What drives children to explore and learn when external rewards are uncertain or absent? Across three studies, we tested whether information gain itself acts as an internal reward and suffices to motivate children's actions. We measured 24-56-month-olds' persistence in a game where they had to search for an object (animal or toy), which they never…

Purpose: To understand factors contributing to therapy success, this study investigated the role of parents' temperament and the fit between parents' temperament and parent-reported child behavior problems in therapy outcomes across two therapy types. Method: A total of 177 children who stutter and their parents were included in this study. Data…

Background: There is growing interest in research understanding the individual-specific predictors of child callous-unemotional (CU) traits, particularly in early childhood. Objective: This study reviewed evidence from studies that investigated the relationship between early child temperament factors (between 0 and 3 years) and CU traits in…

Children with a history of behaviorally inhibited (BI) temperament face a heightened risk for anxiety disorders and often use control strategies that are less planful. Although these relations have been observed concurrently in early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence, few studies leverage longitudinal data to examine long-term…

Child temperament is a predictor of non-verbal ability (i.e. thinking and problem-solving skills that do not fundamentally require verbal language production and comprehension). Given that temperament scores might vary depending on whether the reporter is a parent or a teacher, this study analyses (a) whether those reports are different and (b)…

Caregivers play an important role in the development of talent in high-potential children, however, limited research exists on their observations and perceptions of their child's development. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine caregivers' perceptions of the social and emotional characteristics of gifted children in grades K-3.…

As availability of parent-child interaction curricula increases, Early Head Start (EHS) provides a relevant context to test research-based parenting models as part of everyday practice. We trained EHS staff to incorporate the Promoting First Relationships (PFR) intervention into ongoing weekly home visits with mothers and their young children (n =…

Across all cultures, parents have intuitive ideas ("ethnotheories") of what undesirable child characteristics are as well as how to explain them. Yet there have been relatively few cross-cultural comparisons of parents' ethnotheories about the nature and causes of child misbehavior. 108 mothers of 5-year-old children from the United…

As children develop the abilities to engage in more sophisticated forms of play, play serves as a context in which children can practice and develop skills in various domains including adaptive behavior and executive functioning. StoryCarnival is a tool designed over 39 sessions at a preschool, working with two groups of 3-5-year-old children,…

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is an early-appearing temperamental trait characterized by intense negative affect and withdrawal behaviors to novel and challenging situations. Inhibited children are more likely to display social withdrawal and experience an increased risk for internalizing problems. Trait inference, the way children interpret…