[MATHLINK] Special Issue – Environment and Executive Function – Infant Behavior and Development

[Andrew David Ribner]

Dear Colleagues,

A brief reminder that abstract submissions for this special issue on
*environmental
influences on the development of early executive function* to be published
in *Infant Behavior and Development *are due *next Friday,* July 15. Please
see below for more information.

In this special issue, we invite empirical, theoretical, and review papers
that address major environmental influences on executive function during
the first 3 years of life. There are no restrictions on which type of
environments submissions address, but these could include different
cultures (including less traditional cultural comparisons), major social or
socioeconomic factors, major geopolitical factors (such as children growing
up under different political systems, in regions of war or unrest or as
refugees), direct and planned interventions to effect positive change, and
‘natural experiments’ where children naturally grow up under very different
conditions.  Topics may include but are not limited to:

●      Empirical studies with infants (up to 36 months) that address
relations between environmental influences (e.g., sociodemographic,
geopolitical, and cultural characteristics) and executive function through
direct experimentation, observation, or parent report. Longitudinal studies
are particularly encouraged.

●      Studies that interrogate the factor structure and/or measurement of
executive function across different groups of children.

●      Review or theory papers on the role of environmental influences in
executive function development and on how we should approach the study of
early executive function through an assets- or strengths-based (as opposed
to a deficit-based) approach.

●      Intervention studies targeting executive function that will provide
guidelines for parents and educators regarding best practices to promote
positive developmental outcomes.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions. We look forward to
working with you!

Andrew Ribner, University of Pittsburgh (andy.ribner at pitt.edu)
Karla Holmboe, University of Bristol (karla.holmboe at bristol.ac.uk)

On Wed, Mar 30, 2022 at 2:42 PM Andrew David Ribner <aribner at nyu.edu> wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
> We invite you to submit abstracts for an upcoming special issue on *environmental
> influences on the development of early executive function* to be
> published in *Infant Behavior and Development.*
>
> While the development of “mature” executive function is a protracted
> process that extends from birth through early adulthood (Hughes, 2011;
> Huizinga et al., 2006), individual differences in executive function
> already have important implications in early childhood. Substantial
> individual differences in executive function are evident in the first years
> of life (Holmboe et al., 2018; Hendry et al., 2021) and show modest
> stability from infancy and toddlerhood to later years (Devine et al., 2019;
> Hughes et al., 2020; Hughes & Ensor, 2007); however, much of our
> understanding of very early executive function comes from convenience
> samples of Western, middle- to upper-income samples. Exceptions to that
> largely focus on highlighting differences between normative samples and
> those who do not fall into convenience populations (e.g., children raised
> in low-income homes, non-White samples, non-industrialized nations). The
> goal of this special issue is to take an assets-based approach to unpacking
> the mechanisms underlying relations between overarching cultural influences
> (e.g., sociodemographic, geopolitical, and cultural characteristics) and
> the development of executive function in children under the age of 36
> months.
>
> We invite empirical, theoretical, and review papers that address major
> environmental influences on executive function during the first 3 years of
> life. There are no restrictions on which type of environments submissions
> address, but these could include different cultures (including less
> traditional cultural comparisons), major social or socioeconomic factors,
> major geopolitical factors (such as children growing up under different
> political systems, in regions of war or unrest or as refugees), direct and
> planned interventions to effect positive change, and ‘natural experiments’
> where children naturally grow up under very different conditions.  Topics
> may include but are not limited to:
>
> ●      Empirical studies with infants (up to 36 months) that address
> relations between environmental influences (e.g., sociodemographic,
> geopolitical, and cultural characteristics) and executive function through
> direct experimentation, observation, or parent report. Longitudinal studies
> are particularly encouraged.
>
> ●      Studies that interrogate the factor structure and/or measurement of
> executive function across different groups of children.
>
> ●      Review or theory papers on the role of environmental influences in
> executive function development and on how we should approach the study of
> early executive function through an assets- or strengths-based (as opposed
> to a deficit-based) approach.
>
> ●      Intervention studies targeting executive function that will provide
> guidelines for parents and educators regarding best practices to promote
> positive developmental outcomes.
>
> All authors must submit a preliminary abstract by July 15, 2022 to either
> guest editor. Full papers will be requested after the abstract is accepted,
> with a final deadline of December 1, 2022.  Potential contributors are
> encouraged to contact the guest editor if they have questions. Information
> about the journal, including instructions for authors, may be found here:
> https://www.journals.elsevier.com/infant-behavior-and-development
>
> We look forward to working with you!
>
> Andrew Ribner, University of Pittsburgh (andy.ribner at pitt.edu)
> Karla Holmboe, University of Bristol (karla.holmboe at bristol.ac.uk)
>
> --
> Andrew Ribner, PhD
>
> *Department of Applied Psychology*
> Developmental Psychology
> NYU Steinhardt
> New York University
> aribner at nyu.edu
>


-- 
Andrew Ribner, PhD

*Department of Applied Psychology*
Developmental Psychology
NYU Steinhardt
New York University
aribner at nyu.edu