Developmental Psychology

Children’s social preference for peers engaged in brilliance-required activities: The impact of gender and race.
Women’s underrepresentation in academic fields and professions emphasizing high intellectual talents persists as a prominent societal issue. To explore early antecedents of this gender imbalance, the present study investigated the developmental changes in children’s social preference of boys and girls who pursue brilliance-required (vs. effort-required) activities. Importantly, we took an intersectional perspective to explore whether children consider target race in their social preference. Five- to 9-year-old U.S. children (N = 207; Mage = 7.53; 104 girls and 103 boys; 48% White) were presented with pairs of Asian, Black, and White characters matched in gender. One character was depicted as enjoying a game requiring high intellectual talents and the other enjoyed a game requiring effort. Participants were then asked to choose the character that they liked more, as an indicator of their social preference. With age, children became increasingly likely to prefer White boys and girls of color (i.e., Black and Asian girls) pursuing activities requiring brilliance (vs. activities requiring effort). In contrast, children did not develop increasing social preference for White girls or boys of color who opt in for brilliance-required activities. Our data suggest that, as early as elementary school years, children’s social preference in contexts valuing sheer brilliance becomes both gendered and racialized. These findings highlight the importance of using an intersectional approach to identify the specific developmental processes that contribute to social disparities in brilliance-required contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
When ethnic–racial discrimination from math teachers spills over and predicts the math adjustment of nondiscriminated adolescents: The mediating role of math classroom climate perceptions.
Ethnic–racial discrimination is a pernicious experience that affects discriminated adolescents’ healthy human development, but the spillover consequences of discrimination on the nondiscriminated adolescent population are less clear. Adolescents who vicariously witness their classmates experience ethnic–racial discrimination from educators may question their educators’ authority and classroom rules, and educators who perpetuate discrimination may engage in other practices that disadvantage the entire classroom. Thus, we posed three research questions: Did classmates’ ethnic–racial discrimination from teachers predict adolescents’ classroom adjustment outcomes (e.g., class grades, test scores, and engagement), did classroom climate mediate the link between classmates’ ethnic–racial discrimination and adolescents’ classroom adjustment outcomes, and did the results differ between early versus middle adolescents? To answer these research questions, the present study leveraged longitudinal data among 1,539 adolescents (Mage = 13.81, SDage = 1.49; 60% Black, 30% White, 9% other, 1% Asian; 49% female, 51% male) nested in 104 math classrooms, as math is a subject domain with pervasive ethnic–racial stereotypes about students’ abilities and opportunities to succeed in class. Results illustrated that direct and vicarious ethnic–racial discrimination from math educators in the fall semester predicted worse math course grades, state-administered standardized test scores, and classroom engagement across the fall and spring semesters. Math classroom climate perceptions mediated the longitudinal relations between ethnic–racial discrimination and their math adjustment outcomes, and the role of ethnic–racial discrimination varied across different developmental stages of adolescence. Implications for the measurement of ethnic–racial discrimination in the classroom context and the social contagion linked to ethnic–racial disadvantage are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Learners’ causal intuitions explain behavior in control of variables tasks.
Self-directed learners are described as “intuitive scientists,” yet they often struggle in assessments of their scientific reasoning skills. We investigate a novel explanation for this apparent gap between formal and informal scientific inquiry behavior. Specifically, we consider whether learners’ documented failure to correctly apply the control of variables strategy might stem from a mismatch between task presentation and their intuitions as causal learners. In Experiment 1, children (7- and 9-year-olds) and adults were tested on a version of a traditional multivariate reasoning task (Tschirgi, 1980) that was modified to clarify ambiguous elements of the causal logic in the original design. In all age groups, a significant majority of participants selected informative experiments on this modified task, avoiding confounded actions with positive tangible outcomes. In Experiment 2, we replicate these results with real-world stimuli, and in Experiments 3 and 4, we provide direct evidence that self-directed learners apply specific causal intuitions to experimentation tasks. Together, these findings support a novel alternative interpretation of the apparently paradoxical gap between learners’ success in informal exploration and their error-prone experimentation—both behaviors are consistent with an intuitively causal approach to scientific inquiry. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Infants’ home auditory environment: Background sounds shape language interactions.
Background sounds at home—namely those from television, communication devices, music, appliances, transportation, and construction—can support or impede infant language interactions and learning. Yet real-time connections at home between background sound and infant–caregiver language interactions remain unexamined. We quantified background sounds in the home environment, from 1- to 2-hr video recordings of infant–mother everyday activities (infants aged 8–26 months, 36 female) in two samples: European-American, English-speaking, middle-socioeconomic status (SES) families (N = 36) and Latine, Spanish-speaking, low-SES families (N = 40). From videos, we identified and coded five types of background sound: television/screens, communication devices, music, appliances, and transportation/construction. Exposure to background sounds varied enormously among homes and was stable across a week, with television/screens and music being the most dominant type of background sounds. Infants’ vocalizations and mothers’ speech to infants were reduced in the presence of background sound (although effect sizes were small), highlighting real-time processes that affect everyday language exchanges. Over the course of a day, infants in homes with high amounts of background sounds may hear and produce less language than infants in homes with less background sounds, highlighting potential cascading influences from environmental features to everyday interactions to language learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The effect of unconditional cash transfers on maternal assessments of children’s early language and socioemotional development: Experimental evidence from U.S. families residing in poverty.
Economic disadvantage has often been associated with poorer performance on measures of early childhood development. However, the causal impacts of income on child development remain unclear. The present study uses data from the Baby’s First Years randomized control trial to identify the causal impact of unconditional cash transfers on maternal reports of early childhood development. One thousand racially and ethnically diverse mothers residing in poverty were recruited from four U.S. metropolitan areas shortly after giving birth. Mothers were randomized to receive either a $333/month or $20/month unconditional cash transfer for the first several years of their child’s life. Maternal reports of language and socioemotional development, concerns for developmental delay, and enrollment in early intervention services were collected annually at the time of the child’s first, second, and third birthdays. In this registered report, we document no statistically detectable impacts of the high-cash gift on maternal reports of child development. We discuss the significance and implications of these findings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Exploration of auditory statistical learning, socioeconomic status, and language outcomes in Bangladeshi children: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.
Auditory statistical learning, or the ability to detect statistical regularities in continuously presented stimuli, is thought to be one element that underlies language acquisition. Prior studies have uncovered behavioral and neural correlates of statistical learning, yet additional work is needed from low- and middle-income countries to explore whether statistical learning varies across cultures or underlies associations often found between socioeconomic status (SES) and language outcomes. In the present study, we explored the feasibility of using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to explore auditory statistical learning in Bangladesh, a lower-middle-income country. Participants were 102 2-year-old (M = 25.72 months, SD = 2.07 months) and 125 5-year-old children (M = 62.35 months, SD = 2.46 months) living in a low-income urban neighborhood of Dhaka (average family income of 28,145.13 Bangladeshi Takas or 260.06 U.S. dollars per month). We also collected measures of SES and language outcomes. Brain responses during the statistical learning paradigm could be detected with fNIRS in both two- and 5-year-olds, with 2-year-olds exhibiting a higher response to predictable sequences and 5-year-olds exhibiting higher responses to unpredictable sequences. fNIRS correlates of statistical learning were not related to language outcomes but were associated with SES in the 5-year-old cohort. This study demonstrates the utility of employing fNIRS to study the neural correlates of statistical learning in low- and middle-income countries and the feasibility of expanding the representativeness of the existing literature. These findings also highlight potential areas for inquiry into how SES may relate to individual differences in statistical learning responses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The “what” and “when” of language input to children: Linguistic and temporal predictors of vocabulary in 3-year-olds.
The quantity, quality, and complexity of language input are important for children’s language development. This study examined how the detailed timing of this input relates to children’s vocabulary at 3 years of age in 64 mother–child dyads (male = 28; female = 36; White = 69%, Black = 31%). Acoustical analysis of turn taking in mother–child dialogue found that more consistently timed maternal responses (lower response latency variability) were associated (r = .42, p <.001) with higher vocabulary (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, third edition) scores. In mothers with consistently timed responses, the complexity (mean length of utterance) of their child-directed speech significantly predicted (r = .53, p = .002) their children’s vocabulary. This suggests that predictably timed contingent maternal responses provide an important learning cue that supports language development beyond the content of language input itself. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The development of math skills from grades 1 to 12: Novel findings using person-oriented approach.
The development of math skills is widely studied, but there is a lack of longitudinal studies investigating person-oriented developmental patterns of math skills. The present study aims to describe profiles of students with various calculation and word-problem solving skills from Grades 1 to 9, as well as the developmental trajectories of these profiles, how profiles are related to students’ further educational pathways, and whether having a specific skill profile in Grade 9 is related to the results of math and language exams at the end of Grade 12. The sample included 1,023 Estonian students who completed calculation and word-problem solving tests in Grades 1, 3, 6, and 9 (ages 6–16 years old). Educational pathway information and results of the math and language exam in Grade 12 were retrieved from the Estonian Education Information System’s registry. Socioeconomic status was determined via parental education level. Overall, results indicated that math skills were positively interrelated between the school years. However, person-oriented approach demonstrated that less than half of students tended to stay in a similar profile from Grades 1 to 9. This suggests that, in terms of math skills, most students have diverse developmental trajectories from elementary school through the end of middle school. Profiles were also related to further educational pathways and high school exam results. This study complements previous variable-oriented research to provide unique and valuable information regarding the development of math skills. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Number and domain both affect the relation between executive function and mathematics achievement: A study of children’s executive function with and without numbers.
Magnitude processing and executive functions (EFs) have emerged as robust predictors of mathematics achievement. However, the nature of these associations is still unclear. For example, it is uncertain if EFs applied in the context of domain-specific mathematical cognition (i.e., EFs applied while processing numbers) are more closely related to mathematics achievement than EFs applied in nonnumerical, domain-general contexts. Also, how distinct EF domains—that is, working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility—and contents—that is, numerical versus nonnumerical—moderate the association between magnitude processing and mathematics achievement has not been fully understood. To address these issues, we investigated how magnitude processing, EFs applied to nonnumerical and numerical task stimuli, and their interactions were associated with mathematics achievement. Three hundred fifty-nine Brazilian third- to fifth-grade (8–10 years old) students completed measures of working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility with numerical and nonnumerical task versions, nonsymbolic and symbolic magnitude comparison, and mathematics achievement. A series of regression models indicated that nonsymbolic and symbolic magnitude processing are consistently associated with mathematics achievement, even when controlling for working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility measured with both numerical and nonnumerical contents. All EF measures were associated with mathematics achievement. However, cognitive flexibility measured with numerical content showed the strongest association. Results support the hypothesis that magnitude processing and EFs are uniquely associated with mathematics achievement. Furthermore, EFs measured with nonnumerical and numerical contents related differently to mathematics achievement, even when controlling for symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitude processing, suggesting they encompass somewhat distinct cognitive processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Math motivational belief development during high school by race/ethnicity: Teachers and parents as predictors of changes.
The changes in adolescents’ math motivational beliefs (i.e., expectancies for success, interest, and utility value) across Grades 9–11 and the associations between these changes and adolescents’ experiences with socializers (i.e., perceived teacher unfairness and parent–adolescent discussions) were examined within each of the four largest racial/ethnic groups in the United States using the High School Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative data set (n = 19,010; 50% female; 9% Asian; 11% Black; 18% Latine; 62% White; Mage = 14.53 in Grade 9). Cross-tabulation analyses suggested that similar developmental trends emerged within each racial/ethnic group (which were tested separately). Many adolescents maintained their high or low expectancies, interest, and utility values across Grades 9–11. Some patterns varied by belief; for example, several adolescents switched from high to low interest by Grade 11, whereas several adolescents switched from low to high utility value. Parent–adolescent discussions predicted positive changes among Asian and Latine adolescents, whereas perceived teacher unfairness predicted negative changes among Black adolescents. The findings from the present study highlight the diverse developmental trends in adolescents’ motivational beliefs and the potential role of socializers as sources of strength or challenge in their motivational belief development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
How relations between early reading skills and third-grade mathematics outcomes vary across distribution: A quantile regression approach.
Early reading skills are critical for later academic outcomes, which include mathematics. Yet, these relations may vary by a child’s ability level. This study examined how early reading skills relate to different levels of third-grade mathematics. The samples included 105 same-sex twin pairs (210 individuals, 57% female, 43% male) from the ongoing longitudinal Western Reserve Reading and Math Projects, assessed at kindergarten (M = 6.18, SD = 0.44) and third grade (M = 9.07, SD = 0.49). Kindergarten reading measures consisted of the Letter Identification task from the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised Normative Update, the Deletion subtests from Phonological Awareness Test, and the Letter Naming Fluency task from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills; third-grade math measures included Calculation, Fluency, Applied Problem, and Quantitative Concepts subtests of Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement. Both linear and quantile regressions were conducted using reading measures as predictors and math measures as the dependent variables. Linear regressions indicated that the Deletion Summary Score was a unique predictor of Applied Problems, and Letter Naming Fluency was a significant and unique predictor of Calculation Fluency and Quantitative Concepts. Quantile regressions provided a more thorough analysis of these relations. It was found that Letter Naming Fluency was significantly associated with Calculation, Calculation Fluency, and Quantitative Concepts at the lower level. The Deletion Summary Score had relatively stable relations with Applied Problems across all levels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Does inducing growth-oriented mindsets about math ability in parents enhance children’s math mindsets, affect, and achievement?
A parent-directed intervention designed to foster growth-oriented mindsets about math was evaluated in a longitudinal randomized-control trial. Parents (N = 615; 61% White, 22% Black; 63% with at least a bachelor’s degree) participated in the intervention or an active control condition in which they learned about the Common Core math curriculum. Parents reported on their math mindsets and parenting practices (e.g., autonomy-supportive math homework assistance) over 15–18 months; their young elementary school children’s (Mage = 7.17 years; 50% girls) math adjustment (e.g., mindsets and achievement) was also assessed. The intervention (vs. control) led to sustained increases in parents’ beliefs that math ability is malleable and math failure is beneficial for learning. The intervention, however, did not improve their math parenting practices or children’s math adjustment relative to the control. Instead, there were generally improvements in math parenting practices and children’s math adjustment over the course of the study regardless of condition, perhaps because the control condition provided parents with useful information about the Common Core math curriculum. Overall, the findings indicate that although the mindset intervention was effective in instilling stronger growth-oriented mindsets about math in parents, this did not translate into benefits for children’s math learning over and above the active control condition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Developmental Psychology - Vol 60, Iss 12