After the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is much cooler and comfortable now. The KIT research team hopes everyone is safe and well during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This issue has several items of interest, including an introduction to the ORB Children and Young People's Research Database, a short overview of secure attachment, some KIT research findings, a brief profile of Prof. Po-Wen Chi, and a book review of Sam & Watson: Comme des grands!, a picture book about growing up from a child’s viewpoint.

ORB Children and Young People's Research Database

The Children and Young People's Research Database is part of the Online Research Bank (ORB). It is a searchable database that contains summaries and bibliographies of research since 2000 focusing on the lives of children and young people from age 0 to 18 in Northern Ireland. The scope of the database covers a wide range of topics, such as child care, education, family life, etc. Sponsored by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, it is created to provide the central source for research and to inform government policies related to the well-being of children and young people. Please visit https://www.ark.ac.uk/orb/child.html for more information.

Secure Attachment

A secure affectional bond is the foundation of children’s social-emotional development. Parents-to-be start talking about their baby and imagine what their baby will look like when they see the baby’s sonogram. Once giving birth, they can’t help loving the little one while they are taking care of their newborn. Thus, a secure attachment begins. However, if a young child wants to establish a secure attachment bond, firstly he/she must have the ability to recognize his/her primary caregivers, who might be parents or other family members. Also, the child needs to receive positive responses from them. The results of the KIT survey indicate that around 60% of the child participants were able to recognize their father or mother when they were three months old, and 95% of them could do so when they were at the age of six months.

Highlight of KIT Findings

The child identifies his/her father/mother among a crowd of people.
Children at 3 months of age (N=6563)
[Proficient: 14%, Intermediate: 21%, Beginning: 24%, Not yet: 40%
Children at 6 months of age (N=6721)
[Proficient: 54%, Intermediate: 29%, Beginning: 13%, Not yet: 5%

After showing the child an attractive toy and then hiding the toy under a cover, the child removes the cover and finds the toy.
Children at 3 months of age (N=6574)
[Not yet: 100%
Children at 6 months of age (N=6739)
[Proficient: 6.3%, Intermediate: 10.4%, Beginning: 14.9%, Not yet: 68.4%
Children at 1 year of age (N=6864)
[Proficient: 75.4%, Intermediate: 18.8%, Beginning: 4.1%, Not yet: 1.69%

I kiss or hug the 1-year-old child. (N=6874)
[Very often: 86.5%, Often: 12.1%, Sometimes: 1.2%, Rarely: 0.2%

When I come home, the 1-year-old child shows his/her joy immediately by smiling or greeting me. (N=6874)
[Always: 67.6%, Often: 24.4%, Sometimes: 6.5%, Rarely: 1.1%, Never: 0.4%

The 1-year-old child turns around to look for me or locates my whereabouts when I am not near him/her. (N=6874)
[Always: 43.9%, Often: 34.6%, Sometimes: 16.2%, Rarely: 3.3%, Never: 0.2%

When I tell the 1-year-old child “it’s ok”, he/she approaches the objects which originally scare him/her. (N=6874)
[Always: 6.1%, Often: 14%, Sometimes: 23.7%, Rarely: 18.4%, Never: 37.8%

About Prof. Po-Wen Chi

Po-Wen Chi is Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, NTNU, and is also one of the co-principal investigators in Phase III of the KIT project. He has a keen interest in system security, computer networking, and system integration. The KIT project significantly benefits from Prof. Chi because of his contribution to KIT’s system, including database security, data integration, online survey data collection, and merging of multiple waves of data.

Book Review

Sam & Watson: Comme des grands!, a picture book written by Ghislaine Dulier and illustrated by Bérengère Delaporte, is a story about a discussion of growing up between a child and a wise cat. Its French version is available at Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/2344022481/), and readers can find its Chinese version at Books.com.tw (https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010854242). Click https://youtu.be/wWDdb6tJOQY to listen.