Emotional and Cognitive Development of Preschool Children: Overview of International and Russian Studies on Role of Dialectical Thinking in the Regulation of Affect and Recognition of Complex Feelings

The article contains an overview of studies on the problem of emotional and cognitive development of preschool children (43 papers, including 6 in Russian and 37 in English) conducted in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Spain, Germany, Norway, Russia, etc). Special attention is paid to works that consider the reflexive aspect of childrens experiences characterized by duality, inconsistency and multypositionality, which makes it possible to identify and trace the line of dialectical transformations based on preschool childrens emotional experiences. The following statements are formulated as key conclusions: (1) dialectical thinking can be considered as a cognitive mechanism necessary for the analysis of complex, ambivalent and hidden feelings; (2) the unit of cognitive and affective development is experience, which involves reliance on an internal dialectical structure; (3) a two-position perspective in the game activity is a condition for forming preschool childrens dialectical thinking operations, which in turn can become a cognitive mechanism for regulating affect; (4) the cognitive basis of the emotional anticipation phenomenon includes a mental action of changing the alternative, which is in the zone of proximal development of preschool children and allows adults to use it as a mechanism of emotional co-regulation; and (5) philosophical dialog practices, which imply a discussion of problematic-contradictory content with preschoolers and are aimed at forming in them such actions of dialectical thinking as transformation, mediation and change of alternatives. These provisions represent are an effective tool for developing the ability to distinguish dual complex feelings and analyze their causes and consequences. The results of the work can serve as a basis for creating and implementing conceptually new preschool education programs aimed at both the creative and emotional development of children, where dialectical thinking is considered, inter alia, as an ability necessary for regulating affect and helping children to experience and cope with complex conflicting feelings.

Emotional support for healthcare professionals children: virtual intervention during COVID-19 pandemic

The SARS-CoV2 pandemic context and sanitary confinement measures have exposed the population to anxiety and depressive symptoms and became a permanent mark in children’s psychosocial and affective development. This effect was certainly evident in healthcare professional’s children that saw their parents being called to the battlefield front line against an invisible enemy and at the same time facing the media avalanche propelling fear and insecurity. Material and Methods: This state of restlessness and vulnerability promoted the development of therapeutic mindfulness groups for children or children and parents (healthcare professional related), from a Hospital Reference Center, over a period of eight weeks. Results: Throughout the sessions, high adherence to conscious attention techniques was observed, allowing the children to overcome physical distance obstacles in a virtual context used as a gateway to the living circumstances and the difficulties experienced at the time of the intervention. Discussion: In the end, improvements were reported in anxious and depressive symptoms with greater capacity for emotional regulation, interpersonal communication and impulse management. Conclusion: These results instigated an intervention protocol elaboration and a research project ongoing at the date of this publication.

Ubuntu Apologetics in Faith Formation: An Ethnography of Youth Ministry in Nairobi

Faith formation is a crucial area in youth ministry. Although the area of apologetics may be a helpful bridge, the theory and praxis of apologetics in the African context is scanty. The work of apologists such as William Lane Craig, John Frame, Ravi Zacharias, and John Lennox has responded to the post-Christian context of Europe and North America. Much needs to be done in light of the African contextual realities. Using a practical theological methodology, this paper considers how ubuntu apologetics – which honors both the cognitive and affective development of adolescents – can lead to holistic faith formation of African youth. This research paper will 1) consider youth ministry contextual realities in Kenya and Africa; 2) analyze foundational methods of apologetics; 3) utilize an ethnographic methodology in analyzing the data and 4) offer recommendations for youth ministry education and practice in Nairobi and Africa at large.

The Radically Embodied Conscious Cybernetic Bayesian Brain: From Free Energy to Free Will and Back Again

Drawing from both enactivist and cognitivist perspectives on mind, I propose that explaining teleological phenomena may require reappraising both “Cartesian theaters” and mental homunculi in terms of embodied self-models (ESMs), understood as body maps with agentic properties, functioning as predictive-memory systems and cybernetic controllers. Quasi-homuncular ESMs are suggested to constitute a major organizing principle for neural architectures due to their initial and ongoing significance for solutions to inference problems in cognitive (and affective) development. Embodied experiences provide foundational lessons in learning curriculums in which agents explore increasingly challenging problem spaces, so answering an unresolved question in Bayesian cognitive science: what are biologically plausible mechanisms for equipping learners with sufficiently powerful inductive biases to adequately constrain inference spaces? Drawing on models from neurophysiology, psychology, and developmental robotics, I describe how embodiment provides fundamental sources of empirical priors (as reliably learnable posterior expectations). If ESMs play this kind of foundational role in cognitive development, then bidirectional linkages will be found between all sensory modalities and frontal-parietal control hierarchies, so infusing all senses with somatic-motoric properties, thereby structuring all perception by relevant affordances, so solving frame problems for embodied agents. Drawing upon the Free Energy Principle and Active Inference framework, I describe a particular mechanism for intentional action selection via consciously imagined (and explicitly represented) goal realization, where contrasts between desired and present states influence ongoing policy selection via predictive coding mechanisms and backward-chained imaginings (as self-realizing predictions). This embodied developmental legacy suggests a mechanism by which imaginings can be intentionally shaped by (internalized) partially-expressed motor acts, so providing means of agentic control for attention, working memory, imagination, and behavior. I further describe the nature(s) of mental causation and self-control, and also provide an account of readiness potentials in Libet paradigms wherein conscious intentions shape causal streams leading to enaction. Finally, I provide neurophenomenological handlings of prototypical qualia including pleasure, pain, and desire in terms of self-annihilating free energy gradients via quasi-synesthetic interoceptive active inference. In brief, this manuscript is intended to illustrate how radically embodied minds may create foundations for intelligence (as capacity for learning and inference), consciousness (as somatically-grounded self-world modeling), and will (as deployment of predictive models for enacting valued goals).

Teaching German as a Second Foreign Language at Primary Education in Turkey

It is a known situation that knowing a single foreign language is not enough in the 21st century and that knowing a second language will give an individual privilege. Accordingly, in recent years, serious steps have been taken related to foreign language teaching in Turkey. In Turkey is beginning to be taught in basic education German as a second foreign language after English as a first foreign language. Due to the increase in the importance given to the second foreign language, it has become an important situation to organize activities according to the interest and readiness of the student in order to achieve the desired success in learning German. In this context, the aim of this study is to provide examples of activity design in which communication for German teaching after English in primary education is at the forefront. In this study, is designed activities related to the topic "Einkaufen, Farben, Obst und Gemüse, Mülltrennung, Berufe, Artikel, Krankenheiten" located in the German language curriculum in basic education in Turkey. Considering the cognitive, physical and affective development of the students in the design of the activities, many teaching principles such as relativity to the student and the principles of experiencing by doing have been brought to the fore.

O papel da cooperação nos processos coletivos para resolução de problemasThe role of cooperation in collective problem solving processes

ResumoO presente artigo trata de um experimento no qual as pesquisadoras, e também participantes, buscaram compreender o papel da cooperação na resolução de um problema, por meio do trabalho em grupo. Para tal, foram investigados os mecanismos através dos quais a cooperação auxilia na resolução de problemas, bem como o modo pelo qual ela se efetiva. A análise dos processos de colaboração e cooperação é realizada durante a resolução pelo grupo de um problema aberto, cujas reflexões dão origem a uma nova proposta que também conduz à necessidade de trabalho cooperativo. Essa análise foi realizada a partir das ações e diálogos do grupo e com base nos conceitos de colaboração e cooperação advindos da teoria da epistemologia genética de Jean Piaget. Os resultados deste estudo apontaram que o trabalho cooperativo tem importantes contribuições na resolução de problemas, em especial os abertos, não só como produto do processo, mas também no desenvolvimento cognitivo e afetivo dos envolvidos. Além disso, aponta características relacionadas ao problema proposto e outras à maturidade cognitiva e afetiva dos envolvidos como algumas das condições necessárias para que a cooperação ocorra de fato.Palavras-chave: Resolução de problemas, Colaboração, Cooperação, Processos coletivos.AbstractThis article deals with an experiment in which the researchers and participants sought to understand the role of cooperation in solving a problem, through group work. To this end, the mechanisms through which cooperation helps in solving problems, as well as its effectiveness, were investigated. The analysis of the collaboration and cooperation processes is carried out during the group’s resolution of an open-ended problem, whose reflections give rise to a new proposal that also leads to the need for cooperative work. This analysis was carried out based on the group’s actions and dialogues and based on the concepts of collaboration and cooperation arising from Jean Piaget’s theory of genetic epistemology. The results of this study pointed out that cooperative work gives important contributions to solving problems, especially open-ended ones, not only as a product of the process, but also in the cognitive and affective development of those involved. Besides, it points out characteristics related to the problem posed and others to the cognitive and affective maturity of those involved as the necessary conditions for cooperation to take place.Keywords: Problem solving, Collaboration, Cooperation, Collective processes.ResumenEste artículo plantea un experimento en el que los investigadores y también los participantes trataron de comprender el papel de la cooperación para resolver un problema, a través del trabajo en grupo. Para ello, se investigaron los mecanismos a través de los cuales la cooperación ayuda a resolver problemas, así como la forma en que es efectiva. El análisis de los procesos de colaboración y cooperación se lleva a cabo durante la resolución del grupo de un problema abierto, cuyas reflexiones dan lugar a una nueva propuesta que también lleva a la necesidad de un trabajo cooperativo. Este análisis se realizó con base en las acciones y diálogos del grupo y en los conceptos de colaboración y cooperación que surgen de la teoría de la epistemología genética de Jean Piaget. Los resultados de este estudio mostraron que el trabajo cooperativo contribuye para resolver problemas, especialmente los abiertos, no solo como producto del proceso, sino también en el desarrollo cognitivo y afectivo de los involucrados. Además, señala características relacionadas con el problema propuesto y otras con la madurez cognitiva y afectiva de los involucrados como algunas de las condiciones necesarias para que ocurra la cooperación.Palabras clave:Solución de problemas, Colaboración, Cooperación, Procesos colectivos.

The Effects of a Reading-Based Intervention on Emotion Processing in Children Who Have Suffered Early Adversity and War Related Trauma

Early adversity and trauma can have profound effects on children’s affective development and mental health outcomes. Interventions that improve mental health and socioemotional development are essential to mitigate these effects. We conducted a pilot study examining whether a reading-based program (We Love Reading) improves emotion recognition and mental health through socialization in Syrian refugee (n = 49) and Jordanian non-refugee children (n = 45) aged 7–12 years old (M = 8.9, 57% girls) living in Jordan. To measure emotion recognition, children classified the expression in faces morphed between two emotions (happy–sad and fear–anger), while mental health was assessed using survey measures of optimism, depression, anxiety, distress, and insecurity. Prior to the intervention, both groups of children were significantly biased to interpret ambiguous facial expressions as sad, while there was no clear bias on the fear–anger spectrum. Following the intervention, we found changes in Syrian refugee children’s bias in emotion recognition away from sad facial expressions, although this returned to pre-intervention levels 2 months after the end of the program. This shift in the bias away from sad facial expressions was not associated with changes in self-reported mental health symptoms. These results suggest a potential positive role of the reading intervention on affective development, but further research is required to determine the longer-term impacts of the program.