Attention and Memory: Mother-Child Psychophysiology and Behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：良好调节的注意力和记忆过程对儿童及以后的健康认知发展至关重要。尽管几乎所有儿童在这些认知过程的自我调节方面都表现出显著的改善，但个体差异的病因和这种发展进程却知之甚少。目前的理论假设，生物社会机制最有可能参与其中，特别是，自我调节注意力和工作记忆的最佳发展不仅由某些基因互补促进，而且由家庭中共同发生的社会化经历促进。本研究以母亲及其48个月大的婴儿为研究对象，旨在系统分析母子在执行注意和记忆的行为和心理生理指标上的异同，并探讨母亲的脚手架和社会化行为在这些跨代联系中的作用。越来越多的关于遗传和神经对执行注意力和记忆的影响的文献表明，家庭研究应该揭示代表父母后代相似性的适度效应大小的证据。这种相似性可能来自于影响执行力和记忆力个体差异的基因的传递，或者母亲行为对幼儿发展这些认知过程的自我调节的影响——尽管机制可能涉及两者。因此，本研究的首要目的是开发一种测量方案，允许对代表执行注意力和记忆的成人和4岁表型进行可靠和有效的评估，证明在年龄组内具有很强的内部和外部效度。第二个目的是通过估计母亲与儿童行为和脑电图测量之间的统计相关性，探讨母亲的执行注意和记忆是否以及如何与4岁亲生儿童的执行注意和记忆相关。此外，第三个目的是检查母亲的脚手架行为（即，共同关注的参与；鼓励坚持；适龄示范，支持和重新指导）如何在解释母子相似和差异的系统模式中运作。本研究将集中在执行注意力和记忆的行为和脑电图测量上，以测试行为和心理生理水平的分析是否反映了母亲和儿童世代之间联系的相似或不同的潜在过程。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Well-regulated attention and memory processes are critical to healthy cognitive development in childhood and beyond. Although nearly all children show dramatic improvements in their self-regulation of these cognitive processes, the etiology of individual differences and this developmental progression is poorly understood. Current theory postulates that bio-social mechanisms are most likely involved, and in particular, that optimal development of self-regulated attention and working memory is promoted not only by certain complements of genes but by co-occurring socialization experiences within the family. The aim of the proposed study of mothers and their 48-month-old children is to conduct a systematic analysis of mother-child similarities and differences in behavioral and psycho-physiological indicators of executive attention and memory, and to examine the role of maternal scaffolding and socialization behavior in these cross-generation links. A growing literature on genetic and neural influences on executive attention and memory suggests that family studies should reveal evidence of moderate effect sizes representing parent-offspring similarity. This similarity could arise from the transmission of genes that influence individual differences in executive attention and memory or the influence of maternal behavior on young children's developing self-regulation of these cognitive processes-although the mechanisms probably involve both. Thus, the first aim of this study is to develop a measurement protocol that permits reliable and valid assessment of adult and 4-year-old phenotypes representing executive attention and memory, evidenced as strong internal and external validity within age-group. The second aim is to investigate whether and how maternal executive attention and memory are associated with 4-year-old biological children's executive attention and memory by estimating the statistical associations between mother and child behavioral and EEG measures. Furthermore, the third aim is to examine how maternal scaffolding behaviors (i.e., engagement of joint attention; encouragement of persistence; age-appropriate demonstration, support, and re-direction) operate in accounting for systematic patterns of mother-child similarity and differentiation. This investigation will focus on behavioral and EEG measures of executive attention and memory, to test whether the behavioral and psycho-physiological levels of analysis reflect similar or distinctive underlying processes in the links between mother and child generations. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Although the care giving environment has been given an essential role in social development, little attention has been given to the role of care giving in the development of complex cognitions, which are associated with school achievement, including reading and math. Because of these critical outcomes, there is a need to examine the development of these cognitive processes and to include both genetic transmission and the influence of maternal behaviors.