Search Results (2,351)

The disjunction effect in the prisoner’s dilemma game shows that humans tend to cooperate more under uncertain condition (U) than under the two complementary known conditions—one being competitive (D) and the other being cooperative (C)—a well-known violation of the classical decision principle. Our study explores the potential role of prosociality in the disjunction effect. We measured prosocial trait via the SVO Slider Measure, and prosocial bias via the drift diffusion model (DDM). By using the SVO Slider Measure (for prosocial trait) and the DDM starting-point bias parameter (for prosocial bias), we found that the variation in prosocial bias between uncertain and certain conditions substantially contributes to the disjunction effect. At the aggregate level, prosocial bias significantly decreased from U to D (competitive) but did not differ between U and C (cooperative). At the individual level, participants showed heterogeneous bias changes across prosocial-trait groups: intermediate participants had the largest bias shifts. This heterogeneity underlies the observed inverted U-shaped relationship between prosocial trait and effect size of the disjunction effect. Our study fills a critical gap by clarifying how prosocial inclination influences the disjunction effect. Full article

Parental perceptions of healthy eating often diverge from children’s actual diets, but this gap is poorly documented in Central Asia. We examined how parents’ priorities for key food groups relate to nutrient intakes in 390 urban children aged 1–6 years in Central Kazakhstan. In a cross-sectional study, parents completed a 24 h multiple-pass dietary recall and rated the importance of fats and sweets, meat and fish, dairy, vegetables and fruits, and bread and potatoes on 5-point scales. Nutrient intakes were calculated using software, compared with national DRIs, and analyzed using rank-based tests and Spearman correlations. Parents reported near-ceiling priority for restricting fats and sweets and consistently high priority for bread and potatoes, whereas vegetables, fruits, meat/fish ,and dairy were rated moderately important, with dairy under-prioritized in 1–2-year-olds. On the recalled day, median intakes of fat, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and calcium were below national recommendations at all ages, and median intakes of iron, thiamine, and niacin were particularly low at 3–4 years, while sodium intake exceeded recommended levels; the 3–4-year group showed the most pronounced clustering of shortfalls. Prevalence estimates indicated that most children had intakes below recommendations for dietary fiber and calcium and above recommendations for sodium, underscoring population-wide nutritional imbalance. Across all scales, parental priorities showed only weak, non-significant associations with nutrient intakes (|r| < 0.11). These findings indicate a perception–intake gap and support interventions that ensure adequate fats, fiber, vitamin C, calcium, and bioavailable iron in preschool diets. Full article

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a type of neurodevelopmental disorder, and its exact causes are currently unknown. Neuroimaging research suggests that its clinical features are closely linked to alterations in brain functional network connectivity, yet the specific patterns and mechanisms underlying these abnormalities require further clarification. Methods: We recruited 36 children with ASD and 36 age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) controls. Resting-state EEG data were used to construct static and dynamic low- and high-order functional networks across four frequency bands (δ, θ, α, β). Graph-theoretical metrics (clustering coefficient, characteristic path length, global efficiency, local efficiency) and state entropy were applied to characterize network topology and dynamic transitions between integration and segregation. Additionally, between-frequency networks were built for six band pairs (δ-θ, δ-α, δ-β, θ-α, θ-β, α-β), and network global measures quantified cross-frequency interactions. Results: Low-order networks in ASD showed increased δ and β connectivity but decreased θ and α connectivity. High-order networks demonstrated increased δ connectivity, reduced α connectivity, and mixed alterations in θ and β. Graph-theoretical analysis revealed pronounced α-band topological disruptions in ASD, reflected by a lower clustering coefficient and efficiency and higher characteristic path length in both low- and high-order networks. Dynamic analysis showed no significant entropy changes in low-order networks, while high-order networks exhibited time- and frequency-specific abnormalities, particularly in δ and α (0.5 s window) and δ (6 s window). Between-frequency analysis showed enhanced β-related coupling in low-order networks but widespread reductions across all band pairs in high-order networks. Conclusions: Young children with ASD exhibit coexisting hypo- and hyper-connectivity, disrupted network topology, and abnormal temporal dynamics. Integrating hierarchical, dynamic, and cross-frequency analyses offers new insights into ASD neurophysiology and potential biomarkers. Full article

Emotions are known to influence cognitive processes, yet the nature of this influence remains debated, particularly during childhood. According to the emotional congruence model, information congruent with an individual’s affective state is processed more efficiently than incongruent information. While this effect has been widely studied in adults, evidence in children is still limited. The present research investigates the influence of emotional congruence on selective attention in typically developing children from preschool to fifth grade, using a dual emotional induction paradigm based on music and color. In Study 1, classical music excerpts were used to induce pleasant or unpleasant emotional states and to validate the effectiveness of musical induction across age groups. In Study 2, this musical induction was combined with emotionally valenced color cues (yellow vs. gray) embedded in a visual search task to examine their impact on attentional performance. Results from Study 1 confirmed that music effectively modulated children’s emotional valence, although this effect was weaker in younger participants. In Study 2, attentional performance improved significantly when the task was presented on a yellow background, regardless of the valence of the previously induced musical emotion. No robust emotional congruence effect between music and color was observed, although performance was highest in the joyful music–yellow color condition. Overall, these findings suggest that perceptual emotional cues embedded in the task context, particularly positive color cues, exert a stronger and more persistent influence on children’s selective attention than transient affective states induced by music. This study contributes to developmental models of emotion–cognition interaction by highlighting asymmetrical valence effects and the predominant role of perceptual emotional signals in childhood attention. Full article

In the current digital age, children are exposed to electronic media at an increasingly early age. The issue of excessive electronic media use has become a significant risk factor affecting the healthy development of young children. To examine the association between parental phubbing and preschoolers’ excessive electronic media use, as well as the underlying mechanism—mediating roles of parent–child attachment and self-control, 758 parents of preschoolers were recruited to complete a set of scales. The results show that: (1) Parental phubbing was positively associated with preschoolers’ excessive electronic media use; (2) Parent–child attachment and self-control significantly mediated this relation, which contains three mediating pathways—the mediating effects of parent–child attachment and self-control, as well as their chain mediating effect. The study revealed the psychological mechanisms between parental phubbing and preschoolers’ excessive electronic media use, providing suggestions for the prevention and intervention of excessive electronic media use among preschoolers. Full article

To address the limitations of the original Preschool Education Optimization Algorithm (PEOA) in population diversity preservation and late-stage convergence accuracy, this paper proposes a Multi-strategy Enhanced Preschool Education Optimization Algorithm (MEPEOA). The proposed algorithm integrates an improved population initialization strategy, a multi-strategy collaborative search mechanism, adaptive regulation, and boundary control to achieve a more effective balance between global exploration and local exploitation. The performance of MEPEOA is comprehensively evaluated on IEEE CEC2017 and CEC2022 benchmark suites and compared with several state-of-the-art metaheuristic algorithms, including EWOA, MPSO, L_SHADE, BKA, ALA, BPBO, and the original PEOA. Experimental results demonstrate that MEPEOA achieves superior optimization accuracy and stability on the majority of benchmark functions. For example, on CEC2017 with 30 dimensions, MEPEOA reduces the average fitness value of multimodal function F9 by approximately 73.6% compared with PEOA and by more than 47% compared with EWOA. In terms of stability, the standard deviation of MEPEOA on function F6 is only 4.13 × 10⁻³, which is several orders of magnitude lower than those of EWOA, MPSO, and BKA, indicating highly consistent convergence behavior. Furthermore, MEPEOA exhibits clear advantages in convergence speed and robustness, achieving the best Friedman mean rank across all tested benchmark suites. In addition, MEPEOA is applied to a two-dimensional grid-based path planning problem, where it consistently generates shorter and more stable collision-free paths than competing algorithms. Overall, the proposed MEPEOA demonstrates strong robustness, fast convergence, and superior stability, making it an effective and extensible solution for complex numerical optimization and practical engineering problems. Full article

Objective: This study aims to investigate the dietary assessment and trends of preschoolers aged 3 to 5 years in Korea from 2012 to 2021 and to provide basic data for early childhood dietary education and policy development. Methods: Data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from 2012 to 2021 were analyzed for 2510 children in the 3–5 age group. Dietary intake was assessed using a 24 h recall. Intakes of food groups, dishes, and nutrients were calculated, and trends across years were tested using generalized linear models adjusted for gender, age, household income, energy intake, mother’s age, and mother’s education. Results: Over the tenyear period, intakes of carbohydrates, phosphorus, iron, sodium, potassium, carotene, thiamine, niacin, and vitamin C, as well as the carbohydrate energy ratio, showed significant declines. Meanwhile, protein, fat, retinol, and riboflavin increased, as did the protein and fat energy ratios. Fruit intake decreased by approximately 42 g among food group intakes. Analysis of foods contributing to total food intake revealed that milk, white rice, apples, and eggs consistently accounted for a high proportion of total intake in all survey years. Average calcium intake was approximately 100 mg below the estimated average requirement. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that preschoolers exhibit insufficient intake of certain nutrients, such as calcium, and a decrease in fruit intake. Interventions are needed to establish regular meal patterns, promote plant food intake such as fruit, and improve calcium intake. These results provide valuable evidence for designing dietary education programs and dietary guidelines tailored to early childhood. Full article

Social–emotional development in early childhood lays the groundwork for school readiness, healthy relationships, and long-term well-being. Parents play a pivotal role in this process, shaping children’s emotional awareness, regulation, and social competence through everyday interactions. This literature review synthesizes evidence from 74 peer-reviewed studies to evaluate nine evidence-based parenting interventions targeting parents of preschool-aged children. The programs were analyzed with respect to their objectives, theoretical foundations, components, and the resulting outcomes for both parents and children. Across interventions, consistent benefits emerged in children, including improved emotion recognition, regulation, empathy, and prosocial behavior, as well as reductions in internalizing problems. Parents also gained in confidence and positive discipline practices. Key elements linked to effectiveness included active parent skill-building (such as modeling, role play, and guided practice), structured parent–child interactions, multi-component designs integrating home and school contexts, and flexible delivery formats that adapt to family needs. These findings underscore the critical role of parenting interventions as an evidence-based method to enhance preschoolers’ social–emotional development. Full article

Background/Objectives: The cognitive processes underlying learning are critical for educational practices. While mindfulness-based approaches to strengthening these cognitive processes have become widespread, studies focusing on game-based development of executive functions, particularly in preschool settings, are limited. The primary objective of this study is to develop a play-based mindfulness intervention program for preschool children and to examine the effects of this program on preschool children’s resilience, emotion regulation skills, and executive functions. Methods: The study employed a pretest–post-test control-group experimental design. The study group consisted of 40 children (20 experimental and 20 control) aged 5–6 years, attending a kindergarten in Malatya province, Türkiye. The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Scale (DECA-P2), Emotion Regulation Scale (ERS), and Childhood Executive Functions Inventory (CHEXI) were used as data collection tools. Independent-samples t-tests were used for baseline analysis, and a two-way repeated-measures ANOVA was used to evaluate the program’s effects. Results: Findings showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the children in the experimental group compared with those in the control group for resilience, emotion regulation, and executive function (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Strong evidence was obtained that play-based mindfulness training has positive effects on the cognitive and emotional development of preschool children. Full article

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how learning environments are designed and experienced, offering new possibilities for personalization, creativity, and immersive engagement. This systematic review synthesizes 43 empirical studies (Scopus, Web of Science) to examine the training needs and practices of primary and secondary education teachers for effective AI integration and overall professional development (PD). Following PRISMA guidelines, the review gathers teachers’ needs and practices related to AI integration, identifying key themes including training practices, teachers’ perceptions and attitudes, ongoing PD programs, multi-level support, AI literacy, and ethical and responsible use. The findings show that technical training alone is not sufficient, and that successful integration of AI requires a combination of pedagogical knowledge, positive attitudes, organizational support, and continuous training. Based on empirical data, a four-level, process-oriented PD framework is proposed, which bridges research with educational practice and offers practical guidance for the design of AI training interventions. Limitations and future research are discussed. Full article

Active music and movement engagement has been widely integrated in human socialization across history and cultures, and is particularly prevalent in early childhood play and learning. For clinical populations, music therapy is known to support social skills and wellbeing for young children. However, there is less evidence for the value of active music engagement for non-clinical populations in terms of supporting social and behavioral wellbeing in the early years. This study reports results from the Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation (RAMSR) program delivered by generalist kindergarten teachers in low socioeconomic communities. This randomized control trial involved 213 children across eight preschools in disadvantaged communities in Queensland, Australia. The intervention group received 16 to 20 sessions of RAMSR over eight weeks, while the control group undertook usual preschool programs. Data was collected through teacher report at pre and post intervention, and again six months later once children had transitioned into their first year of school. Robust mixed models accounting for repeated measures and clustering of children within kindergartens (random effects), evidenced significant intervention effects across the three time points for improved prosocial skills (p = 0.04, n_p² = 0.02), and reduced externalizing (p < 0.01, n_p² = 0.03) and internalizing behavior problems (p = 0.04; n_p² = 0.02), with small to moderate effect sizes. These findings highlight the valuable role that intentional active music engagement in universal settings such as preschool can play in terms of social and behavioral wellbeing. The importance of these results lies in the fact that children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to experience risks to social and behavioral development, requiring additional supports, yet experience inequities in access to high-quality music and movement programs. Full article

Positive relationships with teachers in early childhood are important for many areas of child development and achievement. This article aims to explore the links between teacher–child relationships and children’s executive functions. The study was conducted in one preschool, with a sample of 99 children aged 2 to 6 years. Six teachers assessed the quality of their relationships with the children using the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) and the children’s executive functions using the Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (CHEXI). The results of the study show that the quality of the teacher–child relationship is closely related to the teacher’s perception of the child’s executive function difficulties: a closer, less conflictual relationship is associated with fewer working memory and inhibition difficulties, while a conflictual relationship is associated with greater difficulties in the child’s executive functions. There is no statistically significant difference between boys and girls in terms of the relationship with the teacher and the expression of children’s executive functions, and in both groups, the quality of the relationship with the teacher can predict the child’s executive functions. Age is statistically significant in only one relationship parameter: older children are perceived as closer to the teacher and more likely to seek help. The data obtained from the study encourage further research and add to the growing body of evidence demonstrating the importance of teacher interaction for children’s development and education. Full article

The present longitudinal retrospective study examined in a sample of 123 Greek-speaking children whether the raw score growth in a broad range of oral language and reading skills from Grade 1 to Grade 3 differs among children with persistent reading comprehension difficulties (pRCD; N = 49) identified in Grade 3, those exhibiting a resolving tendency of RCD (rRCD; N = 16), and typically developing (TD; N = 58) children. Children were classified into the respective groups, based on their performance on standardized reading comprehension measures in Grades 1, 2, and 3. They were, also, assessed on phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), morphological awareness, vocabulary, word reading accuracy, word reading fluency, and text-reading fluency across the three Grades. Mixed ANOVAs showed that children with pRCD displayed slower growth in morphological awareness, word reading fluency, and text-reading fluency than the other two groups. Children with rRCD did not differ from TD children on these measures, but they exhibited a higher growth on RAN. Both groups of children with RCD outperformed TD children on the growth of phonological awareness and word reading accuracy, whereas no group differences revealed in vocabulary. Our results suggest that more rapid gains in morphological awareness, RAN, word reading fluency, and text-reading fluency over time might be associated with a resolving tendency of reading comprehension difficulties, providing valuable insights for intervention policy. Full article

This study investigates parents’ experiences of partnerships with their children’s preschool teachers in Sweden, focusing on two questions: (1) How do parents describe communication with preschool teachers, and what information about their child is valued? (2) How do parents position preschool in their child’s life? Framed through Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, the analysis examines how parents’ dispositions, values, and prior experiences shape engagement with early childhood education. Data were collected via interviews with 25 parents across three counties in western Sweden and analysed using narrative methods. Findings show that parents prioritise communication about children’s well-being and social development as central to partnership, while instructional information is largely viewed as the teacher’s domain. Preschool is primarily seen as a context for socialisation, developing norms, values, and behaviours, rather than formal academic preparation. By exploring consistencies and contradictions in parental accounts, the study offers a nuanced understanding of how habitus informs parental expectations and communication practices, highlighting the complex interplay between family dispositions and preschool engagement. Full article

Grounded in stress-reactivity accounts and the Prosocial Classroom model, this study examines how preschool teachers’ responses to children’s negative emotions are associated with teacher job stress and age in Greek early childhood education settings. These frameworks suggest that elevated job stress may erode teachers’ regulatory resources and responsiveness, increasing non-supportive reactions and reducing supportive emotion coaching during emotionally charged classroom interactions. A sample of 101 full-time preschool educators (M age = 42.3 years; 97% female) completed two instruments: the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES) and the Child Care Workers’ Job Stress Inventory (CCW-JSI). Age-controlled partial correlations indicated that higher job stress was associated with more frequent use of non-supportive reactions, including punitive and minimizing responses, and less frequent use of supportive strategies, such as emotion-focused, problem-focused, and expressive encouragement responses. Older teachers tended to report higher supportive response scores, particularly for problem-focused reactions and expressive encouragement. These findings highlight the importance of teacher well-being for the emotional climate of preschool classrooms and suggest that job stress may undermine educators’ capacity to consistently engage in supportive emotion socialization. The study contributes to the education literature by linking teacher stress and emotion socialization practices in a policy context where early childhood education is expanding but remains under-resourced. Implications for teacher education, professional development, and system-level initiatives to support educators’ social-emotional competence are discussed. Full article