Predicting change in neural activity during social exclusion in late childhood: The role of past peer experiences.

A painful experience affecting many children is social exclusion. The current study is a follow-up study, investigating change in neural activity during social exclusion as a function of peer preference. Peer preference was defined as the degree to which children are preferred by their peers and measured using peer nominations in class during four consecutive years for 34 boys. Neural activity was assessed twice with a one-year interval, using functional MRI during Cyberball (MageT1 = 10.3 years, MageT2 = 11.4 years). Results showed that change in neural activity during social exclusion differed as a function of peer preference for the a-priori defined region-of-interest of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (subACC), such that relatively lower history of peer preference was associated with an increase in activity from Time1 to Time2. Exploratory whole brain results showed a positive association between peer preference and neural activity at Time2 in the left and right orbitofrontal gyrus (OFG). These results may suggest that boys with lower peer preference become increasingly sensitive to social exclusion over time, associated with increased activity in the subACC. Moreover, lower peer preference and associated lower activity within the OFG may suggest decreased emotion regulation as a response to social exclusion.

Reciprocal associations between teacher-student relations and students' externalizing behavior in elementary education? A within-dyad analysis.

The goal of this study was to investigate the transactional link between the affective quality of teacher-student relations and students' externalizing behavior in upper elementary education. We studied teacher support and conflict separately and examined whether associations differed for boys and girls. Data were collected from 1452 Dutch fifth graders (Mage = 10.60 years) at three time points within one school year, including peer nominations of teacher-student relationships and external observations of teacher-student interactions. We used random-intercept cross-lagged panel models to examine the associations within the school year. Student behavior and teacher conflict and support were clearly interrelated within measurement moments. That is, within each time point, deviations from students' typical level of externalizing behavior were associated with deviations in teacher conflict and support in teacher-student relations. In contrast to earlier work, we found no transactional link between students' externalizing behavior and their relationships and interactions with their teacher over time, neither for teacher conflict nor for support. However, for boys, an association was found between externalizing behavior and later increased teacher conflict. We concluded that it remains important to invest in supportive teacher-student relations to prevent increasing conflict and that transactionality may occur within shorter time intervals.

Neural mirroring and social interaction: Motor system involvement during action observation relates to early peer cooperation.

Whether we hand over objects to someone, play a team sport, or make music together, social interaction often involves interpersonal action coordination, both during instances of cooperation and entrainment. Neural mirroring is thought to play a crucial role in processing other's actions and is therefore considered important for social interaction. Still, to date, it is unknown whether interindividual differences in neural mirroring play a role in interpersonal coordination during different instances of social interaction. A relation between neural mirroring and interpersonal coordination has particularly relevant implications for early childhood, since successful early interaction with peers is predictive of a more favorable social development. We examined the relation between neural mirroring and children's interpersonal coordination during peer interaction using EEG and longitudinal behavioral data. Results showed that 4-year-old children with higher levels of motor system involvement during action observation (as indicated by lower beta-power) were more successful in early peer cooperation. This is the first evidence for a relation between motor system involvement during action observation and interpersonal coordination during other instances of social interaction. The findings suggest that interindividual differences in neural mirroring are related to interpersonal coordination and thus successful social interaction.

Low vision aids for visually impaired children: a perception-action perspective.

It is a widely accepted belief in clinical practice that children with a visual impairment can profit from the use of a low vision aid (LVA). However, we found a considerable gap in our scientific understanding of LVA use, particularly in young children. This is the reason for the analysis presented in this paper. A selected overview of LVA use in adults is given, from which valuable insights are taken. Additionally, an action perspective for analysing LVA use is discussed as well as the results of tool-use studies in children. Mainly based on these three ingredients, we developed a conceptual framework for LVA use. The framework consists of three interacting relations between LVA, child and task. Performance of a particular child on a specific task with a certain LVA is constrained by the following three reciprocal and dynamic relations: the Child-to-Task relation (related to goal-information), the Child-to-LVA relation (related to control-information), and the LVA-to-Task relation (related to topology information).