AUTHOR=Zheng Yuanxia , Li Danyang , Chen Zhongqi , Liu Guoxiong 

TITLE=Picture book reading on the development of preschoolers in rural areas of China: Effects on language, inhibition, and theory of mind

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1030520

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1030520

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Studies have shown that book reading intervention may scaffold children's language development. However, whether book reading interventions are equally effective for children's cognitive development in a Chinese rural school setting remains to be explored. We conducted a four-month book reading intervention to address these issues in rural Chinese areas. A total of three hundred twenty-one children aged between 2.56 and 6.47 years (<italic>M</italic> = 4.66 ages, <italic>SD</italic> = 0.80) were assigned to three groups as follows: (a) control group without donated picture books; (b) active reading control group with donated picture books; and (c) intervention group with a 4-month instructed picture book reading intervention. The findings indicate that the available books could produce significant positive changes in the development of receptive language (<italic>F</italic><sub>(1,191)</sub> = 14.46, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01) and inhibitory control (<italic>F</italic><sub>(1,190)</sub> = 7.64, <italic>p</italic> = 0.01) of rural children. However, a 4-month intervention was noneffective at boosting participants' performance on these tasks (<italic>F</italic><sub>(1,203)</sub> = 0.07~2.73, <italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.10). The results discussed the possible explanations, implications for behavioral intervention researchers, and suggestions for social service organizations or public institutions.</p>