{"title":"Is Uncertainty in the Eyes or in Parents' Talk? Linking an Eye-Tracking Measure of Toddlers' Core Metacognition to Parental Metacognitive Talk","authors":"Marion Gardier, Marie Geurten","doi":"10.1111/cdev.14237","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14237","url":null,"abstract":"Recent studies have established that even preverbal infants can monitor and regulate their mental states, raising the question of the variables involved in this early metacognitive development. Here, the metacognition of fifty-five 18-month-old (27 females; mostly White; data collection: 2023) was assessed using an eye-tracking paradigm designed to capture children's ability to seek information (i.e., a cue) under uncertainty. Moreover, the relations between toddlers' metacognition and parental (52 mothers) metacognitive talk during a 10-min play session were also examined. Beyond replicating previous data showing metacognitive accuracy in toddlerhood, our results indicated that the frequency of parental utterances referring to metacognitive monitoring—but not metacognitive regulation—was related to toddlers' metacognition (OR = 1.3). Implications for sociocultural models of metacognitive development are discussed.","PeriodicalId":10109,"journal":{"name":"Child development","volume":"108 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143806243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Childcare Center Attendance During the Covid‐19 Pandemic: Boosting Cognitive and Language Development","authors":"Marigen Narea, Pamela Soto‐Ramírez, Alejandra Abufhele","doi":"10.1111/cdev.14238","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14238","url":null,"abstract":"The Covid‐19 pandemic underscored the significance of early childhood education and care (ECEC) for children's development. We investigated the impact of attendance at ECEC programs following a closure period due to the pandemic. We used linear regression with a lagged dependent variable to examine assessments of children's cognitive and receptive language based on a sample of Chilean children (<jats:italic>N</jats:italic> = 809; age = 41.3 months in 2021). Results show that children who attended center‐based care for more than 20 h a week demonstrated higher cognitive and receptive language levels than those who did not attend (3.2 and 2.9 points higher, respectively). Furthermore, our results highlight the importance of the intensity of attendance at ECEC programs for children's development.","PeriodicalId":10109,"journal":{"name":"Child development","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143789912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yemimah A. King, Sarah H. Eason, Robert J. Duncan, Arielle Borovsky, David J. Purpura
{"title":"The Factor Structure of Parents' Math-Related Talk and Its Relation to Children's Early Academic Skills","authors":"Yemimah A. King, Sarah H. Eason, Robert J. Duncan, Arielle Borovsky, David J. Purpura","doi":"10.1111/cdev.14244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14244","url":null,"abstract":"This study, involving 120 children (M<sub>age</sub> = 4.25; SD = 0.83; 53% Female, 49% White, 23% multiracial, 16% Black, 9% Asian American, and 3% Latine) and their parents, examined parent talk constructs and their relation to children's early academic skills in 2021. Parents' talk was best represented as a three-factor structure (general, number, and mathematical language), suggesting that mathematical language use is distinct from general and number talk. Parent talk factors were related to children's numeracy skills but not their vocabulary or mathematical language knowledge. Children with higher numeracy skills had parents who used more general talk, children with lower numeracy skills had parents who used more mathematical language, but parent number talk was not related to children's numeracy skills.","PeriodicalId":10109,"journal":{"name":"Child development","volume":"62 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143775711","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evidence for a Low Number Prior in Children's Intuitive Number Sense","authors":"Miranda N. Long, Darko Odic","doi":"10.1111/cdev.14231","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14231","url":null,"abstract":"Children rely on their Approximate Number System to intuitively perceive number. Such adaptations often exhibit sensitivity to real-world statistics. This study investigates a potential manifestation of the ANS's sensitivity to real-world statistics: a negative power-law distribution of objects in natural scenes should be reflected in children's expectations about number, or in more Bayesian terms, a low number prior distribution. Five- to eight-year-old children (<i>n</i> = 80; 39 girls, 41 boys) and adults (<i>n</i> = 20) in 2022 completed a number discrimination task in which one side was corrupted by perceptual noise. Children and adults demonstrate a low number prior. No age-related differences were observed, suggesting that the prior is formed by age five and does not strengthen with age.","PeriodicalId":10109,"journal":{"name":"Child development","volume":"108 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143775710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alexis S. Smith-Flores, Gabriel J. Bonamy, Lindsey J. Powell
{"title":"Children's Evaluations of Empathizers","authors":"Alexis S. Smith-Flores, Gabriel J. Bonamy, Lindsey J. Powell","doi":"10.1111/cdev.14242","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14242","url":null,"abstract":"Children's evaluations of empathizers were examined using vignette-based tasks (<i>N</i> = 159 4- to 7-year-old U.S. children, 82 girls, 52% White) between March 2023 and March 2024. Children typically evaluated empathizers positively compared to less empathic others. They rated empathic responses as more appropriate, selected empathizers as nicer, and inferred more positive relationships between empathizers and the targets of empathy. However, when empathy was contrasted with helping behavior, or directed toward an immoral actor, evaluations of empathy were more negative. Older children weighed helping and empathy more equally and shifted their evaluations more when considering responses to immoral acts. These results show children use empathy in their social evaluations, and contextual influences on these evaluations strengthen with age.","PeriodicalId":10109,"journal":{"name":"Child development","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143775709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abby J deSteiguer, Laurel Raffington, Aditi Sabhlok, Peter Tanksley, Elliot M Tucker-Drob, K Paige Harden
{"title":"Stability of Aging- and Cognition-Related Methylation Profile Scores Across Two Waves in Children and Adolescents.","authors":"Abby J deSteiguer, Laurel Raffington, Aditi Sabhlok, Peter Tanksley, Elliot M Tucker-Drob, K Paige Harden","doi":"10.1111/cdev.14239","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14239","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>DNA-methylation profile scores (MPSs) index biology relevant for lifelong physical and cognitive health, but information on their longitudinal stability in childhood is lacking. Using two waves of data collected from 2014 to 2022 (M<sub>lag</sub> between waves = 2.41 years) from N = 407 participants (M<sub>age</sub> = 12.05 years, 51% female, 60% White), test-retest correlations were estimated for four salivary MPSs related to aging (PhenoAgeAccel, GrimAgeAccel, DunedinPACE), and cognitive function (Epigenetic-g). MPSs varied in longitudinal stability (test-retest rs = 0.38 to 0.76). MPSs did not differ in children exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic, but race-ethnic and sex differences were apparent. Further research is necessary to understand which environmental perturbations impact DNA-methylation trajectories and when children are most sensitive to those impacts.</p>","PeriodicalId":10109,"journal":{"name":"Child development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143762957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xiuyuan Zhang, Brandon A. Carrillo, Ariana Christakis, Julia A. Leonard
{"title":"Children Predict Improvement on Novel Skill Learning Tasks","authors":"Xiuyuan Zhang, Brandon A. Carrillo, Ariana Christakis, Julia A. Leonard","doi":"10.1111/cdev.14232","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14232","url":null,"abstract":"Learning takes time: Performance usually starts poorly and improves with practice. Do children intuit this basic phenomenon of skill learning? In preregistered Experiment 1 (<i>n</i> = 125; 54% female; 48% White; collected 2022–2023), US 7- to 8-year-old children predicted improved performance, 5- to 6-year-old children predicted flat performance, and 4-year-old children predicted near-instant success followed by worse performance on a novel skill learning task. In preregistered Experiment 2 (<i>n</i> = 75; 47% female; 69% White; collected 2023), on a task with lowered cognitive demands, US 4- to 6-year-old children predicted improved performance. Thus, although children expect to improve on novel tasks, younger children need scaffolding to form these predictions and grasp this fundamental aspect of learning.","PeriodicalId":10109,"journal":{"name":"Child development","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143758006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hou Xie, Kaylin Ratner, Suzanne G Fegley, Michael J Nakkula
{"title":"Heterogeneity in the Developmental Trajectories of Chinese Youth Educational Aspirations: Identifying Predictors and Outcomes.","authors":"Hou Xie, Kaylin Ratner, Suzanne G Fegley, Michael J Nakkula","doi":"10.1111/cdev.14234","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14234","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study investigated the development of educational aspirations (EAs) among Chinese youth (n = 2228, 48.61% female, 87.66% Han, M<sub>age_2010</sub> = 11.48 years) for 6 years. Five latent classes of EA trajectories were identified. They varied greatly during early adolescence but converged around an associate degree in middle adolescence and beyond and demonstrated high rank-order stability across the period of study. High academic performance and academic competence (adolescent-reported) and educational involvement, academic expectations, and family socioeconomic status (parent-reported) predicted loftier EA trajectories. Consistent EA beyond an associate degree predicted a greater probability of college enrollment in emerging adulthood. Findings are interpreted with respect to China's sociocultural context, a society characterized by high collectivism and regard for academic achievements.</p>","PeriodicalId":10109,"journal":{"name":"Child development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143751188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elfriede R. Holstein, Maria Theobald, Leonie S. Weindorf, Garvin Brod
{"title":"Developing Conflict Monitoring Abilities Predict Children's Revision of an Intuitive Theory","authors":"Elfriede R. Holstein, Maria Theobald, Leonie S. Weindorf, Garvin Brod","doi":"10.1111/cdev.14241","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14241","url":null,"abstract":"We investigated the role of children's conflict monitoring skills in revising an intuitive scientific theory. Children aged 5 to 9 (<i>N</i> = 177; 53% girls, data collected in Germany from 2019-2023) completed computer-based tasks on water displacement, a concept prone to misconceptions. Children predicted which of two objects would displace more water before receiving feedback. With increasing age, children showed slower response times for incorrect predictions (<i>β</i> = −0.04) and greater pupil dilation to unexpected outcomes (<i>β</i> = −0.04), indicating better conflict monitoring. Better conflict monitoring, in turn, predicted faster belief revision (<i>β</i> = 0.07). These findings suggest that conflict monitoring is crucial for learning in discovery-based activities.","PeriodicalId":10109,"journal":{"name":"Child development","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143745581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Karen L. Bierman, Brenda S. Heinrichs, Janet A. Welsh, Damon E. Jones, D. Max Crowley
{"title":"How a Preschool Intervention Affected High School Outcomes: Longitudinal Pathways in a Randomized-Controlled Trial","authors":"Karen L. Bierman, Brenda S. Heinrichs, Janet A. Welsh, Damon E. Jones, D. Max Crowley","doi":"10.1111/cdev.14235","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14235","url":null,"abstract":"This study examined the impact of the Head Start Research-based, Developmentally Informed (REDI) preschool intervention on high school outcomes and explored longitudinal mediation. 356 children (58% White, 25% Black, 17% Latinx; 54% female, 46% male; <i>M</i><sub>age</sub> = 4.49 years) were recruited from Head Start classrooms which were randomized to intervention (<i>N</i> = 192) or “usual practice” (<i>N</i> = 164). REDI effects emerged on high school emotional symptoms (teacher ratings, <i>d</i> = 0.71) and behavior problems (composite of teacher, parent, youth ratings, <i>d</i> = 0.23) with the latter benefits mediated by earlier intervention boosts to social–emotional learning, social adjustment, and parent involvement. REDI had no direct impact on GPA or on-time graduation but promoted these outcomes indirectly mediated by earlier intervention effects.","PeriodicalId":10109,"journal":{"name":"Child development","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143745580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}