Parent–Child Synchrony After Early Childhood: A Systematic Review

Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review - Parent–child synchrony, or the coordination of biological and behavioral processes between parent and child, is thought to promote healthy...     

What Makes an Idea Risky? The Relations between Perceptions of Idea Novelty,Usefulness, and Risk

Individuals and organizations frequently tout creative ideas as a desirable goal, and yet, creative ideas are frequently rejected. Creativity researchers have often suggested that creative ideas are rejected because they are perceived as riskier due to their inherent novelty or originality. Although this assumption is prevalent, we are unaware of any empirical research directly examining the relations between perceptions of novelty and risk. We provide an empirical test of this assumption in two studies in which participants rate the novelty, usefulness, and riskiness of ideas. Across both studies, we find consistent support for the idea that usefulness, rather than novelty, has the strongest relation with risk perceptions. We also find some evidence that novelty and usefulness interact to predict perceptions of risk. Additionally, in Study 2, we find that usefulness has the strongest relation with willingness to invest and buy a product. The findings of this study suggest that the bias against creativity may be driven by the perceived usefulness of an idea, rather than its novelty, such that ideas with lower usefulness are perceived to be riskier.     

The Multifaceted Relationship Between Physical Activity and Affect

The purpose of the present paper is to provide a summary of scientific findings on the relationship between physical activity (PA) and affect. We provide separate narrative reviews of (a) the association between PA and well‐being in the general population; (b) PA as a prophylactic and/or treatment for clinical depression; and (c) immediate affective response to individual PA sessions and the implications for adherence to PA programs. Findings suggest an association between engaging in regular PA and more positive well‐being, decreased risk of future depression, and reduction of depressed mood among those who are already depressed. However, despite the fairly strong evidence for these associations, there is less evidence for causal effects of PA on well‐being and depression. Individual sessions of PA generally result in positive shifts in affective valence from pre‐PA to post‐PA, but during PA, affective response is intensity‐dependent, with considerable variability for moderate intensity PA. In sum, despite the “physical activity feels good” narrative often portrayed in the popular media, the relationship between PA and affect is complex and multifaceted.     

Empathy,Depressive Symptoms,and Self-Esteem in Adolescence: The Moderating Role of the Mother–Adolescent Relationship

A large body of literature provides support for the role of empathy as a prominent factor in socio-emotional development and functioning. Although deficits in empathy are known to associate with maladaptive behaviors, less literature documents the effects of excessive empathy, which has been found to relate to various internalizing problems such as depression. There are two types of empathy, cognitive and affective, which manifest themselves in different ways and thus, have differential effects on outcomes. Therefore, in a sample of 724 Belgian adolescents (M_age?=?13.83?±?.96), the present study sought to elucidate the effects of cognitive and affective empathy on depressive symptoms and self-esteem. We also explored the interactive effects of empathy and adolescent perceived mother–child relationship quality in the prediction of our outcomes. Results revealed affective and cognitive empathy predicted outcomes concurrently, with affective empathy predicting more maladaptive outcomes and cognitive empathy predicting more positive outcomes. Interaction effects emerged between affective empathy and the relationship quality indicators. However, no interactions occurred with cognitive empathy. Further, longitudinal data revealed only cognitive empathy had long-term effects (predicting positive outcomes such as lower levels of depression and higher levels of self-esteem) suggesting that cognitive empathy may be a protective factor. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Editorial: The role of reasoning in mathematical thinking

ABSTRACT

Research into mathematics often focuses on basic numerical and spatial intuitions, and one key property of numbers: their magnitude. The fact that mathematics is a system of complex relationships that invokes reasoning usually receives less attention. The purpose of this special issue is to highlight the intricate connections between reasoning and mathematics, and to use insights from the reasoning literature to obtain a more complete understanding of the processes that underlie mathematical cognition. The topics that are discussed range from the basic heuristics and biases to the various ways in which complex, effortful reasoning contributes to mathematical cognition, while also considering the role of individual differences in mathematics performance. These investigations are not only important at a theoretical level, but they also have broad and important practical implications, including the possibility to improve classroom practices and educational outcomes, to facilitate people's decision-making, as well as the clear and accessible communication of numerical information.     

Using individual functional channels of interest to study cortical development with fNIRS

Functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a noninvasive neuroimaging technique that could be uniquely effective for investigating cortical function in human infants. However, prior efforts have been hampered by the difficulty of aligning arrays of fNIRS optodes placed on the scalp to anatomical or functional regions of underlying cortex. This challenge can be addressed by identifying channels of interest in individual participants, and then testing the reliability of those channels' response profiles in independent data. Using this approach, cortical regions with preferential responses to faces versus scenes, and to scenes versus faces, were observed reliably in both adults and infants. By contrast, standard analysis techniques did not reliably identify significant responses to both categories in either age group. These results reveal scene‐responsive regions, and confirm face‐responsive regions, in preverbal infants. More generally, the analysis approach will be a robust and sensitive tool for future characterization of the early functional development of the human brain.