Babett Voigt

Cognitive development in very vs. moderately to late preterm and full-term children: Can effortful control account for group differences in toddlerhood?

BACKGROUND Preterm birth is thought to have an adverse impact on cognitive development and self-regulation. AIM Examining the effect of very vs. moderately to late premature birth on cognitive development and effortful control, as well as evaluating whether effortful control explains the link between preterm birth and poorer cognitive development. SUBJECTS Fifty-eight very preterm children (<32 weeks gestation or <1500 g birth weight), 88 moderately to late preterm children (≥32 weeks gestation and ≥1500 birth weight) and 86 full-term children (≥38 weeks gestation and ≥2500 g birth weight) were examined at the corrected age of 24 months. OUTCOME MEASURES Observational and parent-report measures of effortful control as well as the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID II, Mental Scale) as a measurement of cognitive development were analyzed. RESULTS Very preterm and moderately to late preterm children showed significantly lower cognitive performance compared to full-term children. Lower effortful control scores (on observational measures, but not on parent-reports) were merely found for very preterm children compared to full-term children. Observational measures of effortful control partially mediated the effects of very preterm birth on cognitive performance, but did not explain the effects of moderately to late preterm birth on cognitive performance. CONCLUSION Preterm birth in general is related to poorer cognitive performance in toddlerhood. In addition, effortful control mediates the effects of very preterm birth on cognitive development. Findings suggest that different mechanisms link moderately to late premature birth to poor cognitive development.

The development of prospective memory in young schoolchildren: The impact of ongoing task absorption, cue salience, and cue centrality

This study presents evidence that 9- and 10-year-old children outperform 6- and 7-year-old children on a measure of event-based prospective memory and that retrieval-based factors systematically influence performance and age differences. All experiments revealed significant age effects in prospective memory even after controlling for ongoing task performance. In addition, the provision of a less absorbing ongoing task (Experiment 1), higher cue salience (Experiment 2), and cues appearing in the center of attention (Experiment 3) were each associated with better performance. Of particular developmental importance was an age by cue centrality (in or outside of the center of attention) interaction that emerged in Experiment 3. Thus, age effects were restricted to prospective memory cues appearing outside of the center of attention, suggesting that the development of prospective memory across early school years may be modulated by whether a cue requires overt monitoring beyond the immediate attentional context. Because whether a cue is in or outside of the center of attention might determine the amount of executive control needed in a prospective memory task, findings suggest that developing executive control resources may drive prospective memory development across primary school age.

Negative reactivity in toddlers born prematurely: Indirect and moderated pathways considering self-regulation, neonatal distress and parenting stress

High negative reactivity in early childhood interferes with later academic and behavioral adjustment. Thus, investigating the origins of high negative affectivity in early childhood is of high relevance for understanding emotional morbidity after preterm birth. The present work explored (1) direct prematurity-related consequences for negative reactivity, (2) self-regulatory deficits as a mechanism indirectly relating prematurity to negative affectivity and (3) the implications of the interplay between procedural distress in the neonatal period and parenting stress for preterm childrens negative reactivity. The sample was comprised of 146 preterm children (very vs. moderately to late preterm) and 86 healthy full-term children, both free of major neurological impairment. Assessment involved negative affect and parenting stress (parent-report; 12, 24 months corrected age, CA), effortful control (behavioral battery, parent report; 24 months CA) and the number of potentially distressing neonatal intensive care procedures as well as severity of illness during the neonatal period (retrospective chart review). There was no direct link from prematurity to a disposition for high negative reactivity in early childhood nor was prematurity indirectly associated with higher negative reactivity through lower levels of effortful control. The relation between neonatal pain and distress and negative affectivity depended on the level of parenting stress with low parenting stress at the end of the first year of childrens life buffering the negative influence of neonatal distress. The present findings underscore the importance of complex interactions among environmental factors in processes of emotional plasticity after preterm birth thereby providing critical suggestions for follow-up care.

The Development of Time-Based Prospective Memory in Childhood: The Role of Working Memory Updating

This large-scale study examined the development of time-based prospective memory (PM) across childhood and the roles that working memory updating and time monitoring play in driving age effects in PM performance. One hundred and ninety-seven children aged 5 to 14 years completed a time-based PM task where working memory updating load was manipulated within individuals using a dual task design. Results revealed age-related increases in PM performance across childhood. Working memory updating load had a negative impact on PM performance and monitoring behavior in older children, but this effect was smaller in younger children. Moreover, the frequency as well as the pattern of time monitoring predicted childrens PM performance. Our interpretation of these results is that processes involved in childrens PM may show a qualitative shift over development from simple, nonstrategic monitoring behavior to more strategic monitoring based on internal temporal models that rely specifically on working memory updating resources. We discuss this interpretation with regard to possible trade-off effects in younger children as well as alternative accounts.

Time-based prospective memory in young children—Exploring executive functions as a developmental mechanism

The present study investigated time-based prospective memory (PM) during the transition from kindergarten/preschool to school age and applied mediation models to test the impact of executive functions (working memory, inhibitory control) and time monitoring on time-based PM development. Twenty-five preschool (age: M = 5.75, SD = 0.28) and 22 primary school children (age: M = 7.83, SD = 0.39) participated. To examine time-based PM, children had to play a computer-based driving game requiring them to drive a car on a road without hitting others cars (ongoing task) and to refill the car regularly according to a fuel gauge, which serves as clock equivalent (PM task). The level of gas that was still left in the fuel gauge was not displayed on the screen and children had to monitor it via a button press (time monitoring). Results revealed a developmental increase in time-based PM performance from preschool to school age. Applying the mediation models, only working memory was revealed to influence PM development. Neither inhibitory control alone nor the mediation paths leading from both executive functions to time monitoring could explain the link between age and time-based PM. Thus, results of the present study suggest that working memory may be one key cognitive process driving the developmental growth of time-based PM during the transition from preschool to school age.

The relation of the cortisol awakening response and prospective memory functioning in young children

Recent research suggests that the cortisol awakening response (CAR) is linked to cognitive functions depending on hippocampal and frontal cortex circuits and may possibly be modulated by prospective memory (PM). However, the link between the CAR and PM abilities has not been investigated so far. Addressing this open issue, we report data from 97 children aged 37-87 months. Salivary cortisol levels were assessed 0 and 30 min post-awakening over three study days. Thereby a valid CAR measurement was ensured by using objective measures of awakening and sampling times. A game-like task served as behavioral measure of PM performance. Bayesian analysis revealed a positive association between childrens PM performance and the CAR, with better PM performance being related to a greater CAR. This association persisted after controlling for age. Overall, the current finding supports the prediction that PM functioning may be linked to the CAR, possibly as both the CAR and PM rely on a common neurophysiological basis.

Mood Impairs Time-Based Prospective Memory in Young but Not Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Attentional Control

The present study examined age-by-mood interactions in prospective memory and the potential role of attentional control. Positive, negative, or neutral mood was induced in young and older adults. Subsequent time-based prospective memory performance was tested, incorporating a measure of online attentional control shifts between the ongoing and the prospective memory task via time monitoring behavior. Mood impaired prospective memory in the young, but not older, adults. Moderated mediation analyses showed that mood effects in the young were mediated by changes in time monitoring. Results are discussed in relation to findings from the broader cognitive emotional aging literature.

The impact of cognitive control on children’s goal monitoring in a time-based prospective memory task

The present study investigated whether developmental changes in cognitive control may underlie improvements of time-based prospective memory. Five-, 7-, 9-, and 11-year-olds (N = 166) completed a driving simulation task (ongoing task) in which they had to refuel their vehicle at specific points in time (PM task). The availability of cognitive control resources was experimentally manipulated by imposing a secondary task that required divided attention. Children completed the driving simulation task both in a full-attention condition and a divided-attention condition where they had to carry out a secondary task. Results revealed that older children performed better than younger children on the ongoing task and PM task. Children performed worse on the ongoing and PM tasks in the divided-attention condition compared to the full-attention condition. With respect to time monitoring in the final interval prior to the PM target, divided attention interacted with age such that older children’s time monitoring was more negatively affected by the secondary task compared to younger children. Results are discussed in terms of developmental shifts from reactive to proactive monitoring strategies.

Getting that thing out of the box: The contribution of self-regulation in innovation processes in human children (Homo sapiens) and a non-human primate species (Sapajus spp.)

The capacity to innovate is regarded as one major cause for explaining the rise of the human species. But how does innovation develop in human ontogeny? Which basic skills are needed to act innovatively? And how do we differ from other species? In our project, we use an interdisciplinary comparative approach and pursue three aims. First, we investigate innovative tool use in preschool children taking a process perspective that allows for a more detailed analysis of why young children may fail. Second, we study potential relations between the process of tool innovation and self-regulation, because self-regulation allows for flexible adaptation to different situations and might be crucial when it comes to solving a problem innovatively. Third, we compare preschool children’s performance to the behavior of capuchin monkeys in an analogue paradigm. The present report describes our project in more detail and outlines the current project state as well as the next steps.

Children's Planning Performance in the Zoo Map Task (BADS-C): Is it Driven by General Cognitive Ability, Executive Functioning, or Prospection?

ABSTRACT A minimal amount of research has examined the cognitive predictors of childrens performance in naturalistic, errand-type planning tasks such as the Zoo Map task of the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children (BADS-C). Thus, the current study examined prospection (i.e., the ability to remember to carry out a future intention), executive functioning, and intelligence markers as predictors of performance in this widely used naturalistic planning task in 56 children aged 7- to 12-years-old. Measures of planning, prospection, inhibition, crystallized intelligence, and fluid intelligence were collected in an individual differences study. Regression analyses showed that prospection (rather than traditional measures of intelligence or inhibition) predicted planning, suggesting that naturalistic planning tasks such as the Zoo Map task may rely on future-oriented cognitive processes rather than executive problem solving or general knowledge.