Experience with research paradigms relates to infants' direction of preference.

Interpreting and predicting direction of preference in infant research has been a thorny issue for decades. Several factors have been proposed to account for familiarity versus novelty preferences, including age, length of exposure, and task complexity. The current study explores an additional dimension: experience with the experimental paradigm. We reanalyzed the data from 4 experiments on artificial grammar learning in 12-month-old infants run using the head-turn preference procedure (HPP). Participants in these studies varied substantially in their number of laboratory visits. Results show that the number of HPP studies is related to direction of preference: Infants with limited experience with the HPP setting were more likely to show familiarity preferences than infants who had amassed more experience with this paradigm. This evidence has important implications for the interpretation of experimental results: Experience with a given method or, more broadly, with the laboratory environment may affect infants' patterns of preferences.

Manifesto for new directions in developmental science.

Although developmental science has always been evolving, these times of fast-paced and profound social and scientific changes easily lead to disorienting fragmentation rather than coherent scientific advances. What directions should developmental science pursue to meaningfully address real-world problems that impact human development throughout the lifespan? What conceptual or policy shifts are needed to steer the field in these directions? The present manifesto is proposed by a group of scholars from various disciplines and perspectives within developmental science to spark conversations and action plans in response to these questions. After highlighting four critical content domains that merit concentrated and often urgent research efforts, two issues regarding "how" we do developmental science and "what for" are outlined. This manifesto concludes with five proposals, calling for integrative, inclusive, transdisciplinary, transparent, and actionable developmental science. Specific recommendations, prospects, pitfalls, and challenges to reach this goal are discussed.

Disruptive Behavior Disorders: The Challenge of Delineating Mechanisms in the Face of Heterogeneity.

Causal pathways to disruptive behavior disorders, even within the same diagnostic category, are varied. Both equifinality and multifinality pose considerable challenges to uncovering underlying mechanisms and understanding varied developmental trajectories associated with disruptive behavior disorders. Uncovering genetic causes requires improved granularity in how we operationalize presentation and developmental trajectories associated with disruptive behavior disorders. If we want to integrate the study of genetic, environmental, and neurocognitive factors within a longitudinal framework, we need to improve measurement. Furthermore, brain changes associated with disruptive behavior disorders should not simply be understood as outcomes of genetic and environmental influences, but also as factors that reciprocally influence future social environments over time in ways that are important in contributing to risk and resilience. Advancing the field with regard to these challenges will result in more truly integrated investigation of disruptive behavior disorders, which holds the promise of improving our ability to develop more effective preventive and intervention approaches.

Early Parenting Intervention Effects on Brain Responses to Maternal Cues Among High-Risk Children.

OBJECTIVE: Early adversity is correlated with increased risk for negative outcomes, including psychopathology and atypical neurodevelopment. The authors aimed to test the causal impact of an early parenting intervention (Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up; ABC) on children's neural processing of parent cues and on psychosocial functioning in a longitudinal randomized clinical trial. METHODS: Participants (N=68, mean age, 10.0 years [SD=0.8 years]) were 46 high-risk children whose parents were randomly assigned to receive either the ABC intervention (N=22) or a control intervention (N=24) while the children were infants, in addition to a comparison sample of low-risk children (N=22). During functional MRI scanning, children viewed pictures of their own mothers and of a stranger. RESULTS: Children in the ABC condition showed greater maternal cue-related activation than children in the control condition in clusters of brain regions, including the precuneus, the cingulate gyrus, and the hippocampus, regions commonly associated with social cognition. Additionally, greater activity in these regions was associated with fewer total behavior problems. There was an indirect effect of early intervention on middle childhood psychosocial functioning mediated through increased activity in brain regions in response to maternal cues. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that early parenting intervention (in this case the ABC intervention) can enhance brain regions supporting children's social cognitive development. In addition, the findings highlight these brain effects as a possible neural pathway through which ABC may prevent future behavior problems among high-risk children, yielding psychosocial benefits that endure through at least middle childhood without the need to intervene with the child directly.

Aportes de la psicología del desarrollo para el diagnóstico de la experiencia de abuso en menores de cinco años / Contributions of developmental psychology to the diagnosis of abuse experience in children under five / Aportacions de la psicologia del desenvolupament al diagnòstic de l'experiència d'abús en menors de cinc anys

El diagnóstico de abuso sexual en menores de cinco años debe distinguir entre el discurso de los cuidadores principales no abusadores y la propia experiencia del menor. La psicología del desarrollo ha construido un cuerpo de conocimiento sólido sobre el sistema interactivo, el sistema de apego y el desarrollo del si mismo. Estos sistemas sustentan la relación con el cuidador principal necesaria para el desarrollo del niño pequeño como persona y de sus capacidades psicosociales y comunicativas. Tener en cuenta estos sistemas permite hacer esta distinción

The diagnosis of sexual abuse in children under the age of five must distinguish between the discourse of the main non-abusive caregivers and the child's own experience. Developmental psychology has built a body of solid knowledge about the interactive system, the attachment system, and the development of the self. These systems support the relationship with the primary caregiver, which is necessary for the development of the young child as a person and their psychosocial and communicative capacities. Taking these systems into account allows this distinction to be made

El diagnòstic d'abús sexual en menors de cinc anys ha de distingir entre el discurs dels cuidadors principals no abusadors I la pròpia experiència del menor. La psicologia del desenvolupament ha construït un cos de coneixement sòlid sobre el sistema interactiu, el sistema d'aferrament I el desenvolupament del si mateix. Aquests sistemes sostenen la relació amb el cuidador principal necessària per al desenvolupament del nen petit com a persona I de les seves capacitats psicosocials I comunicatives. Tenir en compte aquests sistemes permet fer aquesta distinció

De la fragmentación a la cohesión. Una experiencia grupal con víctimas de abuso sexual infantil / From fragmentation to cohesion. A group experience with victims of child sexual abuse / De la fragmentació a la cohesió. Una experiència grupal amb víctimes d'abús sexual infantil

Presentamos, en este artículo, una experiencia de psicoterapia psicoanalítica de grupo con tres niñas de cuatro y cinco años que habían sufrido abusos sexuales de muy pequeñas por parte de un familiar cercano y que ninguna había verbalizado. El único síntoma manifiesto era una importante inhibición, que las tres compartían. Se inició una psicoterapia semanal sin un límite predefinido de tiempo que ha durado un año y medio. Como resultado del proceso psicoterapéutico, las niñas fueron capaces de salir de la inhibición, desarrollar un juego simbólico, manifestar fantasías inconscientes y encontrar otra manera de expresarse con el cuerpo y también de comunicarse con él

In this article, we present a psychoanalytic group psychotherapy experience with three girls, aged between four and five, who had been sexually abused by a close relative. None of the victims had verbalized it. The only manifest symptom was an important inhibition, which the three of them shared. A weekly psychotherapy was started without a predefined time limit. It lasted a year and a half. As a result of the psychotherapeutic process, the girls were able to get out of inhibition, develop a symbolic play, manifest unconscious fantasies and find another way to express themselves with the body and also to communicate with it

Presentem, en aquest article, una experiència de psicoteràpia psicoanalítica de grup amb tres nenes de quatre I cinc anys que havien patit abusos sexuals de molt petites per part d'un familiar proper I que cap d'elles havia verbalitzat. L'únic símptoma manifest era una important inhibició, que totes tres compartien. Es va iniciar una psicoteràpia setmanal sense un límit predefinit de temps que ha durat un any I mig. Com a resultat del procés psicoterapèutic, les nenes van ser capaces de sortir de la inhibició, desenvolupar un joc simbòlic, manifestar fantasies inconscients I trobar una altra manera d'expressar-se amb el cos I també de comunicar-s'hi

Network structure reveals clusters of associations between childhood adversities and development outcomes.

Exposure to childhood adversity is common and associated with a host of negative developmental outcomes. The most common approach used to examine the consequences of adversity exposure is a cumulative risk model. Recently, we have proposed a novel approach, the dimensional model of adversity and psychopathology (DMAP), where different dimensions of adversity are hypothesized to impact health and well-being through different pathways. We expect deprivation to primarily disrupt cognitive processing, whereas we expect threat to primarily alter emotional reactivity and automatic regulation. Recent hypothesis-driven approaches provide support for these differential associations of deprivation and threat on developmental outcomes. However, it is not clear whether these patterns would emerge using data-driven approaches. Here we use a network analytic approach to identify clusters of related adversity exposures and outcomes in an initial study (Study 1: N = 277 adolescents aged 16-17 years; 55.1% female) and a replication (Study 2: N = 262 children aged 8-16 years; 45.4% female). We statistically compare our observed clusters with our hypothesized DMAP model and a clustering we hypothesize would be the result of a cumulative stress model. In both samples we observed a network structure consistent with the DMAP model and statistically different than the hypothesized cumulative stress model. Future work seeking to identify in the pathways through which adversity impacts development should consider multiple dimensions of adversity.

Conciencia ecológica y experiencia ambiental en la infancia / Ecological awareness and children's environmental experience

Hasta fechas muy recientes, el estudio de las creencias y actitudes ambientales se ha centrado en muestras de participantes adultos. Sin embargo, conocer el nivel de conciencia ambiental infantil es relevante, ya que facilitará que las generaciones futuras asuman las exigencias de la proambientalidad. Este trabajo destaca la importancia de las experiencias ambientales en la infancia para asumir valores y creencias proambientales. Se ofrecen datos sobre el nivel de conciencia ecológica de muestras infantiles en España utilizando tanto la Escala del Nuevo Paradigma Ambiental (NEP) como la Escala de Percepción de Problemas Ambientales (CEPS). Los datos registrados permiten concluir que el nivel de conciencia ecológica de la población infantil española es medio-alto. Además, se propone un modelo en el que se definen cuatro perfiles ecológicos en la infancia: Eco-orientados, naturalistas de salón, utilitaristas y tecno-orientados. Se concluye destacando el valor de las experiencias de contacto con la naturaleza

Until recently, the study of environmental beliefs and attitudes has been focused on adults. However, a better understanding of chil-dren's environmental awareness is needed, since this will make it easier for future generations to assume the demands of pro-environmentalism. This paper highlights the importance of environmental experiences during childhood for the development of pro-environmental attitudes. We discuss different data about Spanish children's ecological awareness, measured with the New Envi-ronmental Paradigm (NEP) scale and the Children's Environmental Perception Scale (CEPS). According to our findings, Spanish children show a medium-high level of ecological awareness. In addition, we propose a model describing four ecological profiles: eco-oriented, lounge naturalists, utilitarians and techno-oriented. We conclude by highlighting the value of experiences of contact with nature for children's pro-environmentalism

Changing institutional incentives to foster sound scientific practices: One department.

Replicable research and open science are of value to our field and to society at large, but most universities provide no incentives to adopt these practices. Instead, current incentive structures favor novel research, which has led to a situation in which few researchers take the time to do replications, share protocols, or share data. Obviously, several approaches to remedy this situation are possible. However, little progress can be made if becoming involved in such activities reduces a researcher's chances of rank and status advancement and other rewards. I describe in this article the way my department has modified our incentive structure to tackle this problem, including how the changes influence my research as a developmental psychologist. Finally, I offer suggestions for faculty who wish to initiate similar changes in their institutions.

Beyond the Text Given: Studying the Scaffolding of Narrative Emotion Regulation as a Contribution to Bruner and Feldman's Cultural Cognitive Developmental Psychology.

Feldman et al. (Human Development, 36, 327-342, 1993) called for a new kind of psychology, a cultural cognitive developmental psychology. We critically consider their initial studies to discuss the scope of their program. In the spirit of this program we explore the development of scaffolding of narrative emotion regulation in adolescence. We present two co-narrations of sad events between mothers and their 12- and 18-year-old offspring to exemplify these mothers' age-sensitive strategies to scaffold adolescents' narrative emotion regulation. We identified three kinds of narrative arguments which mothers used for scaffolding and which are apparently acquired only in the course of adolescence: Embedding events in extended temporal, biographical contexts, relating events and reactions to individuals' enduring personalities, and re-appraising events by including more others', external, and hypothetical perspectives. They confirm developmental observations made by Feldman et al. (Human Development, 36, 327-342, 1993) and demonstrate their utility in the context of the development of emotion regulation.

A primer on investigating the role of the microbiome in brain and cognitive development.

Incorporating information regarding the gut microbiota into psychobiological research promises to shed new light on how individual differences in brain and cognitive development emerge. However, the investigation of the gut-brain axis in development is still in its infancy and poses several challenges, including data analysis. Considering that the gut microbiome is an eco-system containing millions of bacteria, one needs to utilize a breadth of methodologies and data analytic techniques. The present review serves two purposes. First, this review will inform developmental psychobiology researchers about the emerging study of the gut-brain axis in development and second, this review will propose methodologies and data analytic strategies for integrating microbiome data in developmental research.

Lev vygotsky's cultural-historical theory of development and the problem of mental tools / Teoría cultural-histórica del desarrollo de lev vygotsky y el problema de las herramientas mentales

The article is aimed at describing approaches towards understanding of mediation forms used in educational programs for preschool children as one of the major lines of psychology implementation in Russia. To a large extent, they are based on the cultural-historical approach, developed by Lev Vygotsky and his followers. It is shown how idea of mental tools usage in preschool education evolved and has developed nowadays. According to the cultural-historical theory sample is one of the cultural tools, mastering of which by the child occurs in the zone of proximal development. Another cultural tool is a sign, and especially the word. Followers of Vygotsky elaborated such tools as visual models, schemes, symbols. Implementation of mental tools in educational programs is analyzed in different spheres (speech development, cognitive development, voluntariness development) on the examples of the most spread educational programs in Russia

El artículo pretende describir los enfoques para comprender las formas de mediación utilizadas en programas educacionales para niños preescolares, como una de las principales líneas de aplicación psicológica en Rusia. En gran medida, se basan en el enfoque cultural-histórico, desarrollado por Lev Vygotskyt y sus seguidores. Se muestra cómo se desarrolló y se aplica actualmente la idea de utilizar herramientas mentales en la educación preescolar. De acuerdo con la teoría cultural-histórica, el ejemplo es una de las herramientas culturales, cuyo dominio por el niño tiene lugar en la zona de desarrollo próximo. Otra herramienta cultural es el signo, y especialmente la palabra. Los seguidores de Vigotsky elaboraron tales herramientas como modelos visuales, esquemas, y símbolos. La aplicación de los programas educacionales de herramientas mentales se analizaron en diferentes esferas (desarrollo del lenguaje, desarrollo cognitivo, y desarrollo volitivo), como ejemplos de los programas educacionales más extendidos en Rusia

"How Old Do You Feel?" The Difficulties and Ethics of Operationalizing Subjective Age.

This article provides an integrative presentation regarding ageism within the professional culture of gerontological research by examining the operationalization of subjective age, a construct most commonly assessed by asking an individual to report how "old" they feel. According to the life span perspective [Baltes, P. B. (1987). Theoretical propositions of lifespan developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23, 611-626] and the life course perspective [Elder Jr, G. H. (1975). Age differentiation and the life course. Annual Review of Sociology, 1(1), 165-190.], growing older represents a complex, multidirectional process that encompasses maintenance, growth and decline as well as cultural factors that influence development. Viewing the construct of subjective age from these perspectives casts doubt on the validity of its operationalization. This article argues that operationalizing subjective age in this manner contributes to the dominant societal view of aging as decline by perpetuating the use of the term "old" as an undesirable state. As well, we purport that as gerontological researchers and scholars our professional code of ethics requires us to examine the unintentional communication and perpetuation of ageism by focusing attention on our own use of language.

Los escenarios de la abuelidad / Scenaarios of grandparenthood

El concepto de abuelidad fue acuñado por la psicoanalista P. Redler, para denominar la relación intrapsíquica e interpersonal entre abuelo y nieto. La abuelidad remite a un vínculo determinado con conflictivas específicas y con un proceso de desarrollo, al que esta autora denomina "crisis de la abuelidad". Los abuelos tienen la oportunidad de resolver esta crisis del desarrollo en parte gracias al hecho de poder ayudar a los nietos a superar similares conflictos con la generación intermedia. A pesar de la importancia de la abuelidad en el contexto familiar, este concepto no está muy estudiado en psicología. En esta comunicación, intentamos explorar la relación entre abuelos y nietos, también desde la percepción que los niños tienen de sus abuelos, con el objetivo de profundizar en el tema de la transmisión intergeneracional

The term of grandparenthood was coined by the psychoanalist P. Redler, to denominate the intrapsychic and interpersonal relationship between grandparent and grandchildren. Grandparenthood involves a specific relationship with specific conflict areas and with a process of development, named by this author "grandparenthood crisis". Grandparents are provided a opportunity to resolve this developmental crisis as they can help grandchildren to resolve the same conflicts with the generation in between. Despite the importance of grandparenthood in the family context, this is a topic poorly studied en psychology. In this paper, we try to explore the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, also from the perception that children have of their grandparents, in order to explore the subject of intergenerational transmission

A meta-analysis of the association between substance use and emerging adult development using the IDEA scale.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Much debate exists surrounding Arnett's theory of emerging adulthood in terms of its breadth and application. Researchers have attempted to capture dimensions of emerging adulthood (eg, experimentation, negativity/instability, other-focus, self-focus, and feeling in-between) through self report assessment, using variations of the Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood or IDEA. Results from studies investigating this relationship have been mixed. We conducted a meta-analysis on the association between substance use and the IDEA. METHOD: Data were extracted to calculate correlational associations with substance use as well as typical moderators found in the literature. Twelve studies were meta-analyzed. RESULTS: We found small associations (range: ρ = -.03 to .15; d = .06 to 30) between the IDEA scores and substance use. We found higher severity (dependence diagnosis) of participants yielded larger associations across all dimensions (ρ = .16), and proportion of college students to be a subscale-specific moderator (experimentation, negativity/instability, other-focus, self-focus, and feeling in-between). Alcohol use outcomes also provided larger subscale-specific associations (experimentation, negativity/instability, other-focus, self-focus). CONCLUSIONS: The dimensions of emerging adulthood may be less effective in predicting substance use among non-college samples and those studies focusing on drug use. Further research should prioritize exploring variation in the transition to emerging adulthood among non-college samples and the longitudinal associations between IDEA and substance use. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Important contributions include the modest association between IDEA and substance use as well as specific participant characteristics that amplify or mitigate the association between IDEA and substance use. (Am J Addict 2018;27:166-176).

Longitudinal modeling in developmental neuroimaging research: Common challenges, and solutions from developmental psychology.

Hypotheses about change over time are central to informing our understanding of development. Developmental neuroscience is at critical juncture: although the majority of longitudinal imaging studies have observations with two time points, researchers are increasingly obtaining three or more observations of the same individuals. The goals of the proposed manuscript are to draw upon the long history of methodological and applied literature on longitudinal statistical models to summarize common problems and issues that arise in their use. We also provide suggestions and solutions to improve the design, analysis and interpretation of longitudinal data, and discuss the importance of matching the theory of change with the appropriate statistical model used to test the theory. Researchers should articulate a clear theory of change and to design studies to capture that change and use appropriately sensitive measures to assess that change during development. Simulated data are used to demonstrate several common analytic approaches to longitudinal analyses. We provide the code for our simulations and figures in an online supplement to aid researchers in exploring and plotting their data. We provide brief examples of best practices for reporting such models. Finally, we clarify common misunderstandings in the application and interpretation of these analytic approaches.

Validation of a scale for a nonword repetition task to assess lexical development / Baremación de una tarea de repetición de pseudopalabras para la evaluación del desarrollo léxico

It has been demonstrated that the ability to repeat non-words is a good marker of lexical development in a number of languages, including Spanish. In addition, the ability to repeat nonwords has been used as a good discriminator between typically developing children and children with language delays or other language difficulties. However, despite its potential usefulness for clinical and research purposes, there is no validated scale in Spanish. To address this situation, we present a scale based on a sample of 342 monolingual Spanish-speaking children aged from four to seven years. After data analysis, a scale was elaborated to provide populational references for colleagues working in educational, clinical and research fields. The results show a ceiling effect for six years olds, as well as for monomorphemic and bisyllabic items. Implications of these scores are discussed in the corresponding section (AU)

La habilidad para repetir pseudopalabras se ha mostrado como un buen marcador de desarrollo léxico en multitud de lenguas incluyendo el español. Además, permite discriminar en buena medida entre niños con desarrollo típico y niños con trastornos y retrasos del lenguaje. Sin embargo, pese a su potencial importancia para su uso clínico e investigador, en español no contamos con baremos para una lista de estímulos determinada. Con el objetivo salvar esta notable carencia, se realiza una tarea de repetición de pseudopalabras a una muestra total de 342 niños y niñas monolingües españoles de entre cuatro y siete años. Tras el análisis de los resultados se elaboró un baremo con el objeto de aportar referencias poblacionales a colegas que trabajan en las citadas áreas clínico-educativas y de investigación. Los resultados muestran un efecto techo de esta tarea a los 6 años, así como para los estímulos monomorfémicos y bisílabos. Las implicaciones de estos resultados y baremo obtenido son discutidas en el apartado correspondiente (AU)

Constructing emotion categorization: Insights from developmental psychology applied to a young adult sample.

Previous research has found that the categorization of emotional facial expressions is influenced by a variety of factors, such as processing time, facial mimicry, emotion labels, and perceptual cues. However, past research has frequently confounded these factors, making it impossible to ascertain how adults use this varied information to categorize emotions. The current study is the first to explore the magnitude of impact for each of these factors on emotion categorization in the same paradigm. Participants (N = 102) categorized anger and disgust emotional facial expressions in a novel computerized task, modeled on similar tasks in the developmental literature with preverbal infants. Experimental conditions manipulated (a) whether the task was time-restricted, and (b) whether the labels "anger" and "disgust" were used in the instructions. Participants were significantly more accurate when provided with unlimited response time and emotion labels. Participants who were given restricted sorting time (2s) and no emotion labels tended to focus on perceptual features of the faces when categorizing the emotions, which led to low sorting accuracy. In addition, facial mimicry related to greater sorting accuracy. These results suggest that when high-level (labeling) categorization strategies are unavailable, adults use low-level (perceptual) strategies to categorize facial expressions. Methodological implications for the study of emotion are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Structural developmental psychology and health promotion in the third age.

In response to the ever-increasing longevity in Western societies, old age has been divided into two different periods, labelled the third and fourth age. Where the third age, with its onset at retirement, mostly involves positive aspects of growing old, the fourth age involves functional decline and increased morbidity. This article focuses on the entry to the third age and its potential for health promotion initiatives. Well-being is an important factor to emphasize in such health promotion, and this article views the lifestyle of third agers as essential for their well-being. The structural developmental theory of Robert Kegan delineates how a person's way of knowing develops throughout the life course. This theory is an untapped and salient perspective for health promotion initiatives in the third age. This article outlines Kegan's approach as a tool for developing psychologically spacious health promotion, and suggests future directions for research on the topic.

Un lugar para los sentimientos negativos / A place for negative feelings

El presente trabajo parte de la reflexión de los sentimientos negativos de los niños que acuden a salud mental por mal comportamiento o desobediencia

The present work starts from the reflection of the negative feelings of the children who resort to mental health for bad behavior or disobedience