Young Children’s Reasoning About the Effects of Emotional and Physiological States on Academic Performance

• Autores: Jennifer Amsterlaw, Kristin Hansen Lagattuta, Andrew N. Meltzoff
• Localización: Child development, ISSN 0009-3920, Vol. 80, Nº. 1, 2009, págs. 115-133
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This study assessed young children’s understanding of the effects of emotional and physiological states on cognitive performance. Five, 6-, 7-year-olds, and adults (N= 96) predicted and explained how children experiencing a variety of physiological and emotional states would perform on academic tasks. Scenarios included: (a) negative and positive emotions, (b) negative and positive physiological states, and (c) control conditions. All age groups understood the impairing effects of negative emotions and physiological states. Only 7-year-olds, however, showed adult-like reasoning about the potential enhancing effects of positive internal states and routinely cited cognitive mechanisms to explain how internal states affect performance. These results shed light on theory-of-mind development and also have significance for children’s everyday school success.