Convergence and divergence in prediction from vocabulary and speed of word processing.

Toddler vocabulary knowledge and speed of word processing are associated with downstream language and cognition. Here, we investigate whether these associations differ across measures. At age two, 101 participants (55 monolingual French-speaking and 46 monolingual English-speaking children) completed a two-alternative forced choice task, yielding measures of decontextualized vocabulary (number of correct responses) and haptic speed of word processing (latency of correct responses). At ages three, four, and five children completed a battery of language assessments and an executive function task. Growth curve models revealed that age-two vocabulary significantly predicted age-three performance (but not growth from age three to four or four to five) across all language assessments but speed of processing did not predict language outcomes in final models. Finally, speed of processing was correlated with executive function at age three whereas vocabulary was not. Results suggest that vocabulary is associated with a range of downstream language abilities whereas haptic speed of processing may be associated with executive control.

Mother-adolescent emotion dynamics during conflicts: Associations with perspective taking.

Parent-adolescent emotion dynamics are central to psychosocial adjustment during this developmental period. Perspective taking-the ability to take another's point of view into consideration-develops significantly during adolescence and is important for successful interpersonal functioning in contexts such as conflicts between family members. We used grid-sequence analysis (Brinberg, Fosco, & Ram, 2017) to examine interdyad differences in mother-adolescent emotion dynamics during a conflict discussion, and whether interdyad differences were associated with maternal and adolescent perspective taking. Mothers and their typically developing adolescents (N = 49, Mage = 14.84 years) were video-recorded during a 10-min conflict discussion. We identified patterns of multistep chains of expressed emotions that unfolded during the conflict and how interdyad differences in those patterns were associated with maternal and adolescent perspective taking. Dyads differed with respect to whether they showed turn taking in validation and interest behaviors, or whether they showed patterns of reciprocated negative affect. Higher adolescent but not maternal perspective taking was associated with dyadic turn taking of validation and interest. Maternal and adolescent perspective taking were not associated with the pattern of reciprocated negative affect. Taken together, results highlight the importance of examining the complex process of emotion dynamics in parent-adolescent interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Modeling Self-Regulation as a Process Using a Multiple Time-Scale Multiphase Latent Basis Growth Model.

Measurement burst designs, wherein individuals are measured intensively during multiple periods (i.e., 'bursts'), have created new opportunities for studying change at multiple time-scales. This paper develops a model that may be useful in situations where the functional form of short-term change is unknown, may consist of multiple phases, and may change over the long-term. Specifically, we combine measurement of intraindividual entropy, a latent basis growth model, a multiphase growth model, and a growth model with covariates into a unified framework that may help accommodate the complexity of patterns that emerge in multiple time-scale categorical data streams. Empirical data from a longitudinal study of young children's behavior during laboratory tasks designed to induce frustration are used to illustrate the utility of the proposed model for simultaneously describing intratask (short-term) change in self-regulation and developmental (long-term) shifts in intratask change.