Attentional capture in goal-directed action during childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood.

Attentional capture occurs when salient but task-irrelevant information disrupts our ability to respond to task-relevant information. Although attentional capture costs have been found to decrease between childhood and adulthood, it is currently unclear the extent to which such age-related changes reflect an improved ability to recover from attentional capture or to avoid attentional capture. In addition, recent research using hand-tracking techniques with adults indicates that attentional capture by a distractor can generate response activations corresponding to the distractor's location, consistent with action-centered models of attention. However, it is unknown whether attentional capture can also result in the capture of action in children and adolescents. Therefore, we presented 5-year-olds, 9-year-olds, 13- and 14-year-olds, and adults (N = 96) with a singleton search task in which participants responded by reaching to touch targets on a digital display. Consistent with action-centered models of attention, distractor effects were evident in each age group's movement trajectories. In contrast to movement trajectories, movement times revealed significant age-related reductions in the costs of attentional capture, suggesting that age-related improvements in attentional control may be driven in part by an enhanced ability to recover from-as opposed to avoid-attentional capture. Children's performance was also significantly affected by response repetition effects, indicating that children may be more susceptible to interference from a wider range of task-irrelevant factors than adults. In addition to presenting novel insights into the development of attention and action, these results highlight the benefits of incorporating hand-tracking techniques into developmental research.

The friendly fossa: The effect of anthropomorphic language on learning about unfamiliar animals through both storybooks and live animal experiences.

Children's storybooks about animals often use elements of fantasy; even educational storybooks intended to teach children about factual and biological properties include talking animals depicted as more like humans than animals. Previous research has found that anthropomorphic images, specifically in storybooks, hinder factual learning and thus should not be used in the context of educational experiences. However, little research has explored the impact of anthropomorphic language alone as well as its use in other contexts such as zoos where parents often naturally use anthropomorphic language. The current studies explored the impact of anthropomorphic language on learning about an unfamiliar animal (fossa) across two contexts: storybooks (Study 1; N = 48; age range = 4;0-6;3 [years; months]) and a zoo (Study 2a; N = 29; age range = 4;5-7;10). An adult comparison group (Study 2b, N = 82) was also included. Across both studies, there was no evidence that anthropomorphic language decreased factual learning. However, children given anthropomorphic information about a fossa were more likely to generalize anthropomorphic traits, such as emotions, intentions, and preferences, to other fossas, and this was consistent with the adult comparison group. We discuss considerations for parents and educators regarding the appropriateness of fantastical language about animals in experiences specifically designed to support biological learning.

Tracking the Within-Trial, Cross-Trial, and Developmental Dynamics of Cognitive Control: Evidence From the Simon Task.

Six- to 8-year-olds, 10- to 12-year-olds, and adults (N = 108) performed the Simon task by reaching to targets on a digital display. The spatial and temporal characteristics of their movements were used to assess how two key processes underlying cognitive control-a threshold adjustment process and a controlled selection process-unfold over the course of a response (within-trial dynamics), are modulated by recent experience (cross-trial dynamics), and contribute to age-related gains in control (developmental dynamics). The results indicate that the controlled selection process undergoes a more protracted development than the threshold adjustment process. The results also shed light on a prominent debate concerning the cross-trial dynamics of control by supporting the feature integration account over the conflict adaptation account.

Cognitive and Emotional Processes as Predictors of a Successful Transition into School.

RESEARCH FINDINGS: The aim of this research was to delineate developmental processes that contribute to early school success. To achieve this aim, we examined emotion regulation, executive functioning, emotion knowledge, and metacognition at ages three and four as distal and proximal predictors of age five achievement and school adjustment in a sample of 263 children (42% non-White). We also explored mediational pathways among these four processes in the prediction of the age five outcomes. Results revealed that all four processes affect achievement and school adjustment, but in different ways, with executive functioning emerging as a key predictor. PRACTICE OR POLICY: Executive functioning was found to be a key factor in predicting achievement and school performance in the kindergarten year. This finding provides support for the development of executive functioning training programs that can be applied in the preschool classroom, particularly for promoting reading development. However, additional emphasis should be placed on both cognitive and emotional processes in the preschool years, to promote optimal development.

Attentional Predictors of 5-month-olds' Performance on a Looking A-not-B Task.

In the first year of life, the ability to search for hidden objects is an indicator of object permanence and, when multiple locations are involved, executive function (i.e. inhibition, cognitive flexibility and working memory). The current study was designed to examine attentional predictors of search in 5-month-old infants (as measured by the looking A-not-B task), and whether levels of maternal education moderated the effect of the predictors. Specifically, in a separate task, the infants were shown a unique puppet, and we measured the percentage of time attending to the puppet, as well as the length of the longest look (i.e., peak fixation) directed towards the puppet. Across the entire sample (N =390), the percentage of time attending to the puppet was positively related to performance on the visual A-not-B task. However, for infants whose mothers had not completed college, having a shorter peak looking time (after controlling for percentage of time) was also a predictor of visual A-not-B performance. The role of attention, peak fixation and maternal education in visual search is discussed.

A Longitudinal Assessment of the Relation between Executive Function and Theory of Mind at 3, 4, and 5 Years.

This longitudinal study contributes to the growing literature on the predictive nature of the relation between executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM). A latent variable model was fit to the data acquired from 226 socioeconomically and racially diverse children (52% female) at 3, 4, and 5 years of age on a number of age-appropriate tasks designed to assess EF and ToM. After controlling for sex, income-to-needs, and receptive language ability, there was substantial stability within each construct as children aged. In addition, EF at 3 years predicted ToM at 4 years but ToM did not predict EF, replicating earlier results. This pattern also appeared from 4 to 5 years of age, suggesting that the developmental precedence of EF persists later in development. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of contemporary cognitive development theories, as well as the relation between EF and social reasoning in general.

The cognitive cost of event-based prospective memory in children.

Prospective memory is the act of remembering to perform an action in the future, often after the presentation of a cue. However, processes involved in remembering the future intention might hinder performance on activities leading up to and surrounding the event in which an intention must be carried out. The current study was designed to assess whether young children who were asked to engage in prospective memory do so at a cost to current cognitive processing. Participants (4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds) either performed a simple ongoing selection task only (control condition) or performed the selection task with an embedded prospective memory task (experimental condition). Results revealed that children in the experimental condition were slower in the execution of the ongoing task relative to children in the control condition, lending support to the theory that children as young as 4 ears selectively allocate resources in an effort to succeed in multiple tasks.

One of these things is not like the other: distinctiveness and executive function in preschoolers.

There is scant evidence that children younger than 7 years show a memory advantage for distinct information, a memory phenomenon termed the isolation effect (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2001, Vol. 27, pp. 1359-1366). We investigated whether 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds' developing organizational processing and executive function contributed to the isolation effect, demonstrated when recall was better for a semantically unique target (e.g., sheep, pig, watermelon, duck) rather than a semantically common target (e.g., apple, banana, watermelon, strawberry). To encourage organizational processing, children were asked to categorize each item presented. Children also completed working memory and cognitive flexibility tasks, and only children who scored high in cognitive flexibility demonstrated the isolation effect.

Early physiological regulation predicts the trajectory of externalizing behaviors across the preschool period.

Early assessments of children's physiological functioning are shown to predict subsequent developmental outcomes. However, individual changes that occur in the development of physiological systems may be associated with the pattern of change in behavior across time. Thus, we examined change in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of physiological regulation, as a time-varying predictor in order to assess whether RSA change at ages 3, 4, and 5 uniquely influenced the trajectory of externalizing behaviors from age 3 to 5. Results indicated that only at age 3 was RSA change significantly associated with decreases in externalizing behaviors over time. RSA change scores at ages 4 and 5 were unrelated to trajectories of externalizing behavior, suggesting that the ability to physiologically regulate by age 3 may contribute to the development of skills that facilitate more control over behavior throughout preschool, and therefore may be more strongly associated with the pattern of change in externalizing behaviors than later physiological regulation.

Digital Media and Developing Brains: Concerns and Opportunities.

Purpose of Review: The incorporation of digital technologies and their use in youth's everyday lives has been increasing rapidly over the past several decades with possible impacts on youth development and mental health. This narrative review aimed to consider how the use of digital technologies may be influencing brain development underlying adaptive and maladaptive screen-related behaviors. Recent Findings: To explore and provide direction for further scientific inquiry, an international group of experts considered what is known, important gaps in knowledge, and how a research agenda might be pursued regarding relationships between screen media activity and neurodevelopment from infancy through childhood and adolescence. While an understanding of brain-behavior relationships involving screen media activity has been emerging, significant gaps exist that have important implications for the health of developing youth. Summary: Specific considerations regarding brain-behavior relationships involving screen media activity exist for infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood; middle childhood; and adolescence. Transdiagnostic frameworks may provide a foundation for guiding future research efforts. Translating knowledge gained into better interventions and policy to promote healthy development is important in a rapidly changing digital technology environment.

Developmental dynamics of emotion and cognition processes in preschoolers.

Dynamic relations during the preschool years across processes of control and understanding in the domains of emotion and cognition were examined. Participants were 263 children (42% non-White) and their mothers who were seen first when the children were 3 years old and again when they were 4. Results indicated dynamic dependence among the processes studied. Specifically, change in cognitive processes of control and understanding were dependent upon initial levels of the other processes. Changes in emotion control and understanding were not predicted by earlier performance in the other processes. Findings are discussed with regard to the constructs of control and understanding and the developmental interrelations among emotion and cognitive processes.

The relation between maternal emotional support and child physiological regulation across the preschool years.

Trajectories of baseline RSA (respiratory sinus arrhythmia), an index of reactivity, and vagal withdrawal, an index of regulation, across the preschool period were examined. In addition, maternal emotional support was investigated as a potential time-varying predictor of these trajectories. Physiological measures were obtained during frustration tasks, and a maternal emotional support measure was assessed via maternal report and direct observation. Children's baseline RSA and vagal withdrawal scores were moderately stable across the preschool period. Growth models indicated that children's baseline RSA scores changed linearly over the preschool years, and there was significant variability in withdrawal trajectories. Greater maternal emotional support predicted higher initial withdrawal levels and lower emotional support was associated with the greatest increase in withdrawal over time. This suggests that children of higher emotionally supportive mothers reached higher levels of physiological regulation earlier in development and therefore did not show the same increase across preschool as children of less supportive mothers. Maternal emotional support was not significantly related to trajectories of baseline RSA.

Preschool-aged children's understanding of gratitude: relations with emotion and mental state knowledge.

Developmental precursors to children's early understanding of gratitude were examined. A diverse group of 263 children was tested for emotion and mental state knowledge at ages 3 and 4, and their understanding of gratitude was measured at age 5. Children varied widely in their understanding of gratitude, but most understood some aspects of gratitude-eliciting situations. A model-building path analysis approach was used to examine longitudinal relations among early emotion and mental state knowledge and later understanding of gratitude. Children with a better early understanding of emotions and mental states understand more about gratitude. Mental state knowledge at age 4 mediated the relation between emotion knowledge at age 3 and gratitude understanding at age 5. The current study contributes to the scant literature on the early emergence of children's understanding of gratitude.

Executive functions and play.

Executive functions and play have been researched separately over the last few decades. Only recently has the association between the two constructs received more attention. Thus, a Special Issue on this association is timely. The six empirical studies of the Special Issue applied various types of play (e.g., dramatic play or physical play) in their research. Children's executive functions were also measured with a variety of tasks. The wide variability of the studies was a learning point, especially given the cultural connotation of executive function measures. All the studies of the Special Issue were conducted in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) countries raising the issue of generalizability. We discuss future directions of the research on executive functions and play hoping for longitudinal studies on the association between these constructs in the future.

Mothers' responses to children's negative emotions and child emotion regulation: the moderating role of vagal suppression.

The current study examined the moderating effect of children's cardiac vagal suppression on the association between maternal socialization of negative emotions (supportive and nonsupportive responses) and children's emotion regulation behaviors. One hundred and ninety-seven 4-year-olds and their mothers participated. Mothers reported on their reactions to children's negative emotions and children's regulatory behaviors. Observed distraction, an adaptive self-regulatory strategy, and vagal suppression were assessed during a laboratory task designed to elicit frustration. Results indicated that children's vagal suppression moderated the association between mothers' nonsupportive emotion socialization and children's emotion regulation behaviors such that nonsupportive reactions to negative emotions predicted lower observed distraction and lower reported emotion regulation behaviors when children displayed lower levels of vagal suppression. No interaction was found between supportive maternal emotion socialization and vagal suppression for children's emotion regulation behaviors. Results suggest physiological regulation may serve as a buffer against nonsupportive emotion socialization.

Family Social Status and Preschoolers' Persistence: The Role of Maternal Values and Quality of Parenting.

Children who develop persistence in the preschool years are likely to function more effectively during the transition into school. In this study of 231 3-year-old children and their mothers, we examined the relations among family social status, maternal values of self-direction, and quality of parenting and children's persistence in challenging tasks. Results of SEM path analysis indicated that family social status was related to maternal values of self-direction, which in turn were associated with the quality of maternal cognitive stimulation and emotional support and child persistence at preschool-age. Family social status and maternal values were indirectly related to child persistence through emotional support. Focusing on parental values of self-direction and provision of support during challenging tasks may help to reduce the gap in school success between children from lower and higher social status families.

Maternal Expressive Style and Children's Emotional Development.

Maternal expressive styles, based on a combination of positive and negative expressive patterns, were identified at two points in time and related to multiple aspects of preschool children's emotional development. Mother-child pairs from 260 families participated when the children were 3 years old, and 240 participated again at aged 4 years. Expressive styles were identified at age 3 using cluster analysis, replicated at age 4 and examined in relation to children's emotional understanding, expressiveness and regulation. Three expressive styles were identified: high positive/low negative, very low positive/average negative and average positive/very high negative. Cluster membership was stable in 63% of families from age 3 to 4 years; no systematic patterns of change were evident in the remaining families. Expressive style was related to aspects of children's emotional expression at 3 years and to emotion expression and regulation at 4 years. Children's expressiveness and regulation at age 3 were also related to changes in mothers' expressive styles over 1 year. Identifying mothers' expressive styles provides a unique way to understand the potential role of the emotional climates in which preschool-aged children learn to express and regulate their own emotions.

Toddlers benefit from labeling on an executive function search task.

Although labeling improves executive function (EF) performance in children older than 3years, the results from studies with younger children have been equivocal. In the current study, we assessed performance in a computerized multistep multilocation search task with older 2-year-olds. The correct search location was either (a) not marked by a familiar picture or given a distinct label, (b) marked by a familiar picture but not given a distinct label, (c) marked by a familiar picture and labeled by the experimenter, or (d) marked by a familiar picture and labeled by the participant. The results revealed that accuracy improved across conditions such that children made the fewest errors when they generated the label for the hiding location. These findings support the hierarchical competing systems model, which postulates that improved performance can be explained by more powerful representations that guide search behavior.

Longitudinal associations between children's understanding of emotions and theory of mind.

Theory of mind competence and knowledge of emotions were studied longitudinally in a sample of preschoolers aged 3 (n=263) and 4 (n=244) years. Children were assessed using standard measures of theory of mind and emotion knowledge. Three competing hypotheses were tested regarding the developmental associations between children's theory of mind abilities and their knowledge of emotions. First, that an understanding of emotion develops early and informs children's understanding of others' thinking. Alternatively, having a basic theory of mind may help children learn about emotions. Third, that the two domains are separate aspects of children's social cognitive skills such that each area develops independently. Results of hierarchical regressions supported the first hypothesis that early emotion understanding predicts later theory-of-mind performance, and not the reverse.

The Relation of Maternal Emotional and Cognitive Support During Problem Solving to Pre-Academic Skills in Preschoolers.

Using a sample of 263 mother-child dyads, we examined the extent to which maternal emotional and cognitive support during a joint problem solving task when children were 3-years-old predicted children's academic skills one year later independent of each other, the quality of the home learning environment, and maternal emotional responsiveness. When all parenting measures were examined simultaneously, only maternal emotional support during problem solving and the quality of the home learning environment predicted unique variation in gains in pre-academic skills from age 3 to age 4. The positive effect of emotional support during problem solving was especially apparent for children whose pre-academic skills were low at age 3. These findings are discussed in light of the changing demands placed on young children and their parents as they prepare for entry to the formal school system.