Pub Date : 2025-11-24DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106421
Shuliang Bai , Peibing Liu , Renlai Zhou
Test anxiety impacts students’ academic and psychological well-being, influenced not just by their own threat processing but also by their parents’ threat processing. This study aims to explore the association between parents’ threat processing and children’s test anxiety. The study initially recruited 53 parent–child dyads, and 45 dyads (N = 90) remained after data screening, comprising 20 children with high test anxiety (Mean age = 10.44 years) and their parents (Mean age = 38.75 years), and 25 children with low test anxiety (Mean age = 11.13 years) and their parents (Mean age = 38.36 years). All participants completed the emotional Stroop task and had their event-related potentials recorded when processing test-related and non-test-related threatening words, using the interference effects of the N2 and N450 as indicators of threat processing. Results showed that only under non-test-related threatening conditions did parents’ N2 and N450 interference effects negatively relate to children’s test anxiety levels, s suggesting that parents’ neural responses to general threat cues may play a role in shaping children’s anxiety and informing family-based interventions.
{"title":"Parental neural responses to threat impact children’s test anxiety","authors":"Shuliang Bai , Peibing Liu , Renlai Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106421","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106421","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Test anxiety impacts students’ academic and psychological well-being, influenced not just by their own threat processing but also by their parents’ threat processing. This study aims to explore the association between parents’ threat processing and children’s test anxiety. The study initially recruited 53 parent–child dyads, and 45 dyads (N = 90) remained after data screening, comprising 20 children with high test anxiety (Mean <sub>age</sub> = 10.44 years) and their parents (Mean <sub>age</sub> = 38.75 years), and 25 children with low test anxiety (Mean <sub>age</sub> = 11.13 years) and their parents (Mean <sub>age</sub> = 38.36 years). All participants completed the emotional Stroop task and had their event-related potentials recorded when processing test-related and non-test-related threatening words, using the interference effects of the N2 and N450 as indicators of threat processing. Results showed that only under non-test-related threatening conditions did parents’ N2 and N450 interference effects negatively relate to children’s test anxiety levels, s suggesting that parents’ neural responses to general threat cues may play a role in shaping children’s anxiety and informing family-based interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48391,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Child Psychology","volume":"263 ","pages":"Article 106421"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145606885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-22DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106420
Nicole M. Hendrix , Susan Wagner Cook , Kristen N. Missall
Interindividual differences related to factors like sex and family socioeconomic background in spatial ability emerge early. Embedding task-specific tracing into instruction has the potential to support early spatial abilities but must be considered relative to child characteristics and existing problem-solving strategies. Aims were to: 1) evaluate whether adding observed or observed and produced tracing to instruction improved learning of shape identification compared to spoken instruction alone; 2) determine whether performance at pretest and posttest varied as a function of child characteristics; and 3) examine how spoken and gestured problem-solving strategies changed from pretest to posttest and related to both posttest performance and condition. We also assessed the extent to which change in performance varied based upon child characteristics and problem-solving strategy use. In this study, 121 children between 44 and 72 months received brief instruction regarding triangle and rectangle shape properties. Children were divided among three conditions: 1) no tracing or gesture accompanying spoken instruction; 2) task-specific gesture observed alongside instruction; and 3) task-specific gesture observed and produced during instruction. Results indicated that children across all three conditions improved on a shape sorting task. Improvement related to age and receptive vocabulary but not condition. There were trends towards differences associated with sex as well, with girls showing a benefit associated with observing and producing gesture while boys showed equivalent performance across conditions. These findings suggest gesture is not a panacea for supporting early spatial learning. Instead, the effects of instructional cuing likely depend on child characteristics and task context.
{"title":"Observing and producing gesture on shape categorization across learner characteristics","authors":"Nicole M. Hendrix , Susan Wagner Cook , Kristen N. Missall","doi":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106420","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106420","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Interindividual differences related to factors like sex and family socioeconomic background in spatial ability emerge early. Embedding task-specific tracing into instruction has the potential to support early spatial abilities but must be considered relative to child characteristics and existing problem-solving strategies. Aims were to: 1) evaluate whether adding observed or observed and produced tracing to instruction improved learning of shape identification compared to spoken instruction alone; 2) determine whether performance at pretest and posttest varied as a function of child characteristics; and 3) examine how spoken and gestured problem-solving strategies changed from pretest to posttest and related to both posttest performance and condition. We also assessed the extent to which change in performance varied based upon child characteristics and problem-solving strategy use. In this study, 121 children between 44 and 72 months received brief instruction regarding triangle and rectangle shape properties. Children were divided among three conditions: 1) no tracing or gesture accompanying spoken instruction; 2) task-specific gesture observed alongside instruction; and 3) task-specific gesture observed and produced during instruction. Results indicated that children across all three conditions improved on a shape sorting task. Improvement related to age and receptive vocabulary but not condition. There were trends towards differences associated with sex as well, with girls showing a benefit associated with observing and producing gesture while boys showed equivalent performance across conditions. These findings suggest gesture is not a panacea for supporting early spatial learning. Instead, the effects of instructional cuing likely depend on child characteristics and task context.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48391,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Child Psychology","volume":"263 ","pages":"Article 106420"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145589322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-21DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106416
Carole Berger , Sonia Angonin , Anne Lafay
The objective of the present study was to explore the acquisition of mathematical vocabulary by French preschoolers. Two tasks involving quantitative and spatial vocabulary (one focused on production and the other focused on comprehension) were administered to 128 children aged 3 to 6. The children came from a monolingual vs. multilingual environment and from an advantaged vs. disadvantaged socio-economic family background. The tasks were administered in the language of instruction (French language). Our results revealed an effect of the linguistic environment: children from a multilingual environment performed worse in the production of mathematical words and concepts (and especially spatial ones) than children from a monolingual environment. Furthermore, children from disadvantaged backgrounds performed worse than children from advantaged backgrounds in the comprehension and concept production tasks. Lastly, we observed an interaction between the socio-economic environment and the linguistic factor in the comprehension task. The present results might prompt new ideas and initiatives with regard to the content of educational programs.
{"title":"Mathematical vocabulary in preschool children: Effects of linguistic and socio-economic factors on the production and comprehension of quantitative and spatial words and concepts","authors":"Carole Berger , Sonia Angonin , Anne Lafay","doi":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106416","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106416","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The objective of the present study was to explore the acquisition of mathematical vocabulary by French preschoolers. Two tasks involving quantitative and spatial vocabulary (one focused on production and the other focused on comprehension) were administered to 128 children aged 3 to 6. The children came from a monolingual <em>vs</em>. multilingual environment and from an advantaged <em>vs</em>. disadvantaged socio-economic family background. The tasks were administered in the language of instruction (French language). Our results revealed an effect of the linguistic environment: children from a multilingual environment performed worse in the production of mathematical words and concepts (and especially spatial ones) than children from a monolingual environment. Furthermore, children from disadvantaged backgrounds performed worse than children from advantaged backgrounds in the comprehension and concept production tasks. Lastly, we observed an interaction between the socio-economic environment and the linguistic factor in the comprehension task. The present results might prompt new ideas and initiatives with regard to the content of educational programs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48391,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Child Psychology","volume":"263 ","pages":"Article 106416"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-21DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106415
Qing Yang , Yifei Liu , Haixin Zhang , Meng Sun
Children at the early stage of primary school (typically aged 6–8 years) begin to encounter various stresses, including academic stress stemming from expectations and evaluations by parents, teachers, and peers. Concurrently, this age group experiences accelerated cognitive development, including the crucial capacity of inhibitory control (IC), vital for academic success. In exploring the interplay between these factors, we investigated how acute academic stress affects IC in early primary school children aged 7–8 years. Stress manipulation involved a time-constrained mathematics test with peer comparison and teacher evaluation. IC performance was assessed using the adapted Go/No-go task. Results revealed that children exposed to acute academic stress exhibited impaired IC, evidenced by a significant decrease in No-go stimulus accuracy in post-test compared to pre-test tasks. In contrast, control participants who were not subjected to stress induction but completed the same mathematical test or a simple maze test did not exhibit a similar effect. This study highlights the detrimental effects of acute academic stress on IC in young primary school children, underscoring the importance of reducing excessive academic stress to support the healthy development of children’s cognitive functions.
{"title":"Acute academic stress impairs inhibitory control in early primary school children","authors":"Qing Yang , Yifei Liu , Haixin Zhang , Meng Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106415","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106415","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Children at the early stage of primary school (typically aged 6–8 years) begin to encounter various stresses, including academic stress stemming from expectations and evaluations by parents, teachers, and peers. Concurrently, this age group experiences accelerated cognitive development, including the crucial capacity of inhibitory control (IC), vital for academic success. In exploring the interplay between these factors, we investigated how acute academic stress affects IC in early primary school children aged 7–8 years. Stress manipulation involved a time-constrained mathematics test with peer comparison and teacher evaluation. IC performance was assessed using the adapted Go/No-go task. Results revealed that children exposed to acute academic stress exhibited impaired IC, evidenced by a significant decrease in No-go stimulus accuracy in post-test compared to pre-test tasks. In contrast, control participants who were not subjected to stress induction but completed the same mathematical test or a simple maze test did not exhibit a similar effect. This study highlights the detrimental effects of acute academic stress on IC in young primary school children, underscoring the importance of reducing excessive academic stress to support the healthy development of children’s cognitive functions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48391,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Child Psychology","volume":"263 ","pages":"Article 106415"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-21DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106405
Heidi M. Mettler, Mary Alt, Leah L. Kapa, Elena Plante
Purpose
Statistical learning is a mechanism that allows rapid learning without conscious effort. There is a significant gap in productive methodologies for measuring auditory linguistic statistical learning in children. Additionally, attention and working memory have been theorized to underlie this mechanism, but empirical evidence is mixed. The goal of this study was to develop an auditory linguistic statistical learning task with young children and examine the contribution of attention and working memory to outcomes on the learning task.
Method
This was a quantitative, nonexperimental study. We developed our statistical learning task through iterative rounds of piloting with children (average age 6.25 years). After, we tested 50 5- and 6-year-old native English-speaking children with typical development on our statistical learning, attention, and working memory tasks. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the results.
Results
Thirty children (about 60 %) scored above chance on the statistical learning task, and the group average was comparable or higher than what has been reported in extant literature with similar tasks. Results of the mixed models indicated that neither attention nor working memory significantly predicted children’s outcomes on the statistical learning task.
Conclusions
The method and results provide methodological insight into measuring statistical learning abilities in young children and add to the mixed empirical evidence in the literature on the role of attention and working memory on statistical learning outcomes. Methodological and theoretical interpretations of the results are discussed.
{"title":"Auditory statistical learning in young children: the feasibility of a novel task and the role of attention and working memory","authors":"Heidi M. Mettler, Mary Alt, Leah L. Kapa, Elena Plante","doi":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106405","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106405","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Purpose</h3><div>Statistical learning is a mechanism that allows rapid learning without conscious effort. There is a significant gap in productive methodologies for measuring auditory linguistic statistical learning in children. Additionally, attention and working memory have been theorized to underlie this mechanism, but empirical evidence is mixed. The goal of this study was to develop an auditory linguistic statistical learning task with young children and examine the contribution of attention and working memory to outcomes on the learning task.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>This was a quantitative, nonexperimental study. We developed our statistical learning task through iterative rounds of piloting with children (average age 6.25 years). After, we tested 50 5- and 6-year-old native English-speaking children with typical development on our statistical learning, attention, and working memory tasks. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the results.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Thirty children (about 60 %) scored above chance on the statistical learning task, and the group average was comparable or higher than what has been reported in extant literature with similar tasks. Results of the mixed models indicated that neither attention nor working memory significantly predicted children’s outcomes on the statistical learning task.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The method and results provide methodological insight into measuring statistical learning abilities in young children and add to the mixed empirical evidence in the literature on the role of attention and working memory on statistical learning outcomes. Methodological and theoretical interpretations of the results are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48391,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Child Psychology","volume":"263 ","pages":"Article 106405"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579873","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-20DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106417
Yibo Peng , Luyi Yan , Yiqun Chen , Jing Li , Zhenlin Wang , Liqi Zhu
This study explored how children (N = 196, ages 4–10) balance fairness and self-interest when making costly third-party interventions. Using a third-party trust game, children made decisions in both punishment and compensation contexts across three degrees of unfairness. Dynamic time warping (DTW) clustering was applied to identify distinct intervention patterns across unfairness conditions, offering a novel approach to capture children’s fairness behaviors as coherent trajectories rather than isolated responses. Results revealed that 4-year-olds, in low unfairness conditions (i.e., a 6:4 distribution), displayed more interventions than 10-year-olds, often exceeding what was required to restore fairness, whereas older children’s interventions were more aligned with fairness demands. In low unfairness conditions, inhibitory control was positively associated with intervention intensity, though this effect weakened with age. Age-related differences were evident in the strategies employed, particularly in punishment contexts. Younger children tended to display less clear strategies, while older children were more likely to exhibit either fairness-oriented or self-interest-oriented strategies. Negative empathy—empathy for others’ negative emotions—was positively associated with fairness-oriented decisions in punishment situations, with children exhibiting higher negative empathy more likely to be fair. However, the relationship between empathy and third-party compensation was less clear, as empathy was not significantly related to whether participants performed fairness- or self-interest-oriented behaviors. These findings suggest that with age, children’s third-party intervention strategies become more context-sensitive, shifting from spontaneous punishment in mild unfairness toward more calculated, fairness- or self-interest-oriented decisions. By contrast, third-party compensation appeared to be relatively unaffected by age in terms of orientation.
{"title":"The development of third-party intervention in children aged 4–10: Balancing unfairness aversion and self-interest","authors":"Yibo Peng , Luyi Yan , Yiqun Chen , Jing Li , Zhenlin Wang , Liqi Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106417","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106417","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explored how children (<em>N</em> = 196, ages 4–10) balance fairness and self-interest when making costly third-party interventions. Using a third-party trust game, children made decisions in both punishment and compensation contexts across three degrees of unfairness. Dynamic time warping (DTW)<!--> <!-->clustering was applied to identify distinct intervention patterns across unfairness conditions, offering a novel approach to capture children’s fairness behaviors as coherent trajectories rather than isolated responses. Results revealed that 4-year-olds, in low unfairness conditions (i.e., a 6:4 distribution), displayed more interventions than 10-year-olds, often exceeding what was required to restore fairness, whereas older children’s interventions were more aligned with fairness demands. In low unfairness conditions, inhibitory control was positively associated with intervention intensity, though this effect weakened with age. Age-related differences were evident in the strategies employed, particularly in punishment contexts. Younger children tended to display less clear strategies, while older children were more likely to exhibit either fairness-oriented or self-interest-oriented strategies. Negative empathy—empathy for others’ negative emotions—was positively associated with fairness-oriented decisions in punishment situations, with children exhibiting higher negative empathy more likely to be fair. However, the relationship between empathy and third-party compensation was less clear, as empathy was not significantly related to whether participants performed fairness- or self-interest-oriented behaviors. These findings suggest that with age, children’s third-party intervention strategies become more context-sensitive, shifting from spontaneous punishment in mild unfairness toward more calculated, fairness- or self-interest-oriented decisions. By contrast, third-party compensation appeared to be relatively unaffected by age in terms of orientation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48391,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Child Psychology","volume":"263 ","pages":"Article 106417"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145574751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-12DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106373
Maxime Cauté , Cassandra Potier Watkins , Chenxi He , Stanislas Dehaene
Understanding fractions is a major hurdle for many students. A key aspect of fraction comprehension is the ability to evaluate their numerical magnitude. Here, we use a number-to-line task, where students point to the location of a number on a graduated line, to characterize errors in fraction comprehension. A total of ∼ 26,000 French pupils from 6th to 10th grade were tested (U.S. equivalent grades). Error rates were high, almost 80 % in 6th grade and 45 % in 10th grade. Errors could be classified into seven dominant patterns, whose frequency varied by grade level and individual performance. Younger and lower-performing children mostly confused fractions with decimals. Older and higher-performing children often confused a fraction and its inverse . All grades also confused the roles of the numerator and the denominator. We propose a theoretical framework suggesting that errors arise as bugs in the execution of one of two main strategies: children converting the fraction into a decimal, or partitioning the line into units and counting them. This model explains the observed error patterns as stemming from inappropriate strategy selection, flawed execution, or incorrect corrective steps due to flawed execution. Our analysis provides a deeper understanding of the various traps that students face when interpreting a fraction’s magnitude, the frequency of these errors, and their sequential order.
{"title":"Characterizing error types in the comprehension of fractions: The number line test","authors":"Maxime Cauté , Cassandra Potier Watkins , Chenxi He , Stanislas Dehaene","doi":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106373","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106373","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding fractions is a major hurdle for many students. A key aspect of fraction comprehension is the ability to evaluate their numerical magnitude. Here, we use a number-to-line task, where students point to the location of a number on a graduated line, to characterize errors in fraction comprehension. A total of ∼ 26,000 French pupils from 6th to 10th grade were tested (U.S. equivalent grades). Error rates were high, almost 80 % in 6th grade and 45 % in 10th grade. Errors could be classified into seven dominant patterns, whose frequency varied by grade level and individual performance. Younger and lower-performing children mostly confused fractions with decimals. Older and higher-performing children often confused a fraction <span><math><mfrac><mi>a</mi><mi>b</mi></mfrac></math></span> and its inverse <span><math><mfrac><mi>b</mi><mi>a</mi></mfrac></math></span>. All grades also confused the roles of the numerator and the denominator. We propose a theoretical framework suggesting that errors arise as bugs in the execution of one of two main strategies: children converting the fraction into a decimal, or partitioning the line into units and counting them. This model explains the observed error patterns as stemming from inappropriate strategy selection, flawed execution, or incorrect corrective steps due to flawed execution. Our analysis provides a deeper understanding of the various traps that students face when interpreting a fraction’s magnitude, the frequency of these errors, and their sequential order.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48391,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Child Psychology","volume":"263 ","pages":"Article 106373"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145514555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-07DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106404
H. Lee Swanson
Inefficient working memory (WM) processes underlie poor math performance in children with math disabilities (MD). However, the assumed directional relationship between WM and math performance in children with MD has not been tested. Recent studies with large heterogeneous samples of elementary school children show a bidirectional relationship between working memory and achievement (math in this case) in which achievement (i.e., math) plays the dominant role in later WM development. In this study, we investigate the bidirectional relation between WM and math in three cohorts across three grades (Cohort 1 = grades 1 to 3; Cohort 2 = grades 2 to 4; Cohort 3 = grades 3 to 5) of children (N = 651) over three years. Within these cohorts, children with MD (n = 103) were compared to children without MD (n = 446) and high math achievers (n = 175). The results showed that: (1) the pattern of within-subject changes and between-subject changes varied between children with and without MD, (2) age-related increases in math proficiency drew extensively upon WM resources, and (3) model testing showed a directional influence of WM on math for children without MD and high achievers, but not for children with MD. Performance for children with MD reflected a weaker connection between WM and math at the initial stage than in the later stages of learning. Taken together, the results suggest that the dominance of math predictions on later development of WM is not necessarily due to prior math knowledge or a reduction in WM resources, but to the weaker growth of WM relative to math growth.
{"title":"Bidirectional effects between working memory and math in children with and without math disabilities: Does working memory or math drive the system?","authors":"H. Lee Swanson","doi":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106404","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106404","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Inefficient working memory (WM) processes underlie poor math performance in children with math disabilities (MD). However, the assumed directional relationship between WM and math performance in children with MD has not been tested. Recent studies with large heterogeneous samples of elementary school children show a bidirectional relationship between working memory and achievement (math in this case) in which achievement (i.e., math) plays the dominant role in later WM development. In this study, we investigate the bidirectional relation between WM and math in three cohorts across three grades (Cohort 1 = grades 1 to 3; Cohort 2 = grades 2 to 4; Cohort 3 = grades 3 to 5) of children (<em>N</em> = 651) over three years. Within these cohorts, children with MD (<em>n</em> = 103) were compared to children without MD (<em>n</em> = 446) and high math achievers (<em>n</em> = 175). The results showed that: (1) the pattern of within-subject changes and between-subject changes varied between children with and without MD, (2) age-related increases in math proficiency drew extensively upon WM resources, and (3) model testing showed a directional influence of WM on math for children without MD and high achievers, but not for children with MD. Performance for children with MD reflected a weaker connection between WM and math at the initial stage than in the later stages of learning. Taken together, the results suggest that the dominance of math predictions on later development of WM is not necessarily due to prior math knowledge or a reduction in WM resources, but to the weaker growth of WM relative to math growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48391,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Child Psychology","volume":"263 ","pages":"Article 106404"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145475853","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-06DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106407
Joanna Płotnikowska , Anna Filip
For adults, adolescents, and preadolescents, deciding whether to lie or tell the truth is preceded by an analysis of the consequent material costs and benefits for themselves and the recipient. However, unlike older individuals, preadolescents prioritize their own gains and losses over those of others. In this study, we aimed to discover whether primary school-aged children also engage in such analyses. We studied 52 children aged 6–10 years old while engaged in a modified sender–receiver game in which we manipulated the payoff rates for the sender and receiver of a message. Children were more likely to lie for their own or mutual benefit than for the benefit of another player. There was no difference between the lying rates when both parties gained from lying and when lying benefited only the liar. Our findings suggest that, similar to preadolescents, children’s decisions to lie or to be truthful rely more on the consequent costs and benefits for themselves than those for the recipients of their messages.
{"title":"To lie or not to lie: The role of costs and benefits in children’s decision-making","authors":"Joanna Płotnikowska , Anna Filip","doi":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106407","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106407","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>For adults, adolescents, and preadolescents, deciding whether to lie or tell the truth is preceded by an analysis of the consequent material costs and benefits for themselves and the recipient. However, unlike older individuals, preadolescents prioritize their own gains and losses over those of others. In this study, we aimed to discover whether primary school-aged children also engage in such analyses. We studied 52 children aged 6–10 years old while engaged in a modified sender–receiver game in which we manipulated the payoff rates for the sender and receiver of a message. Children were more likely to lie for their own or mutual benefit than for the benefit of another player. There was no difference between the lying rates when both parties gained from lying and when lying benefited only the liar. Our findings suggest that, similar to preadolescents, children’s decisions to lie or to be truthful rely more on the consequent costs and benefits for themselves than those for the recipients of their messages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48391,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Child Psychology","volume":"263 ","pages":"Article 106407"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145448684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号