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Young Children’s Reasoning About the Effects of Emotional and Physiological States on Academic Performance
Author(s) -
Amsterlaw Jennifer,
Lagattuta Kristin Hansen,
Meltzoff Andrew N.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01249.x
Subject(s) - psychology , affect (linguistics) , cognition , developmental psychology , variety (cybernetics) , cognitive development , theory of mind , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , communication , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , computer science
This study assessed young children’s understanding of the effects of emotional and physiological states on cognitive performance. Five, 6‐, 7‐year‐olds, and adults ( N = 96) predicted and explained how children experiencing a variety of physiological and emotional states would perform on academic tasks. Scenarios included: (a) negative and positive emotions, (b) negative and positive physiological states, and (c) control conditions. All age groups understood the impairing effects of negative emotions and physiological states. Only 7‐year‐olds, however, showed adult‐like reasoning about the potential enhancing effects of positive internal states and routinely cited cognitive mechanisms to explain how internal states affect performance. These results shed light on theory‐of‐mind development and also have significance for children’s everyday school success.