Article
Psychology, Developmental
Markus Paulus, Jessica Caporaso
Summary: This article introduces the debate on the use of puppets and other simplified stimuli in developmental psychology, presenting both sides' key theoretical and methodological arguments. It also introduces a special issue that collects theoretical and empirical contributions on how children process puppets, dolls, and animated stimuli, as well as the benefits and challenges of their use in developmental research. Finally, the article suggests directions for further research.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Sarah Coughlan, Jean Quigley, Elizabeth Nixon
Summary: The current study investigated the relationship between parent-infant conversations and the development of preterm-born and term-born infants at age 2. The results showed that parent-infant conversations were associated with both language and non-language development. The associations varied between preterm and term-born infants, suggesting different developmental processes. Furthermore, mother-infant and father-infant conversations had different contributions to infant development. To optimize language outcomes, families should tailor parent-infant conversations to the unique needs of preterm-born infants and leverage the contributions of both mothers and fathers.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Lee Copping, Peter Tymms, Gabrijela Aleksic, Tiago Bartholo, Sarah J. Howie, Mariane Campelo Koslinski, Christine Merrell, Masa Vidmar, Helen Wildy
Summary: The study suggests that numerical symbol identification may serve as a universally predictive measure of early mathematical development, and finds that the order of ability clusters of numbers shows minor variations across different countries and instructional languages.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Xinpei Xu, Lingfei Mo, Lei Pan, Yan Li
Summary: This study found that maintaining a balance between process praise and person praise is crucial for fostering optimal mastery motivation in preschool children. Excessive process praise and person praise reduce children's persistence, but when process praise slightly outweighs person praise, children's persistence reaches its highest level. Additionally, the relationship between process praise and person praise and children's gross motor persistence and mastery pleasure also follows an inverted U-shape.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Chen Cheng, Melissa M. Kibbe
Summary: Reasoning by exclusion allows children to retroactively assign an identity to incomplete object representations, but this ability incurs some cognitive cost.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Lisa-Marie Collimore, Mark A. Schmuckler
Summary: This study investigated the impact of perceptual-motor context on cognitive-spatial reasoning and found that reaching around a barrier affects infants' search behavior. Interestingly, reaching around a barrier improves B trial performance for younger infants.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Michelle Shields, Grai Calabro, Diana Selmeczy
Summary: Determining when to ask for help is a critical self-regulated strategy that can benefit children's learning. This study found that children's adaptive help-seeking abilities improved during childhood and early adolescence, and developing metacognitive skills contributed to greater help-related memory benefits.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Trisha Katz, Tamar Kushnir, Michael Tomasello
Summary: We conducted two experiments to investigate how 4-year-old children enhance their reputations through communicative acts. The results showed that children in the prosocial condition were more likely to inform their partner of their helping act and protest when someone else took credit for it. In the second experiment, children in the high-cost helping condition were quicker to inform their partner of the act and more likely to take back credit for it. These findings suggest that even young children actively seek positive reputational judgments for their prosocial acts, with cost as a moderating factor.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Rebecca Mcgregor, Diana Leyva, Melissa E. Libertus
Summary: This study identified parental math talk styles and examined associations with children's math and language performance. The results showed that children of Math Discussers were more likely to talk about math, but parental math styles did not relate to children's math or language skills.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Joanna Smogorzewska, Grzegorz Szumski, Sandra Bosacki, Pawel Grygiel, Christopher Osterhaus
Summary: This two-year longitudinal study investigated the bidirectional relations between the theory of mind (ToM) development and academic competences in deaf and hard-of-hearing children. The study found significant bidirectional associations between ToM and academic achievement, highlighting the importance of ToM development for these children's school functioning.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Alyssa Kampa, Catherine Richards, Anna Papafragou
Summary: This study investigated whether preschool children expect both pictures and words to adhere to the communicative principle of quantity. The results showed that even 3.5-year-old children can use the communicative principle of quantity to infer meaning across verbal and pictorial alternatives.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Lucie Rose, Klara Kovarski, Florent Caetta, Dominique Makowski, Sylvie Chokron
Summary: This study aimed to investigate how visual analysis, attention, inhibitory control, and theory of mind capabilities contribute to the prediction of altruistic intention and behavior in French children. The results showed that different cognitive processes play distinct roles in altruistic intention and behavior, and their contribution changes as children grow.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Wendy Wing-Ying Chan, Kathy Kar-Man Shum, Johnny Downs, Edmund J. S. Sonuga-Barke
Summary: This study introduced a new task, the Preschool Delay Frustration Task (P-DeFT), designed to measure behavioral and emotional markers of waiting-induced frustration in preschool children. The study found that waiting-induced frustration is related to individual differences in delay sensitivity and differs between cultural groups, but the relationship between delay sensitivity and frustration is culturally invariant.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Kimberly E. Marble, Janet J. Boseovski
Summary: Children prefer knowledgeable individuals over wealthy individuals when deciding who is qualified to help someone. With age, they are better able to make predictions about helpful behavior based on knowledge.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
(2024)
Article
Education & Educational Research
Batya Elbaum, Lynn K. Perry, Daniel S. Messinger
Summary: This article provides an overview of new technologies that combine digital sensors with automated processing algorithms to study preschool classrooms. It focuses on automated speaker classification, the analysis of children's and teachers' speech, and the detection and analysis of their movements. These sensing technologies contribute to our understanding of classroom processes that predict children's language and social development by collecting extended real-time data. However, there are current challenges related to the use of sensing technologies in preschool settings that need to be overcome for more in-depth investigations of children's early classroom experiences.
EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY
(2024)
Article
Education & Educational Research
Ann Partee, Amanda Williford, Jason Downer, Jenna Conway, Erin Carroll
Summary: This study describes the implementation and findings of a consultation process aimed at improving the professional development for teachers in Virginia's state-funded preschool program. The study developed a PD Rubric to evaluate the alignment of PD practices with evidence-based practices and provide personalized consultations. The findings highlight the need for improvement in providing PD that supports teachers in refining their teaching skills. Preschool leaders found the consultation process valuable, particularly the discussions with their consultants.
EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY
(2024)
Article
Education & Educational Research
Tracy Payne
Summary: This study tested the effects of a Math Talk Learning Environment on children's math skills and found significant improvements in general math skills and specific numeracy skills for children who participated in the environment. The study provides new findings that will inform early childhood practitioners and developmental psychologists in applying cognitive science to the classroom.
EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY
(2024)
Article
Education & Educational Research
Suzanne Elise Splinter, Fien Depaepe, Lieven Verschaffel, Joke Torbeyns
Summary: Preschool teachers' selection and use of instructional materials, particularly picture books, are crucial for providing high-quality mathematics instruction. This study investigated teachers' preferences and use of picture books for math instruction, as well as the influence of their beliefs and children's age on their choices. Results showed that over 90% of teachers used picture books for math instruction, with a focus on general features and basic mathematical content. The study highlights the need for teacher professional development in selecting and using picture books to enhance early math skills.
EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY
(2024)
Article
Education & Educational Research
Brenda M. Miranda, Tracy Gebhart, Diane M. Early, Meghan E. Mcdoniel
Summary: This study assesses the validity of Child Observation in Preschool (COP) and Teacher Observation in Preschool (TOP) tools in community-based child care centers and compares them to the widely used Classroom Assessment Scoring System Pre-K (CLASS Pre-K) tool. The research finds that these tools are associated with children's math skills, preliteracy skills, and socioemotional development, highlighting their importance in assessing the quality of early care and education programs.
EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY
(2024)
Article
Education & Educational Research
Jorge E. Gonzalez, Hanjoe Kim, Jacqueline Anderson, Sharolyn Pollard-Durodola
Summary: This study examined the effects of a content-based shared book reading intervention on vocabulary outcomes of dual language learner preschool children. Results showed significant effects on proximal measures of vocabulary, but no significant effects on standardized measures were found.
EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY
(2024)
