Mixed-effects models are an analytic technique for modeling repeated measurement or nested data. This paper explains the logic of mixed-effects modeling and describes two examples of mixed-effects analyses using R. The intended audience of the paper is psychologists who specialize in cognitive development research. Therefore, the concepts and…

Bayesian methods offer many advantages when applied to psychological research, yet they may seem esoteric to researchers who are accustomed to traditional methods. This paper aims to lower the barrier of entry for developmental psychologists who are interested in using Bayesian methods. We provide worked examples of how to analyze common study…

The field of cognitive training (CT) has been researched for over a century. However, there is still a debate regarding its ability to produce cognitive improvement, especially in working memory (WM) indices. This meta-analysis examined whether there is an advantage in training gains by comparing the results of two specific WM training approaches,…

Children's development of executive function is a good candidate for studying cultural differences because it is a necessary capacity for becoming competent participants in cultural activities, and yet it is also likely to be shaped by culturally organized everyday experiences, with potential consequences for children's development and learning.…

Research at the intersection of cognitive science and education has major benefits for both researchers and education practitioners. Yet, a number of logistical and communication challenges must be carefully negotiated to maximize the benefits of these collaborations. In this article, we trace the investments and major publications that have…

Scientific reasoning refers to the thinking skills involved in conceiving and conducting an investigation. This study examined how proficiency in performing these skills develops during the upper-elementary school years. A sample of 157 children (age 7-10) took a performance-based scientific reasoning test in three consecutive years. Four distinct…

Within the field of developmental science, there is a general agreement of the need to work together across academic disciplinary boundaries in order to advance the understandings of how to optimize child development and learning. However, experience also shows that such collaborations may be challenging. This paper reports on the experiences of…

Much research has investigated how children relate to norms taught to them by adult authorities. Very few studies have investigated norms that arise out of children's own peer interactions. In two studies, we investigated how 5- and 7-year-old children teach, enforce, and understand rules that they either created themselves or were taught by an…

Evidence from the study of attention among persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children suggests a rethinking of the notion that performance inherently reflects disability, ability, or capacity in favor of a more nuanced story that involves an emphasis on styles and biases that reflect real-world attending. We…

This article gives a reflective account of lessons learned from the experiences of three cognitive developmental scientists conducting psychological research in educational settings. First, we describe and analyze four key cultural distinctions between traditional approaches to research in psychology and education: 1) different structures, 2)…

Various theorists have argued for the importance of a developmental approach to studying typical development (Karmiloff-Smith, 1998; Lerner, 1996; Lerner & Hood, 1986; Masten & Cicchetti, 2010; Overton, 2014; Overton & Lerner, 2012, 2014), and there are reasons to believe that this issue is even more critical to the study of…

Translational research involving the development, implementation, and assessment of evidence-based interventions has shown promise in improving outcomes for children from lower socioeconomic-status backgrounds. One such approach involves 2-generation interventions, which target both children and their parents/caregivers. Here we traced the…

Research with preschool children has shown that explanations are important to them in that they actively seek explanations in their conversations with adults. But what sorts of explanations do they prefer, and what, if anything, do young children learn from the explanations they receive? Following a preliminary study with adults (N = 67) to…

In this study the authors investigated whether children demonstrated the "underconfidence-with-practice" (UWP) effect. This effect is a highly robust metacognitive illusion in which adults become underconfident in their memory performance when asked to predict their memory for the same items across multiple study-test trials. One…

Increasingly, cognitive developmental researchers are forming partnerships with museums as a way to achieve both overlapping and distinctive goals. Such partnerships can further our understanding of cognitive development by providing opportunities to study children's learning within social contexts. At the same time, these collaborations can…