This commentary critically assesses the importance and limitations of bioconstructionist research on emotional development within the discipline of psychology, broadly conceived, finding that it depends upon theories and methodologies concerning the study of culture that the humanities can provide. The established field of the history of emotions…

In the present work, we explore the development of processing of emotional facial configurations under a predictive processing (or predictive coding) framework. Predictive processing provides a new approach to brain function that has been used to explain a wide range of processes, from perception to socioemotional processing. The explanatory power…

In this special section, 9 studies and 6 commentaries make a unique contribution to the study of personality. They focus on the five-factor model and, in particular, one of those 5: conscientiousness. This trait has had astonishing success in the actuarial prediction of adaptive outcomes in adulthood and aging, but we have little understanding of…

In many instances, children and older adults show similar difficulties in reward-based learning and outcome monitoring. These impairments are most pronounced in situations in which reward is uncertain (e.g., probabilistic reward schedules) and if outcome information is ambiguous (e.g., the relative value of outcomes has to be learned).…

Attention and working memory are fundamental for selecting and maintaining behaviorally relevant information. Not only do both processes closely intertwine at the cognitive level, but they implicate similar functional brain circuitries, namely the frontoparietal and the frontostriatal networks, which are innervated by cholinergic and dopaminergic…

The goals of the current study were to investigate the stability of temperamental exuberance across infancy and toddlerhood and to examine the associations between exuberance and social-emotional outcomes in early childhood. The sample consisted of 291 4-month-olds followed at 9, 24, and 36 months and again at 5 years of age. Behavioral measures…