The Human Affectome.

Over the last decades, theoretical perspectives in the interdisciplinary field of the affective sciences have proliferated rather than converged due to differing assumptions about what human affective phenomena are and how they work. These metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions, shaped by academic context and values, have dictated affective constructs and operationalizations. However, an assumption about the purpose of affective phenomena can guide us to a common set of metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions. In this capstone paper, we home in on a nested teleological principle for human affective phenomena in order to synthesize metaphysical and mechanistic assumptions. Under this framework, human affective phenomena can collectively be considered algorithms that either adjust based on the human comfort zone (affective concerns) or monitor those adaptive processes (affective features). This teleologically-grounded framework offers a principled agenda and launchpad for both organizing existing perspectives and generating new ones. Ultimately, we hope the Human Affectome brings us a step closer to not only an integrated understanding of human affective phenomena, but an integrated field for affective research.

School Readiness Test and Intelligence in Preschool as Predictors of Middle School Success: Result of an Eight-Year Longitudinal Study.

Research has shown that the development of cognitive and social skills in preschool predicts school readiness in kindergarten. However, most longitudinal studies are short-term, tracking children's development only through the early elementary school years. This study aims to investigate the long-term impact of preschool predictors, intelligence, and mothers' education on grade six school performance. This study presents the results of an eight-year-long longitudinal study. The sample includes 202 Hungarian children (89 boys) from a disadvantaged region of southeastern Hungary. The independent variables were the preschool measures: DIFER (Diagnostic System for Assessing Development), a widely used, standardized school readiness test that measures cognitive and social skills; the Raven intelligence test; and socioeconomic status. The dependent variables in grade six were: National Standardized tests in math and reading (NABC, National Assessment of Basic Competencies) and school grades (GPA). Cronbach's alpha reliability of each test is above 0.76. Correlations and a series of multiple regressions were used for analysis. All three independent variables have significant predictive power for school performance in sixth grade. DIFER skills were the best predictors for reading achievement, intelligence for math achievement, and GPA was best predicted by mothers' education. The results show that developing preschool skills, mothers' education and IQ in preschool are essential to long-term learning success.

Emotional development is complicated.

In this commentary on the special issue on emotional development, I focus on the papers by Holodynski and Seeger (2019) and by Hoemann, Xu, and Barrett (2019). I suggest that although understanding our emotions is an important part of emotional development; emotional development cannot be reduced to concept development, even when such concepts include understanding of physiological and behavioral responses and feelings. I highlight the importance of emotions as promoters of immediate and urgent responses that cannot and should not be preceded by contemplative thought, and as the core of who we are as individuals, and I discuss the many levels at which emotional development occurs-from gene to behavior. I recommend that interdisciplinary teams work together to enable research that helps the field in better understanding emotional development in its full complexity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Tonguing behaviours in persons with Down syndrome: moderator of the effects of negative mood on behaviour problems.

BACKGROUND: There is concern that tongue protrusion may be maladaptive in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). However, tonguing and other self-manipulatory behaviours have been shown to contribute to emotion regulation in children without disabilities. METHOD: Sixty individuals with intellectual disability (40 with DS, 20 of mixed aetiology) and their parents were videotaped during a puzzle-book task. Empirical relationships between observed tongue protrusion, other observed nonverbal behaviours, and reported negative mood, maladaptive behaviours, and stress-inducing characteristics were assessed. RESULTS: Individuals with DS and reported negative mood who did not engage in tonguing were more likely to display internalising and externalising behaviours and stress-inducing characteristics, whereas those who did engage in tonguing were not more likely to display these characteristics. CONCLUSION: These findings are consistent with the possibility that tongue protrusion serves an emotion regulation function for individuals with DS.