In this paper, we decompose selective sustained attending behavior into components of continuous attention maintenance and attentional transitions and study how each of these components develops in young children. Our results in two experiments suggest that changes in children's ability to return attention to a target locus after distraction…

Previously rewarding experiences can influence choices in new situations. Past work has demonstrated that existing reward associations can either help or hinder future behaviors and that there is substantial individual variability in the transfer of value across contexts. Developmental changes in reward sensitivity may also modulate the impact of…

How does teacher-child interaction quality in early child care and education settings influence the development of social-emotional skills in children at around two to three years of age? We measured the quality of interactions on the side of the child care teachers (N = 9, CLASS Toddler) and assessed self-regulatory skills through an individual…

This paper takes up the question of risk by examining childhood memories of nuisance-making and punishment shared by 26 participants enrolled in teacher education and/or childhood studies programs. Our analysis surfaces a tension that, on the one hand, idealizes the child as innocent instigator of playful antics and, on the other, produces a child…

Deficits in reporting past behavior may have implications for a child's social development and safety. Behavioral interpretations of memory and research on do/say correspondence provide valuable strategies to teach reporting past behavior when deficits are observed. The current study examined procedures to teach accurate reporting of past behavior…

This study examined the role of parents' reminiscing style in preschoolers' memory-related functioning and general emotion regulation. In 87 families, each parent rated their child's (M[subscript age] = 4.07 years, SD = 0.80) emotion regulation and discussed a positive and a negative memory with their child (resulting in 275 conversations).…

This study assessed whether olfactory familiarization can render food odors more pleasant, and consequently food more attractive, to children with autism spectrum disorder. Participants were first presented with a series of food odors (session 1). Then, they were familiarized on four occasions (time window: 5 weeks) with one of the two most…

This study examines the extent to which iron deficiency in infancy contributes to adverse neurocognitive and educational outcomes in young adulthood directly and indirectly, through its influence on verbal cognition and attention problems in childhood. Young adults (N = 1,000, M age = 21.3 years, 52% female; of Spanish or indigenous descent) from…

The embodied-cognition approach views cognition and language as grounded in daily sensorimotor child-environment interactions. Therefore, the attainment of motor milestones is expected to play a role in cognitive-linguistic development. Early attainment of unsupported sitting and independent walking indeed predict better spatial cognition and…

Clinical Question: Are people with sleep disorders at higher risk for language learning deficits than healthy sleepers? Method: Scoping Review. Study Sources: PubMed, Google Scholar, Trip Database, ClinicalTrials.gov. Search Terms: sleep disorders AND language AND learning; sleep disorders language learning--deprivation--epilepsy; sleep disorders…

To adult humans, the task of forming an impression of another social being seems effortless and even obligatory. In 2 experiments, we offer the first systematic cross-cultural examination of impression formation in European American and East Asian preschool children. Children across both cultures easily inferred basic personality traits, such as…

Introduction: This study explored the variables of executive functioning (EF) that permitted the evaluation of EF both at home and at school. The objective was to compare the results of the evaluations of these functions in children aged 5 to 6 years, and see to what extent these variables predicted mathematics performance best. Method: Sixty-six…

This study focused on the experience of parents concerned with child social behavior and the perception of bibliotherapy as an intervention. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, four families raising children between the ages of 4-12 participated in a series of interviews. The children's social needs varied, but parent concerns were…

Background: Children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) are at risk for social-behavioural and neurocognitive sequelae throughout development. The current study examined the impact of family environmental characteristics on social-behavioural and cognitive outcomes in this paediatric population. Method: Guardians of children with 22q11DS…

Aim: Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) supplementation of infant formula may have a beneficial effect on cognitive development. This study aimed to investigate the effect of LCPUFA formula supplementation primarily on cognition and secondarily on behaviour at age 9 years. Special attention was paid to the potentially modifying effect…