Project summary:
The NEPS birth cohort study (n = 3,000) is assessing direct and indirect measures of child competencies and the home learning environment when infants are 6–8 and 14–16 months old. Direct measures include a habituation paradigm and a short research version of a development scale. The home learning environment is being observed during a semi-standardized parent–child interaction. The coding is video-based to assure reliability of data. The research project ViVA aims to substantiate the convergent and predictive validity of direct measures by recoding the videos and applying newly developed procedures that allow an analysis of not only global measures of development and learning environment but also more domain-specific aspects such as early language and numeracy. It will investigate the following research issues: 1.) further indicators of reliability and convergent validity of the habituation paradigm by correlating global and domain-specific habituation measures, 2.) convergent validity and international comparability of the short version of the development scale, 3.) convergent validity of the global interaction rating by applying a microanalytic rating, and 4.) associations between directly and indirectly measured competencies and parental behaviours within and across measurement points. The results of ViVA will be transferred to the NEPS scientific use file and allow manifold cross-validations and analyses of interrelations between child progress and environmental stimulation.