Stuart I. Hammond

The effects of parental scaffolding on preschoolers' executive function.

The present study explores the effects of parental scaffolding of childrens problem solving on the development of executive function (EF). Eighty-two children were assessed at 2, 3, and 4 years of age on a variety of EF tasks and, at ages 2 and 3, on a problem-solving puzzle with which parents offered structured assistance (i.e., scaffolding). Unlike previous studies of parental scaffolding, childrens EF was examined at each time point. Scaffolding at age 3 was found to have a direct effect on EF at age 4. Furthermore, scaffolding at age 2 had an indirect on EF at age 4 through the childs verbal ability at age 3.

Knowing minds, controlling actions: The developmental relations between theory of mind and executive function from 2 to 4 years of age

This longitudinal study examined the concurrent and predictive relations between executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) in 82 preschoolers who were assessed when they were 2, 3, and 4 years old. The results showed that the concurrent relation between EF and ToM, after controlling for age, verbal ability, and sex, was significant at 3 and 4 years of age but not at 2 years of age. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that EF at age 2 significantly predicted ToM at age 3 and that EF at age 3 significantly predicted ToM at age 4, over and above the effects of age, verbal ability, and prior performance on ToM tasks. However, ToM at ages 2 and 3 did not explain a significant amount of variance in EF at age 4. Bootstrap procedures revealed that verbal ability at age 3 fully mediated the relation between ToM at age 2 and EF at age 4.

The Developmental Contours of Character

The relationship between character education and developmental psychology has long been marked by tension. Recent scholarly advances within these two disciplines, however, offer a promising new pathway of dialogue and productive exchange. The present chapter is the result of one such exchange. Our efforts represent an attempt to “psychologize” character in order to clarify its structure and trace its developmental contours. With a clearer picture of the psychological processes contributing to character, we can better identify the best educational practices for promoting its growth. Our discussion focuses on the processes associated with children’s developing self-regulation, autonomy, perspective taking, moral reasoning, empathy, and emotional competence.

A Relational Developmental Systems Approach to Moral Development

Morality and cooperation are central to human life. Psychological explanations for moral development and cooperative behavior will have biological and evolutionary dimensions, but they can differ radically in their approach to biology. In particular, many recent proposals have pursued the view that aspects of morality are innate. We briefly review and critique two of these claims. In contrast to these nativist assumptions about the role of biology in morality, we present an alternative approach based on a relational developmental systems view of moral development. The role for biology in this approach is in setting up the conditions--the developmental system--in which forms of interaction and later forms of thinking emerge.

Explicit Scaffolding Increases Simple Helping in Younger Infants.

Infants become increasingly helpful during the second year. We investigated experimentally whether adults’ explicit scaffolding influences this development. Infants (N = 69, 13–18 months old) participated in a series of simple helping tasks. Half of infants received explicit scaffolding (encouragement and praise), whereas the other half did not. Among younger infants (below 15 months), infants who received explicit scaffolding helped twice as often as infants in the control group, and also helped more on several subsequent trials when no scaffolding was provided. As predicted, older infants were not affected by explicit scaffolding. These results demonstrate the influence of social experiences in early helping, but also how the effects of scaffolding may depend on the developmental level of the child. Less explicit forms of scaffolding may be effective when children are older.

Children's early helping in action: Piagetian developmental theory and early prosocial behavior

After a brief overview of recent research on early helping, outlining some central problems, and issues, this paper examines children’s early helping through the lens of Piagetian moral and developmental theory, drawing on Piaget’s “Moral Judgment of the Child” (Piaget, 1932/1997), “Play, Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood” (Piaget, 1945/1951), and the “Grasp of Consciousness” (Piaget, 1976). Piaget refers to a level of moral development in action that precedes heteronomous and autonomous moral reasoning. This action level allows children to begin to interact with people and objects. In his later work, Piaget explores the gradual construction of understanding from this activity level. Taken together, these elements of Piagetian theory provide a promising conceptual framework for understanding the development of early helping.

Infant helping in the first year of life: Parents’ recollection of infants’ earliest prosocial behaviors

Prosocial behavior is widely thought to emerge early in the second year of life. This paper presents evidence that helping emerges early in the first year of life. Parents of 80 children asked to recollect the earliest instance of their child helping recalled help in two contexts: chores (e.g., cleaning up) and care and self-care (e.g., feeding and dressing). A subset of parents recalled helping even before eight months of age, most often in the context of self-care tasks. The presence of helping this early in the lifespan is situated in recent research, and its implications for current theories of early prosocial behavior are discussed.

Prosocial Behavior during Infancy and Early Childhood: Developmental Patterns and Cultural Variations

In their first years of life, infants exhibit a wide range of prosocial behaviors, including helping, sharing, comforting, and cooperating. Over the course of infancy, these behaviors become more sophisticated and socially appropriate. Although consistent age trends are demonstrated, prosocial behavior in infancy is best considered a multidimensional category consisting of distinct behaviors rather than a single unified construct. Moreover, the expression of prosocial behavior in infancy and its development are moderated by context, type of prosocial behavior, relationships with the others involved, and culture. Future research is needed to examine the effects of each of these factors on development and individual differences in early emerging prosocial behavior.

The development of moral sense and moral thinking.

Purpose of review The review critically evaluates recent claims that infants have innate knowledge of morality and examines the sources of moral norms. Recent findings Many studies show that toddlers readily help adults with daily tasks. A more contentious set of studies suggests that young infants prefer actors who help others to those who hinder them. Some researchers have interpreted these findings as indicating that morality is innately present in humans. Others look to alternative explanations in developmental systems theory. Summary Explaining the emergence of morality as innate, or wholly socialized, is problematic; instead morality could emerge in a developmental system in which childrens early capacities are shaped by interpersonal engagement. Childrens improving ability to coordinate with others at a practical level is later transformed through language and reflective thought, as children gain the ability to talk about what was previously implicit in interaction. Throughout, parents and caregivers have many opportunities to foster childrens moral development in daily interactions.

The social origin and moral nature of human thinking

Knobes laudable conclusion that we make sense of our social world based on moral considerations requires a development account of human thought and a theoretical framework. We outline a view that such a moral framework must be rooted in social interaction.