Previous research shows that children evaluate the competence of others based on how effectively someone accomplished a goal, that is, based on the observed outcome of an action (e.g., number of attempts needed). Here, we investigate whether 5- to 10-year-old children and adults infer competence from how efficiently someone solves a task by…

The architecture of sleep undergoes distinct changes during childhood and early adolescence. Slow wave sleep is involved in memory processing and may support active consolidation of newly encoded representations to support the formation of abstracted "gist" memories. Here, we examined sleep and overnight memory formation in German school…

Behavior genetic methods are useful for examining mechanisms underlying the interaction between genetic and family environmental factors of internalizing problem behavior (INT). Previous twin studies, however, have shown little consistency in interaction patterns, depending on type and operationalization of measured environments. The aim of the…

Parental conflict is a well-established predictor of child maladjustment. Most research, however, has not considered how the couple's positivity-negativity interaction ratio (i.e., the ability to compensate for negative behaviors with positive) may be linked with child adjustment. We examined interparental positivity-negativity interaction ratios…

By 3 years of age, children can solve tasks involving physical principles such as locating a ball that rolled down a ramp behind an occluder by the position of a partially visible solid wall (Berthier, DeBlois, Poirer, Novak, & Clifton, 2000; Hood, Carey, & Prasada, 2000). However, the extent to which children use physical information (the…

The present study involved 120 kindergartners, of whom n = 60 were followed up to first grade. Upon making inquiries regarding closeness in teacher-child relationships in the classrooms, the children participated in a laboratory situation in which they were exposed to computerized tasks. These tasks challenged the cognitive processes thought to…

The present longitudinal study aimed to investigate the influence of ADHD symptoms on reading development in elementary schoolchildren. To this end, repeated assessments of ADHD symptoms (teacher ratings of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity) and reading achievement (standardized tests of decoding speed and text comprehension) were…

In a 19-year longitudinal study, the 15% most inhibited and the 15% most aggressive children at ages 4-6 years were followed up until age 23 years and were compared with controls who were below average in preschool inhibition or aggressiveness. As adults, inhibited boys and girls were judged as inhibited by their parents and showed a delay in…