Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-tnzcf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-14T07:30:50.967Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Does social sensitivity influence collaborative problem solving in children? A preliminary investigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Alison F Garton and
Robin Harvey
Alison F Garton*
Affiliation:
Edith Cowan University
Robin Harvey
Affiliation:
Sentiens Pty Ltd
*
School of Psychology, Edith Cowan University, 100 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA 6027, Email: a.garton@ecu.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

This study explores whether social sensitivity influences children’s problem solving skills or learning after collaboration with a peer. Most research into the impact of collaborative problem solving on individual skills demonstrates that the problem solving skills an individual brings to the collaborative process are a key factor in predicting the presencelabsence of cognitive change. Only recently have other attributes and/or skills, such as social or interpersonal sensitivity, been considered within this framework. This study investigates whether interpersonal sensitivity contributes to differential outcomes in learning after collaborative problem solving. One hundred 8-year-old children participated in a pre-test/collaboration/post-test design study where four groups based on pre-test problem solving ability (high/low) and pre-test social sensitivity scores (high/low) were constructed for the collaborative problem solving task. Low ability/high sensitivity children showed pre- to post-test improvement in their problem solving when paired with high ability children. Social sensitivity only predicted final problem solving in high sensitivity children. Pre-test and collaborative problem solving levels predicted post-test problem solving for children classified as high problem solving/high sensitivity. Results are discussed in relation to how social sensitivity may differentially affect the problem solving skills of children with different patterns of ability.

Keywords

Social sensitivityProblem solving

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , 2006, pp. 5 - 16
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Azmitia, M., & Perlmutter, M. (1989). Social influences on children’s cognitions: State of theart and future directions. Advances in Child Development and Behaviour, 22, 89–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Da Silva, E., & Winnekamen, F. (1998). Degree of sociability and interactive behaviours in dyadic situations of problem solving. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 13, 253–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Eisenbud, L., & Fabes, R.A. (1993). Behavioral and physiological correlates of children’s reactions to others in distress. Developmental Psychology, 29, 655–663.Google Scholar
Garton, A.F. (1992). Social interaction and the development of language and cognition. Hove: LEA.Google Scholar
Garton, A.F. (2004). Exploring cognitive development: The child as problem solver. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garton, A.F., & Gringart, E. (2005). The development of a scale to measure empathy in 8- and 9-year-old children. The Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 5, 17–25.Google Scholar
Garton, A.F., & Pratt, C. (2001). Peer assistance in children’s problem solving. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 19, 307–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hampes, W.P. (2001). Relation between humour and empathieconcern. Psychological Reports, 88, 241–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Louden, W., & Wildy, H. (2001). Developing schools’ capacity to make performance judgements: Final report. Perth, Western Australia: Institutefor the Service Professions, Edith Cowan University.Google Scholar
O’Connor, J. (2000). The relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and language use in children’s collaborative problem solving. Unpublished Honours thesis, University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Noelting, G. (1980). The development of proportional reasoning and the ratio concept. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 11, 217–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgement of the child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Reeve, R.A., & Lusher, D. (1996, April). Collaborative problem solving and proportional reasoning. Paper presented at the 9th Australasian Human Development Conference, Perth.Google Scholar
Rogoff, B. (1998). Cognition as a collaborative process. In Kuhn, D. & Siegler, R.S. (Vol. Eds.), Damon, W. (Ed. In Chief) Handbook of child psychology.Volume 2: Cognition, perception and language (5th ed., pp. 679–744). NY: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Rothenberg, B.B. (1970). Children’s social sensitivity and the relationship to interpersonal competence, intrapersonal comfort and intellectual level. Developmental Psychology, 2, 335–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar