Emotion Regulation in Chinese, Japanese and US Preschoolers

Emotion regulation is one of the most important aspects of preschoolers. This essay grounds the study of emotion regulation both within and across cultures. It focuses on how differences in cultural values and norms can affect development and result in long-term tendencies toward particular tendencies and strategies for regulating extreme emotions. Although there were no differences across Japanese and US parents\u27 ratings of “problem"behaviors (either anxious/withdrawn or aggressive)in a study conducted with preschool-aged children in our laboratories, there were some interesting differences across cultures in the types of strategies that parents used to teach their children about emotions and in the relationships between those strategies and children\u27s problem behaviors. In Japan, disengagement from others and heightened focus on the consequences of one\u27s behavior on others are highly potent themes,and could result in patterns of behavior that are uniquely related to kireru in Japanese societies

Putting the “Noun Bias” in Context: A Comparison of English and Mandarin

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66101/1/1467-8624.00045.pd

Brain bases of morphological processing in young children

How does the developing brain support the transition from spoken language to print? Two spoken language abilities form the initial base of child literacy across languages: knowledge of language sounds (phonology) and knowledge of the smallest units that carry meaning (morphology). While phonology has received much attention from the field, the brain mechanisms that support morphological competence for learning to read remain largely unknown. In the present study, young English‐speaking children completed an auditory morphological awareness task behaviorally (n = 69, ages 6–12) and in fMRI (n = 16). The data revealed two findings: First, children with better morphological abilities showed greater activation in left temporoparietal regions previously thought to be important for supporting phonological reading skills, suggesting that this region supports multiple language abilities for successful reading acquisition. Second, children showed activation in left frontal regions previously found active in young Chinese readers, suggesting morphological processes for reading acquisition might be similar across languages. These findings offer new insights for developing a comprehensive model of how spoken language abilities support children's reading acquisition across languages. Hum Brain Mapp 36:2890–2900, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112232/1/hbm22815.pd

Brain Activity Elicited by Positive and Negative Feedback in Preschool-Aged Children

To investigate the processing of positive vs. negative feedback in children aged 4–5 years, we devised a prize-guessing game that is analogous to gambling tasks used to measure feedback-related brain responses in adult studies. Unlike adult studies, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) elicited by positive feedback was as large as that elicited by negative feedback, suggesting that the neural system underlying the FRN may not process feedback valence in early childhood. In addition, positive feedback, compared with negative feedback, evoked a larger P1 over the occipital scalp area and a larger positive slow wave (PSW) over the right central-parietal scalp area. We believe that the PSW is related to emotional arousal and the intensive focus on positive feedback that is present in the preschool and early school years has adaptive significance for both cognitive and emotional development during this period

The impact of culture on physiological processes of emotion regulation: a comparison of US and Chinese preschoolers

Cognitive determinants of emotion regulation, such as effortful control, have been hypothesized to modulate young children's physiological response to emotional stress. It is unknown, however, whether this model of emotion regulation generalizes across Western and non‐Western cultures. The current study examined the relation between both behavioral and questionnaire measures of effortful control and densely sampled, stress‐induced cortisol trajectories in U.S. and Chinese preschoolers. Participants were 3‐ to 5‐ year‐old children recruited from the United States (N = 57) and Beijing, China (N = 60). Consistent with our hypothesis, U.S. children showed a significant negative relation between maternal‐rated inhibitory control and both cortisol reactivity and recovery. However, this was not replicated in the Chinese sample. Children in China showed a significant positive relation between maternal‐rated attentional focusing and cortisol reactivity that was not seen in the U.S. Results suggest that children who reside in Western and non‐Western cultures have different predictors of their emotion‐related stress response.We compared associations between specific effortful control subcomponents and stress‐induced cortisol trajectories in preschool children residing in the U.S. and China. U.S. preschoolers showed an expected negative association between maternal‐rated inhibitory control with cortisol reactivity and recovery. In contrast, Chinese preschoolers showed a positive association between maternal‐rated attentional focusing and cortisol reactivity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111122/1/desc12227.pd

Low-level prenatal lead exposure and infant sensory function

Abstract Background Lead is a pervasive neurotoxicant that has been associated with poorer cognitive, behavioral, and motor outcomes in children. The effects of lead on sensory function have not been well characterized. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of prenatal lead exposure on infant sensory function, as measured by auditory brainstem response (ABR) and grating visual acuity (VA). Methods Lead was measured in maternal blood in mid- and late-pregnancy (mean gestational age = 15.5 and 39.0 weeks, respectively) and umbilical cord blood in a cohort of full-term infants in rural northeastern China. ABR latencies (peaks I, III, V) were measured in newborns during unsedated sleep (n = 315). The ABR central-to-peripheral (C-P) ratio was calculated as the ratio between the III-V and I-III interpeak intervals. VA was measured in 6-week-olds using Teller Acuity Cards (n = 1019) and assigned as the narrowest grid the infant fixated on. Multivariate linear regression was used to evaluate relationships between tertiles of mid-pregnancy, late-pregnancy, or cord lead and newborn ABR or 6-week VA. Results Higher late-pregnancy lead levels were associated with higher ABR C-P ratios and lower VA. In covariate-adjusted analyses, mean C-P ratios were 4.6 and 3.2 % higher in infants whose mothers had lead > 3.8 μg/dL and lead = 2–3.8 μg/dL, respectively, than for infants whose mothers had lead  3.8 μg/dL and lead = 2–3.8 μg/dL, respectively, compared to lead < 2 μg/dL (p-trend =0.009). Conclusion Auditory and visual systems maturation appears delayed in infants with higher prenatal lead exposure during late-pregnancy, even at relatively low levels. Both systems start myelinating in late gestation and mature rapidly in infancy. Higher ABR C-P ratio and lower grating VA scores suggest effects of low-level lead exposure on sensory system myelination.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136085/1/12940_2016_Article_148.pd

Tracing children's vocabulary development from preschool through the school‐age years: an 8‐year longitudinal study

In this 8‐year longitudinal study, we traced the vocabulary growth of Chinese children, explored potential precursors of vocabulary knowledge, and investigated how vocabulary growth predicted future reading skills. Two hundred and sixty‐four (264) native Chinese children from Beijing were measured on a variety of reading and language tasks over 8 years. Between the ages of 4 to 10 years, they were administered tasks of vocabulary and related cognitive skills. At age 11, comprehensive reading skills, including character recognition, reading fluency, and reading comprehension were examined. Individual differences in vocabulary developmental profiles were estimated using the intercept‐slope cluster method. Vocabulary development was then examined in relation to later reading outcomes. Three subgroups of lexical growth were classified, namely high‐high (with a large initial vocabulary size and a fast growth rate), low‐high (with a small initial vocabulary size and a fast growth rate) and low‐low (with a small initial vocabulary size and a slow growth rate) groups. Low‐high and low‐low groups were distinguishable mostly through phonological skills, morphological skills and other reading‐related cognitive skills. Childhood vocabulary development (using intercept and slope) explained subsequent reading skills. Findings suggest that language‐related and reading‐related cognitive skills differ among groups with different developmental trajectories of vocabulary, and the initial size and growth rate of vocabulary may be two predictors for later reading development. “In this 8‐year longitudinal study, we traced the vocabulary growth of Chinese children, explored potential precursors of vocabulary knowledge, and investigated how vocabulary growth predicted future reading skills. Three subgroups of lexical growth were classified, namely high‐high (with a large initial vocabulary size and a fast growth rate), low‐high (with a small initial vocabulary size and a fast growth rate) and low‐low (with a small initial vocabulary size and a slow growth rate) groups. Low‐high and low‐low groups were distinguishable mostly through phonological skills, morphological skills and other reading‐related cognitive skills. Childhood vocabulary development (using intercept and slope) explained subsequent reading skills. Findings suggest that language‐related and reading‐related cognitive skills differ among groups with different developmental trajectories of vocabulary, and the initial size and growth rate of vocabulary may be two predictors for later reading development.”Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109871/1/desc12190.pd

Developmental trajectories of reading development and impairment from ages 3 to 8 years in Chinese children

Early prediction of reading disabilities in Chinese is important for early remediation efforts. In this 6-year longitudinal study, we investigated the early cognitive predictors of reading skill in a statistically representative sample of Chinese children from Beijing.Two hundred sixty-one (261) native Chinese children were administered seven language-related skills over three years between the ages of 3 and 6 years. Performances on these skills were then examined in relation to subsequent word reading accuracy and fluency. Individual differences in developmental profiles across tasks were then estimated using growth mixture modeling.Four developmental trajectories were classified – the typical (control), catch-up (with low initial cognitive performances but adequate subsequent reading), literacy-related-cognitive-delay (with difficulties in morphological awareness, phonological awareness, and speeded naming and subsequent word recognition), and language-delay (relatively low across all tasks) groups.Findings suggest that the combination of phonological awareness, rapid naming and morphological awareness are essential in the early prediction of later reading difficulties in Chinese children.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79090/1/j.1469-7610.2010.02311.x.pd

The Chinese communicative development inventory (Putonghua and Cantonese versions): manual, forms, and norms.

This Guide for users of the Cantonese and Putonghua (Mandarin) CDIs contains: an account of the standardisation projects undertaken in Hong Kong and Beijing for these parent report instruments; statistical information necessary to interpret the results of applying the CDIs; and, at the end of the book, all the parent report forms, for both languages, for short and long forms of the instruments. (For further statistical information on the long forms, visit wordbank.stanford.edu). The Chinese CDIs are modelled on the original MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories* but with appropriate adaptation for the cultural and linguistic characteristics of Putonghua and Cantonese. In common with the originals, they are designed to cover the age range from 8 – 30 months

The Chinese communicative development inventory (Putonghua and Cantonese versions): manual, forms, and norms.

This Guide for users of the Cantonese and Putonghua (Mandarin) CDIs contains: an account of the standardisation projects undertaken in Hong Kong and Beijing for these parent report instruments; statistical information necessary to interpret the results of applying the CDIs; and, at the end of the book, all the parent report forms, for both languages, for short and long forms of the instruments. (For further statistical information on the long forms, visit wordbank.stanford.edu). The Chinese CDIs are modelled on the original MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories* but with appropriate adaptation for the cultural and linguistic characteristics of Putonghua and Cantonese. In common with the originals, they are designed to cover the age range from 8 – 30 months