It is often argued that metacognition includes 2 components: monitoring and control. However, it is unclear whether these components can operate independently, or whether they always operate as part of a hierarchy. The current study attempts to address this issue. In Experiment 1 (N 90), age-related differences were assessed to examine the…

In this chapter, we discuss changes in the age structure of the labor force, the need for continued skill upgrading over the life course to remain employable, patterns of participation in adult learning and development activities, and the role community colleges play in providing education and training to middle-aged and older adults. In an…

Almost five million children attend preschool in the United States each year. Recent attention has been paid to the ways in which preschool classrooms shape children's early language development. This article discusses the importance of peers and classroom composition through the lens of age and socioeconomic status and the implications for…

One of the lawlike regularities of psychological science is that of developmental progression--an increase in sensorimotor, cognitive, and social functioning from childhood to adulthood. Here, we report a rare violation of this law, a developmental reversal in attention. In Experiment 1, 4­- to 5­- year ­olds (n = 34) and adults (n = 35) performed…

Parent-child conversations are important for children's cognitive development, children's ability to cope with stressful events, and can shape children's beliefs about the causes of illness. In the context of a global pandemic, families have faced a multitude of challenges, including changes to their routines, that they need to convey to their…

The present laboratory-based study investigated socioeconomic status (SES) as a moderator of the association between empathic accuracy and well-being among married couples from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Empathic accuracy was measured using a performance-based measure of empathic accuracy for one's spouse's negative emotions during a…

Food insecurity is widespread among college students in the United States. CalFresh food benefits, known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, can help students in California pay for food, but may not reach all eligible students. To better measure student participation in CalFresh, the California Policy Lab (CPL)…

Food insecurity is widespread among college students in the United States. CalFresh food benefits, known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, can help students in California pay for food, but may not reach all eligible students. To better measure student participation in CalFresh, the California Policy Lab (CPL)…

Wellbeing, or how people think and feel about their lives, predicts important life outcomes from happiness to health to longevity. Montessori pedagogy has features that enhance wellbeing contemporaneously and predictively, including self-determination, meaningful activities, and social stability. Here, 1905 adults, ages 18-81 (M = 36), filled out…

When confronted with an emotion prototype (e.g., loss), individuals may experience not only target emotions (e.g., sadness), but also nontarget emotions (emotions that are atypical or incongruent with an emotion prototype; e.g., gratitude in response to loss). What are the cognitive correlates of nontarget emotions? Drawing from models of emotion…

A pretest-training-posttest design assessed whether training to improve spatial skills also improved mathematics performance in elementary-aged children. First grade students (mean age = 7 years, n = 134) and sixth grade students (mean age = 12 years, n = 124) completed training in 1 of 2 spatial skills-spatial visualization or form…

Problem-solving skills in the context of technologically complex modern societies have become increasingly important to health management in later life. This study is designed to investigate the associations between problem-solving skills in technology-rich environment (PSTRE) and health, and to explore whether age-differences exist. Using the…

Relational reasoning is a hallmark of human higher cognition and creativity, yet it is notoriously difficult to encourage in abstract tasks, even in adults. Generally, young children initially focus more on objects, but with age become more focused on relations. While prerequisite knowledge and cognitive resource maturation partially explains this…

Participation in adult education and training (AET) programs is increasingly important for people of all ages and is necessary to remain competitive in a world experiencing rapid technological advances. Lifelong learning activities are especially important for middle-aged and older adults who intend to work at older ages to ensure they have the…

Our goal in this study is to expand the limited research on writer profile using the advantageous model-based approach of latent profile analysis and independent tasks to evaluate aspects of individual knowledge, motivation, and cognitive processes that align with Hayes' (1996) writing framework, which has received empirical support. We address…