The Interplay between Emotion and Cognition Among Preschoolers: A Multisystem Approach

The complexities in the interplay between emotion and cognition in early childhood can be better understood through taking ecological system approach. The ecological systems approach acknowledges that a child is embedded in systems that comprise of individuals and contextual factors that can directly and indirectly influence their development. This dissertation consists of two empirical studies accompanied by a grant proposal, all aiming to explore this interplay between emotion and cognition using an ecological system approach. In two empirical studies (total N = 814), I explored the relation between emotion and cognition in preschool-age children. In Paper 1, I explored how internal child attributes and characteristics for their family environment may be linked to the relation between Theory of Mind and emotion knowledge, particularly for preschool-age children growing up during the COVID-19 pandemic. I hypothesize that both child and family characteristics will be associated with their Theory of Mind and emotion knowledge. In Paper 2, I examined how the classroom quality and children's engagement in the classroom environment may be linked to their emotion regulation and executive function development from preschool transitioning into kindergarten. I hypothesize that classroom quality and engagement are both linked to children's emotion regulation and executive function development, and the positive change in classroom quality and engagement will be linked to improved emotion regulation and executive function at the start of the kindergarten year. The findings from these studies demonstrates how systems surrounding the child contribute to the interplay between emotion and cognition. The National Institutes of Health—National Research Service Award (NRSA) grant proposal conceptualizes two complementary studies that aim to study preschooler's emotion regulation and executive function across multiple levels of analyses (i.e., neural & behavioral) and multiple systems (i.e., familial and educational).