Psychology In The News | What Toddlers Think

BBC news has reported this week on a longitudinal study carried out by the University of Bristol with the aim of tracking brain development in young children aged from 6 months to 5 years old. The study focuses on measuring fundamental cognitive skills like inhibitory control, working memory, language development, and processing speed—abilities critical for academic and social success.

What makes this research unique is that it builds upon the ‘Children of the 90s’ project. Of the 300 children currently being studied, many are the offspring of participants who were themselves monitored since the 1990s. This creates an unprecedented multigenerational dataset linking children's brain development with their parents' health, experiences, and genetics. The research uses scientifically designed tasks to assess cognitive development. In one exercise, toddlers wearing brain-scanning caps (containing specially adapted EEG scanning equipment) play a game requiring them to tap on smiley faces that appear on an iPad screen. The challenge intensifies when the faces unexpectedly switch positions, testing the child's ability to inhibit the automatic response to tap the same place on the screen—a skill essential for classroom focus.

Another assessment evaluates working memory by asking children to track which containers hold hidden stickers, requiring them to maintain information while solving problems. These cognitive abilities represent the fundamental building blocks for more complex skills like mathematics and reading comprehension. In addition, many of the participants have MRI scans at the ages of six months, three years and five years, generating a true picture of their young, developing brains. These tasks measure skills critical for classroom success. According to one of the researchers, understanding early development is vital because children who struggle when starting school often continue struggling into adulthood.

The larger ‘Children of the 90s’ study has already yielded significant health insights, including findings on obesity, autism, fatty liver disease, and nutrition's effects on behaviour. This new branch of research specifically targets cognitive development, following children until they begin school. The overall goal is to identify when crucial developmental milestones occur, enabling targeted early intervention for children who might otherwise face academic or social challenges. As the researchers explain, ‘By the time children start school, many developmental patterns are already established’. This research aims to provide the knowledge needed to support children at the right time in their development.

Reference:

BBC News What goes on inside toddlers' brains? A pioneering project is trying to find out https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/art... (accessed 13.4.25)

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

This study is longitudinal, meaning the same participants are studied over a long period. This means it is different from other studies, which might be ‘cross-sectional’ in nature, meaning that rather than studying the same child at 6 months, 2 years, 3 years, etc., we would study different children at these ages at a single point in time.

1. What is an advantage of using a longitudinal design rather than a cross-sectional design?
2. What is a disadvantage of using a longitudinal design rather than a cross-sectional design?
3. Outline at least one ethical consideration involved in conducting developmental research with very young participants.
4. How might taking a multi-generational approach in this study enhance research validity and/or reliability?

CHALLENGE: Read the participant information sheet for the Children of the Children of the 90s study (which this article is about). What elements of a consent form can you pick out? https://www.bristol.ac.uk/medi...;