[Formula: see text] A review of procedural and declarative metamemory development across childhood.

Metamemory is a component of metacognition that includes both the knowledge of factors that affect memory (i.e. declarative metamemory) and knowledge and application of factors in one's own learning and recall performance (i.e. procedural metamemory). The current paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of studies examining metamemory ability development from preschool into adolescence in order to improve the understanding of metamemory, its developmental course, and the available assessment methods. We examined the developmental trajectory of procedural and declarative metamemory abilities for both typically developing children and clinical populations. We found procedural metamemory abilities emerge around 4 to 5 years old, and significantly improve across childhood and into adulthood, although less is known about metamemory development across adolescence in typically developing children. Additionally, metamemory abilities vary significantly based on clinical pathology, although relatively fewer studies have examined these abilities in children with neurodevelopmental disorders or other neurologic conditions, such as acquired brain injury. The methods of metamemory assessment varied significantly across studies as well, indicating a need for a standardized metamemory measure, which would have high utility for clinical care.

Relations between fine motor skill and parental report of attention in young children with neurofibromatosis type 1.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is one of the most common genetic disorders presenting in approximately 1 in 3,500 live births. NF1 is a highly variable condition with a large number of complications. A common complication is neuropsychological problems, including developmental delays and learning difficulties that affect as many as 60% of patients. Research has suggested that school-aged children with NF1 often have poorer fine motor skills and are at greater risk for attention difficulties than the general population. Thirty-eight children with NF1 and 23 unaffected children between the ages of 4 and 6 years, who are enrolled in a study of early development in NF1, were included in the present study. Varying levels of fine motor functioning were examined (simple to complex fine motor tasks). For children with NF1, significant difficulties were demonstrated on lab-based mid-level and complex fine motor tasks, even after controlling for nonverbal reasoning abilities, but not on simple fine motor tasks. Parental report also indicated difficulties in everyday adaptive fine motor functioning. No significant correlations were found between complex fine motor ability and attention difficulties. This study provides much needed descriptive data on the early emergence of fine motor difficulties and attention difficulties in young children with NF1.

Cognitive and psychosocial phenotype of young children with neurofibromatosis-1.

Children with neurofibromatosis-1 (NF1), a neurodevelopmental disorder resulting from a mutation of the NF1 gene (17q11.2), often have difficulties with learning and attention, but there is little research in the early childhood years. In this study, the cognitive and psychosocial functioning of 40 young children with NF1 (ages 3 through 6) was examined and compared both to normative data and to a contrast group comprised of unaffected siblings and community members matched for age and socio-economic status (n = 37). Children with NF1 showed significantly weaker cognitive abilities across all domains and for the vast majority of subtests. Consistent with research in older children, a variety of patterns of intra-individual strength and weakness were present for young children with NF1. Few significant group differences in psychosocial functioning were observed, but the children with NF1 showed significantly greater functional communication problems than did the unaffected group. Overall, the results indicate that in participant groups matched for age and socioeconomic status, cognitive vulnerabilities are evident for close to half of young children with NF1, with some relations to psychosocial functioning, particularly functional communication, attention problems and social skills.