As generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT become increasingly integrated into educational environments, understanding their impact on critical thinking is crucial. Despite growing concerns about AI's potential to diminish students' independent reasoning, there is a lack of research tools specifically designed to evaluate students'…

Research Findings: There are sparse data on children's use of executive function (EF) and spatial skills in block play. However, there are important implications for studying EF and spatial skills with blocks across cultures, especially regarding best practices for supporting social-cognitive development in under-resourced populations and…

A systematic review was conducted to gain a more nuanced understanding of similarities and distinctions across countries in the development of executive functions (EF). The review includes 26 studies, with child and adolescent participants, that were published between 2006 and 2018. Both similarities and differences within developmental patterns…

This study examined future-oriented behavior in children (3-6 years; N = 193) from three diverse societies--one industrialized Western city and two small, geographically isolated communities. Children had the opportunity to prepare for two alternative versions of an immediate future event over six trials. Some 3-year-olds from all cultures…

We investigated the role of mothers' references to mental states and behaviors and children's emotion situation knowledge (ESK) in a prospective, cross-cultural context. European American mothers (n = 71) and Chinese immigrant mothers (n = 60) and their children participated in the study. Maternal references to mental states and behaviors were…

The first 1,000 days of life are a critical window of vulnerability to exposure to socioeconomic and health challenges (i.e. poverty/undernutrition). The Brain Imaging for Global Health (BRIGHT) project has been established to deliver longitudinal measures of brain development from 0 to 24 months in UK and Gambian infants and to assess the impact…

Purpose: This paper examines the impact of communication technology and human-related factors on teacher, student and course performance, in particular on teacher's clarity, perceived value of the course and student learning. Design/methodology/approach: Communication technology factors are analyzed in terms of social media use, while…

These studies tested two questions about the developmental origins of children's sensitivity to iconicity with regard to number gestures: (1) whether children initially learn number gestures with sensitivity to the one-to-one correspondence between fingers and quantities or whether they learn them as unanalyzed symbols; and (2) whether sensitivity…

This study investigated cross-cultural variation in the development of executive functioning (EF) across the preschool period for United States and Chinese children from low and high socioeconomic families using a longitudinal design. Participants included 216 preschool children (n = 125 from the US; n = 91 from Shanghai and Jiangxi, China). On…

Little cross-cultural research exists on parental socialization of children's learning beliefs. The current study compared 218 conversations between European American and Taiwanese mothers and children (6-10 years) about good and poor learning. The findings support well-documented cultural differences in learning beliefs. European Americans…

Two studies investigated young 2- and 3-year-old Turkish children's developing understanding of normativity and freedom to act in games. As expected, children, especially 3-year-olds, protested more when there was a norm violation than when there was none. Surprisingly, however, no decrease in normative protest was observed even when the actor…

This article documents differences in cognitive development, as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), between children from households with high and low socioeconomic status (SES) in two different phases of early childhood in four developing countries. A large number of potential mediators, such as urban residence, preschool…

Several cognitive accounts of human communication argue for a language-independent, prelinguistic basis of human communication and language. The current study provides evidence for the universality of a prelinguistic gestural basis for human communication. We used a standardized, semi-natural elicitation procedure in seven very different cultures…

This study examines the practical and conceptual dimensions of children's play in German and Hong Kong Chinese kindergartens. German ("n"?=?24) and Chinese ("n"?=?24) children (3-6 years) were randomly selected and videotaped during their free play for 5?min continuously on five consecutive days. Play behavior was analyzed by…

In 19 (sub)samples from seven countries (United States, Austria, Germany, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Vietnam, Brazil), we analyzed the impact of parental education compared with wealth on the cognitive ability of children (aged 4-22 years, total N = 15,297). The background of their families ranged from poor indigenous remote villagers to academic…