British Journal of Developmental Psychology最新文献

Humans' ability to recognize the future utility of a solution is fundamental to our capacity for innovation. It motivates us to—for instance—retain and share useful tools, transforming one-time solutions into innovations that change the future. However, developmental research on innovation has thus far primarily focused on children's capacity to create solutions, rather than recognition of their future utility. Here we examined children's tendency to retain and share a solution that would be useful again at a later point. Across two rooms, 4- to 9-year-olds (N = 83, M = 83.59 months, SD = 21.21 months, 43 girls) were given a series of time-limited tasks which could be solved by building and using a tool. When given the opportunity to transport a tool between the first and second rooms, children from age 6 onwards took the tool that would be useful again above chance levels. When subsequently asked to secure a solution for another child, only 8- to 9-year-olds chose this tool above chance. Positive age-partialled correlations between children's retaining and sharing suggest that these behaviours may reflect a common underlying capacity for recognizing future utility.

Two studies explore how 4–8-year-old children develop an understanding of aha-experiences. Study 1 used a scenario approach to investigate children's understanding of the impact that having an insight has on affect. Children (N = 125) rated affect of a story character at different timepoints in problem-solving scenarios with and without aha-moments. Study 2 presented children (N = 167) with a story character displaying an aha response and two different stories of problem solving that may have led to the response. Results show that from age 4, children associate aha-experiences with positive affect. However, age differences were observed for triggers of aha-experiences. While 4-5-year-olds attributed aha-experiences to external triggers (the solution), 7–8-year-olds attributed them to mental triggers (a new insight). These findings indicate that children's understanding of aha-experiences develops over time, which aligns with theories of emotional development and theory of mind.

This study profiled the association between social–emotional competencies, psychological well-being (PWB), and secondary/middle school transition. Analysis drew from 233 sixth-class/sixth-grade students aged 11–13 years who completed measures of emotion regulation, perceived social support, self-esteem, and PWB at baseline and 1-month follow-up in primary school, and at 6-month follow-up post-secondary school transition. COVID-19 school closures, school socioeconomic status and gender were examined as moderators. Repeated-measures multi-level models revealed a significant decline in boys' emotional suppression use, an increase in boys' self-esteem, and a decline in girls' PWB across the transition. Further, perceived social support, self-esteem, and gender were significant predictors of post-transition PWB while controlling for baseline PWB. This highlights the importance of enhancing social support and self-esteem across secondary school transition and considering gender differences in school transition effects. Policymakers should consider interventions that bolster these factors during this critical developmental phase.

The current study aims to investigate the effect of familism on successful ageing (SA) across generations and to observe the feedback loop between intergenerational transitions of SA. The final sample for the study comprised 810 participants (270 grandparents, 270 fathers, and 270 grandchildren). Families having grandchildren less than 18 years and fathers working in other cities or countries were excluded from the study. Informed consent was taken from all the families before the distribution of questionnaires. Along with demographics, data were collected on the Attitudinal Familism Scale and the Successful Ageing Scale from all participants. Results indicated that the SA of grandparents predicted their own familism, leading to fathers' familism and SA. Fathers' familism further predicted their own SA and grandchildren's familism. Both fathers' SA and grandchildren's familism further predicted SA in grandchildren, leading to the SA of grandparents. The cyclic nature of the transition of SA through familism among three generations is tested by investigating the feedback loop and indirect effects estimated. Grandparents' SA through their familism directly and indirectly affect father's SA through their respective familial values, which are further reflected in the SA of grandparents.

The current longitudinal study aimed to examine two forms of parental mentalization, parenting reflectivity and mind-mindedness, as predictors of children's attachment security and social–emotional development at 2 years old. Participants included 88 racially and socioeconomically diverse women and their toddlers. Results showed prenatal parenting reflectivity significantly predicted toddler attachment security. Mothers' use of appropriate mind-related comments did not significantly predict toddler attachment security, social–emotional competence or social–emotional problems cross-sectionally above and beyond prenatal or 2-year parenting reflectivity. A mediation analysis, however, revealed an indirect relationship between prenatal parenting reflectivity and toddler attachment security via appropriate mind-related comments. The results of the present study indicate that early parenting reflectivity may serve as an important predictor of later attachment security and social–emotional development and that prenatal parenting reflectivity may serve as a precursor to parents' use of mind-minded comments with their children.

Previous research with adults and adolescents has established that mind wandering—characterized by a shift in attention from external tasks to internal thoughts—is associated with negative affect and reduced psychological well-being, particularly when focused on past events. This study explored the relations between low mood, worry, and the frequency and temporal orientation of mind wandering in children aged 8–12 years (N = 77). In a testing session conducted via videoconferencing software, we assessed mind wandering using intermittent thought probes during a listening activity and collected mood and worry data through self-report questionnaires and carer reports. Our findings indicate that children's minds wandered approximately 23% of the time, aligning with existing literature. We found a significant association between lower mood and increased mind wandering. Specifically, children with lower mood showed a higher propensity for mind wandering. Moreover, low mood was a significant predictor of past-oriented mind wandering, and a significant relation was observed between worry and future-oriented thought. These results highlight the need for future research using experimental designs to clarify the causal relationships between children's mood, worry, and mind wandering. A deeper understanding of these dynamics is essential for developing targeted interventions that aim to enhance emotional well-being in children.

Development of epistemic vigilance towards online information is crucial for adolescents in the context of widespread online ‘information pollution’. Children have demonstrated selective mistrust of webpages with typographical but not semantic errors. We used a selective trust task to investigate whether this pattern changes through adolescence. Participants read two pairs of sources about scientific topics, each pair containing a webpage with either semantic or typographical errors. When asked novel factual questions, which source participants drew answers from indicates the degree of selective trust in the source. As anticipated, age group significantly predicted selective trust scores, with older adolescents (N = 222, 16–20 years, M = 18 years) receiving higher scores than younger adolescents (N = 153, 11–16 years, M = 13.7 years.). While this age effect was present in both typographical and semantic conditions, it was particularly pronounced for semantic errors. Additionally, pre-exposure to an accuracy prompt was not a significant factor in selective trust scores, demonstrating some limitations in the utility of this prime for more complex selective trust decisions. We theorize that semantic errors may have more salience than typographical errors for older adolescents' selective trust decisions, whereas younger adolescents place more emphasis on a visual understanding of source credibility.

Children with high fantasy orientation (HFO) can quickly switch between reality and fantasy, facilitating their processing of fantastical information. This study examined the effects of viewing a high fantastical video (HFV) and a low fantastical video (LFV) on the executive function (EF) of 102 Chinese kindergarteners at the ages of 5 and 6 by their fantasy orientation level (HFO vs. LFO). Each child's viewing was recorded by an eye tracker. Results showed that after viewing the HFV, HFO group demonstrated a significantly shorter inhibitory control reaction time than LFO group, whereas, after watching the LFV programme, HFO group's inhibitory control was significantly less accurate than the LFO group. The average pupil size of the HFO group was significantly larger than that of the LFO group, regardless of the fantastical video type. This study is the first to assess the effects of viewing two types of fantastical videos on Chinese children's EF by their FO level. It provides direct behavioural and physiological evidence associated with the post-viewing EF changes.

This study examined whether the experience of stressors since infancy is related to executive function and social communication in late childhood via inflammation, using data from 4457 participants of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). It explored whether the effect of stressful life events (from 6 months to 8.5 years) on working memory, response inhibition, selective attention, attentional control, communication problems and social cognition (at ages 10–11 years) was mediated by inflammation (interleukin 6 and C-reactive protein) at age 9 years. While the study did not find evidence for mediation, it showed that, in the general child population, inflammation was related to executive function impairments, and stressful life events were related to social communication difficulties. These associations were small but robust to confounder adjustment. If causal, they suggest that reducing inflammation could improve executive functioning, the prerequisite to any purposeful and goal-directed action.