Developmental Psychology

Cantrell, Lisa M.; Kanjlia, Shipra; Harrison, Mirjam; Luck, Steven J.; Oakes, Lisa M.

doi: 10.1037/dev0000683pmid: 30702312

Infants’ ability to perform visual short-term memory (VSTM) tasks develops rapidly between 6 and 8 months. Here we tested the hypothesis that infants’ VSTM performance is influenced by their ability to individuate simultaneously presented objects. We used a one-shot change detection task to ask whether 6-month-old infants (N = 47) would detect a change in the color of 1 item in a 2-item array when the stimulus context facilitated individuation of the items. In Experiment 1 the 2 items in the display differed in shape and color and in Experiment 2 the onset and offset times of the 2 items differed. In both experiments, 6-month-old infants detected a change, contrasting with previous results. Thus, young infants’ encoding of information about individual items in multiple-item arrays is related to their ability to individuate those items.

Yamashiro, Amy; Vouloumanos, Athena

doi: 10.1037/dev0000676pmid: 30730173

Adult humans process communicative interactions by recognizing that information is being communicated through speech (linguistic ability) and simultaneously evaluating how to respond appropriately (social-pragmatic ability). These abilities may originate in infancy. Infants understand how speech communicates in social interactions, helping them learn language and how to interact with others. Infants later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who show deficits in social-pragmatic abilities, differ in how they attend to the linguistic and social-pragmatic information in their environment. Despite their interdependence, experimental measures of language and social-pragmatic attention are often studied in isolation in infancy. Thus, the extent to which language and social-pragmatic abilities are related constructs remains unknown. Understanding how related or separable language and social-pragmatic abilities are in infancy may reveal whether these abilities are supported by distinguishable developmental mechanisms. This study uses a single communicative scene to examine whether real-time linguistic and social-pragmatic attention are separable in neurotypical infants and infants later diagnosed with ASD, and whether attending to linguistic and social-pragmatic information separately predicts later language and social-pragmatic abilities 1 year later. For neurotypical 12-month-olds and 12-month-olds later diagnosed with ASD, linguistic attention was not correlated with concurrent social-pragmatic attention. Furthermore, infants’ real-time attention to the linguistic and social-pragmatic aspects of the scene at 12 months predicted and distinguished language and social-pragmatic abilities at 24 months. Language and social-pragmatic attention during communication are thus separable in infancy and may follow distinguishable developmental trajectories.

Tsui, Angeline Sin Mei; Byers-Heinlein, Krista; Fennell, Christopher T.

doi: 10.1037/dev0000699pmid: 30730174

Associative word learning, the ability to pair a concept to a word, is an essential mechanism for early language development. One common method by which researchers measure this ability is the Switch task (Werker, Cohen, Lloyd, Casasola, & Stager, 1998), wherein infants are habituated to 2 word-object pairings and then tested on their ability to notice a switch in those pairings. In this comprehensive meta-analysis, we summarized 141 Switch task studies involving 2,723 infants of 12 to 20 months to estimate an average effect size for the task (random-effect model) and to explore how key experimental factors affect infants’ performance (fixed-effect model). The average effect size was low to moderate in size, Cohen’s d = 0.32. The use of language-typical and dissimilar-sounding words as well as the presence of additional facilitative cues aided performance, particularly for younger infants. Infants learning 2 languages at home outperformed those learning 1, indicating a bilingual advantage in learning word-object associations. Together, these findings support the Processing Rich Information from Multidimensional Interactive Representations (PRIMIR) theoretical framework of infant speech perception and word learning (e.g., Werker & Curtin, 2005), but invite further theoretical work to account for the observed bilingual advantage. Lastly, some of our analyses raised the possibility of questionable research practices in this literature. Therefore, we conclude with suggestions (e.g., preregistration, transparent data peeking, and alternate statistical approaches) for how to address this important issue.

Grigoroglou, Myrto; Papafragou, Anna

doi: 10.1037/dev0000693pmid: 30742466

Adults adjust the informativeness of their utterances to the needs of their addressee. For children, however, relevant evidence is mixed. In this article we explore the communicative circumstances under which children offer informative descriptions. In Experiment 1, 4- and 5-year-old children and adults described a target event from a pair of almost identical events to a passive confederate listener who could either see or not see the referents. Adults provided disambiguating information that picked out the target event but children massively failed to do so (even though 5-year-olds were more informative than 4-year-olds). Furthermore, both children and adults were more likely to mention atypical than typical disambiguating event components. Because of the contrastive nature of the task, the listener’s visual access had no effects on production. Experiment 2 was a more interactive version of Experiment 1 where participants played a guessing game with a “naïve” listener. In this context, children (and adults) became overall more informative, and the difference between child groups disappeared. We conclude that the informativeness of children’s event descriptions is heavily context-dependent and is boosted when children engage in a collaborative interaction with a “true” interlocutor.

Atkinson, Amy L.; Waterman, Amanda H.; Allen, Richard J.

doi: 10.1037/dev0000692pmid: 30816725

Recent research found no evidence that children aged 7–10 years are able to direct their attention to more valuable information in working memory. The current experiments examined whether children demonstrate this ability when the reward system used to motivate participants is engaging and age-appropriate. This was explored across different memory loads (3- vs. 4-item arrays) and modes of presentation (sequential vs. simultaneous). Younger (7–8 years) and older children (9–10 years) were shown 3 or 4 colored shapes and asked to recall the color of one probed item following a brief delay. Items were either presented sequentially (Experiment 1) or simultaneously (Experiment 2). Children completed a differential probe value condition, in which the first shape (Experiment 1) or the top-left shape (Experiment 2) was worth more points than the other items, and an equal probe value condition, in which all shapes were equally valuable. Children were told they could use the points collected to play a specially designed game at the end of the session, and that they would be given a prize if they collected enough points. When items were presented sequentially, significant probe value effects emerged, with children showing higher accuracy for the first item when this serial position was more valuable. This effect was consistent across age group and memory load. When items were encountered simultaneously, both groups showed probe value effects in the higher (4-item) memory load condition. This indicates that children can prioritize more valuable information in working memory when sufficiently motivated to do so.

Wakefield, Elizabeth M.; Foley, Alana E.; Ping, Raedy; Villarreal, Julia N.; Goldin-Meadow, Susan; Levine, Susan C.

doi: 10.1037/dev0000697pmid: 30777770

Past research has shown that children’s mental rotation skills are malleable and can be improved through action experience—physically rotating objects—or gesture experience—showing how objects could rotate (e.g., Frick, Ferrara, & Newcombe, 2013; Goldin-Meadow et al., 2012; Levine, Goldin-Meadow, Carlson, & Hemani-Lopez, 2018). These two types of movements both involve rotation, but differ on a number of components. Here, we break down action and gesture into components—feeling an object during rotation, using a grasping handshape during rotation, tracing the trajectory of rotation, and seeing the outcome of rotation—and ask, in two studies, how training children on a mental rotation task through different combinations of these components impacts learning gains across a delay. Our results extend the literature by showing that, although all children benefit from training experiences, some training experiences are more beneficial than others, and the pattern differs by sex. Not seeing the outcome of rotation emerged as a crucial training component for both males and females. However, not seeing the outcome turned out to be the only necessary component for males (who showed equivalent gains when imagining or gesturing object rotation). Females, in contrast, only benefitted from not seeing the outcome when it involved producing a relevant motor movement (i.e., when gesturing the rotation of the object and not simply imagining the rotation of the object). Results are discussed in relation to potential mechanisms driving these effects and practical implications.

Bielak, Allison A. M.; Anstey, Kaarin J.

doi: 10.1037/dev0000688pmid: 30688470

Intraindividual variability (IIV) in cognitive speed, or moment-to-moment changes in ability, is a developmental phenomenon indicative of neurological integrity that increases gradually across adulthood. Past research has shown that IIV negatively covaries with cognitive performance, in which higher IIV at one occasion is associated with poorer cognitive ability at the same occasion. However, this association has been demonstrated only in older adulthood. Further, all past examinations of IIV change with cognitive change did not remove the average or between-person effect from within-person change in IIV. Using the PATH Through Life Study, we evaluated whether there were differences across 3 age cohorts (20–24, 40–44, and 60–64 years at baseline) in the relationship between 8-year change in IIV and change in cognitive ability (N = 7,485). Change in IIV was partitioned into between-person and within-person components, and multilevel models covarying for education, sex, diabetes, hypertension, and anxiety and depressive symptoms were conducted. IIV was negatively related to baseline cognitive performance at the between-person level. Notably, this relation was apparent and, in fact, strongest for those in young adulthood. Level of IIV was also negatively associated with cognitive change, but primarily for the youngest cohort. In contrast to previous research, there was minimal evidence of significant covariation in which within-person changes in IIV were associated with changes in cognitive performance, regardless of age group. Overall, IIV is a stable characteristic negatively associated with cognition in adulthood, but this link may primarily exist at the between-person level.

Weidinger, Anne F.; Steinmayr, Ricarda; Spinath, Birgit

doi: 10.1037/dev0000695pmid: 30730172

In line with the reciprocal internal/external frame of reference model (RI/E model), it is well-established that secondary school students generate domain-specific ability self-concepts by comparing their own performance in a domain socially (i.e., with others’ performance in this domain) and dimensionally (i.e., with their own performance in other domains). However, developmental theories of ability conceptions suggest that the use of such performance comparisons to evaluate own abilities may differ by students’ developmental stage because of important developmental changes between early and late childhood. Yet, to our knowledge, no study has investigated dimensional comparison effects in elementary school longitudinally although this can provide valuable information on the formation of ability self-concepts. Thus, we tested whether longitudinal dimensional effects on changes in students’ ability self-concepts occur in the early school years. Ability self-concepts and grades in math and German of 542 German elementary school students were assessed seven times over 24 months from Grade 2 (M = 7.95 years of age, SD = 0.58) to Grade 4. Cross-sectional analyses showed some evidence for dimensional effects of students’ math grades on their German self-concepts, but not of students’ German grades on their math self-concepts. Longitudinal analyses with latent cross-lagged models revealed no evidence for longitudinal dimensional effects on changes in children’s ability self-concepts. Findings indicate that dimensional comparisons are not as important in ability self-concept formation in the first school years as they tend to be later on. Findings underline the importance of considering developmental differences to better understand ability self-concept formation.

Larson, Reed W.; Raffaelli, Marcela; Guzman, Sandy; Salusky, Ida; Orson, Carolyn N.; Kenzer, Andrea

doi: 10.1037/dev0000674pmid: 30640500

Developmental theory historically viewed demanding roles (at home, job) as important developmental contexts. However, adolescents’ participation in these roles has fallen. This qualitative research examined role experiences in United States youth development programs. A central question among others was, “How can youth experience internal motivation fulfilling externally imposed role obligations?” We interviewed 73 youth with substantive work roles (e.g., Leader, Reporter, and Teacher) in 13 arts, science-technology, and leadership programs. Youth (51% female) were 14- to 18-years-old and ethnically diverse. We used grounded-theory methods suited to understanding youth’s active learning processes in context. Findings illuminated youth’s experiences in 4 important transactions or “steps.” Youth: (a) accepted roles based on personal goals, (b) encountered difficult challenges similar to adult roles (e.g., conflicting viewpoints, role strain), (c) drew on resources to overcome challenges and fulfill role demands, and (d) learned through these experiences. Across these steps, findings suggested 3 powerful development processes. First, youth experienced multiple sources of internal motivation (e.g., agency within roles, personal and social investment, and “good pressure”), which fostered high engagement in role performance and learning. Second, experiences grappling with and fulfilling difficult role demands helped youth build important competencies for action (e.g., strategic thinking, perseverance). Third, youth’s experience of accountability to others served as a powerful driver of responsibility development: Because youth were invested, they took ownership of obligations to others and learned responsive modes of thinking and acting, which they transferred to family, school, and elsewhere. We propose that teens would benefit from more opportunities for role experiences like these.

Busuito, Alex; Quigley, Kelsey M.; Moore, Ginger A.; Voegtline, Kristin M.; DiPietro, Janet A.

doi: 10.1037/dev0000689pmid: 30742469

Infant–mother behavioral synchrony is thought to scaffold the development of self-regulation in the first years of life. During this time, infants’ and mothers’ physiological regulation may contribute to dyadic synchrony and, in infants, dyadic synchrony may support infants’ physiological regulation. Because the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) serve different regulatory functions, the current study aimed to elucidate relations between infants’ and mothers’ SNS and PNS functioning and dyadic behavioral synchrony. Skin conductance (SC; SNS index), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; PNS index), heart period (HP; index of joint SNS and PNS arousal), and behavioral synchrony were assessed in 6-month-old infants (N = 140) and their mothers during a mild social stressor, the Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm (Tronick, Als, Adamson, Wise, & Brazelton, 1978). Synchrony was related to infants’ and mothers’ PNS and to mothers’ broad autonomic arousal but not to SNS-specific arousal. Higher levels of behavioral synchrony were associated with lower infant RSA but with higher mother HP and RSA at baseline and in each Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm episode. Therefore, lower RSA infants may have required more synchronous engagement with mothers to support regulation, while higher RSA, less aroused mothers may have been particularly well-attuned to infants’ emotions. Findings suggest that each individual’s physiological state may contribute to the behavioral functioning of the dyad.