Annual Review of Developmental Psychology - Volume 4, 2022
Volume 4, 2022
-
-
Becoming a Cognitive Scientist
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 1–19More LessMy work in cognitive science has given me immeasurable pleasure for over 60 years. Here I trace how I have come to my current understanding of conceptual development. I emphasize the roles of accident and luck along my path as well as the importance of being able to deal with failures. I also place my career in context of the rest of my life.
-
-
-
Drivers of Lexical Processing and Implications for Early Learning
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 21–40More LessUnderstanding words in unfolding speech requires the coordination of many skills to support successful and rapid comprehension of word meanings. This multifaceted ability emerges before our first birthday, matures over a protracted period of development, varies widely between individuals, forecasts future learning outcomes, and is influenced by immediate context, prior knowledge, and lifetime experience. This article highlights drivers of early lexical processing abilities while exploring questions regarding how learners begin to acquire, represent, and activate meaning in language. The review additionally explores how lexical processing and representation are connected while reflecting on how network science approaches can support richly detailed insights into this connection in young learners. Future research avenues are considered that focus on addressing how language processing and other cognitive skills are connected.
-
-
-
Human Morality Is Based on an Early-Emerging Moral Core
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 41–61More LessScholars from across the social sciences, biological sciences, and humanities have long emphasized the role of human morality in supporting cooperation. How does morality arise in human development? One possibility is that morality is acquired through years of socialization and active learning. Alternatively, morality may instead be based on a “moral core”: primitive abilities that emerge in infancy to make sense of morally relevant behaviors. Here, we review evidence that infants and toddlers understand a variety of morally relevant behaviors and readily evaluate agents who engage in them. These abilities appear to be rooted in the goals and intentions driving agents’ morally relevant behaviors and are sensitive to group membership. This evidence is consistent with a moral core, which may support later social and moral development and ultimately be leveraged for human cooperation.
-
-
-
On the Origins of Mind: A Comparative Perspective
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 63–87More LessOne of the most fundamental questions in cognitive science pertains to how the mind emerges and develops, that is, what is the origin of mind? In this article we use comparative data to contribute to three important questions about the origin of human and nonhuman minds: (a) which human psychological traits are ancestral and which ones are derived (i.e., which traits can we assume to be unique to humans), (b) whether language has a role in developing psychological abilities, and (c) what the cognitive architecture of animal minds looks like. Based on our selective review, we conclude that (a) deductive reasoning, rather than relational or belief reasoning, is so far the best candidate for a human-unique derived cognitive ability, (b) language and symbolic representation are not necessary for the emergence of conceptual and abstract thinking, and (c) support for a modular cognitive architecture in animals is mixed.
-
-
-
Sleep and Memory in Infancy and Childhood
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 89–108More LessSleep supports memory processing. In adults, memories are consolidated to a greater extent over an interval of sleep than over intervals spent awake. Behavioral evidence supports a benefit of sleep for memory consolidation in infants and children as well. While mechanistic studies are few, current evidence supports a role in memory consolidation for slow-wave sleep in particular. Mounting evidence suggests that these effects are modulated by brain development and may evolve from infancy to adulthood. Moreover, as reviewed here, sleep benefits in infancy and early childhood may be dependent on the type of learning and sleep bout (nap versus overnight). Understanding the typical development of sleep-related memory processing is critical to understanding compromised or atypical development and to informing sleep-focused interventions to improve memory during critical periods of learning across childhood.
-
-
-
Effects of Racism on Child Development: Advancing Antiracist Developmental Science
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 109–132More LessRacism, a multidimensional system of oppression and exclusion, is part of the foundation of the United States and is detrimental to the health and well-being of Black communities and other racially and ethnically minoritized (REM) communities. There is an emerging body of literature that draws attention to the impact of racism and different racialized experiences on the lives of REM children. Based on the Racism + Resilience + Resistance Integrative Study of Childhood Ecosystem (R3ISE) and focused on attending to the interaction between racism and the cultural assets of REM families and communities, this review highlights how racism impacts REM children's healthy development and learning. In addition to calling for research that advances racial equity using the R3ISEintegrative model, we also identify policies that have some potential to ensure equity in economic stability and security, home and community environment, birth outcomes, and educational opportunities for REM children and their families.
-
-
-
Inequitable Experiences and Outcomes in Young Children: Addressing Racial and Social-Economic Disparities in Physical and Mental Health
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 133–159More LessGiven the high rates of child poverty in the United States, socioeconomic disparities exist regarding children's physical and mental health. These disparities are particularly pronounced for children of color, who are more likely to experience poverty compounded by the vestiges of historical and systemic racism. Physical health disparities include higher rates of mortality, growth impairments, allergies, respiratory difficulties, tooth decay, and injuries. Disparities have also been found in the mental health arena, including a higher likelihood of internalizing and externalizing disorders, as well as trauma symptoms, and differences in the timing of diagnosis of, types of, and treatments for mental health disorders. Familial, neighborhood, service, and systemic contextual factors further solidify these disparities. It is critical to address the structural causes of these disparities and their consequences to promote more positive outcomes in affected children. A system of care that integrates economic programs, child care and education supports, parenting interventions, and appropriate physical and mental health care is essential to meet the health needs of children from impoverished backgrounds.
-
-
-
Ownership and Value in Childhood
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 161–183More LessOwnership and value go together, and understanding both is imperative for children to know how to act in socially appropriate and advantageous ways. This paper reviews how children come to think about ownership and value. We first review how children consider history, labor, and control when inferring whether objects are owned and to whom they belong. We then review how children conceive of ownership rights and how they use ownership to anticipate other people's actions, feelings, and knowledge. With value, we first touch on children's attention to physical features and norms. We then discuss how ownership impacts children's valuations of objects, stemming both from children's own status as owners and from their knowledge of previous ownership. We also review how various kinds of distinctive histories affect children's valuations. Finally, we review children's understanding of how value depends on the market forces of supply and demand.
-
-
-
Development of Religious Cognition
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 185–206More LessThis review outlines the development of religious cognition, with a particular focus on the cultural processes involved in the transmission of religious concepts and beliefs. The mechanisms of development of religious concepts and beliefs are made salient by the fact that these concepts (a) are unavailable for direct observation or experimentation by the child and (b) involve deeply held personal and collective commitments on the part of adult members of distinct cultural groups defined by specific beliefs and practices. As such, this review highlights how the study of religious cognition provides a critical lens for developmental science and makes clear the mutually constituted relationship between cognition and culture. The review covers development in three key domains of religious cognition: religious agents, the nature of existence, and religious identity. We additionally describe research into religious socialization and conclude with suggestions for future research.
-
-
-
Gender Development in Gender Diverse Children
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 207–229More LessWithin “mainstream” developmental science, gender researchers largely study the developmental trajectory of children considered to be “gender typical,” while research housed primarily in psychiatry and clinical psychology often documents the trajectories of gender diverse children. This article aims to bridge the studies of gender diversity and “mainstream” gender development. First, we review literature on the development of four commonly studied subgroups of gender diverse children—children referred to medical clinics because of their gender identity and expression, transgender children, female children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and tomboys—highlighting how these gender trajectories do or do not align with modal developmental patterns. We then describe social, cognitive, and biological determinants of gender in light of their implications for understanding diverse gender development. Finally, we note methodological suggestions for future research, with an eye toward better integrating research on gender diversity into “mainstream” gender development research.
-
-
-
Development of Reward Circuitry During Adolescence: Depression, Social Context, and Considerations for Future Research on Disparities in Sexual and Gender Minority Youth
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 231–252More LessDepression is a common and debilitating psychiatric illness that typically emerges in adolescence and impacts mental, social, and academic well-being. Significant research has examined the biological factors implicated in adolescent depression, converging on the specific importance of altered dopamine neurotransmission and neural reward—including social reward—systems. Neural reward systems are themselves likely influenced by social factors and risk factors for depression, with adolescent depression potentially developing more readily in those who experience a combination of neural and social factors. Here we review the role of dopamine and neural reward systems, consider the social factors that impact these systems, and propose a model for the interaction of reward and dopamine systems with social influences as a pathway to depression. Using this model, we highlight possible mechanisms for the development of depression in sexual and gender minority youth, a population at exceedingly high risk for depression.
-
-
-
Spatial Navigation in Childhood and Aging
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 253–272More LessNavigation waxes and wanes in precision and flexibility over the life span. However, at no age is it completely egocentric or allocentric, or completely nonmetric. Instead, we see steady changes in the balance of strategies and the extent to which relevant information is combined in an adaptive way. Many of these changes may be related to underlying neural maturation or decline, although we know less about this topic in the first 15 years of life than during aging. However, both behavioral and neural changes may be propelled by sensory, motor, or environmental pressures as well as by biological programs. When children and the elderly see or hear better, walk more confidently, and travel further independently, it is likely that navigational abilities respond.
-
-
-
A Neurocognitive Model of Self-Concept Development in Adolescence
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 273–295More LessWhen and how do changes in self-concept emerge in adolescence, and which factors facilitate positive self-concept development? This review summarizes recent research findings on self-concept development based on neurocognitive development studies. Self-concept goes through formative changes in adolescence, including linear and nonlinear changes in perspective taking, social comparison, and self-evaluation. In this review we (a) present a neuroscientific model of self-concept development by relating processes that drive self-concept changes to neuroscience discoveries and (b) elaborate on the roles of early life experiences and environmental support factors in fostering self-concept development in adolescence. This review concludes that self-concept changes pose vulnerabilities as well as opportunities for adolescent development.
-
-
-
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health): An Underused Resource for Developmental Science
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 297–318More LessThe National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) represents a data treasure for developmental psychologists working in both adolescent and life-span development. Add Health is a nationally representative sample of more than 20,000 adolescents in grades 7–12 in 1994–1995, who were followed for 25 years into early midlife over five interview waves. The innovative multilevel design collected direct measures of the social contexts of adolescent life and tracked developmental outcomes in health, health behaviors, cognition, achievement, and relationships over time. Biological data appropriate to the developmental stages of the cohort and relevant biosocial processes were integrated into the longitudinal waves of data collection. This review describes Add Health's design and data contents and highlights illustrative Add Health articles that examine developmental processes and outcomes in the areas of mental health, health behavior, cognition, and relationships. We conclude with new opportunities for developmental analyses and suggest future areas of research.
-
-
-
Beyond “Use It or Lose It”: The Impact of Engagement on Cognitive Aging
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 319–352More LessBiologically based senescence processes and cumulative opportunities for experience collectively give rise to profound changes in cognition in later adulthood, the trajectories of which vary considerably across individuals. This review focuses on how cognitive aging is shaped by engagement—defined as the ongoing investment of personal resources (e.g., time, attention) to activities, social networks, and experiences—through the adult life span. We review evidence for the effects of different forms of engagement on cognitive aging and consider plausible mechanistic pathways for such effects. Working within an ecological framework, we consider “design solutions” for lifestyle engagement to shape adult cognitive development given the necessary trade-offs endemic to goal-directed systems (e.g., current needs versus long-term preparation, flexibility versus robustness, exploration versus exploitation). Given the limited evidence for broad-based effects of skill training on late-life cognitive health, we argue that a promising paradigm for successful cognitive aging will be to probe synergistic effects of engagement on cognitive aging. Recent developments in personal technology offer promise for innovation in intervention and in measurement.
-
-
-
Inhibition and Creativity in Aging: Does Distractibility Enhance Creativity?
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 353–375More LessAs a fundamental attention regulation process, inhibition serves to selectively filter out distraction (i.e., access), dampen activation of automatically activated irrelevant or no-longer-relevant information (i.e., deletion), and select for task-appropriate thoughts and/or responses in the face of competition (i.e., restraint). Inhibition allows us to direct attention or processing toward target information, thoughts, or actions. It is affected by several factors and is especially compromised with aging as demonstrated in both behavioral and neuroimaging research. Nevertheless, older adults show significant and durable plasticity in inhibition performance. Heightened distractibility as a result of impaired inhibition in older adults can manifest as a cost or a benefit with a tendency to be related to better creativity performance when distraction becomes task relevant. In this article, we review the components of inhibitory theory, summarizing intraindividual variability and interindividual differences in inhibition, with a specific focus on the inhibitory deficit associated with aging. The review also brings together theories and empirical findings to support the relationship between inhibitory deficit and creativity in the context of aging.
-
-
-
Open Science in Developmental Science
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 377–397More LessOpen science policies have proliferated in the social and behavioral sciences in recent years, including practices around sharing study designs, protocols, and data and preregistering hypotheses. Developmental research has moved more slowly than some other disciplines in adopting open science practices, in part because developmental science is often descriptive and does not always strictly adhere to a confirmatory approach. We assess the state of open science practices in developmental science and offer a broader definition of open science that includes replication, reproducibility, data reuse, and global reach.
-
-
-
Practice and Policy Regarding Child Neglect: Lessons from Studies of Institutional Deprivation
Vol. 4 (2022), pp. 399–422More LessChildhood neglect is associated with impairment across multiple domains of development. Because types of neglect co-occur and are correlated with abuse, most research cannot address the specific effects of psychosocial neglect. This limitation matters because some scholars have advocated that child protection measures should be employed only when a child is physically endangered. Here, we review evidence for the effects of psychosocial neglect on development derived from studies of young children raised in institutions. In these caregiving environments, children are physically safe and receive instrumental care, but the social, emotional, and cognitive components of caregiving are impoverished. The damaging and often lasting effects of these caregiving environments on young children's development underscore that psychosocial neglect should be considered as dangerous to child well-being as physical maltreatment. Efforts to reform child protection must do so with full appreciation of the consequences of young children's exposure to prolonged psychosocial neglect.
-
-
-
The Critical Roles of Early Development, Stress, and Environment in the Course of Psychosis
T.G. Vargas, and V.A. MittalVol. 4 (2022), pp. 423–445More LessPsychotic disorders are highly debilitating with poor prognoses and courses of chronic illness. In recent decades, conceptual models have shaped understanding, informed treatment, and guided research questions. However, these models have classically focused on the adolescent and early adulthood stages immediately preceding onset while conceptualizing early infancy through all of childhood as a unitary premorbid period. In addition, models have paid limited attention to differential effects of types of stress; contextual factors such as local, regional, and country-level characteristics or sociocultural contexts; and the timing of the stressor or environmental risk. This review discusses emerging research suggesting that (a) considering effects specific to neurodevelopmental stages prior to adolescence is highly informative, (b) understanding specific stressors and levels of environmental exposures (i.e., systemic or contextual features) is necessary, and (c) exploring the dynamic interplay between development, levels and types of stressors, and environments can shed new light, informing a specified neurodevelopmental and multifaceted diathesis-stress model.
-