CC BY
21Professor, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China; e-mail: wgx8868@163.com
Abstract: Test anxiety, caused by excessive stress, is on the rise and continues to affect adolescent academic performance and mental health before, during and after exams. Effective methods are needed to alleviate test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation, and to enhance self-efficacy. Virtual reality (VR) can provide immersive exam scenarios, which can help evoke and intervene in test anxiety, but its effectiveness needs further research. Therefore, this study explored the effects of VR-based exposure therapy on test anxiety and negative emotions and cognitions among high school students. A randomized control group pre- and post-test experimental design was adopted. 46 high school students with high test anxiety (Test Anxiety Scale ^>20) were randomly assigned to the VR-based exposure group (n=15), imaginary exposure group (n=15), and the control group (n=16) to receive the intervention once a week for four sessions. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires, including test anxiety, test context anxiety, subjective units of distress, fear of negative evaluation, and general self-efficacy. The results showed that VR-based exposure and imaginary exposure were effective in preventing negative emotions and cognitions associated with test anxiety, significantly reducing test anxiety, test context anxiety and subjective distress units. Compared to the imaginary exposure group, VR-based exposure had greater potential to reduce test anxiety and test context anxiety but less improvement in subjective units of distress and self-efficacy. Fear of negative evaluation decreased in all groups, but neither group showed a significant difference. In conclusion, VR-based exposure therapy is an effective method to intervene in test anxiety among high school students, especially showing unique advantages in activating and alleviating negative emotions, but its effects on adolescents' self-perceptions still need to be further explored. Future research can investigate the mechanisms of VR interventions for adolescent test anxiety more systematically in terms of emotion and cognition.
Keywords: VR-based exposure, imaginary exposure, high school students, test anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, general self-efficacy
DOI:
THE IMPACT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DIGITAL ADDICTION ON COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Aleksei Zavgorodnii
Psychologist, Private practice, Sevastopol, Russia; e-mail: alexey.psychologist@gmail.com
Abstract: Digitalization has a detrimental effect on the yet unformed neural networks of the child's brain. The development of the child's brain affects the brain stem at the initial stage, and the cerebral cortex at the final stage. The first period is in the womb at 20-27 days, when the baby's brain begins to form from the front of the neural tube. The second period is considered to be the most critical: 1 - 8 weeks after birth, due to the formation of visual functions, and 6 - 24 months, a sensitive period when a set of psychological properties and behaviors are formed. And so on until the age of20-23, when the final maturation of the prefrontal cortex of the brain occurs. The development of the brain has a wave diagram, but the most significant period is the period of the first three years due to its intensity of formation of the foundations of conditioned reflex connections, which are distinguished by their strength and can persist until the end of life. During this period of the formation of the child's psyche, replacing the real world with a virtual one, we replace the skills that have not yet been formed with third-party ones. In fact, slowing down the development of their own and grossly interfering in their formation, causing irreparable harm to the child's psyche for life. A deep addiction comparable to a drug addiction is established following the substitution of skills formed with the use and capabilities of artificial intelligence. When programs and various algorithms intuitively replace imaginative thinking, feelings, communicative qualities and more. The child's time must be filled with anything that will force him to
imagine, read, think, create and show curiosity, interest, care, compassion, and love. This is a daily feat, and I wish everyone involved in the process plenty of patience, endurance, and wisdom.
Keywords: Information technology, neural networks of the brain, cognitive and emotional development
DOI:
Early Years Curriculum: Cultural-Historical Approach
DEVELOPING CHILDREN'S LEARNING ABILITIES TO ENSURE ACADEMIC, SOCIAL AND PERSONAL
SUCCESS
Katie Burns
Director of Key to Learning @Home (Great Britain), London, UK; e-mail: katie@keytolearningathome.com
Abstract: The breakthrough work of 12 distinguished developmental psychologists and educationalists, including both Galina Dolya and Professor Nikolai Veraksa, over 46 years of research into early childhood learning and development, highlights the importance of focusing on developing young children's 'general learning abilities' in order to ensure their success with learning in the future. These general learning abilities are comprised of:
• cognitive abilities
• communicative abilities
• self-regulation.
This trio of abilities has been proven to provide the essential foundation for successful learning of all kinds, no matter the context or subject matter. Securing these abilities before the age of 5/6 means that children can enjoy the highest levels of academic, social and personal success throughout the rest of their lives. Key to Learning @Home (and Key to Learning for schools) is the result of that breakthrough work. It is an extraordinary and playful program of optimal learning experiences for children aged 3 to 6, that is proven to develop the aforementioned trio of learning abilities to exceptional levels. Children who have participated in this program are often formally recognized later as gifted and/or highly talented, and they also excel on a social and personal level.
The Key to Learning @Home program can be used as a homeschooling curriculum or as a supplementary program at home to enrich your child's education during preschool years. The activity sessions are divided into 12 different subject areas, requiring only 15-20 minutes a day to secure the results above for your child. The sessions are fun, hands-on, play- and story-based and 100% developmentally appropriate. The child doesn't even know that they are learning. You and your child play together, with you facilitating the learning process using our guidance plus your own knowledge and experience, modelling shared learning through having fun. These delightful experiences leave children begging for more!
Keywords: learning abilities, success, children
DOI:
CHILDREN AND ADULTS - FROM CATERPILLARS TO BUTTERFLIES THROUGH KEY TO LEARNING TOOLS
Aytalina Krotova
Supervisor, master's degree from Manchester University and MSPSH, Russia
