Person:
Rowe, Meredith

Profile Picture

Email Address

AA Acceptance Date

Birth Date

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Job Title

Last Name

Rowe

First Name

Meredith

Name

Rowe, Meredith

Filters

2000 - 2009142010 - 201812

Settings

Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.b17ebe38-7515-4bd5-8776-7ebee7bd61dc

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 26
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    What counts in the development of young children's number knowledge?
    (American Psychological Association (APA), 2010) Levine, Susan C.; Suriyakham, Linda Whealton; Rowe, Meredith; Huttenlocher, Janellen; Gunderson, Elizabeth A.
    Prior studies indicate that children vary widely in their mathematical knowledge by the time they enter preschool and that this variation predicts levels of achievement in elementary school. In a longitudinal study of a diverse sample of 44 preschool children, we examined the extent to which their understanding of the cardinal meanings of the number words (e.g., knowing that the word “four” refers to sets with 4 items) is predicted by the “number talk” they hear from their primary caregiver in the early home environment. Results from 5 visits showed substantial variation in parents’ number talk to children between the ages of 14 and 30 months. Moreover, this variation predicted children’s knowledge of the cardinal meanings of number words at 46 months, even when socioeconomic status and other measures of parent and child talk were controlled. These findings suggest that encouraging parents to talk about number with their toddlers, and providing them with effective ways to do so, may positively impact children’s school achievement.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    A Longitudinal Investigation of the Role of Quantity and Quality of Child-Directed Speech in Vocabulary Development
    (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) Rowe, Meredith
    Quantity and quality of caregiver input was examined longitudinally in a sample of 50 parent–child dyads to determine which aspects of input contribute most to children’s vocabulary skill across early development. Measures of input gleaned from parent–child interactions at child ages 18, 30, and 42 months were examined in relation to children’s vocabulary skill on a standardized measure 1 year later (e.g., 30, 42, and 54 months). Results show that controlling for socioeconomic status, input quantity, and children’s previous vocabulary skill; using a diverse and sophisticated vocabulary with toddlers; and using decontextualized language (e.g., narrative) with preschoolers explains additional variation in later vocabulary ability. The differential effects of various aspects of the communicative environment at several points in early vocabulary development are discussed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Differences in Early Gesture Explain SES Disparities in Child Vocabulary Size at School Entry
    (American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2009) Rowe, Meredith; Goldin-Meadow, S.
    Children from low–socioeconomic status (SES) families, on average, arrive at school with smaller vocabularies than children from high-SES families. In an effort to identify precursors to, and possible remedies for, this inequality, we videotaped 50 children from families with a range of different SES interacting with parents at 14 months and assessed their vocabulary skills at 54 months. We found that children from high-SES families frequently used gesture to communicate at 14 months, a relation that was explained by parent gesture use (with speech controlled). In turn, the fact that children from high-SES families have large vocabularies at 54 months was explained by children’s gesture use at 14 months. Thus, differences in early gesture help to explain the disparities in vocabulary that children bring with them to school.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    A Comparison of Fathers' and Mothers' Talk to Toddlers in Low-income Families
    (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004) Rowe, Meredith; Coker, David; Pan, Barbara
    The purpose of this study was to provide descriptive information about low-income fathers’ and mothers’ talk to toddlers and to re-examine the bridge hypothesis (Gleason, 1975) in light of current changes in family structure and childcare responsibilities. Thirty-three father–child and mother–child dyads were videotaped during semi-structured free play at home. Fathers’ and mothers’ talk to children did not differ in amount, diversity of vocabulary, or linguistic complexity as measured by mean length of utterance. However, fathers produced more wh-questions and explicit clarification requests, thus presenting more conversational challenges to children. Resident fathers employed more direct forms of prohibitives. Results suggest the need for closer examination of factors related to child-directed speech in varying family configurations.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Maternal Correlates of Growth in Toddler Vocabulary Production in Low-Income Families
    (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) Pan, Barbara; Rowe, Meredith; Singer, Judith; Snow, Catherine
    This study investigated predictors of growth in toddlers’ vocabulary production between the ages of 1 and 3 years by analyzing mother – child communication in 108 low-income families. Individual growth modeling was used to describe patterns of growth in children’s observed vocabulary production and predictors of initial status and between-person change. Results indicate large variation in growth across children. Observed variation was positively related to diversity of maternal lexical input and maternal language and literacy skills, and negatively related to maternal depression. Maternal talkativeness was not related to growth in children’s vocabulary production in this sample. Implications of the examination of longitudinal data from this relatively large sample of low-income families are discussed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Literacy as a pathway between schooling and health-related communication skills: a study of Venezuelan mothers
    (2005) Schnell-Anzola, Beatrice; Rowe, Meredith; Levine, Robert
    This article addresses the mechanisms by which women’s schooling might affect the survival and health of their children. A theoretical model is proposed in which academic literacy skills serve as a pathway between formal schooling and maternal health-related behaviors. The model is tested through multivariate analyses of interview and literacy data from 161 mothers in a poor, urban community in Venezuela. Results show that the academic literacy skills women learned in school and retained into adulthood, predict their health-related communication skills above and beyond the amount of schooling they received. The importance of female schooling in developing countries is discussed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Measuring productive vocabulary of toddlers in low-income families: concurrent and predictive validity of three sources of data
    (Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2004) Pan, Barbara; Rowe, Meredith; SPIER, ELIZABETH; TAMIS-LEMONDA, CATHERINE
    This study examined parental report as a source of information about toddlers’ productive vocabulary in 105 low-income families living in either urban or rural communities. Parental report using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory – Short Form (CDI) at child age 2;0 was compared to concurrent spontaneous speech measures and standardized language assessments, and the utility of each source of data for predicting receptive vocabulary at age 3;0 (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test) was evaluated. Relations between language measures of interest and background variables such as maternal age, education, and race/ethnicity were also considered. Results showed that for the sample as a whole, parental report was moderately associated with other language measures at age 2;0 and accounted for unique variance in PPVT at age 3;0, controlling for child language skills derived from a standard cognitive assessment. However, predictive validity differed by community, being stronger in the rural than in the urban community. Implications of significant differences in background characteristics of mothers in the two sites are discussed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    A comparison of preschool children's discussions with parents during picture book and chapter book reading
    (SAGE Publications, 2014) Leech, Kathryn; Rowe, Meredith
    Discussions that occur during book reading between parents and preschool children relate to children’s language development, especially discussions during picture books that include extended discourse, a form of abstract language. While a recent report shows increased chapter book reading among families with preschool children, it is unknown whether chapter books also facilitate these types of conversations. Further, the substantial variation in preschoolers’ language ability raises the question of whether chapter book reading may be beneficial for all children of this age. The current study examined the discussions between five-year-old children (N = 33) and their parents while reading both a picture book and the first chapter of a chapter book. Findings are discussed in terms of the variation observed in the amount and types of discussion, how chapter book discussions compare to picture book discussions, and finally, how children’s narrative skill can serve as an indicator of children’s ability to participate in discussions, especially during chapter book reading.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Predictors of Variation in Maternal Talk to Children: A Longitudinal Study of Low-Income Families
    (2005) Rowe, Meredith; Pan, Barbara; Ayoub, Catherine Marie
    Objective. The goals of this study were (1) to examine the extent of variation in amount and lexical diversity of maternal talk to young children within a sample of low-income families, (2) to determine the patterns of change over time in maternal talk during the early childhood years, and (3) to consider specific predictors of variation in maternal communicative input. Design. Low-income mother – child dyads (n = 108) were videotaped at child ages 14, 24, and 36 months during semistructured play in the home. Videotapes were transcribed and analyzed using the conventions of the Child Language Data Exchange System to determine amount (word tokens) and lexical diversity (word types) of maternal talk to children. Background information collected from mothers at study entry served as predictors of variation in communicative input. Individual growth modeling methods were used to analyze data. Results. Mothers varied greatly in the number of tokens and types produced during interaction. Mothers were found to increase in their total amount of talk and diversity of vocabulary as children aged. In addition to child age, maternal education, language and literacy skills, depression, and age helped explain variation in level of maternal talk, but none of the predictors explained variation in growth. Different combinations of predictors explained variation in tokens versus types. Conclusions. Findings highlight the importance of studying specific predictors of parental talk to children, as even in low-income samples large variation in communicative input is evident.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Early gesture selectively predicts later language learning
    (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009) Rowe, Meredith; Goldin-Meadow, Susan
    The gestures children produce predict the early stages of spoken language development. Here we ask whether gesture is a global predictor of language learning, or whether particular gestures predict particular language outcomes. We observed 52 children interacting with their caregivers at home, and found that gesture use at 18 months selectively predicted lexical versus syntactic skills at 42 months, even with early child speech controlled. Specifically, number of different meanings conveyed in gesture at 18 months predicted vocabulary at 42 months, but number of gesture+speech combinations did not. In contrast, number of gesture + speech combinations, particularly those conveying sentence-like ideas, produced at 18 months predicted sentence complexity at 42 months, but meanings conveyed in gesture did not. We can thus predict particular milestones in vocabulary and sentence complexity at age 3 and a half by watching how children move their hands two years earlier.