Stephanie M Carlson

Biographic Data

ID3602630
NAMEStephanie M Carlson
GIVEN NAMESStephanie M
FAMILY NAMECarlson
SIGNATURECARLSON S M
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Minnesota
ORCID0000-0003-3055-6483
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS30
TOTAL CITATIONS111
AUTHOR COUNT30
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1993
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2025
H-INDEX7

  • Can young children control their creativity? Examining the role of executive function in modifying children’s creative processes

    Julie Vaisarova, Stephanie M CarlsonARTICLEPsychology of Aesthetics…2025

  • Cultural Differences in Visual Attention Emerge in Infancy

    Open AccessMegan J Heise, Marek Meristo et al.ARTICLEInfancy2025

    East Asians are more likely than North Americans to attend to visual scenes holistically, focusing on the relations between objects and their background rather than isolating components. This cultural difference in context sensitivity—greater attentional allocation to the background of an image or scene—has been attributed to socialization, yet it is unknown how early in development it appears, and whether it is moderated by social information. W…

  • Learning Variability Network Exchange (Levante)

    Open AccessMichael C Frank, Heidi A Baumgartner et al.ARTICLEChild Development2025References: 105

    Despite the ubiquity of variation in child development within individuals, across groups, and across tasks, timescales, and contexts, dominant methods in developmental science and education research still favor group averages, short snapshots of time, and single environments. The Learning Variability Network Exchange (LEVANTE) is a framework designed to enable coordinated data collection by research teams worldwide, with the goal of measuring var…

  • Preschool Children’s Science Learning

    Amanda Grenell, Jasmine R Ernst et al.ARTICLEEarly Education and Development2024

    Research Findings: =93; 47% female). Children were randomly assigned to an Explicit Instruction, Discovery Learning, or No-Instruction Control condition. A pre-post-test design was used to measure change in children's knowledge of sinking and floating using an assessment created for the current study. Participants also completed measures of executive function (i.e., Minnesota Executive Function Scale, Statue Task, Backward Word Span) and non-verb…

  • The role of parenting in autonomy and executive function development among young children experiencing homelessness

    Open AccessRebecca Distefano, Kayla M Nelson et al.ARTICLEChildren and Youth Services Review2024References: 74

    We found evidence for a hot-cool executive function distinction among preschoolers. • Children’s autonomy was positively related to cool and hot executive function. • Only children’s cool executive function was associated with numeracy and literacy. • Parental autonomy support was linked to children’s cool executive function. A large body of research has shown homelessness is a risk factor for academic difficulties. However, some children experie…

  • Responding to joint attention as a developmental catalyst

    Open AccessChristopher Lasch, Stephanie M Carlson et al.ARTICLEInfancy2023

    Joint attention (JA), infants' ability to engage in triadic attention with another person and a separate object or event, emerges in infancy. Responding to joint attention (RJA) develops earlier than initiating joint attention (IJA) and may benefit from a reconceptualization from a competence to a skill that varies in performance. Investigating associations between RJA performance and important skills of toddlerhood such as language, social respo…

  • Impasses in the wild

    Open AccessJustin S Baker, Justin Baker et al.ARTICLEFrontiers in Education2022

    Moments where children encounter problems in their chosen activities represent potentially generative sites for learning, particularly when supportive adults are present to scaffold the learning process. Scholars of autonomy support study these dyadic problem-solving processes in defined tasks, and describe specific types of parental support that have implications for children’s future competence as independent learners. In two exploratory case s…

  • Children’s screen and problematic media use in the United States before and during the Covid-19 pandemic

    Open AccessLauren Eales, Gillespie et al.ARTICLEChild Development2021

    This mixed methods study examined parent-reported child screen media use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic by examining 2019–2020 changes in parent perceptions of media, screen media use (SMU), and problematic media use (PMU) in children aged 2–13 years (N = 129; 64 boys, 64 girls, 1 nonbinary; 90.7% White, 4.6% Hispanic/Latino, 0.8% Black, 8.5% multiethnic; primarily middle-to-high income). Quantitative analyses showed a significant SMU an…

  • Executive function measures in early childhood screening

    Open AccessAmanda W Kalstabakken, C Desjardins et al.ARTICLEEarly Childhood Research Quarterly2021References: 10

  • Family resilience and psychological distress in the Covid-19 pandemic

    Open AccessLauren Eales, Gail M Ferguson et al.ARTICLEDevelopmental Psychology2021Cited by: 17References: 4

    Many changes were thrust upon families by the COVID-19 pandemic, including mandated quarantines, social distancing, transitions to distance learning for children, and remote work. The current study used mixed methods to examine the challenges and resilience of families in the United States during the pandemic (May-July 2020), as well as predictors and moderators of parent/child psychological distress. Our sample included 469 parents (459 mothers)…

  • Cohort effects in children’s delay of gratification

    Stephanie M Carlson, Yuichi Shoda et al.ARTICLEDevelopmental Psychology2018Cited by: 2References: 6

    In the 1960s at Stanford University's Bing Preschool, children were given the option of taking an immediate, smaller reward or receiving a delayed, larger reward by waiting until the experimenter returned. Since then, the "Marshmallow Test" has been used in numerous studies to assess delay of gratification. Yet, no prior study has compared the performance of children across the decades. Common wisdom suggests children today would wait less long, …

  • A secure base from which to regulate

    Annie Bernier, Miriam H Beauchamp et al.ARTICLEDevelopmental Psychology2015Cited by: 13References: 9

    In light of emerging evidence suggesting that the affective quality of parent-child relationships may relate to individual differences in young children's executive functioning (EF) skills, the aim of this study was to investigate the prospective associations between attachment security in toddlerhood and children's EF skills in kindergarten. Mother-child dyads (N = 105) participated in 2 toddlerhood visits in their homes, when children were 15 m…

  • The Children’s Social Understanding Scale

    Deniz Tahiroglu, Louis J Moses et al.ARTICLEDevelopmental Psychology2014Cited by: 7References: 8

    Children's theory of mind (ToM) is typically measured with laboratory assessments of performance. Although these measures have generated a wealth of informative data concerning developmental progressions in ToM, they may be less useful as the sole source of information about individual differences in ToM and their relation to other facets of development. In the current research, we aimed to expand the repertoire of methods available for measuring…

  • Individual differences in executive functioning predict preschoolers’ improvement from theory-of-mind training

    Jeannette E Benson, Mark A Sabbagh et al.ARTICLEDevelopmental Psychology2013Cited by: 7References: 6

    Twenty-four 3.5-year-old children who initially showed poor performance on false-belief tasks participated in a training protocol designed to promote performance on these tasks. Our aim was to determine whether the extent to which children benefited from training was predicted by their performance on a battery of executive functioning tasks. Findings indicated that individual differences in executive functioning performance strongly and consisten…

  • Hot and Cool Executive Function in Childhood and Adolescence

    Open AccessPhilip David Zelazo, Stephanie M CarlsonARTICLEChild Development Perspectives2012

    Executive function (EF), which refers to the more deliberate, top-down neurocognitive processes involved in self-regulation, develops most rapidly during the preschool years, together with the growth of neural networks involving prefrontal cortex but continues to develop well into adulthood. Both EF and the neural systems supporting EF vary as a function of motivational significance, and this article discusses the distinction between the top-down…

  • Social factors in the development of early executive functioning

    Open AccessAnnie Bernier, Stephanie M Carlson et al.ARTICLEDevelopmental Science2012

    This study investigated prospective links between quality of the early caregiving environment and children’s subsequent executive functioning (EF). Sixty‐two families were met on five occasions, allowing for assessment of maternal interactive behavior, paternal interactive behavior, and child attachment security between 1 and 2 years of age, and child EF at 2 and 3 years. The results suggested that composite scores of parental behavior and child …

  • Effects of a Punitive Environment on Children's Executive Functioning

    Open AccessVictoria Talwar, Stephanie M Carlson et al.ARTICLESocial Development2011Cited by: 3References: 16

    Few studies have examined the influence of environmental factors on children's executive functioning (EF) performance. The present study examined the effects of a punitive vs. non‐punitive school environment on West African children's EF skills. Tasks included a ‘cool’ (relatively non‐affective) and ‘hot’ (relatively affective/motivational) version of three EF tasks: delay of gratification; gift delay; and dimensional change card sort. Children h…

  • From External Regulation to Self-Regulation

    Open AccessAnnie Bernier, Stephanie M Carlson et al.ARTICLEChild Development2010

    In keeping with proposals emphasizing the role of early experience in infant brain development, this study investigated the prospective links between quality of parent–infant interactions and subsequent child executive functioning (EF), including working memory, impulse control, and set shifting. Maternal sensitivity, mind-mindedness and autonomy support were assessed when children were 12 to 15 months old (N = 80). Child EF was assessed at 18 an…

  • Early Manifestations of Children’s Theory of Mind

    Open AccessJessica Laranjo, Annie Bernier et al.ARTICLEInfancy2010

    This study investigated two aspects of mother–child relationships—mothers’ mind‐mindedness and infant attachment security—in relation to two early aspects of children’s theory of mind development (ToM). Sixty‐one mother–child dyads (36 girls) participated in testing phases at 12 (T1), 15 (T2), and 26 months of age (T3), allowing for assessment of maternal mind‐mindedness (T1), infant attachment (T2), and child ToM understanding (T3). Results indi…

  • Social origins of executive function development

    Open AccessStephanie M CarlsonARTICLENew Directions for Child and…2009

    The chapters in this issue revisit the social origins of the development of executive function (EF) through both empirical examination of the contexts in which EF development occurs (in vivo), as well as its social antecedents and consequences. Importantly, they also point to new directions in studying the social foundations of neurodevelopment, novel methods that take the social context into account, and cultural influences on EF development

  • Bilingual experience and executive functioning in young children

    Open AccessStephanie M Carlson, Andrew N MeltzoffARTICLEDevelopmental Science2008

    Advanced inhibitory control skills have been found in bilingual speakers as compared to monolingual controls ( Bialystok, 1999 ). We examined whether this effect is generalized to an unstudied language group (Spanish‐English bilingual) and multiple measures of executive function by administering a battery of tasks to 50 kindergarten children drawn from three language groups: native bilinguals, monolinguals (English), and English speakers enrolled…

  • Inhibitory control and emotion regulation in preschool children

    Open AccessStephanie M Carlson, Tiffany S WangARTICLECognitive Development2007

    This research investigated the relation between individual differences in inhibitory control and emotion regulation. Preschool children ( N = 53) ages 4–6 ( M = 5; 0) were assessed on brief batteries of inhibitory control of prepotent responses and emotion regulation. Individual differences in inhibitory control were significantly correlated with children's ability to regulate their emotions. This relation held up even after controlling for age a…

  • The Development of Executive Functioning and Theory of Mind

    Open AccessMark A Sabbagh, Fen Xu et al.ARTICLEPsychological Science2006

    Preschoolers' theory-of-mind development follows a similar age trajectory across many cultures. To determine whether these similarities are related to similar underlying ontogenetic processes, we examined whether the relation between theory of mind and executive function commonly found among U.S. preschoolers is also present among Chinese preschoolers. Preschoolers from Beijing, China (N = 109), were administered theory-of-mind and executive-func…

  • Developmentally Sensitive Measures of Executive Function in Preschool Children

    Stephanie M CarlsonARTICLEDevelopmental Neuropsychology2005

    Changes in executive functioning in the preschool years are recognized as playing a critical role in cognitive and social development, yet comprehensive data and recommendations about measurement of these changes are lacking. The performance of 602 preschool children on several executive function tasks was analyzed and reported as (a) age trends in performance and (b) task difficulty scales at 2, 3, 4, and 5 to 6 years of age. This analysis infor…

  • Individual differences in executive functioning and theory of mind

    Open AccessStephanie M Carlson, Louis J Moses et al.ARTICLEJournal of Experimental Child…2004