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Browsing by Subject "Preschoolers"

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    Effects of Genes on Individual Differences in Executive Function Development in Preschool-Aged Children
    (2015-04-22) Sherman, Samantha J.; Hodel, Amanda S.; Markant, Julie C.; Thomas, Kathleen M.
    Few studies have examined how individual differences in genes related to the brain’s dopamine system impact the development of higher-level cognitive skills in children. Past research with adults has identified that variants of the dopamine transporter gene (DAT-1) are associated with poorer inhibitory control development, including higher impulsivity and risk-taking. Similarly, genetic variability related to COMT, an enzyme that degrades dopamine, predicts working memory abilities in adults. This study evaluated whether individual differences in the DAT-1 VNTR polymorphism and COMT Val158Met polymorphism predicted the development of executive functions (higher order cognitive skills, including working memory, inhibitory control, and attention shifting) at age 5. On tasks requiring inhibitory control (balloon analogue risk task, delay discounting), we found a non-significant relationship between children’s performance and DAT-1 VNTR genotypes. On tasks examining working memory (spatial span, memory search), children homozygous for the Met allele of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism performed more poorly than their peers with a Val allele. Parent report of inhibitory control and working memory development was unrelated to children’s genotypes, highlighting that differences by genotype are not within the clinical range of abnormality. Overall, our results suggest that the COMT polymorphism is associated with similar effects on preschooler’s working memory abilities as reported in adult studies. However, neither DAT-1 VNTR polymorphism predicted inhibitory control development at preschool age, suggesting that additional environmental factors may have a stronger impact on inhibitory control during early childhood.
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    Typical and Atypical Acquisition of Mathematics, Reading, and Writing: Cognitive Profiles in Early Development
    (2020-08) Schmied, Astrid
    Academic success is at the heart of educational systems. Nevertheless, underachievement in core academic domains (mathematics, reading, and writing) and Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs) (dyscalculia, dyslexia, and dysgraphia) are widely reported across the globe. Research on the cognitive abilities that associate with the acquisition of these academic domains has primarily concentrated on school-age children. In contrast, little is known about this topic prior to formal schooling. Understanding preschool periods is critical, because the preschool years set the stage for subsequent learning. We need to better understand better the cognitive abilities mostly/particularly associated with the early development of mathematics, reading, and writing. The Early Academic Skills Development study collected data to gain a deeper understanding of the cognitive abilities that are associated with the development of core academic domains. It used a cross-sectional design and primarily quantitative data to explore these associations. A comprehensive battery of academic, cognitive, and behavioral measures was collected for 32 preschoolers aged 3-5 years old during November 2019 and March 2020. The tests Number Sense, Letter-Word Identification, and Writing were used as proxies for measuring mathematics, reading, and writing, respectively. For assessing cognitive abilities, the indexes of Working Memory (WMI), Visual Spatial (VSI), Verbal Acquisition (VAI), Verbal Comprehension (VCI), and Nonverbal (NVI) were utilized as proxies. The selection of these cognitive variables was based on the existing literature in elementary school-age children and SLDs. As hypotheses, Number Sense, Letter-Word Identification, and Writing were expected to be positively associated with WMI and VSI, VAI and VCI, and VSI and NVI, respectively. The analytical approaches for testing the hypotheses included regression models. The expected findings of this study were not supported by the quantitative analyses; none of the hypotheses of this investigation resulted in statistically reliable associations. None of these results varied while controlling for gender, childcare system, household income, and highest level of mothers’ education. The findings of this study are largely inconclusive, presumably due to the limited sample size. More in-depth interpretations require more intensive data collection to increase the sample size. By filling this gap, the resulting data could inform early education, as well as intervention programs aimed to reduce academic underachievement later on in school. These new data may also enlighten early screening procedures of SLDs that can inform mental health diagnoses, treatments, and remedial education programs, which would avoid short- and long-term consequences and most likely lead to improving academic success.