New View: Way Young Children Think Trent Consultants News

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Scientists -- and many parents -- havelong believed that children's brains operate like those of little adults. Thethinking was that over time kids learn things like proactively planning for andunderstanding how actions in the present affect them in the future. But the newstudy suggests that this is not the case. "The good news is what we'resaying to our kids doesn't go in one ear and out the other, like people mighthave thought," said CU-Boulder psychology Professor Yuko Munakata, whoconducted the study with CU doctoral student Christopher Chatham and MichaelFrank of Brown University. "It also doesn't go in and then get put intoaction like it does with adults. But rather it goes in and gets stored away forlater." "I went into this study expectinga completely different set of findings," said Munakata. "There is alot of work in the field of cognitive development that focuses on how kids arebasically little versions of adults trying to do the same things adults do, butthey're just not as good at it yet. What we show here is they are doingsomething completely different."   During the study, the CU-Boulderresearchers used a computer game designed for children, and a technique knownas pupillometry -- a process that measures the diameter of the pupil of the eyeto determine the mental effort of the child -- to study the cognitive abilitiesof 3-and-a-half-year-olds and 8-year-olds.   The computer game involved teachingchildren simple rules about two cartoon characters -- Blue from Blue's Cluesand SpongeBob Squarepants -- and their preferences for different objects. Inthe directions for the game, children were told that Blue likes watermelon, sothey were to press the happy face on the computer screen only when they sawBlue followed by a watermelon. When SpongeBob appeared, they were told to pressthe sad face on the screen.   Using pupillometry to determine thetime at which children exerted mental effort, the speed of their responses foreach type of sequence and the relative accuracy of those responses, theresearchers found that children neither plan for the future nor live completelyin the present. Instead, they call up the past as they need it.   "For example, let's say it's coldoutside and you tell your 3-year-old to go get his jacket out of his bedroomand get ready to go outside. You might expect the child to plan for the future,think 'OK it's cold outside so the jacket will keep me warm,' " saidChatham. "But what we suggest is that this isn't what goes on in a3-year-old's brain. Rather, they run outside, discover that it is cold, andthen retrieve the memory of where their jacket is, and then they go get it."   Munakata doesn't claim to be a parentalexpert, but she does think their new study has relevance to parents' dailyinteractions with their toddlers.   "If you just repeat somethingagain and again that requires your young child to prepare for something inadvance, that is not likely to be effective," Munakata said. "Whatwould be more effective would be to somehow try to trigger this reactivefunction. So don't do something that requires them to plan ahead in their mind,but rather try to highlight the conflict that they are going to face. Perhapsyou could say something like 'I know you don't want to take your coat now, butwhen you're standing in the yard shivering later, remember that you can getyour coat from your bedroom."   Munakata said the findings have broaderimplications for research in the field of cognitive development. "Further study could help peoplefigure out why kids are doing poorly or well in different educationalsettings," she said. Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences , 2009   Trent Consultants Psychology Clinic. Dedicatedto the study, diagnosis, and treatment of mental, emotional and behavioraldisorders. Trent Consultants has a variety of programs for parents who want togive their children a headstart in life. Trent Consultants website www.trentconsultants.org Email: childcare@trentconsultants.org

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