (n = 104; M age = 35.77 months, SD = 0.84; 42% males) and 4;0 (n = 87; M age = 48.18 months, SD = 1.16; 42% males) years. Children were assessed with the parent-reported ECDI-III, with teacher-reported assessments on children's talkativeness, vocabulary size and grammatical skills, and the examineradministered New Reynell Developmental Language Scales IV (NRDLS). Results: Results indicated significant positive relationships between the ECDI-III total scores, teacher reports, and directly measured language comprehension and production scores, demonstrating concurrent validity of parental reports of children language skills at both ages. When controlling for mothers' education, children's gender, and reported language difficulties, parental and teacher reports were predictive of language production scores, whereas only parental reports predicted comprehension scores 1 year later. None of the controls was predictive of later language comprehension and production scores. Conclusion: In sum, good concurrent and predictive validity of the ECDI-III shows that the instrument is a valid tool for assessing communicative skills in Estonian children. Results suggest that parent reports can offer useable information also about communicative skills of children older than three years.

European Journal of Developmental Psychology, May 1, 2010

The present study addressed socialization values of 187 mothers of preadolescent children. The Ch... more The present study addressed socialization values of 187 mothers of preadolescent children. The Child-Rearing Goals Questionnaire consisted of item rating and item-choosing tasks. The study found mothers to be similar in emphasizing the values of self-direction and self-expression in their children, whereas conformity values were stressed more by the mid-SES mothers and mothers of sons. In the item-choosing task the

First language, Oct 22, 2016

The vocabulary size of 16- to 30-month-old children ( N = 1235) was assessed using the Estonian a... more The vocabulary size of 16- to 30-month-old children ( N = 1235) was assessed using the Estonian adaptation of the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences (ECDI-II). The relationship between children’s expressive vocabulary size and different factors of the child and his/her social environment was examined. Results confirm the findings of studies from other languages showing that girls have larger vocabularies than boys, and first-born children are at an advantage compared to later-born children. Children of highly educated parents have bigger vocabularies than children whose parents have a lower educational level; this effect was significant for both maternal and paternal education. It was found that children of less-educated fathers who spend a high amount of time per week (> 40 hours) in daycare have smaller vocabularies than children of fathers with higher educational attainment.

Early Human Development, Dec 1, 2020

To date, there are contradictory findings concerning if, at which age, and to what extent childre... more To date, there are contradictory findings concerning if, at which age, and to what extent children's language development is affected by prematurity at birth. The objective was to compare language skills of extremely preterm (EPT) and very preterm (VPT) girls and boys at 24 months corrected for gestational age (GA) at birth with those of full-term (FT) girls and boys, and to explore the effect of perinatal and demographic factors. Method: Parents of 138 preterm (PT) children born < 32 weeks' gestation (48 EPT with GA below 28 weeks, 90 VPT with GA 28-31 weeks) and of 150 FT controls completed the short Estonian version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences (ECDI-II SF). Language skills of PT children were also assessed with the Bayley-III Language Scale (BSID-III), and compared with data from 152 FT controls. Results: Mean scores of all language measurements were significantly lower in boys (not girls) from both PT groups compared to FT girls and boys, while no significant differences were found between PT groups. Across groups, girls obtained significantly better language scores than boys. In PT children, being a girl, and attending day care at corrected age (CA) 2;0 years, predicted a larger expressive vocabulary (measured by the ECDI-II SF). Bayley language composite scores (sum of expressive and receptive language) were higher in PT girls than in boys, and the scores were negatively affected by the number of severe neonatal morbidities. Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of systematic language-focused assessments (using parents and trained examiners) of EPT and VPT boys, as well as the need to support their development.

Springer eBooks, 2019

Family is the initial and the primary setting for the socialization of children. This chapter dea... more Family is the initial and the primary setting for the socialization of children. This chapter deals with everyday family conversations with children in different cultural and interactional contexts. The focus is on variations in the amount and cultural meaning of the speech addressed to children, as well as on children’s participation in family conversations and the content highlighted. I provide examples from our own comparative research as well as studies of other researchers about culturally-valued ways of talking with children. Theoretical conceptions about language acquisition and development stress the importance of a language-rich environment and child’s conversational experiences in one-to-one dyadic interactions. However, dyadic interactions with children and child-adjusted language use are not that common in non-Western parts of the world. Moreover, the importance placed on talking versus silence, and cultural habits of talking also vary within Western cultures. The chapter closes with the conclusion that more investigations in diverse cultural contexts are needed to change our theoretical conceptions about the impact of family conversations on child development.

Trames, 2017

The study compares socialization values held by respondents of different ages from ethnic Estonia... more The study compares socialization values held by respondents of different ages from ethnic Estonian and Russian-speaking minority groups living in Estonia over a period of 6 years. Data were collected in three rounds (2006, 2008, and 2012) of the European Social Survey (ESS) in Estonia. In each round representative samples of the noninstitutionalized population aged 15 years and older filled out the Socialization Value Questionnaire (Tulviste 2013). They were asked to mark five qualities in a list of 17, which they considered the most important to develop in children at home. The study found that although the consensus between socialization values of two social groups has been relatively high and stable in the three rounds, it was bigger in older people than younger ones. Respondents placed social values (except independence-that is a self-direction value) among the qualities most desired in children. The stability vs. change and sex were linked to the specific quality rather than to the type of socialization values. The study contributed to the existing literature by demonstrating that the socialization values held by people relate strongly to their age: older people tended to choose qualities related to social values more frequently, and those of self-direction less frequently than younger people.

Communication Quarterly, Jul 1, 2013

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or s... more This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

Trames, 2016

This study investigated the impact of philosophical group discussions, using the Philosophy for C... more This study investigated the impact of philosophical group discussions, using the Philosophy for Children (P4C) programme, on verbal reasoning skills. The originality of the study is the implementation of P4C with pre-schoolers. Children aged 5 to 6 participated in a quasi-experiment (N = 125), where 58 children were included in an intervention group and 67 children in a control group. The data was collected using a pre-and post-test implemented with individual children. The intervention group participated in a weekly philosophical group discussion over eight months. The results show that children in the intervention group were able to give significantly more reasons that included: (1) comparison, (2) analogy, (3) justification, (4) the wording "because of that", and (5) causal connection than children in the control group if they were asked to reason their opinion. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest the value of implementing weekly philosophical group discussions based on P4C in pre-schools to promote four basic language skills and academic achievement by fostering verbal reasoning skills.

Early Human Development, Sep 1, 2013

Preterm birth is considered to be a high risk factor for child development and early vocabulary c... more Preterm birth is considered to be a high risk factor for child development and early vocabulary can be used as an indicator for later development. The aim of the present study is to compare the size of early vocabulary, proportional use of different word categories, and mean length of utterance (henceforth MLU) of preterm and full term children. The sample consisted of 40 preterm (corrected ages 16-25 months) and two matched groups of full term children. First full term group consisted of 120 children who were matched by age and gender. Second full term group consisted of 109 children who were matched by age, gender and size of productive vocabulary. The data for this study were gathered using the Estonian adaptation of MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences. Full term children who were matched by age and gender had larger vocabulary as compared to the preterm children&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s vocabulary (U = 1758.5, p = 0.01). Poisson regression yielded that age, gender, and preterm birth explained significantly the variance in the vocabulary size. Poisson regressions showed that all three variables explained significantly variance in proportional use of social terms and predicates. Age had significant effect for proportional use of common nouns. Age and preterm birth had a significant effect on the proportional use of function words. MLU was shorter in preterm than in full term children (U = 1125.0, p = 0.002). Estonian preterm children&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s vocabulary is slightly smaller than full term children&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s vocabulary. There is a difference in the proportions of word categories used, as preterm children use more social terms, and less predicates, and function words.

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Mar 1, 2007

This study compares the child-rearing values of mothers and fathers of 4 to 6-year-old children i... more This study compares the child-rearing values of mothers and fathers of 4 to 6-year-old children in Estonia and Finland. All samples assign the most value to characteristics related to benevolence, self-direction, and being trustworthy. Valuing smartness and politeness is specific to the Estonian culture, and valuing hedonism is specific to the Finnish culture. Compared with Estonian parents, Finnish parents tend to stress benevolence, hedonism, and bad habits rather than conformity and achievement; their child-rearing values are more homogeneous; and the values held by a mother and father from the same family reveal more similarities. Estonian mothers attach more importance to benevolence and conformity than do Estonian fathers. Child-rearing values do not differ according to the child's gender. The findings suggest that differences in child-rearing values related to parental gender depend on the cultural context.

Applied Psycholinguistics, Dec 1, 2001

Focusing on mother-child verbal interactions in two different contexts, the present study examine... more Focusing on mother-child verbal interactions in two different contexts, the present study examined whether differences in maternal conversational style could be explained by children's linguistic and conversational abilities and by the mothers' expressed attitudes to collectivism. To this end, 20 Estonian mothers were videotaped with their 6-year-old children during mealtime and puzzle solving, and they were asked to fill in a questionnaire on collectivistic attitudes. The results showed that the mothers' frequency of engaging children in conversation was not related to the children's linguistic and conversational abilities. The children talked more and spoke more complexly during puzzle solving. The context had a great influence on the maternal regulatory speech. Contrary to the expectations, mothers who scored higher in collectivism were not more directive; instead, they tended to be more talkative.

First language, Nov 16, 2019

Parental reports are a widely-used source of information about infants' and toddlers' communicati... more Parental reports are a widely-used source of information about infants' and toddlers' communicative skills, but parent-report instruments valid for children older than 30 months are less known. This study explored individual variability in children's communicative skills at the age of 3;0 via parental reports using the Estonian (E) CDI-III. The validity of ECDI-III was established through correlations with another parent-report instrument (ECDI-II) and a standardized examiner-administered language assessment (New Reynell Developmental Language Scales; NRDLS). A hundred Estonian-speaking children (M age = 35.77 months, age range from 34 to 39 months; 20 of them with reported language difficulties) participated in the study. Relations between different communicative skills and the impact of such factors as the child's gender, maternal and paternal education, reported language difficulties, the number of siblings, and day care attendance on variability in vocabulary size were also considered. The results showed that the ECDI-III components were moderately to strongly associated with each other, with the ECDI-II and NRDLS. Children with reported language difficulties scored lower on all language measures, except for orthographic awareness. Girls, children of more educated mothers, children with older siblings, and those who had attended day care for more months obtained higher vocabulary scores.

Sex Roles, Jul 1, 2005

The aim of the present study was to examine the moral and conventional rules in 40 same-sex and s... more The aim of the present study was to examine the moral and conventional rules in 40 same-sex and same-age 4-and 5-year-old preschoolers' dyads during their play interaction. Significant gender differences were found both in the dominant social domain and in the prevailing types of rules within each domain. Boys referred to moral rules more often than girls did. In the category of moral rules, boys were significantly more likely to bring up justice and rights issues than girls were. In the category of conventional rules, girls focused on miscellaneous and general conventions and boys on the destruction of property. Moral rules were applied more frequently in conflict situations. Regardless of gender, the rules of justice were the most likely moral rules to engender conflicts.

Advances in Pediatric Research, 2015

Climate change causes a rise in global average temperatures and increases the number of extremely... more Climate change causes a rise in global average temperatures and increases the number of extremely hot days every year in different regions of the world. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Agency (NASA) defines climate change as: "a broad range of global phenomena created by burning fossil fuels, which add heat-trapping gases to Earth's atmosphere. These phenomena include the increased temperature trends described as global warming".

Trames, 2012

The aim of the present study was to compare the Estonian senior high school students' value prior... more The aim of the present study was to compare the Estonian senior high school students' value priorities in cohorts of 2000 and 2009. A questionnaire based on five value types from the Schwartz Value Survey (Schwartz and Bilsky 1987)-Self-direction, Achievement, Conformity, Power, and Tradition-was used for data collection. The study revealed a significant increase in the importance of Self-direction, Conformity and Tradition during the last decade, while Power and Achievement did not reach statistically significant difference across cohorts. At the same time, the hierarchical structure (the values' respective rankings) had remained the same-values related to Self-direction and Achievement were most important, and Tradition least important for the respondents. Values related to Achievement were found to be more important to boys in gender comparison. The results of the study are compared to the results obtained by earlier research on values and discussed in the context of societal change.

Youth & Society, Oct 4, 2010