The study evaluated the effects of board games on children in a range of cognitive areas, considering both inclusion (i.e. pre- and post-comparisons, playing style [board games], participants belonging to PreKinder and Kindergarten, and experimental approach) and exclusion criteria (i.e. video games). Nineteen articles were selected using both…

Purpose: This study tested whether the Sitting Together and Reaching to Play (START-Play) physical therapy intervention indirectly impacts cognition through changes in perceptual-motor skills in infants with motor delays. Methods: Participants were 50 infants with motor delays randomly assigned to START-Play plus Usual Care Early Intervention…

One means by which humans maintain social cooperation is through intervention in third-party transgressions, a behaviour observable from the early years of development. While it has been argued that pre-school age children's intervention behaviour is driven by normative understandings, there is scepticism regarding this claim. There is also little…

Aims: This systematic literature review aimed to explore how school-based mindfulness programmes have been adapted for use with young children in education settings, from ages three to nine years old. Method: School-based mindfulness interventions were assessed on quality using qualitative and quantitative frameworks. Important attitudinal…

Prenatal maternal depression affects both mother and fetus with long-term implications for offspring vulnerability to psychopathology through alterations to brain development, stress physiology, negative emotionality, and cognitive control. This article reviews evidence for the negative impact of prenatal maternal depression on offspring…

Developmental science demonstrates that younger children (ages 4 to 8) are capable of making meaning of their contexts and the self. Yet, younger children's meaning making is largely absent from intervention and implementation research on early childhood policies. This absence is notable given the rise in investment in early childhood policies and…

Computer programming for young children has grown in popularity among both educators and product developers, but still relatively little is known about what skills children are developing when they code. This study investigated N = 57 Kindergarten through second grade children's performance on a programming assessment after engaging in a 6-week…

Background: Many South African learners seem unprepared for formal education, and a need for intervention during early childhood has been identified. Aim: The present study explored the effect of infant exposure to an early childhood development programme aimed at the sensory developmental stage of the infant's brain. Setting: Participants were…

The aim of this paper is to discuss executive functions and playing games, considering Piaget's work (1967) and the neuropsychological framework (Barkley, 1997, 2000; Cypel, 2007). Two questions guide the discussion: What are the intersections between playing games and the development of executive functions? Can we stimulate children with learning…

The current study dissociated and examined the two primary components of the phonological working memory subsystem--the short-term store and articulatory rehearsal mechanism--in boys with ADHD (n = 18) relative to typically developing boys (n = 15). Word lists of increasing length (2, 4, and 6 words per trial) were presented to and recalled by…

In this introductory chapter, guided by developmental psychopathology and developmental science as overarching integrative theoretical frameworks, the authors define three constructs related to social anxiety in childhood (behavioral inhibition, anxious solitude/withdrawal, and social anxiety disorder) and analyze commonalities and differences in…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to pilot test a multicomponent program designed to prevent aggressive behavior in preschool children. The first program component was comprised of social-emotional skills training. It focused on improving the social information processing and emotional-regulation skills of children. The second component was…

This review of 20 years of developmental research on Executive Functions (EF) offers a broad-brushstroke picture that touches on multiple issues including: (i) findings from typical and atypical groups, from infancy to adolescence; (ii) advances in assessment tools and in statistical analysis; (iii) the interplay between EF and other cognitive…

Going beyond traditional play therapy, this innovative book presents a range of evidence-based assessment and intervention approaches that incorporate play as a key element. It is grounded in the latest knowledge about the importance of play in child development. Leading experts describe effective strategies for addressing a wide variety of…

Preschoolers use information from interventions, namely intentional actions, to make causal inferences. We asked whether children consider some interventions to be more informative than others based on two components of an actor's knowledge state: whether an actor "possesses" causal knowledge, and whether an actor is allowed to "use" their…