Cognitive Control in the Development of School Readiness in Early Childhood

项目摘要 影响儿童早期入学准备的神经过程，这是干预的关键时间， 解释父母养育和神经过程如何影响入学准备的认知过程仍然很差 明白我们迫切需要确定认知控制及其神经基础是如何发展的 以及这些是如何受到父母教养方式的影响。长期目标是发展更有效的科学- 基于儿童行为和学业问题的干预措施。拟议方案的总体目标 纵向项目是为了确定具体的养育过程，神经过程和认知控制 在从学前班到入学的过渡过程中，这些进程促进了入学准备。我们的核心假设是 在神经和心理层面上，认知控制的延迟发展会导致认知控制 在幼儿期的缺陷，防止自动化，并导致下游的发展， 外化和学术问题。无效的育儿做法可能是延迟的关键原因 认知控制的发展。拟议研究的理由是，详细了解 解释父母养育和神经过程如何影响入学准备的机械途径将使 识别新的策略，以防止行为和学术问题。以强为导 初步数据，我们将测试中心假设追求三个具体目标：1）确定神经指标 认知控制在儿童早期预测学校准备的发展，2）识别认知控制 解释神经过程如何预测入学准备的过程，以及3）确定 预测神经过程和认知控制的发展。目标1将决定 反应抑制（N2事件相关电位，ERP）和新奇性检测（P3 ERP）预测的发展， 根据学业技能测试和家长外化行为问题报告， 还有老师目标2将确定认知控制的神经指标预测认知控制的程度。 控制实验室任务，这反过来又导致入学准备。目标3将决定 父母的敏感性，自主支持和一致性与学校密切相关 准备程度预测神经和认知控制过程，进而预测学校准备程度。拟议 研究是创新的，因为它采用了一种新的和变革性的方法来评估认知控制， 纵向多层次分析（神经和心理），并与父母和学校有关 幼儿期的准备。这项研究是有意义的，因为它有望使设计 早期干预和预防战略的目标，以提高儿童的反应抑制和新颖性 检测，转化为更好的认知控制和学校准备。最终，建议的结果 研究预计将有助于制定战略，确定和针对幼儿的风险，因为缺乏 认知控制技能需要学校准备和以后的成功。

Project Summary Neural processes that influence school readiness in early childhood, a key time for intervention, and the cognitive processes that explain how parenting and neural processes influence school readiness remain poorly understood. There is a critical need to determine how cognitive control and its neural underpinnings develop and how these are influenced by parenting practices. The long-term goal is to develop more effective science- based interventions for behavioral and academic problems in children. The overall objective for the proposed longitudinal project is to determine how specific parenting processes, neural processes, and cognitive control processes promote school readiness in the transition from preschool to school entry. Our central hypothesis is that delayed development of cognitive control—at neural and psychological levels—results in cognitive control deficits in early childhood that prevent automatization and lead to the downstream development of externalizing and academic problems. Ineffective parenting practices are likely a key cause of delayed development of cognitive control. The rationale for the proposed research is that a detailed understanding of mechanistic pathways that explain how parenting and neural processes influence school readiness will enable the identification of novel strategies to prevent behavioral and academic problems. Guided by strong preliminary data, we will test the central hypothesis by pursuing three specific aims: 1) Identify neural indicators of cognitive control in early childhood that predict development of school readiness, 2) Identify cognitive control processes that explain how neural processes predict school readiness, and 3) Identify parenting practices that predict development of neural processes and cognitive control. Aim 1 will determine the extent to which response inhibition (N2 event-related potential, ERP) and novelty detection (P3 ERP) predict development of school readiness based on tests of academic skills and reports of externalizing behavior problems by parents and teachers. Aim 2 will identify the extent to which the neural indicators of cognitive control predict cognitive control on laboratory tasks, which, in turn, lead to school readiness. Aim 3 will determine the degree to which parenting sensitivity, autonomy support, and consistency that have been robustly associated with school readiness predict neural and cognitive control processes that, in turn, predict school readiness. The proposed research is innovative because it employs a new and transformative method of assessing cognitive control at multiple levels of analysis (neural and psychological) longitudinally and in relation to parenting and school readiness in early childhood. The proposed research is significant because it is expected to enable the design of early intervention and prevention strategies targeted to enhance children's response inhibition and novelty detection, translating to better cognitive control and school readiness. Ultimately, the results of the proposed research are expected to help develop strategies that identify and target young children at risk for a lack of cognitive control skills needed for school readiness and later success.