Language: English

ISSN: 0010-700X

Abstract/Notes: Within an inherently dynamic environment, unexpected outcomes are part of daily life. Performance monitoring allows us to detect these events and adjust behavior accordingly. The necessity of such an optimal functioning has made error-monitoring a prominent topic of research over the last decades. Event-related potentials (ERPs) have differentiated between two brain components involved in error-monitoring: the error-related negativity (ERN) and error-related positivity (Pe) that are thought to reflect detection vs. emotional/motivational processing of errors, respectively. Both ERN and Pe depend on the protracted maturation of the frontal cortices and anterior cingulate through adolescence. To our knowledge, the impact of schooling pedagogy on error-monitoring and its brain mechanisms remains unknown and was the focus of the present study. Swiss schoolchildren completed a continuous recognition task while 64-channel EEG was recorded and later analyzed within an electrical neuroimaging framework. They were enrolled either in a Montessori curriculum (N=13), consisting of self-directed learning through trial-and-error activities with sensory materials, or a traditional curriculum (N=14), focused on externally driven activities mainly based on reward feedback. The two groups were controlled for age, gender, socio-economic status, parental educational style, and scores of fluid intelligence. The ERN was significantly enhanced in Montessori schoolchildren (driven by a larger response to errors), with source estimation differences localized to the cuneus and precuneus. In contrast, the Pe was enhanced in traditional schoolchildren (driven by a larger response to correct trials), with source estimation differences localized to the ventral anterior cingulate. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that the ERN and Pe could reliably classify if a child was following a Montessori or traditional curriculum. Brain activity subserving error-monitoring is modulated differently according to school pedagogy.

Language: English

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/7nbqz

Language: English

ISSN: 0010-700X

Abstract/Notes: Asserts that play is a fundamental human disposition. Reviews well-known theories of play from the adult-functional perspective and examines the value of play from the child-experiential perspective. Considers variations in play and the meaning and value of true play, maintaining that play's personal, experiential value is of equal or greater importance than its developmental value. Urges teachers to resist pressures to transform play into work, and to model playfulness.

Language: English

ISSN: 0044-0728

Abstract/Notes: Although 3-year-old children sometimes simulate emotions to adapt to social norms, we do not know if even younger children can pretend emotions in playful contexts. The present study investigated (1) what emotions infants of 1–2 years old are capable of pretending and (2) the possible role of language and symbolic play in the ability to pretend emotions. The sample included 69 infants aged 18 to 31 months and their parents. Infants were administrated the Test of Pretend Play, and their parents responded to the MacArthur-Bates CDI-II inventory, part of the MacArthur-Bates CDI-I, and a questionnaire about the expression of pretend emotions. Results suggest that very young children simulate emotions. Furthermore, children's simulation of emotions was related to both symbolic play and language. Specifically, the ability to label emotions was linked to the ability to simulate them. The role of language and symbolic play in the development of the capacity to express and understand pretend emotions is discussed.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1111/infa.12414

ISSN: 1532-7078

Abstract/Notes: In modern childhood, free, unstructured play time is being replaced more and more by academics, lessons, competitive sports, and passive, electronic entertainment. While parents may worry that their children will be at a disadvantage if they are not engaged in constant, explicit learning or using the latest "educational" games, David Elkind's The Power of Play reassures us that unscheduled imaginative play goes far in preparing children for academic and social success. Through expert analysis of the research and powerful situational examples, Elkind shows that, indeed, creative spontaneous activity best sets the stage for academic learning in the first place: Children learn mutual respect and cooperation through role-playing and the negotiation of rules, which in turn prepare them for successful classroom learning; in simply playing with rocks, for example, a child could discover properties of counting and shapes that are the underpinnings of math; even a toddler's babbling is a necessary precursor to the acquisition of language. An important contribution to the literature about how children learn, The Power of Play suggests ways to restore play's respected place in children's lives, at home, at school, and in the larger community. In defense of unstructured "down time," it encourages parents to trust their instincts and resist the promise of the wide and dubious array of educational products on the market geared to youngsters.

Language: English

Published: New York, New York: Da Capo Press, 2007

ISBN: 978-0-7382-1053-7

Language: English

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: According to the Montessori legacy and fidelity view of authentic Montessori, children should work and not play. The Montessori prepared environment and the Montessori materials were designed to assist children with self-development, and self-development occurred when children concentrated (Montessori, 1966, p. 139). Given the circumstances of COVID-19, children's development may have been significantly disrupted by the effects of extended periods of isolation due to closed schools, locked-down communities, and quarantined families required to stay indoors (Benner & Mistry, 2020; De Araújo et al., 2021). A number of studies and literature reviews recommend play as a remedy for the negative effects of months of isolation on children's development, and submit that young children (between the ages of 2 and 8) returning to school after isolation need to first socialize and play for an extended period in order to then self-regulate and attend to academic lessons (Kourti et al., 2021; Prime et al., 2020; Nieto et al., 2021; Urbina-Garcia, 2020). Children also use the Sensorial materials and build houses, trains, rockets, and other pretend constructions.

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Abstract/Notes: When emotions, thoughts, and actions align, this is referred to as “self-congruency”. Therefore, this study aimed to determine how temporal covariance of the heart and brain signals were related to self-congruency. Thirty-eight healthy adults underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging to obtain neural markers of variability, whereas heart rate variability (HRV) was measured using photoplethysmography. Participants were also asked to report their level of self-congruency with a graphic rating scale. A cross-covariance analysis (CCA) was performed to assess the temporal covariance of signals arising from both organs, which was then correlated with self-congruency scores. Overall, the CCA results revealed brain-to-heart-driven interplay in brain regions involved in the neurovisceral integration model (e.g., ventromedial prefrontal cortex) and in emotion regulation (e.g., anterior cingulate). However, higher self-congruency scores were related to heart-to-brain-driven interplay in brain regions involved in emotion regulation and empathy. Together, the present findings suggest that, while global brain-to-heart-driven interplay occurs on average, it is heart-to-brain-driven interplay that reflects higher self-congruency. Given the impact of heart-brain interplay and self-congruency on mental health, further investigations on each concept could be interesting in developing tools for early intervention.

Language: English

Published: Aug 30, 2023