Human Behavior, Learning, and the Developing Brain

HUMAN BEHAVIOR, LEARNING, AND THE DEVELOPING BRAIN Human Behavior, Learning, and the Developing Brain TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT EDITED BY Donna Coch Kurt W. Fischer Geraldine Dawson THE GUILFORD PRESS New York London In memory of Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic, a pioneer For those who provided inspiration and support —D. C. To my children— Seth, Johanna, Lukas, and Kara —K. W. F. To Blake, Colin, and Ellie —G. D. © 2007 The Guilford Press A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc. 72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012 www.guilford.com All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher. Printed in the United States of America This book is printed on acid-free paper. Last digit is print number: 987654321 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Human behavior, learning, and the developing brain. Typical development / edited by Donna Coch, Kurt W. Fischer, Geraldine Dawson. p. ; cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-59385-136-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-59385-136-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Cognitive neuroscience. I. Coch, Donna. II. Fischer, Kurt W. III. Dawson, Geraldine. IV. Title: Typical development. [DNLM: 1. Behavior—physiology. 2. Adolescent. 3. Brain—growth & development. 4. Child. 5. Infant. 6. Learning— physiology. 7. Psychophysiology. WS 105 H918 2007] RJ506.D47H86 2007 618.92′89142—dc22 2007004332 About the Editors Donna Coch, EdD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at Dartmouth College. She earned a doctoral degree from the Harvard Uni- versity Graduate School of Education and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Oregon. Using a noninvasive brain wave recording technique, Dr. Coch’s research focuses on what happens in the brain as children learn how to read, particularly in terms of phonological and orthographic processing. A goal of both her research and teaching is to make meaningful connections between the fields of developmental cognitive neuroscience and education. Kurt W. Fischer, PhD, is Charles Bigelow Professor of Education and Human Development at the Harvard University Graduate School of Educa- tion and founder and director of the program in Mind, Brain, and Educa- tion. He studies cognitive and emotional development from birth through adulthood, combining analysis of the commonalities across people with the diversity of pathways of learning and development. Dr. Fischer’s studies concern students’ learning and problem solving, brain development, con- cepts of self in relationships, cultural contributions to social-cognitive development, reading skills, emotions, and child abuse. One product of Dr. Fischer’s research is a single scale for measuring learning, teaching, and curriculum across domains, which is being used to assess and coordinate key aspects of pedagogy and assessment in schools. He is the author of sev- eral books as well as over 200 scientific articles. Leading an international movement to connect biology and cognitive science to education, Dr. v vi About the Editors Fischer is founding president of the International Mind, Brain, and Educa- tion Society and the new journal Mind, Brain, and Education. Geraldine Dawson, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington, where she is also Director of the Autism Center. She has had an active career as a scientist and clinician specializing in autism and the effects of experience on early brain development, and is internationally rec- ognized for her pioneering research on early diagnosis and brain function in autism and early biological risk factors for psychopathology. Dr. Dawson has published over 125 scientific articles and chapters on these topics, and edited or authored a number of books, including Autism: Nature, Diagnosis, and Treatment (1989), Human Behavior and the Developing Brain (1994), and A Parent’s Guide to Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism: How to Meet the Challenges and Help Your Child Thrive (2002), all published by The Guilford Press. She has been the recipient of continuous research funding from the National Institutes of Health for her studies on autism and child psychopathology. Contributors Denise R. Adkins, PhD, Department of Psychology, Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on individual differences in the development of attention, working memory, and inhibitory control during middle childhood. Martha Ann Bell, PhD, Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. Her research focuses on individual differences in frontal lobe development during infancy and childhood, with an emphasis on electrophysiology and cognition. Gal Ben-Yehudah, PhD, Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on the neural correlates of reading and working memory and the relationships between these cognitive functions. Dr. Ben-Yehudah is interested in applying findings from her research to advance literacy and learning. James R. Booth, PhD, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, and Department of Radiology, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Evanston, Illinois. His research focuses on the neural bases of learning and development, with a particular focus on reading, language, attention, and inhibition. James P. Byrnes, PhD, Department of Psychological Studies in Education, College of Education, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the development of decision-making skills and on explaining individual, gender, and ethnic differences in achievement. vii viii Contributors Julie A. Fiez, PhD, Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on the neural basis of language processing and reading, as well as the neural basis of reward and motivation. Kurt W. Fischer, PhD (See “About the Editors.”) Jay N. Giedd, MD, Brain Imaging Unit, Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland. His research focuses on the relationship among genes, brain, and behavior in healthy development and in neuropsychiatric disorders of childhood onset. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, EdD, Brain and Creativity Institute and Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California. Her research interests focus on the intersection of neuroscience and education, especially on the developmental and neurological relations among cognition, emotion, and language, and on the neurological bases of social emotions. Mark H. Johnson, PhD, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, School of Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London, London, England. His research focuses on brain and cognitive development in human infants and other species. Jerome Kagan, PhD, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. His research focuses on human temperament. Rhoshel K. Lenroot, MD, Brain Imaging Unit, Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institutes of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Her research focuses on the relationship among genes, brain, and behavior in healthy development and in neuropsychiatric disorders of childhood onset. Debra L. Mills, PhD, Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. She uses the event-related potential technique to study how the organization of the brain changes during the course of language development, including the role of experience in setting up cerebral specializations for different aspects of language processing in typical and atypical populations. Seth D. Pollak, PhD, Department of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Pediatrics and Waisman Center for Human Development, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Madison, Wisconsin. His research focuses on the biological mechanisms underlying children’s emotional development and risk for psychopathology, with special emphasis on the effects of early adversity and biobehavioral plasticity. Sidney J. Segalowitz, PhD, Department of Psychology, Brock University, Ontario, Canada. His research focuses on the control of attention and working memory across development and the maturation of the prefrontal cortex as indexed by the electroencephalogram and event-related potentials. Contributors ix Elizabeth A. Sheehan, MA, doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. Her research focuses on language development and understanding how children increase their communicative competence through their interactions with others. Nancy Snidman, PhD, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Judge Baker Children’s Center, Boston, Massachusetts. Her research focuses on human temperament. Linda Patia Spear, PhD, Department of Psychology and Center for Developmental Psychobiology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York. Her areas of research include adolescent sensitivity to ethanol; the neurobiology of risk taking; and the contribution of adolescent-relevant motivational strategies, alcohol/drug use, and peer affiliations to risk taking, impulsivity, and other problem behaviors of adolescents. Sara Jane Webb, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Center on

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