Assessing the Developing

Child

Jane Holmes Bernstein Ph.D.Neuropsychology ProgramDepartment of Psychiatry

Children’s Hospital Boston

Harvard Medical School

MIND, BRAIN and EDUCATION

in 2011

Mary Cassatt, 1898

Collection RauZurich

4 points…

POINT #1

traditional models for understanding children’s behavior are inadequate to the current task

Traditionally, focused on measurement—

of a child’s abilities

Measuring children’s abilities Psychometric paradigm

Skill based Factor analysis of cognitive constructs

underlying skills

Emphasis on inter-child ranking…

In 2011….

Neuropsychology:

Emphasis on biology

Biological organism behaving in

environment

Emphasis on whole child as unit of analysis

Analysis is intra-child

Clinical goal

…increase success of organism’s behaving in environment

[ecological validity defined in terms of organism acting in niche]

Assessment Evaluationdata collectionclinical analysis

diagnosis Management

educationintervention

[Rx & Tx]

POINT #2

Neuro = brain

What “drives” brains….?

INSERT CLASSROOM IMAGE

INSERT CLASSROOM IMAGE

NOPE !!

What “drives” brains….?

What “drives” brains….?

What “drives” brains….?

Perpetuation of the

species

What “drives” brains….?

FoodFightFlightFriends

What “drives” brains….?

FoodFightFlightFriends

Preservation of self

What “drives” brains….?

….survival ….of the individual….of the species….

“What drives brains?”

Evolutionary context of ‘brain’

What are brains for?

What are brains for?

Thinking….

What are brains for?

Doing!

Motor action…….

POINT #3

How do brains work……

Digression…You are part of an intellectual tradition….

A bit of history…… For >500 years:

The person has been at the center of how we think about

ourselves

Fundamental assumption….“..autonomous individual is center of

knowledge and cognition..” (Dumont, 1965)

“..the boundaries of the individual provide the proper framework within which psychological processes can be adequately analyzed..” (Wertsch et al., 1985)

Cognition:

= set of processes that are internal and accessible only to the person to whom they belong

Fits with our experience of the world

Important for our psychological health

Fine….. BUT…..

It’s wrong!!!!!And we have NEUROSCIENCE to

thank…..

Why is this important?

This long-held belief shapes how we understand learning and

learners.

It shapes psychological and educational research….

It thus shapes our education system.

…and,

More recent times…. Emphasis has shifted from child-as-

learner To

child-as-owner-of-the-learning-organ

Brain….

Brain…

get builtDoesn’t develop in a vacuum

function

[BRAIN CONTEXT]

Can you have dyslexia if no-one ever asks you to read?

No ! Biological vulnerability

versus

Manifest symptom

Brain-Context interactionPhysical

Brain systemsNeurochemical

bath

Physical world[space, light,

sound..]

Psychological

SocialEmotional

Beliefs, goals, values

ContextTendency to think SPATIAL context

But, not just spatial (here-and-now);

ContextNot just spatial (here-and-now);

but TEMPORAL context is critical to the analysis

(history: how-did-it-get-this-way?)

ContextTemporal context:

evolution of THE brain construction of the current

social setting developmental experience of

THIS brain

Levels in neuroscience

Genes Gene expression Molecules [regulate brain development] Cells Chemical circuits Anatomical circuits Functional circuits Activity of mind/brain [normal and derailed

feeling and thinking]

Recallthis…

Levels in neuroscience

Genes Gene expression Molecules [regulate brain development] Cells Chemical circuits Anatomical circuits Functional circuits Activity of mind/brain [normal and derailed

feeling and thinking]

Levels in neuroscience

Genes Gene expression Molecules [regulate brain development] Cells Chemical circuits Anatomical circuits Functional circuits Activity of mind/brain [normal and derailed

feeling and thinking]

PARADIGM [monkey]Recording of MT neuronsAnalysis noise correlations

simultaneous recording identical visual stimulus

Behavioral context cooperative interactions & competitive interactions.

MT neurons receive inputs of central origin whose strength changes with the task structure

Cohen & Newsome, Neuron 2008

Context…

ÉMEANINGto the organism..

at the time..

How do brains work……

Importance of the [brain context] interaction

Brain as both independent and dependent variable

POINT #4

Cardinal feature of child ?

Developing…………

Theoretical Matrix….. BRAIN: substrate for behavior

CONTEXT: brains do not operate in isolation

DEVELOPMENT: dynamic change

Developmental models…. Change – and continuity…………

(Obligatory) transactions with context

Non-linear; successive re-organization

Why?

Implications for assessment ? For design/methodology

For selection/collection of data

For interpretation of observations

For management/intervention planning

And also……

For research questions ?

For theories of neurobehavioral development ?

For research design/methodology ?

Remind you…..Research

investigations: seek universals are variable-

centered maximize

internal validity

Remind you…..Research

investigations.. seek universals are variable-

centered maximize

internal validity

Clinical investigations.. deal with

individuals are person-

centered maximize

external validity

Remind you…..Research

investigations.. seek universals are variable-

centered maximize

internal validity

Clinical investigations.. deal with

individuals are person-

centered maximize

external validityHow do you resolve this tension?

How do you apply research-obtained knowledge to the individual

case?