Children prenatally exposed to opioids exhibit impairments in cognitive functioning and have an increased likelihood of experiencing other forms of adversity. Given that these other forms of early life adversity are linked to lower levels of cognitive functioning, it is important to determine whether the association between opioid exposure and…

Research has indicated that school aged (6-16 years) versions of cognitive assessment instruments have varying levels of linguistic demand, which could impact assessment results for placement purposes. However, a significant limitation to this research is the fact that it has not been replicated with cognitive assessment instruments used in…

Observational studies comparing child outcomes in early care and education classrooms of differing quality are often confounded by between-child differences. A within-child design, tracking children across contexts, can identify the effects of quality with less confounding. An analysis of Australian children (N = 1128, mean age 5 years, 48%…

This study explores the influence of kindergarten care on the social and cognitive development of Saudi Arabian and international students in early childhood education in Saudi Arabia. A mixed-methods approach assessed the development of 302 children, aged between 5 years and 11 months to 7 years, and their mothers in Saudi Arabia's Eastern…

Despite much research examining whether bilingual individuals demonstrate superior executive function (EF) skills compared to monolinguals, the purported bilingual advantage remains controversial. One potential reason for discrepant findings across studies examining the bilingual advantage is the difficulty in matching monolingual and bilingual…

Neurological soft signs (NSSs), minor neurological abnormalities, have been implicated as risk factors for poor cognitive performance in small-scale studies. Here we investigate the associations between NSSs and multiple domains of cognitive performance in a large, population-based cohort and evaluate sex differences in these associations. We…

The behaviours associated with the attachment disorders (ADs) appear to overlap substantially with those linked to the autism spectrum (AS). Given the similarities between the two conditions this article urges caution when drawing conclusions concerning the likely aetiology of presenting difficulties in any particular case. Attention is drawn to…

Analogical reasoning is a fundamental cognitive skill of drawing relationships between representations, often between prior knowledge and new representations, that allows for bootstrapping cognitive and language development (Gentner, 2003). Analogical reasoning proficiency develops substantially during childhood, though the mechanisms underlying…

Learning disabilities are currently conceptualised as involving underlying weaknesses in cognitive processing, which has prompted growing interest in cognitive interventions that may alleviate learning challenges. One such programme , the Arrowsmith programme, targets a broad array of cognitive domains, but has not been evaluated. This study…

The conceptualization of giftedness continues to be a widely debated topic within the field. Recently, there has been a shift from a psychometric view of giftedness to inclusion of conative and contextual factors. How one defines and conceptualizes "gifted" drives assessment and identification practices. Conceptualization also guides the…

A wealth of literature has examined the association between breastfeeding and the development of cognitive abilities in childhood. In particular, at least some evidence exists suggesting that breastfed children perform better on measures of intelligence later in life. Although a correlation appears to be present, fewer observational studies have…

Alleviating disadvantage in low-income environments predicts higher cognitive abilities during early childhood. It is less established whether family income continues to predict cognitive growth in later childhood or whether there may even be bidirectional dynamics. Notably, living in poverty may moderate income-cognition dynamics. In this study,…

The complicated cognitive processes involved in natural (primary) bilingualism lead to significant cognitive development. Executive functions as a fundamental component of human cognition are deemed to be affected by language learning. To date, a large number of studies have investigated how natural (primary) bilingualism influences executive…

Previous research has indicated that education influences cognitive development, but it is unclear what, precisely, is being improved. Here, we tested whether education is associated with cognitive test score improvements via domain-general effects on general cognitive ability ("g"), or via domain-specific effects on particular cognitive…

Learning the names of geometric shapes is at the intersection of early spatial, mathematical, and language skills, all important for school-readiness and predictors of later abilities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We investigated whether socioeconomic status (SES) influenced children's processing of shape names and…