Adolescence is characterized by considerable changes in cognitive and socio-emotional skills. There are considerable differences between adolescents with regards to the development of these skills.... Show moreAdolescence is characterized by considerable changes in cognitive and socio-emotional skills. There are considerable differences between adolescents with regards to the development of these skills. However, most studies examine adolescents’ average functioning, without taking into account this heterogeneity. The current study applies network analysis in order to examine heterogeneity of cognitive and socio-emotional functioning in adolescents on-track or delayed in their school progression. Data was collected at two time-points for on-track (n = 320) and delayed (n = 69) adolescents (Mage = 13.30 years, SDage = 0.77). Repeated measures ANOVA showed no significant differences between the groups in cognitive and socio-emotional functioning (p’s > 0.05). Network analysis revealed that executive functions play a key role in the network of cognitive, social, and emotional functioning. This is especially the case in the delayed group where executive functions are even more central, both at T1 (inhibition and shifting) and T2 (shifting). Subsequent community analysis revealed three profiles in both groups: a well-adapted and well-balanced group, a group with high levels of need for arousal and risk-taking, and a group with regulation problems. Compared to on-track adolescents, delayed adolescents showed even higher levels of risk-taking in the second profile and higher levels of executive function problems in the third profile at T1. These differences were leveled out at T2, indicating adolescents in the delayed group catch up with their peers. This study highlights the intricate balance between cognitive, social and emotional functioning in adolescents in relation to school performance and provides preliminary evidence of the importance of taking individual differences within groups into account. Show less
Adolescence is often characterized as a period of increased risk taking and impulsive behavior. Researchers have constructed brain-based models to explain the higher prevalence of risk taking... Show moreAdolescence is often characterized as a period of increased risk taking and impulsive behavior. Researchers have constructed brain-based models to explain the higher prevalence of risk taking during adolescence. It has been hypothesized that brain regions for cognitive control develop relatively slow compared to 'affective' brain regions. An imbalance between the maturity of these brain regions is thought to underlie the increased incidence of risk taking during adolescence. However, results on functional brain development remain contradictory and few studies have investigated the assumptions of imbalance models in large-scale longitudinal studies. In this PhD thesis both cognitive and affective aspects of development were investigated using a combination of functional and structural MRI data, hormonal measures and behavioral assessments, capturing the whole range of adolescence in a large sample of children, adolescents and adults between 8 and 27 years old. The results indicated that, contrary to predictions from imbalance models, brain regions for cognitive control could be recruited even by young children and adolescents, but in different situations than adults. The results have implications for the construction of new theoretical frameworks and may eventually contribute to educational interventions that are better tailored to both the challenges and possibilities of the adolescent brain. Show less
By using innovative paradigms, the present thesis provides convincing evidence that action-effect learning, and sensorimotor processes in general play a crucial role in the development of action-... Show moreBy using innovative paradigms, the present thesis provides convincing evidence that action-effect learning, and sensorimotor processes in general play a crucial role in the development of action- perception and production in infancy. This finding was further generalized to sequential action. Furthermore the thesis suggests that means-selection-, ends-selection information, and action-effect knowledge together feed into a unitary concept of goal. Both these findings have the potential to generate interesting new research question Show less
Assessment procedures are frequent in children's school careers; however, measuring potential for learning has remained a puzzle. Dynamic testing is a method to assess cognitive potential that... Show moreAssessment procedures are frequent in children's school careers; however, measuring potential for learning has remained a puzzle. Dynamic testing is a method to assess cognitive potential that includes training in the assessment process. The goal of this thesis project was to develop a new dynamic test of analogical reasoning for school children. The main aims were to (1) investigate factors that influence children’s differences in performance and change during dynamic testing and (2) examine the predictive value of dynamic measures on children’s school performance. Children showed great variation in cognitive potential. Higher ability children generally required less training and showed greater transfer to other problem sets. Yet, lower ability children tended to improve more during dynamic testing. Performance change during testing appears to be a unique predictor of math and reading achievement, but was unrelated to working memory or cultural background, providing evidence that this may be a separate construct important in the assessment of cognitive potential – especially in culturally diverse schools. This performance change measure, often criticized within classical test theory, has demonstrated its worth when estimated using item response theory models and will hopefully find its place again among the valuable measurement outcomes of children’s potential for learning. Show less
This thesis examined the development of adopted children to shed more light on the effects of deprivation on child development and the potential for catch-up and recovery after placement in the... Show moreThis thesis examined the development of adopted children to shed more light on the effects of deprivation on child development and the potential for catch-up and recovery after placement in the more advantageous environment of an adoptive family. In the first part of the thesis a meta-analysis is presented in which we compared adopted children’s attachment relationships with the normative attachment distribution of nonadopted children raised by their biological parents, and - as a comparison - we also compared the attachment distribution of foster children with the normative distribution. The second and third parts of the thesis focus on the development of former foster and post-institutionalized children, 11 to 16 months old at arrival, two and six months after their adoption from China. Several salient developmental domains were studied: attachment, cognitive and motor development, physical growth, stress regulation, and social-emotional behavior. Show less
Although institutional care jeopardizes children’s development, some studies suggest that well-functioning child-care institutions may offer children a better environment than their own... Show moreAlthough institutional care jeopardizes children’s development, some studies suggest that well-functioning child-care institutions may offer children a better environment than their own dysfunctional families. For the growing number of HIV-infected children who often live in underprivileged families or institutions, comparative studies on their care arrangements are crucial. In her dissertation Natasha Dobrova-Krol examined the impact of institutional care and HIV-infection on several developmental domains of more than 60 Ukrainian preschoolers. Physical growth, stress regulation, cognitive and social development, as well as organization of attachment and children’s indiscriminately friendly behavior were addressed in this study. Developmental outcomes of HIV-infected children reared in disadvantaged families were compared with the outcomes of children reared in institutions providing adequate medical and physical care. In search for possible risk and protective factors in the development of the children individual characteristics and various aspects of the rearing environment were explored. The findings of this study demonstrated that institutional rearing impeded the development of children in all domains. Both for children with and without HIV family care, even of compromised quality, was better than institutional care, even of good quality. HIV-infection was found to be associated with less favorable outcomes in physical growth and cognitive development. The negative impact of institutional care, however, was larger than the presence of HIV. In three out of six developmental domains that were examined, HIV-infected children reared in disadvantaged families showed significantly better results than both HIV-infected and uninfected children reared in institutions, and no difference was found in the other domains. The quality of the child-caregiver relationship had a larger impact on children’s physical growth and cognitive performance than either HIV-infection or the quality of the physical environment and thus represents an important intervention target. The study has important implications for intervention efforts in child-care institutions. Show less
