In this article, developmental psychologists Ariel Kalil and Rebecca Ryan examine the relation between parenting practices and socioeconomic gaps in child outcomes. They document substantial differences between richer and poorer families, including growing gaps in parental engagement and time use. These gaps matter: the fact that children born to…

Recent evidence indicates substantial heterogeneity in the returns to skills across countries, but only a few studies have explained the varying patterns in the return to skills. Using the 2013 STEP data for Ghana and Kenya, we estimate the causal effect of cognitive and noncognitive skills on a large set of labour market outcomes by controlling…

The Every Student Succeeds Act grants states new flexibility to create more balanced assessment systems with a greater role for formative assessment. Drawing on lessons learned over three decades of research and reform, we argue that state and local leaders should take the lead in designing new assessments guided by two core principles: First,…

This article argues, from a critical realist perspective, that it would be beneficial to extend thinking on how personal and social education could become more central to students' learning. We explore how constructive-informed arrangements which emphasize cognitive skills and affective qualities could be realized through experiential…

Many theories of human cognition postulate that people are equipped with a repertoire of strategies to solve the tasks they face. This theoretical framework of a cognitive toolbox provides a plausible account of intra- and interindividual differences in human behavior. Unfortunately, it is often unclear how to rigorously test the toolbox…

Can children's handedness influence how they represent abstract concepts like "kindness" and "intelligence"? Here we show that from an early age, right-handers associate rightward space more strongly with positive ideas and leftward space with negative ideas, but the opposite is true for left-handers. In one experiment, children indicated where on…

In this article, we review the most important findings to have emerged during the past 10 years in the study of judgment and decision making (JDM) in adolescence and look ahead to possible new directions in this burgeoning area of research. Three inter-related shifts in research emphasis are of particular importance and serve to organize this…

This study investigated the comprehension and effectiveness of teaching formal, probabilistic decision-making skills to middle school students. Two specific objectives were to determine (1) if middle school students can comprehend a probabilistic decision-making approach, and (2) if exposure to the modeling approaches improves middle school…

A computerized sequential event sampling decision-making task was administered to 187 5- to 10-year-olds and adults. Participants made a series of choices between alternatives that differed in win probability (Study 1) or win and loss probability (Study 2). Intuitive and more explicit measures were used. Study 1 revealed that, across ages,…

Counselors are required to have high levels of social-cognitive development, significant knowledge regarding ethical and legal practice, and sound ethical decision-making processes to provide effective and ethical services to their clients. This study investigated the effect of two counseling ethics courses on 64 master's-level counselor education…

Predicting how another person will evaluate the intention underlying an action involves consideration of second-order mental states. Children (ages 5-10 years) and college students (N=105) predicted an observer's belief about an actor's intention and evaluated the actor from both their own perspectives and the perspective of the observer. Younger…

In this article, the authors evaluate L. Kohlberg's (1984) cognitive-developmental approach to morality, find it wanting, and introduce a more pragmatic approach. They review research designed to evaluate Kohlberg's model, describe how they revised the model to accommodate discrepant findings, and explain why they concluded that it is poorly…

Consider the following important questions: Should values be transmitted or developed? As children grow up, what, if anything, should change in values acquisition? How important are locus of control issues in moral development? and Why might process versus product elements be crucial in the development of values? One key element missing in the…

If health education is to develop into a discipline that increases the competencies of people to implement decisions about health behaviors, the development of a paradigm that can be used as an alternative to the behavior change paradigm is required. Several models of behavior change are presented. (JN)