Computational thinking (CT) is widely recognized as a fundamental skill in the information age. However, within the context of Chinese early childhood education (ECE), CT remains underrepresented, with a notable gap in the availability of developmentally appropriate and rigorously validated assessment tools designed specifically for…

Short-term memory (STM) challenges are often observed in children with Down syndrome (DS), but existing early STM measures introduce measurement confounds in this population. To address the need for valid early STM measures for future DS interventions, this study evaluated the psychometric properties of a modified Corsi Span task, administered to…

As an entitlement to rights, well-being and equity, young children's citizenship lays the foundation for a democratic, just and sustainable world. This article interrogates the discursive constructions of 'citizenship' within recent early childhood curriculum documents in China and Aotearoa New Zealand. Since the 1990s, both nations have released…

Parenting style plays an important role in children's externalizing behaviors. Differences in physiological regulation among children may lead to variations in whether or to what extent parenting style influences them. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of parenting styles on young children's development of externalizing behaviors…

This paper investigates the comprehension of Relative Clauses (RCs) in 15 Mandarin children with suspected Specific Language Impairment (SLI) (aged between 4; 5 and 6; 0) and 29 typically developing (TD) controls. Results from a Character Picture Matching Task indicate that (i) the subject RC was better understood than the object RC in children…

Gender-stereotyped beliefs develop early in childhood and are thought to increase with age based on prior research that was primarily carried out in Western cultures. Little research, however, has examined cross-cultural (in)consistencies in the developmental trajectory of gender-stereotyped beliefs. The present study examined implicit gender-toy…

Studies have demonstrated a significant correlation between the approximate number system (ANS) and early mathematical achievement. However, various explanations exist regarding the underlying cognitive mechanisms that underpin this association. The present study investigated whether the two hypotheses of inhibition control and visual form…

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a multifactorial, pervasive, neurodevelopmental disorder, of which intestinal symptoms collectively represent one of the most common comorbidities. Methods: In this study, 1,222 children with ASD and 1,206 typically developing (TD) children aged 2-7 years were enrolled from 13 cities in China. Physical…

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between motor skills and fluid intelligence in children aged 5-7 years. In this cross-sectional study, 115 children between 5 and 7 years of age (preschool children with sports skill learning) were included (51 boys, 44.34%), and fluid intelligence was measured using the Wide Range of Intelligence…

This study investigated differences between the ability to judge surface emotions and real emotions in pretend/deceptive situations. Using the scenario approach, our results showed that the ability to judge surface/real emotions is affected by pretend and deceptive situations in children aged 4--6 years. We found that in pretend situations, the…

"Research Findings:" This study examined the financial literacy of 5 and 6-year-old children in Shanghai, including their understanding of financial concepts and their preference for and ability to use digital payment methods. Using a mixed-methods research design, a sample of children ranging in age from 62 to 73 months completed…

This study investigated the impact of language sample length on mean length of utterance (MLU) and aimed to determine the minimum number of utterances required for a reliable MLU. Conversations were collected from Mandarin-speaking, hard-of-hearing and typical-hearing children aged 16-81 months. The MLUs were calculated using sample sizes ranging…

This study aimed to determine whether there is a correlation between maternal conversational participation and the unconventional language of autistic children, and whether the relative vocabulary diversity between mother and child would affect the relationship between them. Participants were 39 autistic Mandarin-speaking children, aged 3-6 years,…

The objective of the current study was to assess how a LEGO intervention, implemented by a grandparent and a parent at home, affected social interactions for four children (two girls, two boys; ages 6-7 years) on the autism spectrum in China. A multiple probe design across four families was used. Grandparents and parents were trained to use…

Little evidence has been reported for narrative-related difficulties for Chinese Mandarin-speaking school-age children with developmental language disorder (DLD). This study aimed to capture the indices from narratives that can differentiate Chinese children with and without DLD. Oral narrative and written narrative samples were collected from…