Collaborative Research: Integrating Culturally-Responsive Measures and Comparisons to Strengthen Developmental Models of Reasoning and Executive Function

训练儿童在行动中进行推理和处理认知挑战是21世纪社会的一个关键发展目标，然而，目前训练儿童思维的方法往往低估了家庭和生活经历促进成长的方式的多样性。该项目特别考虑了许多第一代和第二代拉丁裔青年所从事的通常复杂和高努力的认知活动（例如，管理需要多步骤解决方案和关注复杂约束的家务），旨在探索这些实践如何与更传统的执行功能模型（EFs）相关联。通过管理和控制注意力的能力来巩固教育和推理技能的一套共享认知资源。重要的是，该项目旨在完善发展领域的理论，即什么是提高EF技能的高杠杆实践，包括有意义的管理和参与具有现实后果的任务。如果成功，这将表明需要进行一场变革，从以通过重复使用认知负担、抽象推理和注意力任务（通常在电脑上）来发展技能为中心的训练模式，转向有意地让孩子们承担责任，并相应地参与日常的社会和文化实践。这可能是一种可扩展的、可行的方法，通过在日常推理中使用来加强儿童的认知EF资源。这个项目测试了现有的推理和执行功能的发展模型没有捕捉到在日常使用中可能训练和塑造ef表达的社会化实践的范围。将对第一代和第二代拉丁裔儿童以及非移民欧美儿童进行混合方法数据收集，包括1)使用传统和新开发的文化响应任务进行EF和推理技能测量，2)对儿童的日常责任和自主活动进行调查，以及3)由主要照顾者和儿童一起讨论的录像访谈和结构化场景。本项目由发展科学计划和扩大参与科学计划共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Training children to reason and handle cognitive challenges in the midst of action is a key developmental goal in 21st century society, yet current approaches to training children’s thinking tend to undervalue diversity in the ways that families and life experiences foster growth. This project in particular considers the often complex and high effort cognitive activities that many first and second-generation Latinx youth take on (e.g. managing home chores that require multi-step solutions and attention to complicated constraints), and aims to explore how these practices may relate to more traditional models of Executive Functions (EFs), the set of shared cognitive resources believed to underpin educational and reasoning skills through the ability to manage and control attention. Importantly, the project aims to refine the developmental field’s theories of what constitute high leverage practices for growing EF skills to include meaningful management and participation in tasks with real-world consequences. If successful, this would suggest the need for a transformative shift away from training models centering on developing skills through repetitive use of cognitively taxing, abstract reasoning and attention tasks, generally on a computer, and toward intentionally providing children with responsibilities and consequential participation in everyday social and cultural practices. This might be a scalable, feasible approach to strengthen children’s cognitive EF resources through use in everyday reasoning. This project tests concerns that extant developmental models of Reasoning and Executive Functions do not capture the range of socialization practices that may train and shape expression of EFs in everyday usage. Mixed method data collection will be administered to first and second generation Latinx children and non-immigrant Euro-American children, including 1) EF and reasoning skill measurement using both traditional and newly developed, culturally responsive tasks, 2) surveys of children’s everyday responsibilities and autonomous activities, and 3) videotaped interviews and structured scenarios discussed together by a primary caregiver and child.This project is jointly funded by the Developmental Sciences Program and the Science of Broadening Participation Program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.