Aim/Purpose: This study explores the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR) application designed to teach Theory of Mind (ToM) skills to children aged 5-6, addressing the gap in research on the use of VR for typically developing children. Background: ToM is a critical skill for social interaction and understanding others' perspectives. Despite…

Background: Despite the increased risk for people with an intellectual disability developing dementia, post-diagnostic psychosocial supports such as cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) are not routinely offered and there is limited research examining this intervention with people with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study was to explore…

Social understanding competence develops in sensitive and co-regulating caregiver interactions. Parental reflective functioning (PRF) and parenting stress can affect children's social understanding. This study investigated if children's social understanding was associated with PRF and parenting stress. Parents of 305 Italian children aged from 24…

Self-regulation develops rapidly during early childhood and is essential for academic and social adjustment. However, previous research has attempted to define the conceptualization and structure of self-regulation differently, leaving the field with an incomplete picture. The nature of the relations between self-regulation and early child…

This paper discusses three relationships between content and language integrated learning (CLIL) research and practice in the context of South America. The first relationship focuses on research with successful results in the areas of language learning motivation and intercultural communicative competence and citizenship. The second relationship…

This study explores the significance of forest schools in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically their effects on children's developmental areas. This study was conducted with nine preschool teachers and 134 children attending a public forest school in southern Turkey in 2021. A combination of observation protocols, anecdotal records,…

Objective: This study was designed to produce a new parent-report measure, the Diagnostic Receptive Expressive Assessment of Mandarin-Infant Toddler Assessment of Communication and Language (DREAM-IT) in order to provide norms for the developmental skills of children aged 0-36 months in four areas: expressive language, receptive language,…

Various forms of humor are an important aspect of social interactions, even at an early age. Humor comprehension is a repertoire that is said to emerge between the ages of 7 and 11 years, and this is primarily attributed to a child's level of cognitive development. The behavioral literature has suggested that various forms of complex verbal…

The current study explores the impact of visual arts education on early childhood, highlighting its role in enhancing creativity, imagination, and emotional expression in pre-school children. It explores the perspectives of pre-school teachers on the importance of visual arts in children's development and the challenges they face when integrating…

High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) is related to childrens' socioemotional and cognitive development, and the most important aspect regarding quality in ECEC is staff's interpersonal or interactive skills. Despite this, research on staff's interactive skills is currently sparse in Norway. This study uses the Caregiver…

The majority of the research examining children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Williams Syndrome (WS) focus on the social domain while few have examined cognitive style and emotionality. Accordingly, this current study assessed the day-to-day cognitive and behavioral functioning of school-age children with ASD, WS, and neurotypical…

Caregivers are increasingly recognised as significant in providing naturalistic interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder in high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries including Sri Lanka. It is imperative to assess the impact of programmes targeting desired parenting skills within cultural boundaries. A preliminary…

Minecraft is a popular digital game-based learning (DGBL) tool used in learning environments around the world. With increasing emphasis on evidence-informed practice and policymaking in educational systems, this paper systematically reviews the evidence base behind the use of Minecraft in improving academic, cognitive, motivational-affective and…

Learner engagement is increasingly recognized as a crucial factor in language education, especially for young learners. However, research into how teachers perceive and assess learner engagement in intact English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms remains limited. This study explored how primary school teachers in urban and rural areas in a…

Empathy and executive functions (EFs) are multimodal constructs that enable individuals to cope with their environment. Both abilities develop throughout childhood and are known to contribute to social behavior and academic performance in young adolescents. Notably, mentalizing and EF activate shared frontotemporal brain areas, which in previous…