Objective measurement of naturalistic interaction and early social networks

这个项目是关于语言和与同伴和老师的社会互动在塑造患有和不患有自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的学龄前儿童发展中的作用。研究人员将使用一套创新的传感器系统来实时测量儿童和教师在操场和学龄前课堂上的位置和言语，以调查患有和没有自闭症儿童的社交互动和发展有何不同。该项目将显示儿童与同龄人和老师的对话对他们语言发展的相对影响。更好地理解这些互动可能会导致清晰而简单的策略，教育工作者可以用来支持课堂互动以及儿童的社交和语言发展。儿童的社交和语言发展是通过与同龄人和成年人的实时互动来塑造的，这些互动是由他们的物理和社会背景构成的。对语言和社会发展的细粒度互动过程的理解目前是有限的。同样，目前还不清楚儿童社交和语言能力的差异--例如与自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)相关的缺陷--如何影响这些互动。目前的研究询问了患有和没有自闭症的学龄前儿童如何在教室和操场上与同龄人和老师互动和分享语言，以及社交、言语和语言能力在发展过程中如何变化。研究人员将使用运动和语音客观测量的实时数据来预测儿童的社交和语言发展。研究人员将使用新兴技术研究儿童与同龄人和教师的实时互动，以说明社交网络的发展及其在塑造儿童语言能力方面的作用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is about the role of language and social interaction with peers and teachers in shaping the development of preschoolers with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The researchers will use an innovative set of sensor systems to measure children's and teachers' locations and speech in real-time on the playground and preschool classroom to investigate how social interaction and development differ for children with and without ASD. This project will indicate the relative impact of children’s conversations with peers and teachers on their language development. A better understanding of these interactions may lead to clear and simple strategies which educators can use to support classroom interactions and children’s social and language development.Children’s social and language development is shaped by real-time interactions with peers and adults that are structured by their physical and social contexts. Understanding of the granular interactive processes through which language and social development occur is currently limited. Likewise, it is not clear how variation in children’s social interaction and language abilities-—such as the deficits associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)--affect these interactions. The current research asks how preschoolers with and without ASD interact and share language with their peers and teachers in the classroom and playground and how social contact, speech, and language abilities change over development. The researchers will use real-time data from objective measurements of movement and speech to predict children’s social and language development. The researchers will use emerging technologies to study children’s real-time interactions with peers and teachers to illustrate the development of social networks and their role in shaping children’s language abilities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.