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The Potential Benefits of Mindfulness Training in Early Childhood: A Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective
Author(s) -
Zelazo Philip David,
Lyons Kristen E.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
child development perspectives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1750-8606
pISSN - 1750-8592
DOI - 10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00241.x
Subject(s) - socioemotional selectivity theory , psychology , mindfulness , autism , cognition , developmental cognitive neuroscience , curiosity , perspective (graphical) , developmental psychology , competence (human resources) , anxiety , cognitive psychology , neuroscience , cognitive neuroscience , psychotherapist , social psychology , artificial intelligence , psychiatry , computer science
Early childhood is marked by substantial development in the self‐regulatory skills supporting school readiness and socioemotional competence. Evidence from developmental social cognitive neuroscience suggests that these skills develop as a function of changes in a dynamic interaction between more top‐down (controlled) regulatory processes and more bottom‐up (automatic) influences on behavior. Mindfulness training—using age‐appropriate activities to exercise children's reflection on their moment‐to‐moment experiences—may support the development of self‐regulation by targeting top‐down processes while lessening bottom‐up influences (such as anxiety, stress, curiosity) to create conditions conducive to reflection, both during problem solving and in more playful, exploratory ways.