Rule-guided behavior depends on the ability to strategically update and act on content held in working memory. Proactive and reactive control strategies were contrasted across two experiments using an adapted input/output gating paradigm (Neuron, 81, 2014 and 930). Behavioral accuracies of 3-, 5-, and 7-year-olds were higher when a contextual cue…

Parental involvement in traditional autism therapy is key to the effective treatment of children with ASD. Little is known about parental involvement in robot-assisted autism therapy (RAAT)--novel therapeutic support for children with ASD. Our study investigates the effect of parental presence on multiple-session RAAT conducted with 16 children…

Optimism is linked to persistence and resilience in adults; however, how optimism might relate to children's evaluations of potentially challenging situations and risk-taking behaviors is unknown. This study examined the role of optimism in 4- to 8-year-old children's (N = 121) perceptions of and willingness to engage in physical activities that…

A number of resources are available for evaluating the rigor of single-case designs, including the commonly used multiple baseline design. In this article, we discuss two characteristics commonly cited as necessary for the highest rigor in multiple baseline designs--concurrence and response-guided baseline condition duration. We suggest that both…

Little is known about the development of procrastination, the tendency to postpone undesirable but necessary tasks, during early childhood. Only one study has measured procrastination behavior in preschool children using a single behavioral task (Sutter et al., 2018). Thus, the present study investigated the emergence and development of everyday…

Supervising behavior technicians in the implementation of services derived from the science of applied behavior analysis with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common practice for behavior analysts. However, there is limited training available on supervision strategies for those applying this model of services. Lack of…

This research evaluated the feasibility of actigraphy to measure sleep and physical activity in children (ages 2-8 years) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We also explored associations between sleep and physical activity. Validated screening measures established eligibility. Questionnaires, diaries, and 5 days and 5 nights of actigraphy…

Background: Related to the target group of young children with a significant cognitive and motor developmental delay, the aims of this study were to obtain more insight into (the interrelations between) several characteristics of these children's expressive communicative behaviour and to explore associations between child behaviour, partner…

This exploratory study examines parents' views of their parenting self-efficacy and children's behaviour during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece. One hundred and fifty-nine parents whose children were 3-5 years old completed an online survey. The Short-Form of the Self-Efficacy for Parenting Tasks Index-Toddler Scale (SEPTI-TS)…

Animal fears are common, emerging in early childhood and often continuing into adulthood. This study explores the outcomes of positive and negative storybooks about animals on children's attitudes and behaviors. Ninety-six children (ages 4-8 years) were exposed to either negative or positive information about two animals (snakes and frogs) via…

Parental involvement in education has significantly contributed to positive youth development. This study applied Epstein's six constructs of parental involvement (parenting, communicating, volunteering, decision making, learning, and collaborating) and examined the effects of different types of parental involvement on children's emotions and…

This study examined the agreement between the Ages & Stages Questionnaires, third edition (ASQ-3), and the Ages & Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional, second edition (ASQ:SE-2), and investigated the relationship of the overall indication of "parental concerns" about their child's behavior on the ASQ-3 and the results of the…

The COVID-19 outbreak affected the daily lives of individuals with Down syndrome, who were considered to have a higher risk of severe infection. While several studies have reported mental health issues in children and/or parents in the general population, no study has focused on people with Down syndrome and their caregivers. This study…

It is well established that parenting influences child behavior at home, but less is known about the associations between parenting and teacher reports of child behavior at school, an environment more distal from the home context. This study investigated the presence of authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved parenting styles (PS)…

The risk potentiation model of cognitive control posits that inhibitory control heightens children's risk for problematic outcomes in the context of shyness because it limits shy children's ability to engage flexibly with their environment. Although there is empirical support for the risk potentiation model, most studies have been restricted to…