Cultural universality and specificity of teacher-student relationship: a qualitative study in Belgian, Chinese, and Italian primary school teachers.

Extensive evidence highlights the significant influence of dyadic, emotional teacher-student relationship (TSR) on students' cognitive functioning, socio-emotional development, and overall well-being. However, it remains unclear whether the TSR construct and its manifestations can be generalized across cultures. This qualitative study investigated TSR among 60 primary school teachers in Belgium, China, and Italy (i.e., countries with varying positions on the collectivistic-individualistic continuum of culture). Through semi-structured interviews and metatheme analysis, the study examined the similarities and differences in TSR across these countries, revealing a nuanced and diverse picture in various cultural contexts. The findings align with the existing TSR model by including dimensions of closeness, conflict, and dependency, while also extending the model to identify additional dimensions such as authority, balance, distance, fairness, increasing student motivation, patience, and strictness. Regarding cultural perspective, teachers from these three countries exhibited similar conceptualizations of closeness, conflict, fairness, increasing student motivation, patience, and strictness, whereas the conceptualization of dependency, authority, balance, and distance may be influenced by (collectivistic versus individualistic) culture. Moreover, the manifestations of TSR varied across countries, highlighting the influence of cultural factors such as cultural norms, collectivistic versus individualistic values, and the perceived legitimacy of teacher authority. These findings shed light on the complexities of TSR across countries and emphasize the significance of culturally sensitive approaches in fostering positive TSR in education.

The association between working memory, teacher-student relationship, and academic performance in primary school children.

Introduction: Early relationships with teachers play an important role in children's development and significantly influence students' cognitive and academic performance. Studies suggest that working memory (WM) is a strong predictor of academic achievement, especially of reading and arithmetic outcomes. The associations between teacher-student relationship (TSR) quality, children's WM skills and their academic performance have been reported in numerous observational studies. However, the potentially bidirectional and temporal nature of the relationships between these constructs is understudied. Methods: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between primary school children's WM and TSR by applying a cross-lagged design and measuring these constructs at three time points throughout the academic year. More exploratively, this study investigated how WM and TSR bidirectionally relate to children's academic performance. Results: The findings of this study revealed a temporal relationship between WM and TSR: between WM-related problems in the classroom at baseline and conflict at 3-month follow-up, and between closeness at 3-month follow-up and WM-related problems in the classroom at 5-month follow-up. Moreover, the findings showed a bidirectional relationship between arithmetic performance and WM-related problematic behaviour. Discussion: This study highlights that relationships between the teacher and students play an important role in supporting students' cognitive and academic development. Importantly, this study suggests that children with WM problems may benefit from interventions that focus on improving their relationships with teachers. Additionally, the findings propose that interventions targeting WM may also have positive effects on children's academic performance.

Strengthening Executive Function and Self-Regulation Through Teacher-Student Interaction in Preschool and Primary School Children: A Systematic Review.

Executive functions (EF) and self-regulation (SR) are fundamental for children's learning, school functioning and academic achievement. EF/SR fail to develop to its full potential if contextual stimulation is not adequately presented. This is evident in the training programmes directly and exclusively targeting EF/SR stimulation, which lack durable and transferable effects. Therefore, recent research has shifted the attention towards malleable environmental factors; more specifically, to the role of school and classroom environment as an important developmental context for promoting children's EF/SR skills and, in turn, their cognition and behaviour. Numerous observational studies have shown a correlation between the quality of teacher-student relationship (TSR) at the dyadic level or teacher-student interaction (TSI) at the classroom level and children's EF/SR skills. To explore the direction of this association, the objective of this systematic literature review was to examine the causal effect of experiments and interventions that aim to improve children's EF/SR by manipulating the TSI. Overall, the results from 18 included studies indicated that children in treatment groups show higher gains, albeit small-sized, in EF/SR performance compared to controls. Furthermore, TSI manipulation seemed to affect children's SR skills more strongly than children's EF skills. More importantly, the findings revealed the largest effects of these manipulations in children considered vulnerable or disadvantaged, suggesting that the cognitive deficits can be minimised if these children are supported appropriately. Given high study heterogeneity, this review highlights the need for more research (and interventions) explicitly investigating TSI and TSR and their potential impact on EF and SR in children. This study aims to provide information as to which specific aspects need to be examined more closely, instructing further development and implementation of efficient and effective interventions in education.

Heterogeneity in Cognitive and Socio-Emotional Functioning in Adolescents With On-Track and Delayed School Progression.

Adolescence is characterized by considerable changes in cognitive and socio-emotional skills. There are considerable differences between adolescents with regards to the development of these skills. However, most studies examine adolescents' average functioning, without taking into account this heterogeneity. The current study applies network analysis in order to examine heterogeneity of cognitive and socio-emotional functioning in adolescents on-track or delayed in their school progression. Data was collected at two time-points for on-track (n = 320) and delayed (n = 69) adolescents (Mage = 13.30 years, SDage = 0.77). Repeated measures ANOVA showed no significant differences between the groups in cognitive and socio-emotional functioning (p's > 0.05). Network analysis revealed that executive functions play a key role in the network of cognitive, social, and emotional functioning. This is especially the case in the delayed group where executive functions are even more central, both at T1 (inhibition and shifting) and T2 (shifting). Subsequent community analysis revealed three profiles in both groups: a well-adapted and well-balanced group, a group with high levels of need for arousal and risk-taking, and a group with regulation problems. Compared to on-track adolescents, delayed adolescents showed even higher levels of risk-taking in the second profile and higher levels of executive function problems in the third profile at T1. These differences were leveled out at T2, indicating adolescents in the delayed group catch up with their peers. This study highlights the intricate balance between cognitive, social and emotional functioning in adolescents in relation to school performance and provides preliminary evidence of the importance of taking individual differences within groups into account.

Neural substrates of the influence of emotional cues on cognitive control in risk-taking adolescents.

Adolescence is a period characterised by increases in risk-taking. This behaviour has been associated with an imbalance in the integration of the networks involved in cognitive control and motivational processes. We examined whether the influence of emotional cues on cognitive control differs between adolescents who show high or low levels of risk-taking behaviour. Participants who scored especially high or low on a risky decision task were subsequently administered an emotional go/no-go fMRI task comprising angry, happy and calm faces. Both groups showed decreased cognitive control when confronted with appetitive and aversive emotional cues. Activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) increased in line with the cognitive control demands of the task. Though the risk taking groups did not differ in their behavioural performance, functional connectivity analyses revealed the dorsal striatum plays a more central role in the processing of cognitive control in high than low risk-takers. Overall, these findings suggest that variance in fronto-striatal circuitry may underlie individual differences in risk-taking behaviour.

Do individualism and collectivism on three levels (country, individual, and situation) influence theory-of-mind efficiency? A cross-country study.

This study investigated whether individualism and collectivism (IC) at country, individual, and situational level influence how quickly and accurately people can infer mental states (i.e. theory of mind, or ToM), indexed by accuracy and reaction time in a ToM task. We hypothesized that collectivism (having an interdependent self and valuing group concerns), compared to individualism (having an independent self and valuing personal concerns), is associated with greater accuracy and speed in recognizing and understanding the thoughts and feelings of others. Students (N = 207) from individualism-representative (the Netherlands) and collectivism-representative (Vietnam) countries (Country IC) answered an individualism-collectivism questionnaire (Individual IC) and were randomly assigned to an individualism-primed, collectivism-primed, or no-prime task (Situational IC) before performing a ToM task. The data showed vast differences between the Dutch and Vietnamese groups that might not be attributable to experimental manipulation. Therefore, we analyzed the data for the groups separately and found that Individual IC did not predict ToM accuracy or reaction time performance. Regarding Situational IC, when primed with individualism, the accuracy performance of Vietnamese participants in affective ToM trials decreased compared to when primed with collectivism and when no prime was used. However, an interesting pattern emerged: Dutch participants were least accurate in affective ToM trials, while Vietnamese participants were quickest in affective ToM trials. Our research also highlights a dilemma faced by cross-cultural researchers who use hard-to-reach populations but face the challenge of disentangling experimental effects from biases that might emerge due to an interaction between cultural differences and experimental settings. We propose suggestions for overcoming such challenges.

Gender Moderates the Influence of Self-Construal Priming on Fairness Considerations.

Research in social and cultural psychology has identified that self-construal, or the way the self is defined in relation to others, plays an important role in social decision-making processes. Yet it remains difficult to isolate the effect of self-construal in a comparative approach. Therefore, we used priming methodology in three studies to induce either an independent or interdependent mindset to test direct consequences on fairness considerations. Specifically, we asked whether participants would accept an unfair ultimatum game offer: a split of 10 euros, where the participant is allocated the marginal share of 3 and the proposer 7. If the participant refuses, neither gets paid. In the first study, we used the well-known similarities and differences prime. Here, activating an interdependent mindset decreased rejection of the unfair offer compared to the independent mindset and control condition, but only in females. The prime did not affect males. In the second and third study we modified our university's mission statement to instead include either independent or interdependent values. Females displayed a similar direction of effects; in males however, activating an interdependent mindset increased rejection. Taken together, the results show that whether participants accept or reject an unfair offer depends on both their gender and the self-construal prime. The results were interpreted using the distinction between relational independence that has been associated with females, and collective interdependence, that has been associated with males. Possible consequences for future studies are discussed.

Children's representations of another person's spatial perspective: Different strategies for different viewpoints?

The current study investigated development and strategy use of spatial perspective taking (i.e., the ability to represent how an object or array of objects looks from other viewpoints) in children between 8 and 12years of age. We examined this ability with a task requiring children to navigate a route through a model city of wooden blocks from a 90° and 180° rotated perspective. We tested two hypotheses. First, we hypothesized that children's perspective-taking skills increase during this age period and that this process is related to a co-occurring increase in working memory capacity. Results indeed showed clear age effects; accuracy and speed of perspective-taking performance were higher in the older age groups. Positive associations between perspective-taking performance and working memory were observed. Second, we hypothesized that children, like adults, use a mental self-rotation strategy during spatial perspective taking. To confirm this hypothesis, children's performance should be better in the 90° condition than in the 180° condition of the task. Overall, the results did show the reversed pattern; children were less accurate, were slower, and committed more egocentric errors in the 90° condition than in the 180° condition. These findings support an alternative scenario in which children employ different strategies for different rotation angles. We propose that children mentally rotated their egocentric reference frame for 90° rotations; for the 180° rotations, they inverted the left-right and front-back axes without rotating their mental position.

Effects of a classroom intervention with spatial play materials on children's object and viewer transformation abilities.

Children practice their spatial skills when playing with spatial toys, such as construction materials, board games, and puzzles. Sex and SES differences are observed in the engagement in such spatial play activities at home, which relate to individual differences in spatial performance. The current study investigated the effects of explicitly providing spatial play activities in the school setting on different types of spatial ability. We presented 8- to 10-year-old children with a short and easy-to-adopt classroom intervention comprising a set of different spatial play materials. The design involved a pretest-posttest comparison between the intervention group (n = 70) and a control group without intervention (n = 70). Effects were examined on object transformation ability (i.e., a paper-and-pencil mental rotation and paper folding task) and viewer transformation ability (i.e., a hands-on 3D spatial perspective-taking task). Results showed specific effects: there were no differences between the intervention and control group in progress on the two object transformation tasks. Substantial improvements were found for the intervention group compared to the control group on the viewer transformation task. Training progress was not related to sex and socioeconomic background of the child. These findings support the value of spatial play in the classroom for the spatial development of children between 8 and 10 years of age. (PsycINFO Database Record

Implicit and Explicit Gender Beliefs in Spatial Ability: Stronger Stereotyping in Boys than Girls.

Sex differences in spatial ability are a seriously debated topic, given the importance of spatial ability for success in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and girls' underrepresentation in these domains. In the current study we investigated the presence of stereotypic gender beliefs on spatial ability (i.e., "spatial ability is for boys") in 10- and 12-year-old children. We used both an explicit measure (i.e., a self-report questionnaire) and an implicit measure (i.e., a child IAT). Results of the explicit measure showed that both sexes associated spatial ability with boys, with boys holding more male stereotyped attitudes than girls. On the implicit measure, boys associated spatial ability with boys, while girls were gender-neutral. In addition, we examined the effects of gender beliefs on spatial performance, by experimentally activating gender beliefs within a pretest-instruction-posttest design. We compared three types of instruction: boys are better, girls are better, and no sex differences. No effects of these gender belief instructions were found on children's spatial test performance (i.e., mental rotation and paper folding). The finding that children of this age already have stereotypic beliefs about the spatial capacities of their own sex is important, as these beliefs may influence children's choices for spatial leisure activities and educational tracks in the STEM domain.

Media use and ADHD-related behaviors in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis.

There are several theoretical reasons to believe that media use might be related to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or ADHD-related behaviors (i.e., attention problems, hyperactivity, and impulsivity). Although studies into the media-ADHD relationship have accumulated, they have yielded inconsistent results. Therefore, we still do not know whether children's media use and ADHD-related behaviors are related and, if so, under which conditions. To fill this gap in the literature, we first identified 6 different hypotheses that may explain why media use in general and viewing fast-paced or violent media content might be related to 1 or more ADHD-related behaviors. Subsequently, we conducted a meta-analysis of 45 empirical studies investigating the relationship between media use and ADHD-related behaviors in children and adolescents. Our results indicated a small significant relationship between media use and ADHD-related behaviors (r+ = .12). Finally, we identified several specific gaps in the existing literature and presented 5 crucial directions for future research.

The potential adverse effect of energy drinks on executive functions in early adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: Manufacturers of energy drinks (EDs) claim their products improve cognitive performance. Young adolescents are in a critical developmental phase. The impact of ED intake on their development is not yet clear. Therefore, we studied the associations of both caffeine intake and ED consumption with executive functions (EFs), and the role of pubertal status and sleeping problems. METHODS: A sample of 509 participants (mean age: 13.1 years, SD 0.85; age range: 11-16 years) participated in the study. The level of pubertal development was classified in five pubertal status categories. Participants were asked to report their caffeine (for example coffee) and ED consumption for each day of the week. In addition, they indicated sleep quality by reporting problems falling asleep or waking up and/or interrupted sleep. EFs were assessed by self- and parent reports of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). RESULTS: Consuming on average one or more ED(s) a day was associated with more problems in self-reported behavior regulation and metacognition, and with more problems in parent-reported metacognition. Only high caffeine consumption (two or more cups a day) was associated with parent-reported problems with metacognition. The sum of caffeine and ED use was associated with a higher amount of problems with self-reported metacognition and parent reported behavior regulation. The effect estimates for the association between caffeine and ED use combined and EFs did not exceed those of EDs or caffeine separately. Adjusting for pubertal status, gender, educational level, number of sleeping problems and hours of sleep did not change the effect estimates substantially. CONCLUSION: The observed associations between ED consumption and EFs suggest that regular consumption of EDs-even in moderate amounts-may have a negative impact on daily life behaviors related to EF in young adolescents.

A diffusion model analysis of developmental changes in children's task switching.

This study aimed to investigate the underlying processes of the development of cognitive flexibility between childhood and young adulthood. We performed a diffusion model analysis on the reaction time and accuracy data from four age groups (7-, 11-, 15-, and 21-year-olds), who performed a task-switching task. We decomposed the data into processes related to the reconfiguration of the cognitive system to a new goal (i.e., task-set reconfiguration) and processes related to the interference of the previous task (i.e., task-set inertia). The developmental patterns of both processes indicated a relatively early maturing mechanism, associated with task-set inertia, and a later maturing mechanism, relating to task-set reconfiguration. This pattern of results was interpreted in terms of the development of the neural mechanisms involved in task switching, that is, the (pre-)supplementary motor area and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.

Age-related changes in executive function: A normative study with the Dutch version of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF).

This study examined age-related change in executive function by using a Dutch translation of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Gioia et al., 2000) that was applied to a normative sample (age range 5-18 years). In addition, we examined the reliability and factorial structures of the Dutch BRIEF. Results with respect to age revealed a decrease in reported executive function problems with increasing age. On the Behavior Regulation Index (BRI), 5- to 8-year-olds showed significantly more executive function problems than 9- to 11-year-olds, as did the 12- to 14-year-olds compared to 15- to 18-year-olds (except on the Shift subscale). On the Metacognition Index, we found that 9- to 11-year-olds differed significantly from 5- to 8-year-olds on the Working Memory subscale. In addition, the current study showed that the internal consistency of the Dutch BRIEF is very high, and that this version of the BRIEF has a high test-retest stability. Item factor analysis confirmed the expected eight common factor model, and factor analysis of the eight test scores confirmed the two-factor model, as proposed by Gioia et al., in the Dutch data.

Task switching and shifting between stopping and going: Developmental change in between-trial control adjustments.

This study set out to investigate developmental differences in the ability to switch between choice tasks and to shift between Go/NoGo and choice tasks. Three age groups (7-year-olds, 11-year-olds, and young adults) were asked to consider the shape or color of a bivalued target stimulus. The participants performed a switch task in which a cue signaled the task to be performed (i.e., respond to shape vs. respond to color) and a shift task in which a cue instructed them to make a choice reaction to the shape of the stimulus or to respond (Go) versus inhibit (NoGo) to the color of the stimulus. The ability to switch was examined by considering choice-choice switches versus choice-choice repeats. The ability to shift was examined by considering NoGo-to-choice shifts versus choice-choice repeats and NoGo-to-Go shifts versus Go-Go repeats. The results showed that responding on Go trials was delayed following response inhibition on a NoGo trial. This delay did not discriminate between age groups. Responding on choice trials was considerably slowed when following response inhibition on NoGo trials. This slowing decreased with advancing age. Finally, responses on switch trials were slower compared with repeat trials, and this slowing was disproportionately large in young children compared with the other two age groups. This pattern of findings was interpreted in terms of a generic mechanism involving between-trial control adjustments in the setting of response thresholds that are likely to be mediated by a complex neural network implicating the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the presupplementary motor cortex.

Recreational cocaine polydrug use impairs cognitive flexibility but not working memory.

RATIONALE: Chronic use of cocaine is associated with dysfunctions in frontal brain regions and dopamine D2 receptors, with poorer mental flexibility and a reduced ability to inhibit manual and attentional responses. Little is known, however, about cognitive impairments in the upcoming type of recreational cocaine polydrug user (1-4 g monthly consumption). OBJECTIVE: We studied whether recreational cocaine polydrug users, who do not meet the criteria for abuse or dependence, showed impairments in working memory (WM) and cognitive flexibility. METHODS: Controls and recreational cocaine polydrug users (who abstained from cocaine and other substances more than 1 week) were matched by sex, age, alcohol consumption, and IQ (Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices). Groups were tested by using two cognitive tasks measuring cognitive flexibility and three tasks investigating the maintenance and monitoring of information in WM. RESULTS: Recreational cocaine polydrug users performed significantly worse than controls on tasks tapping cognitive flexibility, but show comparable performance in the active maintenance and monitoring of information in WM. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that recreational use of cocaine selectively impairs cognitive flexibility but not the maintenance of information in WM. The inability to adjust behavior rapidly and flexibly may have repercussions for daily life activities.

Rapid cerebral hemodynamic modulation during set shifting: evidence of time-locked associations with cognitive control in females.

Set shifting provokes specific alterations of cerebral hemodynamics in basal cerebral arteries. However, no gender differences have been reported. In the following functional transcranial Doppler study, we introduced cerebral hemodynamic modulation to the aspects of set shifting during Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Twenty-one subjects underwent the WCST during insonation of the middle cerebral arteries. We examined gender effects on task performance and cerebral hemodynamic modulation. Further, we investigated the linkage between performance and cerebral hemodynamic modulation. In females, maximum positive modulation was restricted to the behaviorally relevant time point of set shifting, and there were time-locked associations between mental slowing during set shifting and rapid cerebral hemodynamic modulation exclusively in females. This study provides evidence of gender-related cerebral hemodynamic modulation during set shifting, and we detected time-locked brain-behavior relationship during cognitive control in females.

Age-group differences in set-switching and set-maintenance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task.

This study examined developmental change in set-switching and set-maintenance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST), and sought to determine how executive function (EF) components (i.e., Working Memory, Shifting and Inhibition) may contribute to the observed changes on WCST performance. To this end, performance in four age groups (7-year-olds, 11-year-olds, 15-year-olds, and 21-year-olds) was measured on the WCST, and on three EF tasks assumed to tap Working Memory, Shifting, and Inhibition. The results showed that adult levels of performance were reached in 11-year-olds for set-switching, and in 15-year-olds for set-maintenance. A subsequent principal component analysis revealed that set-switching and set-maintenance loaded on two factors for 7-year-olds, but a single factor in the other age groups. Finally, regression analyses yielded a complex pattern of results concerning the prediction of set-switching and set-maintenance by the performance on tasks used to assess the EF components. The results were interpreted to suggest distinct developmental trends in set-switching and set-maintenance abilities required by the WCST.