Mental State Understanding Individual Differences In Typical And Atypical Development

The current book addresses the development of mental state understanding in children with typical and atypical population, and reports new suggestions about the way to evaluate it and to support it through training. The presented frame is multifaceted. In respect to typical populations, the role of maternal reflective functioning, language, communication, and educational contexts has been deepened; and the association with internalizing/externalizing behaviors, performances in spatial tasks and pragmatics has been addressed as well. As to atypical populations, deficits in mental states understanding are reported for children with different developmental disorders or impairments, as the agenesis of the corpus callosum, Down Syndrome, preterm birth, Autism Spectrum Disorder, hearing impairment and personality difficulties such as anxiety. Overall, the papers collected in our book allow a better understanding of the mechanisms influencing mental state understanding and the effects of mental state comprehension on development.

Over the last fifteen years, developmentalists, cognitive scientists, philosophers, educators and clinicians have considered the acquisition of a theory of mind - the capacity to predict and explain behavior on the basis of internal, subjective mental states - to be one of the crucial cognitive achievements of early childhood. This volume represents the first collection of work to address, empirically and conceptually, the topic of individual differences in theory of mind. It is also unique because it takes the reader beyond the preschool years, to explore theory of mind development in late childhood and adulthood.

Early emotional development, emotional regulation, and the links between emotion and social or cognitive functioning in atypically developing children have not received much attention. This lack is due in part to the priorities given to the educational and therapeutic needs of these children. Yet an understanding of the basic emotional processes in children with atypical development can only serve to promote more effective strategies for teaching and intervening in the lives of these children and their families and may contribute to our understanding of basic emotional processes as well. When referring to "emotions," the editors mean some complex set of processes or abilities, whether or not the topic is normal or atypical development. Specifically, they use the term "emotion" to refer to at least three things -- emotional expressions, emotional states, and emotional experiences. The focus of this volume, these three aspects of emotional life are affected by socialization practices, maturational change, and individual biological differences including, in this case, differences in children as a function of disability. Contributors examine the development of emotions in children with organic or psychological disorders as well as those in compromised social contexts making this volume of prime importance to developmental, clinical, and social psychologists, educators, and child mental health experts.

This volume examines the role that culture plays in the acquisition of cognitive, linguistic, and social skills. Taking reflective thinking as a central analytical concept, the contributors investigate the role of personal reflection in a series of mental activities, including the creation of social relationships, the creation of a mental narrative to make sense of events, and metacognition. These three types of cognition are usually conceived of as separate research fields. Metarepresentation and Narrative in Educational Settings draws these discrete subfields into dialogue, exploring the connections and interplay among them. This approach yields insight into a range of topics, including language acquisition, cognitive processes, Theory of Mind, cross-cultural interaction, and social development. The volume also outlines the implications of these findings in terms of further research and possible social policy initiatives.

Volume 34 of the Advances in Child Development and Behavior series is divided into eight components that highlight some of the most recent research in developmental and educational psychology. A wide array of topics are discussed in detail, including social stereotypes and prejudice, phonetic and lexical learning, poverty, the development of moral thinking, and others. Each component provides in depth discussions of various developmental psychology specializations. This volume serves as an invaluable resource for psychology researchers and advanced psychology students. Goes in depth to address eight different developmental and educational psychology topics A necessary resource for both psychology researchers and students

To what extent, and in what ways, is a child's cognitive development influenced by their early experience of, and access to, language? What are the affects on development of impaired access to language? This book considers how possessing an enhanced or impaired access to language influences a child's development.