Tests Of Cognitive Development Research Articles

Examining Gifted Primary School Students’ Logical Reasoning Ability

Gifted students have advanced creative, analytical, critical, and logical reasoning skills. Logical reasoning is different from other thinking skills. The logical reasoning skill, which is also a high-level thinking skill and required for other high-level thinking skills, has also been the subject of many studies. However, it has been observed that there are not enough studies on the logical reasoning skills of gifted students. In this study, the logical reasoning levels of gifted primary school students will be analyzed. The research was designed according to the descriptive survey model, one of the quantitative research methods. The sample of the study consists of 38 primary school students in a center where gifted students are educated. The Longeot's Test of Cognitive Development was used as a data collection tool. Frequency and percentage distributions and non-parametric analysis methods were used in the analysis of the data. None of the gifted primary school students got full marks on the test. While none of the gifted primary school students could get full points from the questions belonging to the formal operational period, only 3 students got full points from the questions belonging to the concrete processing period. While the cognitive development level of 26 gifted primary school students is in the formal operational stage, the cognitive development of 12 students is in the concrete operational stage. According to the gender variable of gifted primary school students, there is no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the concrete and formal operational periods. There is a statistically significant difference in favor of male students in the mean scores of combinatorial analysis problems.

Cognitive development and parenting during early childhood among Mapuche and non-indigenous Chileans

The current article studies the differences in cognitive development between Mapuche preschoolers and non-Indigenous preschoolers in Chile. The Mapuches comprise the main Indigenous group in Chile and a socioeconomically vulnerable group. We studied the differences in cognitive development between these two groups, focusing on the role of the families’ socioeconomic resources and the parental behaviors. We use data from the 2012 Encuesta Longitudinal de Primera Infancia, a nationally representative survey of early childhood (0–6 years old) in Chile, which includes a test of cognitive development validated for Mapuche preschoolers. Our results indicate that the cognitive gap between Mapuche children and non-Indigenous children in Chile starts before they enter primary school (SD = 0.2, p < 0.001), which coincides with the lower limit of the gap found in previous studies during school years. In linear models of cognitive development, socioeconomic resources, and parental behaviors account for part of the gap between Mapuche children and non-Indigenous children, but not for all of it. We also find a positive interaction between a Mapuche origin and home learning materials, which indicates that Mapuche children benefit from a rich learning environment at home more intensively than do non-Indigenous Chilean children.

Cognitive Outcomes of Young Children After Prenatal Exposure to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder

The number of children with prenatal opioid exposure to medication for addiction treatment (MAT) with methadone and buprenorphine for maternal opioid use disorder is increasing, but the associations of this exposure with cognitive outcomes are not well understood. To examine the strength and consistency of findings in the medical literature regarding the association of prenatal exposure to MAT with early childhood cognitive development, particularly when accounting for variables outside MAT exposure. A search strategy obtained publications from PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Embase from January 1972 to June 2019. Reference lists from identified articles were searched. Inclusion criteria were cohort studies, studies including children aged 1 to 60 months with at least 2 months of prenatal MAT exposure, studies using standardized direct-observation testing scales, and studies reporting means and SDs. Case reports, case series, historical controls, and reviews were excluded. Two authors independently selected studies for inclusion, extracted data, and assessed study quality. Data extracted included demographic characteristics, covariates, sources of bias, and effect estimates. Meta-analysis was performed using random-effects models. This study was conducted according to the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. Data extraction and synthesis were conducted between January 2018 and August 2019. Cognitive test scores and demographic variability between exposed and unexposed groups. A total of 16 unique cohorts, described in 27 articles and including 1086 children (485 [44.7%] with MAT exposure), were included in a quantitative synthesis. On meta-analysis, MAT exposure was associated with lower cognitive development scores (pooled standardized mean difference, -0.57; 95% CI, -0.93 to -0.21; I2 = 81%). Multiple subanalyses on demographic characteristics (ie, maternal education, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, prenatal tobacco exposure, infant sex) were conducted. In the subanalysis of studies with comparable prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke, the association of MAT exposure with cognitive scores was no longer statistically significant and became homogeneous (standardized mean difference, -0.11; 95% CI, -0.42 to 0.20; I2 = 0%). In this study, predefined subanalyses demonstrated how poor recruitment, particularly imbalances in maternal tobacco use, could contribute to a negative overall association of cognitive development test scores with prenatal MAT exposure. Promoting tobacco cessation for pregnant women with opioid use disorder should be prioritized in this high-risk population.

Examining Prospective Teachers’ Logical Reasoning Ability: The Longeot’s Test of Cognitive Development

Bu arastirmada sinif ve matematik ogretmen adaylarinin mantiksal dusunme becerilerinin cinsiyet ve ogrenim gorulen program turu degiskenlerine bagli olarak incelenmesi amaclanmistir. Arastirmada Longeot Bilissel Gelisim Testinin Turkceye uyarlama calismasi yapilmistir. Bu test, somut ve soyut islemler olmak uzerek iki kisimdan olusmaktadir. Elde edilen sonuclar, Longeot Bilissel Gelisim Testinin ogretmen adaylarinin mantiksal dusunme beceri duzeylerini belirlemek amaciyla kullanilabilecek gecerli ve guvenilir bir arac oldugunu gostermektedir. Cinsiyet degiskenine gore ogretmen adaylarinin soyut islemler ve genel mantiksal dusunme becerileri arasinda anlamli bir farklilik olmadigi belirlenmistir. Program turu degiskenine gore sinif egitimi ve matematik programlarinda ogrenim goren adaylarin somut, soyut islemler ve genel mantiksal beceri duzeyleri arasinda anlamli bir farklilik oldugu belirlenmistir. Bu farkliligin matematik programinda ogrenim goren ogretmen adaylarinin lehine oldugu gorulmektedir.

Effects of a Parenting Program Among Women Who Began Childbearing as Adolescents and Young Adults

PurposeThe purpose of the study was to examine whether access to an at-scale, group-based parenting education program (“Educación Inicial”) had differential effects on parenting behaviors and child cognitive development according to mother's age at the birth of her first child, with a focus on adolescent mothers in rural Mexico. MethodsThis was a secondary analysis of a cluster-randomized controlled trial (n = 728 households, n = 106 communities). We conducted intent-to-treat analyses and examined the interaction between treatment group and mother's age at first birth. The primary outcomes were parenting behaviors (Family Care Indicators) and children's cognitive development (McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities) at ages 3–5 years. ResultsWe found that children of mothers who began childbearing in adulthood (20–30 years) scored higher on tests of cognitive development when randomized to weekly parenting support than their counterparts in the comparison group. Whereas, the children of mothers who began childbearing in adolescence (≤16 years) did not have higher scores associated with the parenting program (difference in magnitude of associations: Verbal = −8.19; 95% CI = −15.50 to −.88; p = .03; Memory = −7.22; 95% CI = −14.31 to −.14; p = .05). The higher scores among the children of mothers who began childbearing in adulthood were only significant when Educación Inical was supported by Prospera, the conditional cash transfer program. ConclusionsOur study results suggest that the Educación Inicial parenting intervention did not adequately address the needs of women who began childbearing in adolescence. One reason may be that adolescent mothers are more socially marginalized and less able to benefit from parenting programs.

Persistent Poverty and Children's Cognitive Development: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

SummaryWe use data from the four sweeps of the UK Millennium Cohort Study of children born at the turn of the 21st century to document the effect that poverty, and in particular persistent poverty, has on their cognitive development in their early years. Using structural equation modelling, we show that children born into poverty have significantly lower test scores at age 3, age 5 and age 7 years, and that continually living in poverty in their early years has a cumulative negative effect on their cognitive development. For children who are persistently in poverty throughout their early years, their cognitive development test scores at age 7 years are almost 20 percentile ranks lower than children who have never experienced poverty, even after controlling for a wide range of background characteristics and parental investment.

Verbal Abuse and Cognition in the Developing Mind

This study compared a group of 90 high verbally abused and 90 low verbally abused children on tests of cognitive development. The Cognitive Assessment System made up of attention, coding (simultaneous processing and successive processing), and planning subtests were administered to the high-abused and low-abused children. Results indicate that the high-abused children scored lower than the low-abused children on all the tests. In attention and simultaneous processing tasks, the younger children in the high-abused group performed better than the older children, suggesting better attention strategies and an absence of negative thought in the younger groups of high-abused children. Girls performed better than boys on the attention task. Results suggest that verbal abuse is associated with less favorable neuropsychological functioning.

Effect of Audio-Visual Intervention Program on Cognitive Development of the Preschool Children

Preschool may not be a place where formal education is imparted but yes, it definitely is a place where children have their first taste of independence. Preschool education is the provision of education for children before the commencement of statutory education usually between the ages of 2 and 5. Thus the purpose of the study was to study the effectiveness of the audio-visual intervention program on the cognitive development of preschool children in relation to their socio economic status. The researcher employed experimental method to conduct the study. The sample consisted of 100 students from preschool of Rohini, Delhi. Thus the totalstudy consisted of 100 children of class L.K.G, besides, all (100) parents of the all sampled children covered under the experimental and control groups were included in the sample so as to collect the data related to their SES. The Cognitive Development Test was developed by investigator and Socio Economic Status scale was developed by Rajeev Bhardwaj. The findings of the study were: (i) Audio-visual Intervention Program has also positively affected the overall cognitive development of the preschool children; and (ii) the Audio-visual Intervention Program has not been found to be differently affecting the cognitive development of the preschool children at different SES levels. Hence, in many ways the findings of the present study can be beneficial in strengthening the non-formal preschool education component. It can be useful for the young children, the teachers who handle the young children, teacher training institutions and the policy makers as well.

Allaitement maternel : les bénéfices pour la santé de l’enfant et de sa mère

The prevalence of breastfeeding in France is one of the lowest in Europe: 65% of infants born in France in 2010 were breastfed when leaving the maternity ward. Exclusive breastfeeding allows normal growth until at least 6 months of age, and can be prolonged until the age of 2 years or more, provided that complementary feeding is started after 6 months. Breast milk contains hormones, growth factors, cytokines, immunocompetent cells, etc., and has many biological properties. The composition of breast milk is influenced by gestational and postnatal age, as well as by the moment of the feed. Breastfeeding is associated with slightly enhanced performance on tests of cognitive development. Exclusive breastfeeding for at least 3 months is associated with a lower incidence and severity of diarrhoea, otitis media and respiratory infection. Exclusive breastfeeding for at least 4 months is associated with a lower incidence of allergic disease (asthma, atopic dermatitis) during the first 2 to 3 years of life in at-risk infants (infants with at least one first-degree relative presenting with allergy). Breastfeeding is also associated with a lower incidence of obesity during childhood and adolescence, as well as with a lower blood pressure and cholesterolemia in adulthood. However, no beneficial effect of breastfeeding on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality has been shown. Maternal infection with hepatitis B and C virus is not a contraindication to breastfeeding, as opposed to HIV infection and galactosemia. A supplementation with vitamin D and K is necessary in the breastfed infant. Very few medications contraindicate breastfeeding. Premature babies can be breastfed and/or receive mother's milk and/or bank milk, provided they receive energy, protein and mineral supplements. Return to prepregnancy weight is earlier in breastfeeding mothers during the 6 months following delivery. Breastfeeding is also associated with a decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancer in the premenopausal period, and of osteoporosis in the postmenopausal period.

Handedness, Health and Cognitive Development: Evidence from Children in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

SummaryUsing data from the child supplement of the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, and fitting three-level random-effects models of child health and cognitive development, we test whether left-handed children have different outcomes from those of their right-handed counterparts. The health measures cover both physical health and mental health, and the cognitive development test scores span vocabulary, mathematics, reading and comprehension. Overall we find little evidence to suggest that left-handed children have a significantly higher probability of experiencing injury, illness or behavioural problems. In contrast, we find that left-handed children have significantly lower cognitive development test scores than right-handed children for all areas of development with the exception of reading. Moreover, we find no strong evidence that the left-handedness effect differs by gender or age.

Criatividade e inteligência em crianças: habilidades relacionadas?

Diante dos questionamentos que persistem acerca da relação entre criatividade e inteligência, a pesquisa teve por objetivo investigar esses construtos junto a crianças, 90 estudantes do Ensino Fundamental (44 do sexo feminino e 46 do sexo masculino), com idades entre sete e 12 anos, que responderam a um teste não verbal de desenvolvimento cognitivo (Desenho da Figura Humana) e a um teste de criatividade (Teste de Criatividade Figural Infantil). Os resultados demonstraram que o desempenho no teste cognitivo relacionou-se significativamente com o desempenho no teste de criatividade (r=0,47; p&lt;0,01), de forma que, no presente estudo, criatividade e inteligência encontram-se relacionadas. Conforme esperado, ambos os construtos mostraram-se sensíveis à influência da idade, sendo que a variável gênero não se mostrou significativa.

The effect of cleft lip on cognitive development in school-aged children: a paradigm for examining sensitive period effects

Our previous investigation showed that infants with cleft lip who had undergone late (three-month) surgical repair (but not those with early, neonatal, repair) had significantly poorer cognitive development at 18 months than a group of unaffected control children. These differences were mediated by the quality of early mother-infant interactions. The present study examined whether this pattern persisted into later childhood. At 7 years, 93 index (44 early, and 49 late repair) and 77 control children were followed up and their cognitive development assessed (IQ, language and school achievements). Index children (particularly those with late lip repair) scored significantly lower than controls on tests of cognitive development. Group differences in Verbal IQ were mediated by 2 months' maternal sensitivity; this was associated with 7-year Verbal IQ, even after controlling for later mother-child interactions. Social interactions in the first few months may be of especial importance for child cognitive development. Interventions for infants with cleft lip should be directed at fostering the best possible parental care in infancy.

Working Memory and the Evolution of Modern Thinking

Leslie C. Aiello is President of the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (470 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor North, New York, New York 10016, U.S.A.). 1. The numbering system began with the first symposium held at Burg Wartenstein Castle in 1958 (the “International Symposium on Current Anthropology” organized by Sol Tax). During the castle years only those symposia actually held at the castle were numbered. After the sale of the castle in 1980, the symposia held elsewhere continued the numbered sequence. There were 31 nonnumbered symposia held between 1952 and 1986. “Working Memory and the Evolution of Modern Thinking” is the 139th numbered Wenner-Gren Symposium and the 168th symposium in the overall Wenner-Gren symposium series. The symposium was organized by anthropologist Thomas Wynn and psychologist Frederick Coolidge and held March 7–14, 2008, at Fortaleza do Guincho, Cascais, Portugal. Its purpose was to investigate the hypothesis that workingmemory capacity evolved over the course of human evolution and that its final enhancement in the recent past enabled the rapid expansion of modern humans at the expense of more archaic hominins. Working memory, the ability to hold information in attention and process it, has been the focus of considerable research in the cognitive sciences but has received relatively little attention among anthropologists. This symposium brought together cognitive scientists involved in the study of working memory with paleoanthropologists studying human evolution to discuss and debate issues around the evolution of working memory and its manifestation in the human evolutionary record. (Participants are shown in fig. 1.) Although there was no general agreement on the nature of working memory, there was consensus on the importance of an explicit cognitive theory such as working memory to generate appropriate tests of cognitive development. For example, all agreed on the importance of expanding the archaeological evidence of modern human cognition from, say, the presence of blades or personal ornamentation to features such as hafting, complex sequences of tool production, remotely operated traps, and colonization of oceanic islands. This symposium builds on earlier Wenner-Gren Symposia that have explored human cognitive and behavioral evolution, including Tools, Language and Cognition in Human Evolution (Gibson and Ingold 1993) and Roots of Human Sociality: Culture, Cognition and Interaction (Enfield and Levinson 2006). The foundation also has a long history of symposia on various aspects of human and primate evolution including, among many others, Social Life of Early Man (Washburn 1961), Background to Evolution in Africa (Bishop and Clark 1967), Earliest Man and Environments in the Lake Rudolf Basin (Coppens et al. 1976), and Phylogeny of the Primates: A Multidisciplinary Approach (Luckett and Szalay 1975).

Item Equivalence in English and Chinese Translation of a Cognitive Development Test for Preschoolers

This article reports the results of a study of potential sources of item nonequivalence between English and Chinese language versions of a cognitive development test for preschool-aged children. Items were flagged for potential nonequivalence through statistical and judgment-based procedures, and the relationship between flag status and item content, format, and language features were examined. Results indicate that neither item content nor item format was related to flag status. However, a fairly strong relationship exists between flag status and language features of the items. Items containing content that is differentially familiar to children based on their cultural experiences and vocabulary account for the majority of the observed differences. There was little evidence that differences in the grammatical form or language structure were predictive of observed nonequivalence.

Handedness, Health and Cognitive Development: Evidence from Children in the NLSY

Using data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, and fitting family fixed-effects models of child health and cognitive development, we test if left-handed children do significantly worse than their right-handed counterparts. The health measures cover both physical and mental health, and the cognitive development test scores span (1) Memory, (2) Vocabulary, (3) Mathematics, (4) Reading and (5) Comprehension. We find that while left-handed children have a significantly higher probability of suffering an injury needing medical attention, there is no difference in their experience of illness or poor mental health. We also find that left-handed children have significantly lower cognitive development test scores than right-handed children for all areas of development with the exception of reading. Moreover, the left-handedness disadvantage is larger for boys than girls, and remains roughly constant as children grow older for most outcomes. We also find that the probability of a child being left-handed is not related to the socioeconomic characteristics of the family, such as income or maternal education. All these results tend to support a difference in brain functioning or neurological explanation for handedness differentials rather than one based on left-handed children living in a right-handed world.

The contribution of schooling to the cognitive development of secondary education students in Cyprus: an application of regression discontinuity with multiple cut-off points

This article reports the results of a study in which the basic regression-discontinuity approach to assess the effect of 1 year of schooling is extended. The data analysis covers the 6 grades of secondary education in Cyprus and thus assesses the contribution of secondary education to the cognitive development of 12- to 18-year-old students. A model with multiple cut-off points is fitted. Achievement scores on both curriculum-based tests in language and mathematics and the non-curriculum-referenced Comprehensive Test of Cognitive Development (CTCD), which measures the development of 5 domains of reasoning (i.e., categorical, quantitative, spatial, causal, and propositional), were analysed to measure the effect of schooling. Implications of findings for the development of educational effectiveness research are drawn.

Difficultés de suivi d'une cohorte d'enfants nés grands prématurés : EPIPAGE Paris–Petite-Couronne

Objectives To describe the characteristics of the children of parents who did not respond to a follow-up questionnaire in a cohort of very preterm infants (EPIPAGE study) and to explore the reasons why they did not complete the questionnaires. Methods The non-respondents ( N = 176) were the parents who did not return the questionnaires at 1 and 2 years. Contacts were organised by telephone calls and at home visits. Results The families of the non-respondents presented more socioeconomic difficulties and their children were born more preterm than those followed up without difficulties. The efforts made to contact the non-respondents revealed that their families were often confronted with major adverse socioeconomic difficulties, had severe illnesses and psychological troubles. Half of the children of the non-respondents were finally examined at the 5-year assessment. They showed lower performances at the cognitive development test and a poorer health status than the children of the respondents. Conclusion When the follow-up does not include the initial population in its totality, the socioeconomic difficulties are underestimated and probably also the rate of sequelae associated with very preterm delivery.

Allaitement maternel : les bénéfices pour la santé de l'enfant et de sa mère

Breast milk contains hormones, growth factors, cytokines, cells, etc., and offers many advantages over cow's milk or soy protein infant formulae. The composition of breast milk is influenced by gestational and postnatal age. Prevalence of breastfeeding in France is one of the lowest in Europe: in 2003, only 58% of infants were breastfed when leaving the maternity ward, for a median duration of 10 weeks. Breastfeeding allows normal growth until at least 6 months of age, and can be prolonged until the age of 2 years or more, provided that complementary feeding is started after 6 months. Breastfeeding is associated with slightly enhanced performance on tests of cognitive development. Exclusive breastfeeding for at least 3 months is associated with a lower incidence and severity of diarrhoea, otitis media and respiratory infection. Exclusive breastfeeding for at least 6 months is associated with a lower incidence of allergic disease in at-risk infants (infants with at least one first-degree relative presenting with allergy). Breastfeeding is also associated with a lower incidence of obesity during childhood and adolescence, as well as with a lower incidence of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia in adulthood. Maternal infection with hepatitis B and C virus is not a contraindication to breastfeeding, as opposed to HIV infection and galactosemia. A supplementation with vitamin D and K is necessary in the breastfed infant. Very few medications contraindicate breastfeeding. Premature babies can be breastfed and/or receive mother's milk and/or bank milk, provided they receive energy, protein and mineral supplements. Return to prepregnancy weight is earlier in breastfeeding mothers. Breastfeeding is also associated with a decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancer in the premenopausal period, and of hip fractures and osteoporosis in the postmenopausal period.

Impact of Socio-economic Conditions of Preschoolers on Conceptual Skills

The present study assesses the conceptual skills of 5-year old preschoolers (boys and girls pooled) across two socio-economic strata i.e. high and low. Pandey’s Cognitive Development Test for Preschoolers (PCDTP,1992) was employed to assess conceptual skills of selected eighty preschoolers from Yamuna Nagar city (Haryana). Significant differences were found for concept of size, shape, colour, time, numbers, seriation, and money denominations. Non-significant differences were found among socio-economic strata for classification tasks, concept of weight and texture.

Relationships among blood lead levels, iron deficiency, and cognitive development in two-year-old children.

The goals of this study were to explore the relationship of declining blood lead levels and cognitive development in 42 moderately lead poisoned children around 2 years of age and to investigate the potential interaction between iron and lead levels in the course of development. The cognitive functioning of children was assessed upon enrollment into a comprehensive intervention and 6 months later. The intervention consisted of chelation treatment, if appropriate, iron supplementation, if needed, and steps to eliminate the source of lead in the home environment. The children were referred because of blood lead levels between 25 and 55 mu g/dl; they were also selected on the basis of age between 18 and 30 months. The outcome measures were the global score on a standardized test of cognitive development and subscale scores for perceptual-motor and language functioning. Cognitive change over 6 months was related to an interaction between change in blood lead and initial iron status. Specifically, the change in standardized score (particularly change in perceptual-motor performance) was strongly related to change in blood lead in children who were iron sufficient at the outset: there was an increase of 1.2 points for every 1 mu g/dl decrease in blood lead. There was no such relationship in iron-deficient children. Secondary analyses suggested that 1) the change in cognitive functioning of iron-deficient children was related to change in hemoglobin, and 2) the decline in blood lead was less in iron-deficient than in iron-sufficient children. Thus, when iron is sufficient, changes in blood lead and changes in cognition are inversely related. When iron is deficient, other processes affect the outcome.