The predictive validity of performance on cognitive-behavioral measures of executive function (EF) suggests that these measures index children's underlying capacity for self-regulation. In this paper, we apply ecological systems theory to critically evaluate this assertion. We argue that as typically administered, standard measures of EF do not…

Children's own spontaneous mathematical activities are crucial for their mathematical development. Mathematical thinking and learning does not only occur in explicitly mathematical situations, such as the classroom. Those children with higher tendencies to recognize and use mathematical aspects of their everyday surroundings, both within the…

Emotion effects in reading have typically been investigated by manipulating words' emotional valence and arousal in lexical decision. The standard finding is that valence and arousal can have both facilitatory and inhibitory effects, which is hard to reconcile with current theories of emotion processing in reading. Here, we contrasted these…

This article investigates early childhood educators' perceptions of advocacy in raising the professional status with multiple stakeholders in diverse contexts. The article reports on findings from a phenomenological study investigating the perceptions of 12 educators working full time in long-day-care settings across Sydney, New South Wales (NSW),…

In accord with increasing recognition of the situation specificity of childhood social behaviors, individual and contextual differences in children's responses to potential peer conflict were examined (hostile attribution, behavioral strategies, and affective reactions; N = 367, 9-2 years, 197 girls). Situational cues from 2 sources, the…

Discrimination affects millions of children in the United States and throughout the world. Although the topic is important for both theoretical and applied reasons, little developmental work has examined children's perceptions of discrimination directed toward themselves and others. A review of past theoretical and empirical work on the perception…

Examined effects of contextual and individual differences on mothers' autonomy support versus control on homework-like tasks with their third-grade children. Found that mothers in the high-pressure condition were more controlling on the poem task. For the map task, mothers with initial controlling styles in the high-pressure condition were more…

Reviews the literature investigating children's ability to use the computer mouse. Results suggest that the mouse is suitable for children. Identifies issues requiring further attention, including the role of individual characteristics and previous experience in competent mouse usage. Examines adequacy of measurement tools used, stressing the…

Argues that extant research assessing relations between contextual factors and psychological disturbance has confused two different roles of context. Suggests that environmental factors are nonspecific stressors and elicit psychopathology, with specificity of expressed psychopathology governed by individual differences, and that context is…

Two studies examined individual differences in 7- to 10-year-olds' contextual facilitation. Findings indicated that poor readers showed more contextual facilitation than good readers but the relative context benefit was greater for good readers. Comprehension was a better predictor of contextual facilitation that decoding. Dyslexics showed greater…

Surveyed fourth-, seventh-, and tenth-graders in Japan and the United States regarding evaluations of peer group exclusion of atypical peers. Found that with increasing age, children demonstrated sensitivity to context (reason the peer was different) and believed that the excluded child should not change to be accepted. Girls were less willing to…

Examined the interrelations of group contextual factors and the occurrence of aggressive behavior in 22 experimental play groups of 7- and 9-year-old African American boys. Found that negative affect, high aversion behavior, high activity level, low group cohesion, and competitiveness were related to the occurrence of aggressive behavior. (MDM)