Individual Differences In Children Research Articles

비주얼 리터러시에 기반 한 유아 STEAM 교육 프로그램 개발을 위한 델파이 조사 연구

Objectives The purpose of this study is to establish the basis for program development by deriving the educational objectives, educational content, educational methods, and teacher roles of an early childhood STEAM education program based on visual literacy by analyzing the opinions of 14 expert panelists. Methods For this purpose, a panel of 14 experts in early childhood education, art, music, and science and engineering was selected, and a Delphi survey was conducted three times in total. The first Delphi survey consisting of open-ended questions was subjected to content analysis, and the second and third Delphi surveys were conducted using the SPSS 22.0 program to calculate the mean, standard deviation, median, quartile, CVR value, agreement, convergence, and stability. Results First, the definition and components of early childhood visual literacy were conceptualized, and the components of visual literacy were matched with the learning criteria frame of early childhood STEAM education. Second, the educational goal areas of visual literacy-based early childhood STEAM education were derived as ‘development of convergent thinking skills’, ‘development of creativity’, and ‘development of visual literacy’, etc. And the educational content was derived as ‘linked to the curriculum’, ‘child-centered play-centered’, ‘use of visual materials’, ‘creative experience’, and ‘linked to STEAM educational elements’. The educational methods include ‘child-centered, play-centered education linked to the curriculum’, etc and ‘problem-solving-centered education’, and the roles of teachers include ‘linguistic and media-based social support’ and ‘understanding of individual differences in children’s temperament, interests, and developmental levels’, etc. Conclusions This study is significant in that it conceptualizes the definition and components of visual literacy suitable for young children and explores ways to effectively connect visual literacy with STEAM education. It is also significant in that it provides basic data for developing early childhood STEAM education programs based on visual literacy and suggests specific measures to enhance the practicality of this education in the future.

Children's Individual Differences in the Responses to a New Method for Physical Education.

Children's fundamental movement skills (FMS) require planned and guided interventions to develop appropriately. We investigated the effect of a novel Physical Education (PE) method to develop children's object control, locomotor skills, and motor competence. Further, we examined children's trainability, i.e., their differential responses to the new method, and identified low and high responders to the intervention. The study lasted three months and included six to seven-year-old children in two groups: control (the current, official PE program; n = 38) and experimental (the new method; n = 52). Twelve FMS [object control (OC), locomotor (LO)] were reliably assessed using the Meu Educativo® app. Using a mixed-effects model, results showed that the experimental group experienced greater changes (p < 0.05) than the control group in OC and LO. Positive individual changes were more frequent with the new method, but children showed a similar pattern in their interindividual variability in both methods. There was a greater reduction in the number of children with lower proficiency in the experimental group. In sum, the new PE method proved superior to the current, official one. Individual responses to the new method showed considerable variation, highlighting the need for personalization in teaching strategies and necessary support for children with lower proficiency levels, ensuring that no child is left behind in their motor development process.

Center-based childcare during infancy: The relations with functional brain networks and self-regulation in young children

Given the substantial increase in children attending center-based childcare over the past decades, the consequences of center-based childcare for children’s development have gained more attention in developmental research. However, the relation between center-based childcare and children’s neurocognitive development remains relatively underexplored. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the relations between quantity of center-based childcare during infancy and the neurocognitive development (both functional brain networks and self-regulation) of 584 Dutch children. Small-world brain networks and children’s self-regulation were assessed during infancy (around 10 months of age) and the preschool period (2–6 years of age). The findings revealed that the quantity of center-based childcare during infancy was unrelated to individual differences in children’s functional brain networks. However, spending more hours per week in center-based childcare was positively related to the development of self-regulation in preschool age children, regardless of children’s sex or the levels of exposure to risk and maternal support in the home environment. More insight into the positive effects of center-based childcare on children’s development from infancy to toddlerhood can help to increase our insight into a better work–life balance and labor force participation of parents with young children. Moreover, this study highlights that Dutch center-based childcare offers opportunities to invest in positive child outcomes in children, including self-regulation.

Amplitude rise time sensitivity in children with and without dyslexia: differential task effects and longitudinal relations to phonology and literacy.

The speech amplitude envelope carries important acoustic information required for speech intelligibility and contains sensory cues (amplitude rise times, ARTs) that play a key role in both sensory rhythm perception and neural speech encoding. Individual differences in children's sensitivity to ARTs have been related to the development of children's phonological processing skills across languages by the Temporal Sampling theory. Impaired processing of ARTs also characterises children with dyslexia. However, different ART tasks have been employed in different studies, in different languages, and at different ages. Here, we compare the sensitivity of three frequently used ART tasks (based on synthetic syllables, sine tones, and speech-shaped noise) in a longitudinal study of English-speaking children with and without dyslexia. Children's ability to discriminate rising frequency, duration, and intensity was also tested. ART discrimination in all 3 tasks was significantly inter-related, but different relations to phonology and literacy were found for different ART tasks at different ages. In particular, the often-used sine tone and speech-shaped noise ART tasks showed greater sensitivity in older children, while the synthetic syllable task (/ba/ rise) showed greater sensitivity in younger children. Sensitivity to rising frequency was also related to phonology and literacy across ages. The data are interpreted with respect to the Temporal Sampling theory of developmental dyslexia.

Can behaviorally inhibited preschoolers make friends?

Preschoolers who display extremely inhibited behavior are at risk for the development of anxiety disorders. However, behavioral inhibition (BI) is a multifaceted characteristic. Some children with BI are fearful when confronted by unfamiliar adults, peers, and objects; others are fearful when separated from their parents. In the present study, we examined specific features of BI that predicted observed friendship formation among preschoolers who are behaviorally inhibited. We also examined whether teacher ratings of classroom behaviors predicted friendship formation. Sixty highly inhibited children (35 female, Mage = 52.57 months) were observed during eight weekly free-play sessions with initially unfamiliar inhibited peers. Free-play periods occurred before weekly intervention sessions for children with BI and their parents. An observational protocol was developed to identify children who made a friend during the eight weekly sessions. Before the first session, different subtypes of BI were assessed by parents; preschool teachers assessed the children's classroom behaviors with familiar peers. Twenty-six children met the criteria for having made and kept a friend. Probit regression analyses revealed that parent ratings of BI among unfamiliar peers and teacher ratings of children's social anxiety before the intervention were associated with a decreased probability of making a friend. No evidence was found linking children's responses to the intervention and friendship formation. Results suggest that extremelyinhibited preschoolers are capable of making friends. Implications for future research and intervention efforts that focus on individual differences of children with BI are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD: TEACHER PERCEPTIONS, PRACTICES, CHALLENGES AND NEEDS

In this phenomenological study, we examined the perceptions, classroom practices, and educational needs of preschool teachers regarding inclusive education. We collected the data through face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured interview form. The paricipants were 15 preschool teachers selected by criterion sampling, working in public preschools in the city center of Diyarbakır. We analyzed the data through content analysis. Our findings reveal that preschool teachers possess a general understanding of inclusive education but lack specific knowledge in more detailed domains. They believe that implementation of inclusive education requires consideration of children's individual differences, developmental characteristics, and the cultural diversity. The teachers identified several challenges in implementing inclusive education, including a lack of materials, large class sizes, a limited understanding and support from parents, and their own professional insufficiency and experience. Additionally, they noted deficiencies in the general educational policies on inclusive education. Teachers often seek support from the children’s families or school counseling services to address the challenges they face. They also highlighted the need for practical training on developing and implementing inclusive activities, adapting activities to various characteristics of the children, and actively engaging children with special needs in learning. Based on these findings, we have put forward several recommendations for practice and further research.

Neuroanatomical, transcriptomic, and molecular correlates of math ability and their prognostic value for predicting learning outcomes.

Foundational mathematical abilities, acquired in early childhood, are essential for success in our technology-driven society. Yet, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying individual differences in children's mathematical abilities and learning outcomes remain largely unexplored. Leveraging one of the largest multicohort datasets from children at a pivotal stage of knowledge acquisition, we first establish a replicable mathematical ability-related imaging phenotype (MAIP). We then show that brain gene expression profiles enriched for candidate math ability-related genes, neuronal signaling, synaptic transmission, and voltage-gated potassium channel activity contributed to the MAIP. Furthermore, the similarity between MAIP gene expression signatures and brain structure, acquired before intervention, predicted learning outcomes in two independent math tutoring cohorts. These findings advance our knowledge of the interplay between neuroanatomical, transcriptomic, and molecular mechanisms underlying mathematical ability and reveal predictive biomarkers of learning. Our findings have implications for the development of personalized education and interventions.

The Benefits of Acute Exercise for Children's Cognition Are Associated with Trait Anxiety.

Children's anxiety is associated with decreased cognitive performance. One well-established behavioral intervention to transiently improve cognitive performance in children is acute aerobic exercise (AAE). Thus far, however, it is unclear whether the benefits of AAE on cognition vary based on individual differences in children's anxiety level. Therefore, we investigated whether trait anxiety levels mediate the effects of AAE on cognitive outcomes in preadolescent children. Ninety-five preadolescent children (9 to 11 yr, 41 females) underwent two experimental interventions in a random, crossover, and counterbalanced design: an exercise protocol (20 min of walking at 65% to 75% of HRpeak) and a nonexercise control (seated rest). Behavioral indices of cognitive performance (accuracy, reaction times, response time (RT) variability) were assessed before and after each intervention using a modified flanker task. The effects of each intervention on cognitive performance were calculated as pre- to postintervention differences (effect scores). These scores were first correlated with children's personal characteristics: anxiety (STAIC), sex, age, body mass index, intelligence quotient, and aerobic fitness. Significant correlations guided subsequent hierarchical regression models, which specifically tested for associations between the effects scores and anxiety levels while controlling for remaining relevant covariates. Regression analysis revealed that anxiety was a significant predictor of the effects that AAE and rest had on cognitive performance. Specifically, higher anxiety scores were associated with greater exercise-induced cognitive benefits (increased accuracy, decreased RT variability; all P < 0.05) and greater rest-induced cognitive impairments (decreased accuracy, increased RT variability; all P < 0.01). These findings suggest that children reporting higher trait anxiety might experience greater cognitive benefits from a single bout of AAE.

Age, sex, sensation-seeking, and road-crossing: How does risk context impact children’s street-crossing?

Objective Child pedestrian injuries are a significant public health problem, largely because children have underdeveloped cognitive-perceptual capacity to judge traffic unsupervised. This study used a virtual reality (VR) environment to examine the impact of children’s age, as well as sex and sensation-seeking personality, on pedestrian behavior in different risk contexts. Methods 405 Norwegian children (7–10-year-olds) engaged in street-crossing scenarios within a VR environment. Children crossed a bicycle path and urban roadway six times, each with increasing density and complexity of traffic. Hits and near hits were recorded. Self-reported sensation-seeking personality was assessed. Results Children were more likely to experience crashes in the tasks that offered higher probability risk. Overall, 106 children crossed safely in all tasks. Dangerous crossings were associated with male sex, higher thrill and intensity seeking personality, and denser traffic. Age was not related to any traffic safety outcomes. Conclusion As expected, children were struck by vehicles more often in complex traffic contexts than in less complex ones. The results support previous findings and suggest that boys and sensation seekers have elevated risk of pedestrian injury, and that individual differences in children, rather than age alone, must be considered when determining if children are capable of safely negotiating traffic unsupervised.

Incredible years parenting program buffers prospective association between parent-reported harsh parenting and epigenetic age deceleration in children with externalizing behavior

Harsh parenting has been shown to increase the risk of physical and mental health problems in later life. To improve our understanding of these risks and how they can be mitigated, we investigated associations of harsh parenting with a clinically relevant biomarker, epigenetic age deviation (EAD), using data from a randomized-control trial of the Incredible Years (IY) parenting program. This study included 281 children aged 4–8 years who were screened for heightened externalizing behavior and whose parents were randomly allocated to either IY or care-as-usual (CAU). Parents reported on their own parenting practices and their child’s externalizing behavior at baseline and at a follow-up assessment approximately three years later. Epigenetic age, based on the Pediatric Buccal Epigenetic (PedBE) clock, was estimated from child DNA methylation derived from saliva collected at the follow-up assessment. PedBE clock estimates were regressed on chronological age as a measure of EAD. Moderation analyses using multiple regression revealed that harsher parenting at baseline predicted epigenetic age deceleration in children that received CAU (b = −.21, 95% CI[-0.37, −0.05]), but no association was found in children whose parents were allocated to IY (b = −.02, 95% CI [-0.13, 0.19]). These results highlight a prospective association between harsh parenting and children’s EAD and indicate a potential ameliorating effect of preventive intervention. Future work is needed to replicate these findings and understand individual differences in children’s responses to harsh parenting in relation to epigenetic aging.

Characterizing individual differences in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: a descriptive study.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a higher prevalence in male than in female participants. Recent studies have hypothesized the presence of different phenotypes in male and female participants with ASD. The present study aims to assess possible sex differences in cognitive and adaptive functioning, symptomatology of ASD, and psychopathological comorbidities in a large sample of children and adolescents with ASD. The study included a total of 2,146 children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD, comprising 1785 boys (mean age 7.12 ± 3.69 years) and 361 girls (mean age 6.25 ± 3.30 years). The age of the participants ranged from 1.35 to 19.05 years (mean age 9.98 ± 3.64). The study sought to include all children and adolescents diagnosed with Autism or ASD. Present results showed that girls with ASD had lower IQs than boys but similar adaptive functioning. The severity of symptoms of ASD was greater in boys than in girls, as were scores on psychopathological measures. With increasing age, boys with ASD showed greater impairment in social communication skills than girls and increased psychopathological comorbidities. Older girls showed fewer restricted and repetitive behaviors. Exploring phenotypic differences in children and adolescents with ASD fosters an understanding of subtle diagnostic facets that may go unrecognized, allowing for increasingly individualized and tailored interventions.

Direct and indirect effects of mother's spatial ability on child's spatial ability: What role does the home environment play?

Individual differences in spatial thinking are predictive of children's math and science achievement and later entry into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Little is known about whether parent characteristics predict individual differences in children's spatial thinking. This study aims to understand whether, and to what extent, mother's intrinsic (i.e., mental rotation) and extrinsic (i.e., spatial scaling) spatial ability directly and indirectly, via the variation in home spatial environment, predicts children's intrinsic and extrinsic spatial ability. A total of 165 mothers and their 4-6-year-old children were recruited to participate in a remote video session with an experimenter. Mothers were administered a forced-choice Intrinsic Spatial Toy Preference Task gauging their preference for highly spatial versus less spatial toys and asked questions with the Home Intrinsic Spatial Environmental Questionnaire about the frequency with which they engage their child in spatial activities at home. Mothers completed a Mental Rotations Test and a Spatial Scaling Task adapted for adults. Children were administered the Picture Rotation Task, the Spatial Scaling Task, and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Structural equation modeling was used to examine direct and indirect, via home spatial environment and toy choices, influences of mother spatial ability on child spatial ability. Contrary to our predictions, we did not find direct, nor indirect, relations between mother and child spatial ability. These findings suggest that researchers should consider alternative conceptualizations of the early home spatial environment beyond the frequency of spatial play in the home. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: The identification of factors that predict individual differences in children's spatial ability is important in order to maximize STEM learning outcomes. Data collection was conducted remotely rather than in traditional preschool or laboratory settings. Contrary to our pre-registered hypotheses, no significant relations between mother spatial ability, the early home spatial environment, and children's development of spatial skills were found. Future research should consider examining the amount of spatial language used in the home or the quality of parent-child interactions during spatial play as potential explanations for individual differences in children's spatial ability.

Individual differences in children's movement variability in a virtual reality playground task

Children's movements are highly complex, and thus require measurements that capture various gross motor strategies. This study examined whether aspects of individual differences in children's gross motor movement patterns could be captured in virtual reality (VR) and how motor movements could be conceptualized through freezing-freeing patterns of degrees of freedom. To this end, a three-minute VR scenario was developed for children to freely explore, play, and move around without further instructions, and their movement strategies were simultaneously captured by a non-invasive inertial motion capture system. Sixty-four children aged 7–10 (boys: n = 37, girls: n = 27) participated. The results of correlational and principal component analysis (PCA) on measures of variability of upper extremities indicated significant relationships between nearly all measures (r = 0.31–0.69, p < 0.05). Similarly, a PCA on variability from joint movements in the lower extremities indicated relatively high intercorrelations (r = 0.31–0.71, p < 0.01). A pattern of four different variability profiles was indicated in the interrelationship between the upper and lower body. These findings emphasize the value of using innovative measurements and whole-body motion capture to disentangle individual differences in children's movement variability in product- and process-oriented assessments of gross motor competence.

The Effect of Volleyball Training on Trait Anxiety Levels of 9-12 Ages Female Students

The aim of this study is to determine the impact of volleyball education on the levels of trait anxiety of 9-12-year-old female students. The sample of the study is a group of 9-12-year-old girls from the Düzce Volleyball Youth and Sports Club in 2021-2022, who have just begun the sport. In total, 37 female students volunteered to participate in the study. This study is the single group pretest-posttest model, which is one of the pre-experimental models. As a data collection tool, trait anxiety Scale (CKDSE) is used developed by Spielberger (1973) to measure individual differences in children's anxiety and is the lower scale of children's State-constant anxiety inventory. As an analysis method, the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was used to compare two associated samples. When the findings are analyzed, it is understood that there is a significant difference between the pre-test scores for trait anxiety and the final test scores for trait anxiety for girls attending volleyball training. The results of the study are important to guide families and coaches.

Elucidating mechanisms linking mothers’ and fathers’ mind-mindedness in infancy with children’s self-regulation at early preschool age

Extensive research has examined factors that contribute to individual differences in children’s self-regulation (SR), a key social-emotional competence crucial to adjustment and mental health. Those differences become salient and measurable at late toddler age. In the CAPS (N = 200 community families), we examined mothers’ and fathers’ appropriate mind-mindedness (MM)—the ability to view the child as a psychological agent and correctly interpret his or her mental states—as a predictor of children’s SR. MM was observed in parent–child interactions at 8 months, and SR was observed as the capacity for deliberate delay in standard tasks at 3 years. Reflecting a family system perspective, processes both within and across mother–child and father–child relationships were examined in one model. Parent–child mutual responsiveness, observed during interactions at 16 months, was modeled as a mediator of the paths from MM to SR. Fathers’ MM had a significant, direct positive effect on SR; in addition, it enhanced mutual responsiveness in both father–child and mother–child dyads and promoted child SR through enhanced mother–child mutual responsiveness. The findings elucidate relatively poorly understood mechanisms linking parental MM in infancy with SR at early preschool age, highlight similarities and differences in the processes unfolding in mother–child and father–child relationships, and emphasize interparental dynamics in socialization.

Statistical learning and children's emergent literacy in rural Côte d'Ivoire.

Studies of non-linguistic statistical learning (SL) have often linked performance in SL tasks with differences in language outcomes. Most of these studies have focused on Western and high-income educational contexts, but children worldwide learn in radically different educational systems and communities, and often in a second language. In the west African nation of Côte d'Ivoire, children enter fifth grade (CM-1) with widely varying ages and literacy skills. Across three iteratively-developed experiments, 157 children, age 8-15 years, in rural communities in the greater-Adzópe region of Côte d'Ivoire watched sequences of cartoon images with embedded triplet patterns on touchscreen tablets, while performing a target-detection task. We assessed these tablet-based adaptations of non-linguistic visual SL and asked whether the children's individual differences in performance on the SL tasks were related to their first and second language and literacy skills. We found group-level evidence that children used the statistical regularities in the image sequence to gradually decrease their response times, but their responses on post-test discrimination did not reflect this learning. When evaluating the correlation between SL and language skills, individual differences related to other task demands predicted oral language skills shared by first and second languages, while SL better predicted second language print skills. These findings suggest that non-linguistic SL paradigms can measure similar skills in Ivorian children as previous samples, but they also echo recent calls for further cross-cultural validation, greater internal reliability, and tests for confounding variables (such as processing speed) in studies of individual differences in statistical learning. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We iteratively adapted three visual statistical learning studies for children in rural Côte d'Ivoire. Group-level analyses indicates that the children learn the underlying statistical regularities. Individual-differences analyses reveal some evidence that the statistical learning measure is also correlated with task demands that may be driven by cross-cultural differences. Like previous research, statistical learning is correlated with second language literacy, but we did not find a relationship between SL and oral language skills in first and second languages.

Supervised machine learning: A new method to predict the outcomes following exercise intervention in children with autism spectrum disorder

The individual differences among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may make it challenging to achieve comparable benefits from a specific exercise intervention program. A new method for predicting the possible outcomes and maximizing the benefits of exercise intervention for children with ASD needs further exploration. Using the mini-basketball training program (MBTP) studies to improve the symptom performance of children with ASD as an example, we used the supervised machine learning method to predict the possible intervention outcomes based on the individual differences of children with ASD, investigated and validated the efficacy of this method. In a long-term study, we included 41 ASD children who received the MBTP. Before the intervention, we collected their clinical information, behavioral factors, and brain structural indicators as candidate factors. To perform the regression and classification tasks, the random forest algorithm from the supervised machine learning method was selected, and the cross validation method was used to determine the reliability of the prediction results. The regression task was used to predict the social communication impairment outcome following the MBTP in children with ASD, and explainable variance was used to evaluate the predictive performance. The classification task was used to distinguish the core symptom outcome groups of ASD children, and predictive performance was assessed based on accuracy. We discovered that random forest models could predict the outcome of social communication impairment (average explained variance was 30.58%) and core symptom (average accuracy was 66.12%) following the MBTP, confirming that the supervised machine learning method can predict exercise intervention outcomes for children with ASD. Our findings provide a novel and reliable method for identifying ASD children most likely to benefit from a specific exercise intervention program in advance and a solid foundation for establishing a personalized exercise intervention program recommendation system for ASD children.

Preschoolers' Beliefs, Emotions and Intended Responses toward Peer Behaviors: Do Children's Sex, Age, and Social Behavior Make a Difference?

Children's self-imposed isolation in the company of others (social withdrawal due to shyness or unsociability) and active isolation due to direct aggressive behaviors can challenge successful engagement in the peer group. The developmental attributional perspective acknowledges that children's intended affiliative responses are, in part, guided by their emotions and beliefs toward peers' social behaviors and may differ depending on children's sex, age group, and social behavior. This study aimed to (1) describe preschoolers' beliefs, emotions, and intended affiliative preferences toward aggressive, shy, and unsociable peers, depending on children's sex and age group, and (2) explore the associations between preschoolers' beliefs, emotions and intended affiliative preferences, depending on children's social behaviors and children's sex or age group. A total of 158 preschoolers aged 3-6 years were interviewed, using the Child Attributions Interview to assess their beliefs, emotions and intended affiliative preferences toward peers. Teachers completed the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale to assess children's prosocial behaviors, aggressive-anger, and anxious-withdrawal. Preschoolers' perspectives toward shy and unsociable peers were less negative than toward aggressive peers. However, participants in our sample were not fully aware of the different intentionality and social motivations of shy and unsociable peers. Higher levels of perceived social standing, social motivation and sympathy predicted higher affiliative preferences toward shy, unsociable, and aggressive peers. However, the magnitude of the associations between preschoolers' beliefs, emotions and intended affiliative preferences differed, depending on children's sex, age group and prosocial behavior, especially toward aggressive and shy peer behaviors. These findings are in line with the developmental attributional perspective, but highlight the need to account for developmental specificities, sex differences in peer relationships and children's individual differences in social behaviors.

Conceptual understanding in science learning and the role of four psychometric variables: a person-centered approach.

The present study investigated conceptual understanding in learning science in relation to four cognitive variables: logical thinking, field-dependence/field-independence, and divergent and convergent thinking. The participants were fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school pupils involved in different mental tasks, where they had to describe and interpret phenomena related to changes of matter. This brief report presents data from the students' understanding of evaporation, and the method of analysis, a person-centered approach, is explicated. Latent class analysis (LCA) was applied to reveal distinct clusters of cases sharing similar patterns of responses. The use of LCA aligns with theoretical conjectures related to a stepwise conceptual change process, and the hypothetical steps correspond to the identified discrete latent classes (LCs). Subsequently, the LCs were associated with the four cognitive variables as covariates, thus providing empirical evidence for the role of the above-mentioned individual differences in children's learning in sciences. Methodological issues and theoretical implications are discussed.

Does the Frontal Brain Electrical Activity Mediate the Effect of Home Executive Function Environment and Screen Time on Children’s Executive Function?

Executive functions play an important role in various developmental aspects of children; however, environmental factors influencing individual differences in children’s executive function and their neural substructures, particularly in middle childhood, are rarely investigated. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the relationship between the home executive function environment (HEFE) and screen time with the executive function of children aged 8-12 years by employing the mediating variables of alpha, beta, and theta waves. The parents of 133 normal children completed Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning, HEFE, and Screen Time Scales. Alpha, beta, and theta brain waves were also measured. Data were examined using correlational and path analysis. The results suggested a positive and significant relationship between home executive functions and the executive functions of children. Furthermore, the results indicated an inverse and significant relationship between screen time and executive function. The results also proved the mediating role of alpha, beta, and theta brain waves in the relationship between screen time and the children’s executive function. Environmental factors (such as home environment and screen time) affect the function of brain waves and, thus, the daily executive function of children.