How Preschoolers' Emotions and Thinking Skills Are Linked
Children's everyday emotional expressions in preschool predict their future self-control and thinking skills months later, revealing a close relationship between emotion and cognition.
Source
Relations between executive function and emotionality in preschoolers: Exploring a transitive cognition-emotion linkage
What they did
The researchers monitored 143 young children over a span of approximately 6 months from fall to spring. To measure emotionality, observers recorded children's behavior during four separate 5-minute sessions each season. Finally, researchers rated the children's self-control during assessments, and teachers completed a 63-item rating scale in the spring to evaluate overall cognitive control.
What they found
The study found that a child's emotional expression in the fall significantly predicted their observed attention and inhibition during the same period, as well as their teacher-rated executive function in the spring. Similarly, the children's observed self-regulation in the fall predicted their observed emotional expressions in the spring. These findings indicate that emotionality and cognitive self-control are closely linked and influence each other over time.
The limits
What it doesn't show
The study's statistical model could not test for bidirectional influences within a single time point, meaning it cannot prove whether emotionality directly causes cognitive changes or vice-versa at any given moment. Additionally, because the researchers gathered all data within a school setting and did not collect ratings from parents, the findings might not generalize to how children behave at home. Finally, the authors could not rule out the influence of unmeasured confounding variables, such as a child's underlying temperament or family socioeconomic status.
Key terms
- Executive Function (EF)
- A set of higher-order cognitive processes, including working memory, attention shifting, and inhibitory control, that help people plan and focus.
- Emotion Regulation (ER)
- The process of monitoring, evaluating, and modifying emotional reactions to accomplish goals and adapt to situations.
- Emotionality
- The observable expression and internal experience of positive or negative emotions.
- Self-Regulation
- An overarching ability to manage and control one's own emotional, behavioral, and cognitive responses.
- Assessor Report (AR)
- An observational rating tool completed by an examiner to evaluate a child's attention and self-control during a testing session.
- BRIEF-P
- A standardized rating scale filled out by teachers or parents to measure executive functioning behaviors in preschool-aged children.
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Quiz yourself
What is the main conceptual difference between the traditional two-factor approach and the unitary model of emotion regulation and emotionality?
Common questions
Why did the researchers focus on emotional expression instead of just emotion regulation?
The researchers argued that emotional expression and regulation are deeply intertwined in real life, making them difficult to separate. By focusing on easily observable emotional expressions in the classroom, they could study these connections in natural, real-world settings.
How did the researchers measure the children's cognitive skills?
Instead of relying on direct cognitive tests, which can be highly frustrating or too easy for preschoolers, the researchers used observational ratings from trained examiners during tests and standardized questionnaires completed by classroom teachers.
What does this study mean for preschool teachers?
It suggests that helping children manage their negative emotions and foster positive emotional expressions can directly support the development of their attention, memory, and self-control skills, which are crucial for academic success.
Did the study find any differences based on the child's gender or age?
The researchers did not investigate age or gender differences in detail, noting that their spring sample was skewed toward older preschoolers, which prevented them from analyzing how these cognitive-emotional links might change across different preschool age brackets.
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