Development and use of behavior and social interaction software installed on Palm handheld for observation of a child's social interactions with the environment.
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Date
2006-12-25
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Abstract
In settings in developing countries children often socialize with multiple socializing agents peers siblings neighbors apart from their parents and thus a measurement of a child s social interactions should be expanded beyond parental interactions Since the environment plays a role in shaping a child s development the measurement of child socializing agents interactions is important We developed and used a computerized observational software Behavior and Social Interaction Software BASIS with a preloaded coding scheme installed on a handheld Palm device to record complex observations of interactions between children and socializing agents Using BASIS social interaction assessments were conducted on 573 preschool children for 1 h in their natural settings Multiple screens with a set of choices in each screen were designed that included the child s location broad activity state and interactions with child socializing agents Data were downloaded onto a computer and systematically analyzed BASIS installed on Palm OS M 125 enabled the recording of the complex interactions of child socializing agents that could not be recorded with manual forms Thus this tool provides an innovative and relatively accurate method for the systematic recording of social interactions in an unrestricted environment
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Keywords
Children Under 5 years, Access to information or data, Feasibility, Growth and development, Accelerometers / Motion sensors