“Hot” executive functions are comparable across monolingual and bilingual elementary school children: Results from a study with the Iowa Gambling Task

Past research found performance differences between monolingual and bilingual children in the domain of executive functions (EF). Furthermore, recent studies have reported advantages in processing efficiency or mental effort in bilingual adults and children. These studies mostly focused on the investigation of “cold” EF tasks. Studies including measures of “hot” EF, i.e., tasks operating in an emotionally significant setting, are limited and hence results are inconclusive. In the present study, we extend previous research by investigating performance in a task of the “hot” EF domain by both behavioral data and mental effort via pupillary changes during task performance. Seventy-three monolingual and bilingual school children (mean age = 107.23 months, SD = 10.26) solved the Iowa Gambling Task in two different conditions. In the standard task, characterized by constant gains and occasional losses, children did not learn to improve their decision-making behavior. In a reversed task version, characterized by constant losses and occasional gains, both monolinguals and bilinguals learned to improve their decision-making behavior over the course of the task. In both versions of the task, children switched choices more often after losses than after gains. Bilinguals switched their choices less often than monolinguals in the reversed task, indicating a slightly more mature decision-making strategy. Mental effort did not differ between monolinguals and bilinguals. Conclusions of these findings for the bilingual advantage assumption will be discussed

Behavioral Self-Regulation and Relations to Emergent Academic Skills among Children in Germany and Iceland

The present study investigated a direct assessment of behavioral self-regulation (the Head-Toes-Knees- Shoulders; HTKS) and its contribution to early academic achievement among young children in Germany and Iceland. The authors examined the psychometric properties and construct validity of the HTKS, investigated gender differences in young children’s behavioral self-regulation, and explored relations between the HTKS and a teacher report of behavioral self-regulation (the Child Behavior Rating Scale; CBRS) and emerging academic skills. Findings supported the construct validity of the HTKS when used with young German and Icelandic children. Multilevel analyses revealed gender differences, particularly on the CBRS teacher-rated measure. Finally, higher levels of behavioral self-regulation were related to higher academic skills after important background variables were controlled, although some cross-cultural differences in the predictive utility of the HTKS and CBRS were observed. Overall, these results extend prior psychometric work on the HTKS to samples of young European children and support the importance of understanding of the role behavioral self-regulation in young children’s development.Keywords: Academic achievement, Europe, School readiness, Behavioral self-regulation, Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders Task (HTKS), Early childhoo

Early Behavioral Self-Regulation, Academic Achievement, and Gender: Longitudinal Findings from France, Germany, and Iceland

A growing body of research suggests that behavioral self-regulation skills are critical for early school success. However, few studies have explored the links between self-regulation and academic achievement among young children in Europe. This study examined the contribution of behavioral self-regulation to academic achievement gains among young children in France, Germany, and Iceland. Gender differences in behavioral self-regulation skills were also explored. A total of 260 children were followed longitudinally over one to two years (average age at Wave 1 was 74.5 months). Behavioral self-regulation was assessed using a structured direct observation (Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task) and teachers assessed how well children could apply behavioral self-regulation in the classroom. Multilevel analyses revealed that higher levels of directly assessed and teacher ratings of behavioral self-regulation predicted higher academic skills after controlling for gender, age, maternal education, and previous achievement, but the relations depended on the cultural context. Also, teacher ratings of behavioral self-regulation were more consistently related to achievement gains than directly assessed behavioral self-regulation. Girls outperformed boys only in the Icelandic sample, which may explain the noticeably large gender differences in later academic achievement in this country. We discuss universal and culture-specific findings as well as implications for educational practices.Keywords: Behavioral self-regulation, Academic achievement, Europe, School readiness, Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task (HTKS

Intergenerationale Wertetransmission im kulturellen Kontext : der Einfluss des normativen Gehalts von Werten

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Transmission von Werten zwischen Müttern und ihren Kindern im Jugendalter. Insbesondere wird betrachtet, wie die Transmission einer bestimmten Werthaltung durch den normativen Gehalt beeinflusst wird, mit dem diese Werthaltung im kulturellen Umfeld der Familie behaftet ist.Die Datenbasis stammt aus Erhebungen der "Value of Children"-Studie (Trommsdorff & Nauck) und beinhaltet Angaben über die Werthaltungen Individualismus, Kollektivismus und Familienwerte von Teilnehmern aus zwölf Ländern und Regionen. Das Ausmaß des normativen Gehalts einer Werthaltung wurde über statistische Indizes für ihre Bedeutsamkeit auf Kulturebene sowie für das Ausmaß des diesbezüglichen Konsenses erfasst. Zur Datenanalyse wurden lineare und logistische Zwei-Ebenen-Modelle mit Zufallskoeffizienten geschätzt.Die Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass der Einfluss des normativen Gehalts auf die Wertetransmission abhängig vom Wertinhalt ist. Für die Werthaltung Individualismus sind keine Auswirkungen des kulturspezifischen normativen Gehalts von Individualismus auf die Transmissionsstärke nachweisbar. Kollektivismus und Familienwerte hingegen werden nicht in allen Kulturen gleich stark übertragen, wobei ein Zusammenhang zwischen diesen Unterschieden und dem normativen Gehalt der jeweiligen Werthaltungen in den Kulturen gezeigt werden konnte. Allerdings scheint für die Transmission von Kollektivismus die kulturelle Bedeutsamkeit dieser Werthaltung entscheidend zu sein, während die Transmission von Familienwerten eher vom Ausmaß des kulturellen Konsenses über die Wichtigkeit von Familienwerten beeinflusst wird

Let’s Talk About Emotions

Learning to use language in an adult-like way is a long-lasting process. This may particularly apply to complex conceptual domains such as emotions. The present study examined children’s and adults’ patterns of emotion word usage regarding their convergence and underlying semantic dimensions, and the factors influencing the ease of emotion word learning. We assessed the production of emotion words by 4- to 11-year-old children (N = 123) and 27 adults (M = 37 years) using a vignette test. We found that the older the children, the more emotion words they produced. Moreover, with increasing age, children’s pattern of emotion word usage converged with adult usage. The analysis for semantic dimensions revealed one clear criterion—the differentiation of positive versus negative emotions—for all children and adults. We further found that broad covering emotion words are produced earlier and in a more adult-like way

Emotion-specific vocabulary and its contribution to emotion understanding in 4- to 9-year-old children

Positive associations between children’s general language skills and emotion understanding are well documented. Concurrently, research from other domains highlights the importance of domain-specific language skills for conceptual development. The current study examined the relative contributions of emotion-specific and general vocabulary to individual differences in multiple early-acquired components of emotion understanding (e.g., facial emotion recognition) and later-acquired components (e.g., knowledge of emotion regulation strategies) in 4- to 9-year-old children (N = 86). Emotion-specific vocabulary was measured by size (i.e., number of emotion words children use) and depth (i.e., adult-like use of emotion words). Findings emphasize the role of children’s emotion-specific vocabulary rather than general vocabulary for early-acquired and later-acquired components of emotion understanding, especially when measured by expressive tasks. At preschool age, the size of emotion-specific vocabulary explains children’s knowledge of emotion regulation strategies. In primary school, however, the depth of emotion-specific vocabulary becomes relevant for individual differences in emotion understanding

Optimismus und Pessimismus bei Vorschulkindern : Validierung eines Elternfragebogens

Lemola S, von Suchodoletz A, Räikkönen K, Gunzenhauser C. Optimismus und Pessimismus bei Vorschulkindern. Diagnostica. 2012;58(2):64-74.Zusammenfassung. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist die Untersuchung der psychometrischen Eigenschaften, faktoriellen Struktur und konvergenten Validität der deutschsprachigen Version des Parent Rated Life Orientation Test of Children (PLOT) zur Messung von Optimismus und Pessimismus bei 4 bis 6-jährigen Vorschulkindern. Eltern von 145 Kindergartenkindern (77 Mädchen; Alter: M = 5.0, SD = 0.6 Jahre) schätzten Optimismus und Pessimismus sowie Emotionsregulation der Kinder ein. Außerdem wurde das Problemverhalten der Kinder (Eltern- und Erzieherinneneinschätzung) erfasst. Konsistent zu Studien mit Schulkindern und Jugendlichen zeigte sich eine zweidimensionale Faktorenstruktur mit einem Optimismus- und einem Pessimismusfaktor. Die Ergebnisse ergaben theoriekonforme Zusammenhänge mit Problemverhalten und Emotionsregulation der Kinder. Insgesamt weisen die gefundenen Reliabilitäts- und Validitätswerte auf eine gute Verwendbarkeit des PLOT bei Vorschulkindern hin. Das neue Messverfahren kann einen Beitrag zum besseren Verständnis von Zukunftserwartungen bei Vorschulkindern leisten und als Screening-Instrument zur Identifikation von Kindern mit einem Entwicklungsrisiko dienen

“Hot” executive functions are comparable across monolingual and bilingual elementary school children: Results from a study with the Iowa Gambling Task

Past research found performance differences between monolingual and bilingual children in the domain of executive functions (EF). Furthermore, recent studies have reported advantages in processing efficiency or mental effort in bilingual adults and children. These studies mostly focused on the investigation of “cold” EF tasks. Studies including measures of “hot” EF, i.e., tasks operating in an emotionally significant setting, are limited and hence results are inconclusive. In the present study, we extend previous research by investigating performance in a task of the “hot” EF domain by both behavioral data and mental effort via pupillary changes during task performance. Seventy-three monolingual and bilingual school children (mean age = 107.23 months, SD = 10.26) solved the Iowa Gambling Task in two different conditions. In the standard task, characterized by constant gains and occasional losses, children did not learn to improve their decision-making behavior. In a reversed task version, characterized by constant losses and occasional gains, both monolinguals and bilinguals learned to improve their decision-making behavior over the course of the task. In both versions of the task, children switched choices more often after losses than after gains. Bilinguals switched their choices less often than monolinguals in the reversed task, indicating a slightly more mature decision-making strategy. Mental effort did not differ between monolinguals and bilinguals. Conclusions of these findings for the bilingual advantage assumption will be discussed

“Hot” executive functions are comparable across monolingual and bilingual elementary school children: Results from a study with the Iowa Gambling Task

Past research found performance differences between monolingual and bilingual children in the domain of executive functions (EF). Furthermore, recent studies have reported advantages in processing efficiency or mental effort in bilingual adults and children. These studies mostly focused on the investigation of “cold” EF tasks. Studies including measures of “hot” EF, i.e., tasks operating in an emotionally significant setting, are limited and hence results are inconclusive. In the present study, we extend previous research by investigating performance in a task of the “hot” EF domain by both behavioral data and mental effort via pupillary changes during task performance. Seventy-three monolingual and bilingual school children (mean age = 107.23 months, SD = 10.26) solved the Iowa Gambling Task in two different conditions. In the standard task, characterized by constant gains and occasional losses, children did not learn to improve their decision-making behavior. In a reversed task version, characterized by constant losses and occasional gains, both monolinguals and bilinguals learned to improve their decision-making behavior over the course of the task. In both versions of the task, children switched choices more often after losses than after gains. Bilinguals switched their choices less often than monolinguals in the reversed task, indicating a slightly more mature decision-making strategy. Mental effort did not differ between monolinguals and bilinguals. Conclusions of these findings for the bilingual advantage assumption will be discussed