In the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), overweight as compared to normal-weight adults make more risky decisions resulting in immediate rewards and long-term losses. Findings regarding a potentially moderating role of gender have been inconsistent and investigations on the development of weight-group differences in decision-making during childhood are lacking. Using a 3-wave longitudinal study, we examined decision-making in a matched sample of 94 overweight and 94 normal-weight children (49&#x25; girls, aged 6&#x2013;9 years at wave 1) over a 3-year period. Decision-making was measured with the Hungry Donkey Task (HDT), an age-appropriate version of the IGT, and learning within the task was examined via analysis across trial blocks. Mixed-design ANOVA revealed that more risky decisions were made by overweight as compared to normal-weight children and by girls as compared to boys. Within-task learning was evident at all three waves, moderated by weight group and gender. However, although risky decisions generally decreased across the 3-year period, weight-group and gender differences did not significantly change over the 3-year period. Our findings demonstrate that weight-group and gender differences in decision-making are already present and do not significantly change over a 3-year period in middle childhood.

Nele Lensing

Birgit Elsner

Overweight and Normal-Weight Children&#x2019;s Decision-Making in a Child Variant of the Iowa Gambling Task

Despite the consensus in the literature regarding the importance of organizational abilities in performing daily tasks, currently there is no assessment that focuses exclusively on such abilities among young children. The study aims to develop a Questionnaire for Assessing Preschoolers&#x2019; Organizational Abilities (QAPOA), Parents&#x2019; and Teachers&#x2019; versions, and to examine their reliability and validity. QAPOA was distributed to preschool teachers and parents of 215 typically developing 4&#x2013;5.6-year-old children. The teachers&#x2019; and parents&#x2019; versions demonstrated good internal consistency. Factor analysis performed to examine the tool&#x2019;s content validity yielded two factors: motor-based and language-based OA. Furthermore, both versions of the questionnaire demonstrated significant differences between OA among boys and girls. Concurrent validity was demonstrated between the QAPOA total scores and the equivalent subscale of the BRIEF-P. Given these findings, different cut-off scores were established for identifying boys and girls with either motor-based and/or language-based OA. The results indicate that both the teachers&#x2019; and parents&#x2019; versions of the QAPOA are reliable and valid measures of children&#x2019;s organizational abilities. The questionnaires can assess and identify risk for organizational disabilities as early as preschool age. Thus, it can contribute to the planning of appropriate intervention programs and the prevention of difficulties in the future.

Gila Tubul-Lavy

Nirit Lifshitz

Questionnaire for Assessing Preschoolers&#x2019; Organizational Abilities in Their Natural Environments: Development and Establishment of Validity and Reliability

We investigated how mothers&#x2019; parenting behaviors and personal characteristics were related to risk-taking by young children. We tested contrasting predictions from evolutionary and social role theories with the former predicting higher risk-taking by boys compared to girls and the latter predicting that mothers would influence children&#x2019;s gender role development with risk-taking occurring more in children parented with higher levels of harshness (i.e., authoritarian parenting style). In our study, mothers reported their own gender roles and parenting styles as well as their children&#x2019;s risk-taking and activities related to gender roles. The results were only partially consistent with the two theories, as the amount of risk-taking by sons and daughters did not differ significantly and risk-taking by daughters, but not sons, was positively related to mothers&#x2019; use of the authoritarian parenting style and the girls&#x2019; engagement in masculine activities. Risk-taking by sons was not predicted by any combination of mother-related variables. Overall, mothers who were higher in femininity used more authoritative and less authoritarian parenting styles. Theoretical implications as well as implications for predicting and reducing children&#x2019;s risk-taking are discussed.

Erin E. Wood

Shelia M. Kennison

Young Children&#x2019;s Risk-Taking: Mothers&#x2019; Authoritarian Parenting Predicts Risk-Taking by Daughters but Not Sons

In developmental research, mothers are frequently asked to &#x201c;play as you usually would.&#x201d; In this study, maternal behavior towards their three-month-olds in three cultural communities (Nso, Cameroon; Gujarati, India; Athens, Greece) was compared between videorecorded &#x201c;play&#x201d; situations and naturalistic observations. If there is consistency, videorecorded &#x201c;play&#x201d; episodes can be used as a proxy for daily behavior. Body contact, body stimulation, face-to-face situations, and object stimulation were coded. While individual mothers showed consistent levels of body contact and face-to-face and object stimulation in both situations, there were also high correlations across the different types of behaviors. Only body contact and object stimulation correlate significantly across behavioral frames but not with each other across or within either observational frame. They can therefore be understood as behaviors with some discriminatory power. Mothers generally show a higher frequency of behaviors in the videorecorded play situations than during the everyday observations across all three communities. However, the samples differ in the extent to which three of the four behaviors are seen more in the videorecorded play sessions. A broader and general understanding of mothers&#x2019; ethnotheories and daily activities in each community is required in order to interpret videographed &#x201c;play as you usually would&#x201d; situations.

Monika Abels

Zaira Papaligoura

Bettina Lamm

Relindis D. Yovsi

How Usual Is &#x201c;Play As You Usually Would&#x201d;? A Comparison of Naturalistic Mother-Infant Interactions with Videorecorded Play Sessions in Three Cultural Communities

This study analysed children&#x2019;s Theory of Mind (ToM) as assessed by mental state talk in oral narratives. We hypothesized that the children&#x2019;s mental state talk in narratives has an underlying structure, with specific terms organized in clusters. Ninety-eight children attending the last year of kindergarten were asked to tell a story twice, at the beginning and at the end of the school year. Mental state talk was analysed by identifying terms and expressions referring to perceptual, physiological, emotional, willingness, cognitive, moral, and sociorelational states. The cluster analysis showed that children&#x2019;s mental state talk is organized in two main clusters: perceptual states and affective states. Results from the study confirm the feasibility of narratives as an outlet to inquire mental state talk and offer a more fine-grained analysis of mental state talk structure.

Giuliana Pinto

Caterina Primi

Christian Tarchi

Lucia Bigozzi

Mental State Talk Structure in Children&#x2019;s Narratives: A Cluster Analysis

The purpose of this study is to determine what previous studies have found to be factors that contribute to a child&#x2019;s initial communication development and previously identified effects of reading mathematics storybooks to toddlers or preschoolers. Therefore, it follows that the earlier a preschooler is exposed to mathematics vocabulary, the easier mathematics vocabulary acquisition and understanding can be for that child, which can result in an increase in future academic achievement. This metasynthesis was conducted to gather information on the effects that interactive relationships with caregivers have on a child&#x2019;s ability to communicate and then how symbiotic reading and mathematics interventions can affect a child&#x2019;s ability to think and communicate mathematically. According to the data analyzed for this metasynthesis, caregivers&#x2019; language relationships help facilitate a child&#x2019;s early communication development and reading and mathematics symbiotic instruction can lead to developing a child&#x2019;s ability to think and communicate mathematically.

Amber J. Godwin

Mary Margaret Capraro

William H. Rupley

Robert M. Capraro

Metasynthesis of Factors Contributing to Children&#x2019;s Communication Development: Influence on Reading and Mathematics

Adults adopt the traits of characters in narratives, but little is known about whether children do so. In Study 1, 7- and 10-year-olds (<svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" style="vertical-align:-0.2064009pt" id="M1" height="8.8423pt" version="1.1" viewBox="-0.0498162 -8.6359 38.4976 8.8423" width="38.4976pt"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path id="g113-79" d="M822 650H589L583 622C660 617 677 607 674 561C672 534 664 481 647 390L600 137H596L273 650H126L120 622C176 620 194 615 207 594C221 571 225 557 214 504L161 257C141 166 129 112 121 85C108 42 83 30 29 28L23 0H260L266 28C193 33 173 42 176 89C178 122 186 172 202 255L256 527H259L583 -8H612L690 390C708 481 720 535 728 558C744 603 756 619 816 622L822 650Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,14.542,0)"><path id="g117-34" d="M535 323V373H52V323H535ZM535 138V188H52V138H535Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,25.805,0)"><path id="g113-58" d="M244 635C114 635 38 519 38 422C38 317 111 240 217 240C236 240 255 244 277 256L345 292C311 140 203 39 59 15L64 -15C89 -15 150 -5 204 17C339 72 440 202 440 386C440 521 368 635 244 635ZM228 602C326 602 352 479 352 390C352 370 351 347 348 324C327 308 293 296 258 296C174 296 124 369 124 458C124 517 152 602 228 602Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,32.046,0)"><path id="g113-55" d="M137 343C167 482 260 545 321 574C357 591 397 603 429 609L423 641C382 634 335 622 295 608C189 570 37 457 37 238C37 84 125 -12 242 -12C362 -12 447 89 447 209C447 311 374 393 267 393C247 393 226 386 204 376L137 343ZM227 337C318 337 361 256 361 173C361 105 336 22 258 22C176 22 126 120 126 240C126 266 127 291 132 310C155 323 189 337 227 337Z"/></g></svg>) heard a 2.5-minute recording about a professor or cheerleader. Reporting higher engagement in the professor narrative related to more time playing with an analytical toy (a Rubik’s cube), whereas reporting higher engagement in the cheerleader narrative related to less time playing with Rubik’s cube. However, although children were randomly assigned to a narrative, within condition children may have had preexisting personality differences causing them both to become more engaged in that narrative and also to behave more like that character afterwards. To control for this possibility, in Study 2 children (<svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" style="vertical-align:-0.2064009pt" id="M2" height="8.8423pt" version="1.1" viewBox="-0.0498162 -8.6359 44.761 8.8423" width="44.761pt"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><use xlink:href="#g113-79"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,14.542,0)"><use xlink:href="#g117-34"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,25.805,0)"><path id="g113-50" d="M384 0V27C293 34 287 42 287 114V635C232 613 172 594 109 583V559L157 557C201 555 205 550 205 499V114C205 42 199 34 109 27V0H384Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,32.045,0)"><path id="g113-49" d="M241 635C89 635 35 457 35 312C35 153 89 -12 240 -12C390 -12 443 166 443 312C443 466 390 635 241 635ZM238 602C329 602 354 454 354 312C354 172 330 22 240 22C152 22 124 173 124 313S148 602 238 602Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,38.285,0)"><path id="g113-53" d="M456 178V225H360V632H320C217 496 115 347 20 206V178H280V106C280 40 276 34 189 27V0H445V27C364 34 360 39 360 106V178H456ZM280 225H82C149 335 214 431 278 520H280V225Z"/></g></svg>) were given perspective-taking or objective instructions. Interestingly, both instructions created higher engagement than in Study 1, resulting in main effects of narrative. Children in the professor condition, compared to those in the cheerleader condition, spent more time playing with Rubik’s cube and self-reported higher levels of professor-relevant characteristics (e.g., smart, good at teaching). These studies show that, by the elementary school years and particularly when highly engaged in a narrative, children adopt the traits of a narrative’s central character.

Rebecca A. Dore

Eric D. Smith

Angeline S. Lillard

Children Adopt the Traits of Characters in a Narrative

This study examined whether there were parental state differences in interpretations of infants&#x2019; behaviours as associated with some mental states. Parents, nonparent women, and nonparent men were shown video clips that displayed several infant behaviours (e.g., playing with his/her mother). Then they were given two tasks. In a rating task, participants were asked to rate the likelihood of the filmed infant to have a mental state. On the other hand, in a description task, participants were instructed to explicitly describe the filmed infants&#x2019; mental state in an open-ended manner. Importantly, all participants were asked to report the meaning of infants&#x2019; behaviour in specific acts from the same set of infants&#x2019; behaviours (e.g., the infants saw mother&#x2019;s face and smiled). The results revealed that parents and nonparent women significantly higher rated that infants were likely to express a mental state in the rating task than nonparent men did. On the other hand, parents were more likely to describe the filmed infants&#x2019; mental states in the description task than nonparent women and nonparent men did. Results suggest that parents interpret more meanings from infants&#x2019; behaviours compared to nonparents, even when both parents and nonparents equally focused on infants&#x2019; behaviours.

Ikuko Shinohara

Yusuke Moriguchi

Adults&#x2019; Theory of Infants&#x2019; Mind: A Comparison between Parents and Nonparents

Rather than reenacting every action they observe, preverbal infants adapt their imitative behavior. Although previous studies have revealed the capability of preverbal infants to imitate selectively, the question about the adaptability of this behavior on an individual level did not attract considerable scientific attention until now. In the current study, we investigated whether 14-month-old infants flexibly alternate their imitative response in accordance with a model&#x2019;s changing physical constraints in a body-part imitation paradigm. Participants were presented with two novel actions whereby a model illuminated a light-box and turned on a sound-box, either by using her forehead (head touch) or by sitting on the apparatus (sit-touch). Each participant observed these tasks in two conditions: once where the model&#x2019;s hands were occupied and once where her hands were free while executing the head or sit-touch. Participants were more likely to reenact the observed novel behavior when the model had freely chosen to perform it than when she had to do so due to physical constraints. Not only did we replicate a number of previous findings, we show here that preverbal infants adapt their imitative behavior across conditions based on the physical constraints of the model. These results point towards the adaptable nature of imitative behavior also on an individual level. This ability might be one of the building blocks for children for learning their social group&#x2019;s specific action repertoire.

Kata Gell&#xe9;n

David Buttelmann

Fourteen-Month-Olds Adapt Their Imitative Behavior in Light of a Model&#x2019;s Constraints

About this journal

<p><em>Child Development Research</em> publishes original research articles as well as review articles in all areas of child development research.</p>


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<p><em>Child Development Research</em> maintains an Editorial Board of practicing researchers from around the world, to ensure manuscripts are handled by editors who are experts in the field of study.</p>


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Child Development Research - Table of contents 2017

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Child Development Research ceased publication in 2019 and is no longer accepting submissions.

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Child Development Research publishes original research articles as well as review articles in all areas of child development research.

Child Development Research

Table of Contents

Table of Contents: 2017

Overweight and Normal-Weight Children’s Decision-Making in a Child Variant of the Iowa Gambling Task

Questionnaire for Assessing Preschoolers’ Organizational Abilities in Their Natural Environments: Development and Establishment of Validity and Reliability

Young Children’s Risk-Taking: Mothers’ Authoritarian Parenting Predicts Risk-Taking by Daughters but Not Sons

How Usual Is “Play As You Usually Would”? A Comparison of Naturalistic Mother-Infant Interactions with Videorecorded Play Sessions in Three Cultural Communities

Mental State Talk Structure in Children’s Narratives: A Cluster Analysis

Metasynthesis of Factors Contributing to Children’s Communication Development: Influence on Reading and Mathematics

Children Adopt the Traits of Characters in a Narrative

Adults’ Theory of Infants’ Mind: A Comparison between Parents and Nonparents

Fourteen-Month-Olds Adapt Their Imitative Behavior in Light of a Model’s Constraints