Child development最新文献

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Parent-child Brain Camp, a 4-week video-based executive functions (EFs) training program for children ages 5-6, through a randomized controlled trial with a pre- and post-test design with 173 Hong Kong children (intervention ni = 79, 48.7% girls, M_age = 69.16 months; control n = 94, 56.4% girls, M_age = 68.58 months) in 2022. Results from the two-way mixed ANOVA revealed that while the main effect of the Group was not significant, the main effect of Time (η_p ² = 0.232) and the Time × Group interaction effect (η_p ² = 0.038) were significant, with the intervention group demonstrating greater improvements in EFs compared to the control group.

Australian children aged 6-9 years (N = 120, 71 females; data collected in 2021-2022) were tasked with remembering the locations of 1, 3, 5, and 7 targets hidden under 25 cups on different trials. In the critical test phase, children were provided with a limited number of tokens to allocate across trials, which they could use to mark target locations and assist future memory performance. Following the search period, children were invited to adjust their previous token allocation. Although 8- to 9-year-olds prospectively allocated proportionately more tokens to more difficult trials, 6- to 7-year-olds did so only in retrospect. During middle childhood, humans become increasingly adept at weighing up when to rely on their unaided capacities and when to offload cognitive demand.

With age, people increasingly emphasize intent when judging transgressions. However, people often lack information about intent in everyday settings; further, they may wonder about reasons underlying pro-social acts. Three studies investigated 4-to-6-year-olds', 7-to-9-year-olds', and adults' (data collected 2020-2022 in the northeastern United States, total n = 669, ~50% female, predominantly White) desire for information about why behaviors occurred. In Study 1, older children and adults exhibited more curiosity about transgressions versus pro-social behaviors (ds = 0.52-0.63). Younger children showed weaker preferences to learn about transgressions versus pro-social behaviors than did older participants (d = 0.12). Older children's emphasis on intent, but not expectation violations, drove age-related differences (Studies 2-3). Older children may target intent-related judgments specifically toward transgressions, and doing so may underlie curiosity about wrongdoing.

Language exposure is an important determiner of language outcomes in bilingual children. Family language strategies (FLS, e.g., one-parent-one-language) were contrasted with parents' individual language use to predict language exposure in 4-31-month-old children (50% female) living in Montreal, Quebec. Two-hundred twenty one children (primarily European (48%) and mixed ethnicity (29%)) were learning two community languages (French and English) and 60 (primarily mixed ethnicity (39%) and European (16%)) were learning one community and one heritage language. Parents' individual language use better predicted exposure than FLS (explaining ~50% vs. ~6% of variance). Mothers' language use was twice as influential on children's exposure as fathers', likely due to gendered caregiving roles. In a subset of families followed longitudinally, ~25% showed changes in FLS and individual language use over time. Caregivers, especially mothers, individually shape bilingual children's language exposure.

Purpose offers several important benefits to youth. Thus, it is necessary to understand how a sense of purpose develops in supportive contexts and what psychological resources can help. From 2021 to 2022, this study investigated purpose change among 321 youth (M_age = 16.4 years; 71% female; 25.9% Black, 33.3% Asian, 15.6% Hispanic/Latinx, 13.4% White, 9.7% multiracial) participating in GripTape, a ~10-week self-driven learning program. Many youth started with high initial purpose that increased throughout enrollment (Strengthening), whereas others began with slightly lower purpose that remained stable (Maintaining). For each unit increase in baseline agency, youth were 1.6x more likely to be classified as Strengthening. As such, agency may be a resource that helps youth capitalize on certain types of environments.