Preschoolers with Down syndrome do not yet show the learning and memory impairments seen in adults with Down syndrome

Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) exhibit a behavioral phenotype of specific strengths and weaknesses, in addition to a generalized cognitive delay. In particular, adults with DS exhibit specific deficits in learning and memory processes that depend on the hippocampus, and there is some suggestion of impairments on executive function tasks that depend on the prefrontal cortex. While these functions have been investigated in adults with DS, it is largely unclear how these processes develop in young children with DS. Here we tested preschoolers with DS and typically developing children, age‐matched on either receptive language or non‐verbal scores as a proxy for mental age (MA), on a battery of eye‐tracking and behavioral measures that have been shown to depend on the hippocampus or the prefrontal cortex. Preschoolers with DS performed equivalently to MA‐matched controls, suggesting that the disability‐specific memory deficits documented in adults with DS, in addition to a cognitive delay, are not yet evident in preschoolers with DS, and likely emerge progressively with age. Our results reinforce the idea that early childhood may be a critical time frame for targeted early intervention. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6GUA6my22Q&list=UU3FIcom6UpITHZOIEa8Onnw     

Acceptance versus distraction: brief instructions, metaphors and exercises in increasing tolerance for self-delivered electric shocks

The current study compared the effects of an acceptance versus distraction rationale on coping with experimentally induced pain. Eighty participants were randomly assigned to one of five conditions: Full-Acceptance, Full-Distraction, Instruction-only-Acceptance, Instruction-only-Distraction and No-Instructions. Participants completed a simple matching task and were intermittently given the choice either to receive an electric shock and continue, or to avoid the shock and terminate the task. Only the Full-Acceptance strategy (that included experiential exercises and a metaphor) had a significant effect on task tolerance as measured by an increase in the number of shocks delivered post-intervention relative to baseline. In addition, the participants in both of the acceptance conditions showed lower levels of believability in that they were more likely to continue with the task even when reporting more pain. The results support the prediction that acceptance-based interventions work by undermining the behavioural-control functions of pain-related thoughts and feelings, and call for a systematic analysis of how metaphors and exercises work in analogue research.     

Grammatical pattern learning by human infants and cotton-top tamarin monkeys

There is a surprising degree of overlapping structure evident across the languages of the world. One factor leading to cross-linguistic similarities may be constraints on human learning abilities. Linguistic structures that are easier for infants to learn should predominate in human languages. If correct, then (a) human infants should more readily acquire structures that are consistent with the form of natural language, whereas (b) non-human primates' patterns of learning should be less tightly linked to the structure of human languages. Prior experiments have not directly compared laboratory-based learning of grammatical structures by human infants and non-human primates, especially under comparable testing conditions and with similar materials. Five experiments with 12-month-old human infants and adult cotton-top tamarin monkeys addressed these predictions, employing comparable methods (familiarization-discrimination) and materials. Infants rapidly acquired complex grammatical structures by using statistically predictive patterns, failing to learn structures that lacked such patterns. In contrast, the tamarins only exploited predictive patterns when learning relatively simple grammatical structures. Infant learning abilities may serve both to facilitate natural language acquisition and to impose constraints on the structure of human languages.     

Loneliness and life satisfaction of boys with developmental coordination disorder: the impact of leisure participation and perceived freedom in leisure

A theoretical model linking motor ability with perceived freedom in leisure, participation in team sports, loneliness, and global life satisfaction was tested using linear confirmatory path analysis. Participants were 173 boys aged 10-13 years who filled in self-report questionnaires about perceived freedom in leisure, loneliness, and global life satisfaction. Parents of boys completed 7-day diaries and 12-month retrospective recall questionnaires about their son's leisure-time activity participation. Results of path analyses confirmed that the fit of the hypothetical model was consistent with predictions. The inferred direct pathways of influence between both total loneliness and global life satisfaction on motor ability were in the expected directions (i.e., inverse and positive relationships, respectively). Perceived Freedom in Leisure (PFL) and participation in team sports were two intermediate variables indirectly influencing these relationships. Although PFL was identified as a motivational process influencing participation levels in team sports it was noted that other psychological and environmental factors must also be considered when evaluating child-activity-environment fit for boys with developmental coordination disorder.     

Pathways from infant exposure to marital conflict to parent–toddler role reversal

We know that exposure to marital conflict places infants at risk, but we know less about processes. One process may be role reversal, when a distressed parent looks to the child to meet unmet needs for comfort, intimacy, or companionship. A parent in marital conflict may be particularly prone to role reversal, which in turn adversely affects child development. The current study examined pathways from infants' exposure to marital conflict at 12 months to role reversal at 24 months. We sampled low–middle socioeconomic status (SES) families with their first child (N = 128). Independent observers assessed marital conflict (in a problem‐solving task) and role reversal (in a story‐telling task). We found that each parent's conflict behavior predicted the other parent's role reversal. In a direct pathway, mother's conflict behavior towards father led directly to father's role reversal with the child. In an indirect pathway, father's conflict behavior towards mother led to his withdrawal from her, which in turn led to mother's role reversal with the child. Clinical implications are discussed within a developmental psychopathology framework in terms of preventive interventions to offset the deleterious effect of marital conflict and role reversal on child development.     

Gender, Self-Enhancement, and Self-Regulation of Learning Behaviors in Junior High School

Gender differences in level of self-enhancement and in relations between self-enhancement and self-regulation in 2 school subjects, math and English, were studied among Israeli junior high school students (N = 259). In English (a feminine subject) the gender groups did not differ on their self-enhancement, but in math (a masculine subject) boys revealed significantly higher self-enhancement than did girls. The same differences were found for self-regulation of learning behaviors. It was shown further that self-enhancement mediated the relations between gender and self-regulation of learning behaviors in math. The gender groups differed on the type of relations between self-enhancement and self-regulation of learning behaviors: self-enhancement was positively related to learning behaviors among girls in math, whereas it was negatively related to such behaviors among boys in English. The implications of these last findings for self-enhancement adaptiveness are discussed.     

Is a Pink Cow Still a Cow? Individual Differences in Toddlers' Vocabulary Knowledge and Lexical Representations

When a toddler knows a word, what does she actually know? Many categories have multiple relevant properties; for example, shape and color are relevant to membership in the category banana . How do toddlers prioritize these properties when recognizing familiar words, and are there systematic differences among children? In this study, toddlers viewed pairs of objects associated with prototypical colors. On some trials, objects were typically colored (e.g., Holstein cow and pink pig); on other trials, colors were switched (e.g., pink cow and Holstein‐patterned pig). On each trial, toddlers were directed to find a target object. Overall, recognition was disrupted when colors were switched, as measured by eye movements. Moreover, individual differences in vocabularies predicted recognition differences: Toddlers who say fewer shape‐based words were more disrupted by color switches. “Knowing” a word may not mean the same thing for all toddlers; different toddlers prioritize different facets of familiar objects in their lexical representations.     

Caffeine, Cognition, and Persuasion: Evidence for Caffeine Increasing the Systematic Processing of Persuasive Messages

Caffeine is known to increase arousal, attention, and information processing–all factors implicated in facilitating persuasion. In a standard attitude-change paradigm, participants consumed an orange-juice drink that either contained caffeine (3.5 mg/kg body weight) or did not (placebo) prior to reading a counterattitudinal communication (anti-voluntary euthanasia). Participants then completed a thought-listing task and a number of attitude scales. The first experiment showed that those who consumed caffeine showed greater agreement with the communication (direct attitude: voluntary euthanasia) and on an issue related to, but not contained in, the communication (indirect attitude: abortion). The order in which direct and indirect attitudes were measured did not affect the results. A second experiment manipulated the quality of the arguments in the message (strong vs. weak) to determine whether systematic processing had occurred. There was evidence that systematic processing occurred in both drink conditions, but was greater for those who had consumed caffeine. In both experiments, the amount of message-congruent thinking mediated persuasion. These results show that caffeine can increase the extent to which people systematically process and arc influenced by a persuasive communication.     

Body Dissatisfaction, Dating, and Importance of Thinness to Attractiveness in Adolescent Girls

The primary aim of this study was to test a multivariate model of predictors of body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls in which psychological variables, beliefs about the importance of popularity with boys, and beliefs about the importance of thinness to attractiveness and dating were included. We also aimed to explore boys' perceptions of the importance of thinness for attractiveness. Grade 10 girls (n = 573) and boys (n = 145) completed questionnaires. Path analysis provided partial support for the model proposed. Dating did not predict body dissatisfaction, but a relationship between importance of popularity with boys and body dissatisfaction was fully mediated by the belief that boys see thinness as important in rating girls' attractiveness. Although girls underestimated the body size that is attractive to boys, over 85% of boys reported a girl's slimness influenced her attractiveness. Dating was not correlated with body mass index.