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European Journal of Investigation in... Sep 2023Children play with different toys in different ways which may be associated with different developmental outcomes. While existing work has investigated different... (Review)
Review
Children play with different toys in different ways which may be associated with different developmental outcomes. While existing work has investigated different categories of toys, differences may also be present within specific toy categories. Therefore, understanding how specific toys promote play behaviours and their associated developmental outcomes has important implications for teachers, parents, caregivers, and researchers. To better understand how children play with toy trains, whether groups of children show a particular preference for toy trains and what (if any) associated benefits there are for playing with toy trains, 36 studies published in psychology and educational databases up to December 2022 were reviewed. A key finding emerged regarding the importance of the structured, realistic, and familiar nature of toy trains being important for facilitating pretend play as well as social collaboration behaviours during social play. Whilst findings in relation to gender-stereotyped preferences for playing with toy trains were mixed and no gender differences were found in research investigating play styles, neurodivergent children were found to have a preference for toy trains. These findings are important given that certain play styles, pretend play in particular, have been associated with benefits in children's executive function, language, creativity, and social understanding.
PubMed: 37887150
DOI: 10.3390/ejihpe13100149 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Jul 2023Adolescence is a period of heightened affective and social sensitivity. In this review we address how this increased sensitivity influences associative learning. Based... (Review)
Review
Adolescence is a period of heightened affective and social sensitivity. In this review we address how this increased sensitivity influences associative learning. Based on recent evidence from human and rodent studies, as well as advances in computational biology, we suggest that, compared to other age groups, adolescents show features of heightened Pavlovian learning but tend to perform worse than adults at instrumental learning. Because Pavlovian learning does not involve decision-making, whereas instrumental learning does, we propose that these developmental differences might be due to heightened sensitivity to rewards and threats in adolescence, coupled with a lower specificity of responding. We discuss the implications of these findings for adolescent mental health and education.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Adolescent; Social Learning; Learning; Adolescent Behavior
PubMed: 37198089
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.04.002 -
Psychiatria Danubina Oct 2023This paper explores the intricate relationship between teen dating violence (TDV) and mental health disorders among adolescents, a demographic particularly susceptible... (Review)
Review
This paper explores the intricate relationship between teen dating violence (TDV) and mental health disorders among adolescents, a demographic particularly susceptible to such issues due to their critical developmental stage. The study underscores how mental health disorders can serve as both risk factors and consequences of TDV, with depression, suicidality, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use, and eating disorders being prominently associated with TDV. The profound and long-lasting repercussions of these mental health issues necessitate a comprehensive strategy to address TDV and its associated mental health implications. This paper advocates for a multi-pronged approach that includes the implementation of prevention programs to educate teenagers about healthy relationships, regular screening for TDV among adolescents for early detection, and the establishment of robust referral systems to ensure victims receive necessary support and treatment. By integrating these strategies, we aim to foster healthier relationships among teenagers, mitigate the incidence of TDV, and safeguard the mental well-being of our adolescents.
Topics: Humans; Adolescent; Mental Health; Intimate Partner Violence; Risk Factors; Substance-Related Disorders; Adolescent Behavior; Crime Victims
PubMed: 37800219
DOI: No ID Found -
Scientific Reports Jul 2023Adult gaze behaviour towards naturalistic scenes is highly biased towards semantic object classes. Little is known about the ontological development of these biases, nor...
Adult gaze behaviour towards naturalistic scenes is highly biased towards semantic object classes. Little is known about the ontological development of these biases, nor about group-level differences in gaze behaviour between adults and preschoolers. Here, we let preschoolers (n = 34, age 5 years) and adults (n = 42, age 18-59 years) freely view 40 complex scenes containing objects with different semantic attributes to compare their fixation behaviour. Results show that preschool children allocate a significantly smaller proportion of dwell time and first fixations on Text and instead fixate Faces, Touched objects, Hands and Bodies more. A predictive model of object fixations controlling for a range of potential confounds suggests that most of these differences can be explained by drastically reduced text salience in pre-schoolers and that this effect is independent of low-level salience. These findings are in line with a developmental attentional antagonism between text and body parts (touched objects and hands in particular), which resonates with recent findings regarding 'cortical recycling'. We discuss this and other potential mechanisms driving salience differences between children and adults.
Topics: Adult; Child, Preschool; Humans; Adolescent; Young Adult; Middle Aged; Hand; Touch; Touch Perception; Upper Extremity; Bias
PubMed: 37479760
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38854-8 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023Worldviews are culturally derived assumptions that influence individual and collective behaviors, values, and representations of reality. The study of mental functions...
Worldviews are culturally derived assumptions that influence individual and collective behaviors, values, and representations of reality. The study of mental functions is not exempt from this influence, as reflected in scientific theories, methodological approaches, and empirical studies. Despite acknowledging the interplay of mental processes with developmental, environmental, and cultural dimensions, psychological research is still primarily based on quantitative methods, and on the conceptualization of mental phenomena as unfolding along polarized continua. A lively epistemological debate surrounds this approach, especially underscoring the risk of blurring the distinction between constructs derived from statistical models and real-life processes and experiences. Based on this debate and on recent empirical evidence derived from the positive psychology literature, this paper is aimed at proposing an integrated view of mental health, as a holistically patterned, contextually imbedded, and dynamic phenomenon changing over time and across life events, with harmony, harmonization and dynamic balance as core qualities. The heuristic potential of investigating the qualitative configuration patterns of mental health dimensions across individuals and groups, beyond their position along a quantitative continuum, is outlined. The development of more integrated approaches and methodologies to investigate mental health as a harmonization process, taking into account personal, contextual and developmental features, would be aligned with evidence derived from the integration of traditional nomothetic and ideographic approaches, and other life sciences. However, the development of a transdisciplinary line of research requires further inputs from different epistemological views, as well as higher attention to the potential contribution of different philosophical traditions.
PubMed: 37771812
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1177657 -
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Sep 2023Many rodent species emit and detect vocalizations in the ultrasonic range. Rats use three classes of ultrasonic vocalizations depending on developmental stage,... (Review)
Review
Many rodent species emit and detect vocalizations in the ultrasonic range. Rats use three classes of ultrasonic vocalizations depending on developmental stage, experience and the behavioral situation. Calls from one class emitted by juvenile and adult rats, the so-called 50-kHz calls, are typical for appetitive and social situations. This review provides a brief historical account on the introduction of 50-kHz calls in behavioral research followed by a survey of their scientific applications focusing on the last five years, where 50-kHz publications reached a climax. Then, specific methodological challenges will be addressed, like how to measure and report 50-kHz USV, the problem of assignment of acoustic signals to a specific sender in a social situation, and individual variability in call propensity. Finally, the intricacy of interpreting 50-kHz results will be discussed focusing on the most prevalent ones, namely as communicative signals and/or readouts of the sender's emotional status.
Topics: Animals; Rats; Animals, Laboratory; Appetitive Behavior; Disease Models, Animal; History, 20th Century; Ultrasonic Waves; Ultrasonics; Vocalization, Animal
PubMed: 37268181
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105260 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood, such as violence, abuse, severe neglect, or mental health problems in... (Review)
Review
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood, such as violence, abuse, severe neglect, or mental health problems in caregivers. The negative physical and mental health consequences of severe or multiple ACEs provide a major challenge for the health care community. Psychotherapies that utilize a mind-body approach in treating ACE-related conditions are seen by their proponents as having advantages for bringing healing and restoration compared with talk, introspective, interpersonal, and exposure therapies that do not intervene at the body level, as famously encapsulated by Bessel van der Kolk's observation that "the body keeps the score." A mind-body approach whose use has been rapidly increasing in clinical settings as well as on a self-help basis is called "energy psychology." Energy psychology combines conventional therapeutic techniques such as cognitive restructuring and psychological exposure with the stimulation of acupuncture points (acupoints) by tapping on them. A review of the development, efficacy, and plausible mechanisms of energy psychology is presented, and several strengths are enumerated, such as how integrating acupoint tapping into conventional exposure methods enhances the speed and power of outcomes. The impact of energy psychology protocols on the three brain networks most centrally involved with ACEs is also examined. Finally, recommendations are offered for using an energy psychology approach at each stage of therapy with individuals who have endured severe or multiple ACES, from establishing a therapeutic alliance to assessment to treatment to follow-up.
PubMed: 37920741
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1277555 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023There are two opposing positions regarding the development of memory: the normative developmental position, and the reverse developmental position. The normative... (Review)
Review
Normative developmental vs. reverse developmental trends in memory distortion: a framework to investigate the impact of internal and external influences on memory and their relevance to legal decisions.
There are two opposing positions regarding the development of memory: the normative developmental position, and the reverse developmental position. The normative position, which has long been the default presupposition, supports the notion that susceptibility to memory distortion, including false memories, decreases with age. In contrast, the concept of "developmental reversals" supports the notion that susceptibility to memory distortion and false memories increases with age. Each perspective finds support from existing theories as well as from research on endogenous and exogenous sources of influence. In a legal context, having an accurate understanding of the developmental course of false memory can contribute on the one hand to mitigating wrongful convictions and, on the other hand, to appreciating the accuracy of children's statements when warranted. This review aims to integrate the existing literature regarding these seemingly opposite developmental courses and construct a framework outlining the conditions under which we may observe one age trend over the other. This entails an examination of the paradigms that have been invoked to support these competing positions, specifically developmental responses to internal vs. external sources of distortion.
PubMed: 37663364
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1232753 -
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Oct 2023Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders with an early onset. Guidelines recommend a careful...
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders with an early onset. Guidelines recommend a careful evaluation of developmental history when assessing the disorders, but it is unclear how children with ADHD and ASD differ from their peers growing up. In this study, physical, family, psychological, social, and educational information were examined in 3623 ethnically diverse children that were prospectively followed from birth to age 15 as part of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Fifteen-thousand variables were screened, and 506 variables included in the final analyses. Accuracy of the most indicative information to predict ADHD and ASD diagnoses in adolescence was evaluated. Adolescents with ADHD (n = 627) and ASD (n = 91) differed from their peers on a plethora of developmental signs, with signs closely related to the core symptoms of the disorders after age 5 being most indicative of the disorders. Predictive models correctly identified 66% of individuals with ADHD and 81% of those with ASD, but 62-88% of identified cases were false positives. The mean proportion of developmental deviations was 18.7% in the ADHD group, 20.0% in the ASD group, and 15.6% in peers; youth with both ADHD and ASD (n = 50) deviated on 21.8% of all developmental signs and had more pronounced deviations than those with ADHD or ASD alone. ADHD and ASD are characterized by broad and non-specific developmental deviations. Developmental information alone cannot be used to accurately predict diagnostic status in adolescence and false positives are likely if the diagnostic process relies heavily on such information. Developmental deviations are part of normal development and common in children without ADHD and ASD. Etiological heterogeneity and considerable temporal fluctuation in the core characteristics of ADHD and ASD may explain the lack of distinct developmental patterns.
Topics: Adolescent; Humans; Child; Child, Preschool; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Autistic Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Prospective Studies
PubMed: 35748938
DOI: 10.1007/s00787-022-02024-4 -
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Apr 2024Adolescence is a period of rapid biobehavioral change, characterized in part by increased neural maturation and sensitivity to one's environment. In this review, we aim...
Adolescence is a period of rapid biobehavioral change, characterized in part by increased neural maturation and sensitivity to one's environment. In this review, we aim to demonstrate that self-regulation skills are tuned by adolescents' social, cultural, and socioeconomic contexts. We discuss adjacent literatures that demonstrate the importance of experience-dependent learning for adolescent development: environmental contextual influences and training paradigms that aim to improve regulation skills. We first highlight changes in prominent limbic and cortical regions-like the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex-as well as structural and functional connectivity between these areas that are associated with adolescents' regulation skills. Next, we consider how puberty, the hallmark developmental milestone in adolescence, helps instantiate these biobehavioral adaptations. We then survey the existing literature demonstrating the ways in which cultural, socioeconomic, and interpersonal contexts drive behavioral and neural adaptation for self-regulation. Finally, we highlight promising results from regulation training paradigms that suggest training may be especially efficacious for adolescent samples. In our conclusion, we highlight some exciting frontiers in human self-regulation research as well as recommendations for improving the methodological implementation of developmental neuroimaging studies and training paradigms.
PubMed: 38364507
DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101356