This cross-sectional study relied on circumscribed measures of emotion regulation and dysregulation to examine their role in mediating the associations of maternal responsiveness and effortful control with social competency and externalizing symptoms. We examined those associations in an understudied cultural context, Turkey, with 118…

This study examined whether preschool children are able to identify the source of new knowledge that they acquired in a stimulating, interactive learning context. Sixty 4- to 5-year-old children participated in two staged learning events. Several days later, children were asked questions that assessed their knowledge of factual information…

Mothers' distress is a correlate of their children's elevated behaviour problems and symptoms. Parenting practices have been shown to mediate these associations, but few studies have observed parenting or focused on parents at risk of child abuse. In this study of 269 high-risk mothers and their young children (M?=?4.2?years), structural…

We evaluated the utility of a brief, seven-item, teacher-rated Peer Social Maturity Scale (PSMAT). In Study 1, teachers of 138 Australian children (ranging from 5 to 8?years and 5?months old) in kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2 rated their pupils' social maturity using the PSMAT and their classroom social skills via the Social Skills Rating…

This research examined children's performance on second-order false belief tasks as a function of the content area for the belief and the method of assessing understanding. A total of 70 kindergarten and first-grade children responded to four second-order stories. On two stories, the task was to judge a belief about a belief, and on two, the…

The influence of a model's age on young children's behaviour has been a subject of considerable debate among developmental theorists. Despite the recent surge of interest, controversy remains about the nature of peer influence in early life. This article reviews studies that investigated the influence of a model's age on young…

This longitudinal study (n?=?106) examined associations between temperament, attachment, and styles of compliance and noncompliance. Infant negative temperamental reactivity was reported by mothers at 3, 5 and 7?months. Infant attachment was assessed (Strange Situation) at 12 (mothers) and 14?months (fathers). Toddlers' styles of…

Although prominent models emphasize that maternal, child, and situational variables are associated with parenting stress, previous research has often neglected to examine associations between maternal and infant temperament characteristics and stress experienced in the parenting role. Additionally, while predictors of global parenting stress have…

This study examined the effects of adult imitation and adult playfulness on the imitation, social attention and initiation of new behaviours by non-verbal preschoolers with autism. Videotapes taken from a previous study were recoded for the adult's imitation and playful behaviour and the children's imitation, social attention (looking at…

The development of visual attention is a key component of cognitive functioning in infancy and childhood. By the time children in poverty reach school, deficits in attention are readily apparent; however, when these attention delays manifest is unknown. The current study tested attention longitudinally at 6, 9 and 12?months in infants from…

The present study investigated the relations among fetal testosterone, child socio-emotional engagement and language development in a sample of 467 children (235 boys) from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. Bioavailable testosterone concentration measured in umbilical cord blood taken at birth was found to be significantly…

The present study examined the longitudinal relations between psychopathology and social competence in a sample of 115 Chinese children during the transition to preschool initiated in their third year of life. Social competence was assessed by maternal reports at three months after preschool entry (T1) and at the end of the first (T2) and second…

Past research has shown that children will copy the actions of adults with high fidelity, even actions that are obviously causally irrelevant to the modelled outcome. However, this phenomenon has always been documented in cases where a clear functional outcome has been brought about (e.g. getting a box open to retrieve a toy). Here, we demonstrate…

A large literature has documented that comparison and contrast lead to better performance in a variety of tasks. However, studies of comparison and contrast present contradictory conclusions as to when and how these processes benefit learners. Across four studies, we examined how the specifics of the comparison and contrast task affect performance…

We explain metacognition as a management of cognitive resources that does not necessitate algorithmic strategies or metarepresentation. When pragmatic, world-directed actions cannot reduce the distance to the goal, agents engage in epistemic action directed at cognition. Such actions often are physical and involve other people, and so are open to…