4PAHPDEV Psychology and Development Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 Neurodiversity and Social Cognition
NEURODIVERSITY AND SOCIAL
COGNITION
UNDERSTAND THE NEURODIVERSITY APPROACH.
NEURODIVERSITY FRAMEWORKS
“Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world
around them in many different ways; there is no one "right" way of thinking, learning,
and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits”
Baumer & Frueh, 2021
• Neurodiversity comes from a social model of mental health, rather than a medical model
• ‘Neuro’ reflects the focus on differences in brain structure and/or functioning that are related
to differences in people’s experiences and interactions with the world
• Within developmental psychology, neurodiversity typically applies to autism, ADHD,
dyslexia, and intellectual disabilities/differences (Dwyer, 2022)
o However, some have considered its application to depression, anxiety, and
schizophrenia (Dwyer, 2022), and Tourette’s and dyspraxia – however, this is not
widely agreed upon
Definitions
• Neurotypical: People whose patterns of thinking, learning, behaving, and interacting and
experiencing the world around them is shared by the majority of other people
o What is considered ‘typical’ – though some argue that this does not exist
• Neurodivergent: People whose patterns of thinking, learning, behaving, and interacting and
experiencing the world around them is shared by a minority of other people
o What is considered ‘a-typical’, encompassing autism and ADHD, for example
• Neurotypes: Used by some researchers in the literature to refer to specific ‘clusters’ or
‘categories’ of neurotypical or neurodivergent people (i.e., autism, ADHD etc.)
DESCRIBE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-REGULATION;
FREQUENTLY USED TESTS OF SELF-REGULATION AND
BIOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON SELF-REGULATION.
SELF-REGULATION
• Self-regulation is the ability to control our emotions and actions
o It can be important in understanding ADHD and some argue its relation to autism
• Delayed gratification is the ability to inhibit engaging in action that will bring a desired
reward
1
,4PAHPDEV Psychology and Development Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 Neurodiversity and Social Cognition
Impacts of Self-Regulation
• The ability to self-regulate and delay gratification is associated with positive outcomes into
adolescence (Shoda et al., 1990)
• Strategies for delaying gratification improve with age from around 5 years
o Those with a poorer ability to delay gratification is linked to impulsivity that can
endure throughout life
• Self-regulation plays a crucial role in moral development as children learn to inhibit or direct
their actions to conform to moral rules
Executive Functions (EF)
• Executive functions are higher-order cognitive processes involved in controlling our
information processing and behaviour
o As well as self-regulation and inhibition, executive functions are also involved in
planning, working memory, task-switching/ attentional control, and problem solving
• This area of cognition is highly associated with variations in neurodiversity
MEASURING SELF-REGULATION
Delay of Gratification Tasks
The Marshmallow Test
• A child is left alone with one marshmallow and are told that if they don’t eat the marshmallow
until the experimenter returns, they will get two marshmallows
o The delay of gratification is whether the child can show self-control and can self-
regulate by waiting to get the two marshmallows
The Glitter Wand Task
• The experimenter shows a child a glitter wand and draws attention to it, but child is prohibited
from touching it while the experimenter turns around for 30 seconds
o If the child doesn’t touch the wand, they are now allowed to touch the wand and pass
the test
Evaluation
• These measures have been found to predict later measures of executive function and self-
regulation, demonstrating their validity
• However, they can usually only be used with young children since older children tend to be
able to do the tasks fairly easily since they have developed some forms of self-regulation or
strategies to be able to pass the task
Executive Function and Cognitive Flexibility Tasks
Dimensional Change Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders Task” (DCCS HTKS Task)
• It is a modified version of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”, designed to assess executive
functions such as inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory
• In this task, children are instructed to do the opposite of what is said (e.g., if told “touch your
head,” they must touch their toes)
o As the task progresses, additional rules are introduced, increasing complexity.
• It is widely used in developmental psychology to measure self-regulation and executive
functioning in young children
2
, 4PAHPDEV Psychology and Development Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 Neurodiversity and Social Cognition
Stroop Task
• Participants are shown colour words (e.g., “green”) that are printed in either a matching or
non-matching ink colour (e.g., “green” written in red ink)
o They must name the ink colour, rather than read the word itself
• This requires inhibiting the natural tendency to read the word instead of identifying the ink
colour
• It is commonly used with adults, however, their performance is typically measured by
reaction time rather than accuracy, as the task becomes more challenging when the word
and ink colour are incongruent
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-REGULATION
• Early variation in delay of gratification tasks predicts later individual differences in measures
of executive function
• Friedman et al. (2011) demonstrated in a study using the glitter wand task that the skill of
delayed gratification develops with age in between the first and third year of life
• There is also considerable variation which predicted later executive functioning outcomes
o Friedman et al. (2011) found that those who could control themselves earlier in
childhood performed much better at executive functioning tests at age 17
o Those who performed poorly on the test at a very young age were more likely to be
diagnosed with ADHD and autism later on
Progression Phases
• Kopp (1982, 2002) outlines how self-regulation emerges in young children through the
following phases, with research support from Vaughn et al. (1984)
1. Control Phase: When 12- to 18-month-old children first initiate, maintain, modulate, or cease
acts when an adult makes a demand
o They are highly dependent on the caregiver for reminder signals about acceptable
behaviours
o 18-month-olds could only wait 20 seconds when shown a forbidden, attractive object
2. Self-Control Phase: Children gain the ability to comply with caregiver expectations in the
absence of external reminders
o This may be because the development of representational thinking and memory
recall allows them to remember family rules and routines
o 24-month-olds could now wait 70 seconds when shown forbidden, attractive object
3. Self-Regulation Phase: Children become able to use strategies and plans to direct their
behaviour to resist temptation and self-delay gratification
o 30-month-olds could now wait 100 seconds when shown forbidden, attractive object
3
BSc Psychology Year 1 Neurodiversity and Social Cognition
NEURODIVERSITY AND SOCIAL
COGNITION
UNDERSTAND THE NEURODIVERSITY APPROACH.
NEURODIVERSITY FRAMEWORKS
“Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world
around them in many different ways; there is no one "right" way of thinking, learning,
and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits”
Baumer & Frueh, 2021
• Neurodiversity comes from a social model of mental health, rather than a medical model
• ‘Neuro’ reflects the focus on differences in brain structure and/or functioning that are related
to differences in people’s experiences and interactions with the world
• Within developmental psychology, neurodiversity typically applies to autism, ADHD,
dyslexia, and intellectual disabilities/differences (Dwyer, 2022)
o However, some have considered its application to depression, anxiety, and
schizophrenia (Dwyer, 2022), and Tourette’s and dyspraxia – however, this is not
widely agreed upon
Definitions
• Neurotypical: People whose patterns of thinking, learning, behaving, and interacting and
experiencing the world around them is shared by the majority of other people
o What is considered ‘typical’ – though some argue that this does not exist
• Neurodivergent: People whose patterns of thinking, learning, behaving, and interacting and
experiencing the world around them is shared by a minority of other people
o What is considered ‘a-typical’, encompassing autism and ADHD, for example
• Neurotypes: Used by some researchers in the literature to refer to specific ‘clusters’ or
‘categories’ of neurotypical or neurodivergent people (i.e., autism, ADHD etc.)
DESCRIBE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-REGULATION;
FREQUENTLY USED TESTS OF SELF-REGULATION AND
BIOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON SELF-REGULATION.
SELF-REGULATION
• Self-regulation is the ability to control our emotions and actions
o It can be important in understanding ADHD and some argue its relation to autism
• Delayed gratification is the ability to inhibit engaging in action that will bring a desired
reward
1
,4PAHPDEV Psychology and Development Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 Neurodiversity and Social Cognition
Impacts of Self-Regulation
• The ability to self-regulate and delay gratification is associated with positive outcomes into
adolescence (Shoda et al., 1990)
• Strategies for delaying gratification improve with age from around 5 years
o Those with a poorer ability to delay gratification is linked to impulsivity that can
endure throughout life
• Self-regulation plays a crucial role in moral development as children learn to inhibit or direct
their actions to conform to moral rules
Executive Functions (EF)
• Executive functions are higher-order cognitive processes involved in controlling our
information processing and behaviour
o As well as self-regulation and inhibition, executive functions are also involved in
planning, working memory, task-switching/ attentional control, and problem solving
• This area of cognition is highly associated with variations in neurodiversity
MEASURING SELF-REGULATION
Delay of Gratification Tasks
The Marshmallow Test
• A child is left alone with one marshmallow and are told that if they don’t eat the marshmallow
until the experimenter returns, they will get two marshmallows
o The delay of gratification is whether the child can show self-control and can self-
regulate by waiting to get the two marshmallows
The Glitter Wand Task
• The experimenter shows a child a glitter wand and draws attention to it, but child is prohibited
from touching it while the experimenter turns around for 30 seconds
o If the child doesn’t touch the wand, they are now allowed to touch the wand and pass
the test
Evaluation
• These measures have been found to predict later measures of executive function and self-
regulation, demonstrating their validity
• However, they can usually only be used with young children since older children tend to be
able to do the tasks fairly easily since they have developed some forms of self-regulation or
strategies to be able to pass the task
Executive Function and Cognitive Flexibility Tasks
Dimensional Change Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders Task” (DCCS HTKS Task)
• It is a modified version of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”, designed to assess executive
functions such as inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory
• In this task, children are instructed to do the opposite of what is said (e.g., if told “touch your
head,” they must touch their toes)
o As the task progresses, additional rules are introduced, increasing complexity.
• It is widely used in developmental psychology to measure self-regulation and executive
functioning in young children
2
, 4PAHPDEV Psychology and Development Week 4
BSc Psychology Year 1 Neurodiversity and Social Cognition
Stroop Task
• Participants are shown colour words (e.g., “green”) that are printed in either a matching or
non-matching ink colour (e.g., “green” written in red ink)
o They must name the ink colour, rather than read the word itself
• This requires inhibiting the natural tendency to read the word instead of identifying the ink
colour
• It is commonly used with adults, however, their performance is typically measured by
reaction time rather than accuracy, as the task becomes more challenging when the word
and ink colour are incongruent
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-REGULATION
• Early variation in delay of gratification tasks predicts later individual differences in measures
of executive function
• Friedman et al. (2011) demonstrated in a study using the glitter wand task that the skill of
delayed gratification develops with age in between the first and third year of life
• There is also considerable variation which predicted later executive functioning outcomes
o Friedman et al. (2011) found that those who could control themselves earlier in
childhood performed much better at executive functioning tests at age 17
o Those who performed poorly on the test at a very young age were more likely to be
diagnosed with ADHD and autism later on
Progression Phases
• Kopp (1982, 2002) outlines how self-regulation emerges in young children through the
following phases, with research support from Vaughn et al. (1984)
1. Control Phase: When 12- to 18-month-old children first initiate, maintain, modulate, or cease
acts when an adult makes a demand
o They are highly dependent on the caregiver for reminder signals about acceptable
behaviours
o 18-month-olds could only wait 20 seconds when shown a forbidden, attractive object
2. Self-Control Phase: Children gain the ability to comply with caregiver expectations in the
absence of external reminders
o This may be because the development of representational thinking and memory
recall allows them to remember family rules and routines
o 24-month-olds could now wait 70 seconds when shown forbidden, attractive object
3. Self-Regulation Phase: Children become able to use strategies and plans to direct their
behaviour to resist temptation and self-delay gratification
o 30-month-olds could now wait 100 seconds when shown forbidden, attractive object
3
