Objectives: The present study examined parental sleep-supporting practices during toddlerhood in relation to temperament across 14 cultures. We hypothesized that passive sleep-supporting techniques (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMath anxiety (MA) affects students of all age groups. Because of its effects on children's academic development, the need to recognize its early manifestations has been highlighted. We designed a European-Spanish version of the Scale for Early Mathematics Anxiety (SEMA; Wu et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe have shown that a computer-based program that trains schoolchildren in cognitive tasks that mainly tap working memory (WM), implemented by teachers and integrated into school routine, improved cognitive and academic skills compared with an active control group. Concretely, improvements were observed in inhibition skills, non-verbal IQ, mathematics and reading skills. Here, we focus on a subsample from the overarching study who volunteered to be scanned using a resting state fMRI protocol before and 6-month after training.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this work was to study the relationship between temperament and signs of psychopathology in typically developing toddlers. More specifically, Attentional Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) symptoms were analyzed in connection with fine-grained temperament dimensions. The sample was composed of 65 toddlers aged between 18 and 35 months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMath Anxiety (MA) is characterized by a negative emotional response when facing math-related situations. MA is distinct from general anxiety and can emerge during primary education. Prior studies typically comprise adults and comparisons between high- versus low-MA, where neuroimaging work has focused on differences in network activation between groups when completing numerical tasks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudent academic achievement has been positively related to further development outcomes, such as the attainment of higher educational, employment, and socioeconomic aspirations. Among all the academic competences, mathematics has been identified as an essential skill in the field of international leadership as well as for those seeking positions in disciplines related to science, technology, and engineering. Given its positive consequences, studies have designed trainings to enhance children's mathematical skills.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis work sought to investigate the specific contribution of two different components of Effortful Control (EC) -attentional focusing (AF) and inhibitory control- to children's mathematics achievement. The sample was composed of 142 children aged 9-12 year-old. EC components were measured through the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ; parent's report); math achievement was measured via teacher's report and through the standard Woodcock-Johnson test.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of the current research was to study cognitive and affective empathy in children aged 6-12 years old, and their associations with children's family environment and social adjustment. For this purpose, we developed the Spanish version of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES), self- and parent-report forms. Factorial analyses confirmed a two-component model of empathy in both self- and parent-report forms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImpulsivity is a core personality trait forming part of normal behavior and contributing to adaptive functioning. However, in typically developing children, altered patterns of impulsivity constitute a risk factor for the development of behavioral problems. Since both pathological and non-pathological states are commonly characterized by continuous transitions, we used a correlative approach to investigate the potential link between personality and brain dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfant Behav Dev
December 2013
The aim of this work was to study the continuity of temperament in a Spanish sample (n = 60), covering the developmental stages of infancy, toddlerhood and childhood. Temperamental dimensions showed, with few exceptions, as much homotypic as heterotypic continuity as was to be expected. At the level of latent superconstructs continuity, we found that Anger and Fear followed different developmental paths and showed continuity over all the periods evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearchers have demonstrated that discriminative learning is facilitated when a particular outcome is associated with each relation to be learned. Our primary purpose in the two experiments reported here was to assess whether the differential outcomes procedure (DOP) would enhance 7-year-old children's learning of symbolic discriminations using three different forms of consequences in which (1) reinforcers are given when correct choices are made ("+"), (2) reinforcers are withdrawn when errors are made ("-"), or (3) children receive a reinforcer following a correct choice and lose one following an incorrect choice ("+/-"), as well as different types of reinforcers (secondary and primary reinforcers, Experiment 1; primary reinforcers alone, Experiment 2). Participants learned the task faster and showed significantly better performance whenever differential outcomes were arranged independently of (1) the way of providing consequences (+, -, or +/-) and (2) the type of reinforcers being used.
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