An increasing number of studies in cognitive science challenge traditional views that position the brain as the exclusive or central mechanism of cognition, particularly those that frame it as a standalone computational unit. Understanding cognition as emerging through brain-body-environment relationships necessitates moving away from disembodied accounts of the mind and the “computer” metaphor of the brain, which oversimplifies the process by which cognition arises. An alternative view is that of a resonating brain-body system that can become attuned to the different rhythms of the (built) environment. This implies a capacity to actively sense and attend to subtle differences perceived through sensorimotor and affective engagement. This perspective article builds on the idea of natural attunement to environmental rhythms and examines it in relation to affectivity. Specifically, it integrates insights from current work on situated affectivity with non-representational concepts associated with the notion of rhythm to identify future direction for research and architectural design. The emerging themes challenge traditional approaches highlighting an often-overlooked aspect in studies of cognition and architecture: how events in the body, brain, and surrounding environment change over time.

We focus on the development of General Intelligence (g), testing three postulates: 1) general cognitive ability, g, is an effective psychological construct, 2) comprising core meaning-making processes, 3) which change with age, altering its cognitive profile. Changes take place in 1) relational integration and reasoning process, 2) representational processes, and 3) executive and awareness processes. Participants (N = 427) from 4 to 16 years of age were tested on aspects of 1) executive function, 2) reasoning, 3) language, 4) and cognizance. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling explored what is common between processes, how g emerges from interactions between processes, and how simpler processes converge to form more complex processes. We showed that 1) g involves a relational integration-awareness core taking several forms in development. 2) Latent abilities may be formative or reflective depending on developmental cycle. 3) After forming g, specific processes differentiate from it. Specific patterns of mediation relations between processes in developmental cycles are described. A comprehensive theory is proposed, integrating psychometric, cognitive, and developmental theory of intelligence. Integration builds on the Cattell-Hon-Carroll model of intelligence expanding it into a developmental model, postulating a series of developmentally specific g factors mediating between g and broad domain-specific factors. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Research on neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) has led us to refine our theoretical and methodological approaches. We explore whether new deficit clusters in line with the Research Domain Criteria, a novel multifactorial framework, optimally explain known conditions such as ADHD, DLD, or SLD in reading. Following the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, we assimilated relevant literature from 2015 to 2025 on the RDoC framework and the above conditions. We retrieved 3486 studies focusing on the RDoC Cognitive Systems domain from databases, including PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. Studies were processed with the RayYan software. Fifteen studies met all inclusion criteria. Findings show that RDoC-informed neural and cognitive phenotypes were only partially aligned with DSM-based diagnoses. Moreover, deficits in Cognitive Control and Working Memory cut across known diagnoses, thus serving as transdiagnostic markers. The RDoC framework helps distinguish the neural, cognitive, linguistic, and behavioral deficits that cut across NDDs.

Intelligence, a subject of profound interest within psychology, has seen extensive exploration of its psychological and psychometric foundations. This study delves into the multifaceted nature of intelligence, using structural equation modeling techniques to examine theory-driven conceptualizations of the construct. We tested several models, including unidimensional, correlated, higher-order, and bifactor symmetrical and asymmetrical models. To enhance the reliability and generalizability of the findings, we used a large and diverse cohort based on the Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive (PASS) theory and the Cognitive Assessment System 2 (CAS2), which was standardized in the United States. Results showed that the correlated factor model, which reflects relationships among cognitive domains, offers the most fitting representation of intelligence. This outcome aligns with the PASS theory's theoretical foundations, emphasizing intelligence's multifaceted nature. Also, our exploration of cultural relevance invariance underscores the importance of considering demographic-related differences in cognitive processes. By endorsing a correlated factor model, our study encourages a subtle understanding of intelligence that acknowledges the diversity and interconnectedness of cognitive processes, with potential implications for education and clinical assessment practices.

We compared four large language models (ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, DeepSeek) with humans in reference to tests of cognitive development addressed to relational integration, linguistic awareness, general and domain-specific reasoning, and cognitive self-awareness. We aimed to specify how LLMs compare with humans along several cognitive development hierarchies. Given their theoretical importance for intelligence, LLMs were also asked to indicate how Descartes’s Cogito applies to them and self-rate on aspects of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). There was a huge divide between verbal and logico-mathematical tasks, on the one hand, and visuo-spatial tasks, on the other hand. All LLMs attained perfect linguistic and metalinguistic performance. ChatGPT and Gemini matched or exceeded university-level human performance in mathematics and causal reasoning, Grok performed slightly lower, and DeepSeek weakest overall. All LLMs underperformed in visual–spatial tasks or reasoning tasks when shown visually as presented to children. Performance recovered when these tasks were presented in a fashion allowing LLMs to employ an analytical approach to visual patterns, signifying their unique architecture. Self-concept ratings broadly mirrored performance profiles: ChatGPT and Grok rated themselves high in reasoning and low in imagination, Gemini inflated imagination by reframing it as linguistic creativity, and DeepSeek consistently underrated itself. Each LLM restated Descartes’s Cogito differently as a description of itself and denied having much AGI. Hence, LLMs display human-like “subjective” task scaling implying algorithmic or functional metacognition, which captures the architectural gap between symbolic reasoning and imaginative cognition, but they are modest in claiming top human intelligence. Overall, LLMs display "savant-like intelligence" rather than top expert intelligence. Implications for an integrated natural-artificial intelligence theory are discussed. Also, a developmental engineering model is sketched that would allow removing limitations of each LLM.

We present a theory of atypical development based on a developmental theory of the typical mind integrating developmental, cognitive, and psychometric theory and research. The paper comprises three parts. First, it outlines the theory of typical development. The theory postulates central cognitive mechanisms, such as relational integration, executive and inferential processes, and domain-specific processes underlying different environmental relations, such as visuospatial or quantitative relations. Cognitive development advances in cycles satisfying developmental priorities in mastering these systems, such as executive control from 2-6 years, inferential control from 7-11 years, and truth control from 12-18 years. Second, we discuss atypical development, showing how each neurodevelopmental disorder emerges from deficiencies in one or more of the processes comprising the architecture of the mind. Deficiencies in relational integration mechanisms, together with deficiencies in social understanding, yield ASD. Deficiencies in executive processes yield ADHD. Deficiencies in symbolic representation yield specialized learning difficulties, such as dyslexia and dyscalculia. Finally, we discuss clinical and educational implications, suggesting the importance of early diagnosis of malfunctioning in each of these dimensions and specific programs for their remediation.

This paper explores the structure of executive functions, the common core underlying them, their development, and their relations with fluid reasoning. We reanalysed several studies which examined aspects of attention control, cognitive flexibility, working memory, relational integration, perceptual and inferential awareness, and reasoning from 4 to 16 years of age. We show that attention control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory are distinct but they share a common factor. This factor is completely identical with an integral construct standing for relational integration and awareness, suggesting that executive function does not have much beyond this construct. Developmental changes in executive function are heavily dependent on this construct. These changes are formalized in terms of series of syntactic rules defining executive possibilities from 4 to 16 years of age and in terms of a mathematical function defining how they relate with age. The theoretical and practical implications of this model are discussed.

The European Commission (EC) and the United Nations advocate the importance of gender equality in their agendas and goals. More specifically, the EC has highlighted the importance of increasing women’s representation in leadership positions, yet in a minority of universities around the globe, there is a gender imbalance. By excluding women from key academic leadership roles, a culture that superficially accepts women into roles that do not challenge the hierarchy is normalized, and a rubber stamp to hegemonic masculinity is established as typical conduct. This study utilizes data from a national survey distributed across all full-time academic and administrative staff in Cyprus’s 13 universities to examine the presence of gender disparities in leadership. The survey was designed based on a comprehensive review of the literature and pilot tested by experts in the field. It was then distributed by university rectors, reaching a total of 337 respondents. The data were analyzed to confirm that the characteristics of an extremely gendered environment, as established by researchers, are found in higher tertiary institutions (HTIs). Secondly, the authors found that the disparities between the leadership skills and traits held most prominently by women in HTIs, as opposed to their male counterparts, enhance the arguments put forward toward gender balance in leadership. Thirdly, the barriers holding women back from voicing their wishes to seek leadership roles in HTIs were identified. Finally, recommendations are made on how to overcome the androgenic environment, to move the needle and have more women seek leadership positions in a culture which preserves hegemonic masculinity. Changing this culture will navigate towards a more balanced working environment for staff and students, and can thus address ethical issues in a more inclusive and gender-balanced environment.

We examined the independent and interactive effects of autistic traits, different second-dialect (bidialectal) and additional-language (multilingual) experiences (age of onset of exposure to, proficiency in and use of a second/additional language/dialect, degree of dialect switching) on language and non-verbal cognition; specifically, on (second-dialect) vocabulary and non-verbal fluid intelligence. All variables were measured continuously in a neurotypical, predominantly bidialectal and young-adult sample. We found no evidence for an effect of autistic traits or of an interactive impact between autistic traits and bidialectalism/multilingualism on (second-dialect) vocabulary or fluid intelligence. Moreover, our results revealed a positive effect of second-dialect vocabulary proficiency on fluid intelligence. We interpret the latter finding as a relative, positive bidialectalism effect. However, future research should more carefully exclude alternative explanations of this effect which do not necessarily allude to a direct bidialectalism impact (e.g., that the effect may reflect a mediating, underlying ability factor that drives the development of language or any skill in general, including second-dialect/language proficiency). Additionally, our results suggest different effects of autistic traits in the general population compared to what is found in clinical ASD cases, with no detrimental impact on language and cognition in the former group. Finally, our findings suggest that autistic traits do not have a (larger) negative effect in bidialectals’ second and weaker language which is potentially more vulnerable to negative influences; and that bidialectalism/multilingualism effects do not differ (e.g., in the sense of a larger positive impact or exacerbated difficulties) as a function of degree of autistic traits (high versus low).

This study examined how general cognitive ability, g, is formed from preschool to late childhood and how it interacts with specific mental processes. A large sample (N = 401), about equally drawn from each of the age years 4 through 12 were examined with a large array of attention control, working memory, relational integration, Raven-like matrices, and awareness of perceptual and inferential origins of representations. Confirmatory Factor Analysis examined if g is a reflective construct causally affecting these processes or a formative construct gradually emerging from mastering these processes, and how it varies throughout this age period. We found that g is a reflective construct gearing on a core of relational integration and mental awareness, which changes in cycles: it is primarily based on attention control and perceptual awareness from 4 to 6, inferential awareness and working memory from 7 to 9, and inhibition, inferential awareness, and complex inductive reasoning from 10 to 12 years. The implications of the study for the century-old dispute about the nature and development of human general intelligence and modern theories of intelligence and cognitive development are discussed.

Whether speaking two or more languages (multilingualism) or dialects of one language (bidialectalism) affect executive function (EF) is controversial. Theoretically, these effects may depend on at least two conditions. First, the multilingual and bidialectal characteristics; particularly, (second) language proficiency and the sociolinguistic context of language use (e.g., Green & Abutalebi, 2013). Second, the EF aspects examined; specifically, recent accounts of the locus of the multilingual effect propose a general EF effect rather than an impact on specific processes (Bialystok, 2017). We compared 52 “monolingual” (with limited additional-language/dialect experience), 79 bidialectal, and 50 multilingual young adults in the diglossic context of Cyprus, where bidialectalism is widespread and Cypriot and Standard Greek are used in different everyday situations. Three EF processes were examined via seven tasks: inhibition, switching, working memory (Miyake et al., 2000). We found better multilingual and bidialectal performance in overall EF, an effect moderated by high (second) language proficiency.

A must-read for anyone working within education or intellectual development, Educating the Developing Mind introduces and integrates classical and modern research with the theory of the developing mind, creating a robust theory of learning and instruction. Drawing on the theories of Piaget, Bruner, and Vygotsky, coupled with 40 years of empirical research, this book highlights the importance of individual and social construction in learning and proposes a robust framework and methodology for teaching and strengthening learner cognitive processes. Filled with subject-specific research, this essential book highlights how cognitive development takes place and advocates a guided constructive approach to teaching. Topics explored span from the individual learner to the wider educational community, including but not limited to: Development of the mind Personality and individuality The brain Predicting school performance Measuring and improving intelligence Problem-solving skills Language This is an essential read for anyone working within education who wants to better understand the cognitive processes involved in the developing mind and to improve learning and instruction within their school, college, or university.

Inspection time task (IT) indexes individual differences in perceptual discrimination speed and it is a reliable predictor of psychometric intelligence However, the reasons underlying the relationship between IT and intelligence are not clear, because few studies investigated factors shared by both of them. This study examined how performance on a modified version of the inspection time task relates to individual differences in attentional control and how this relation is affected by age. A total of 157 children from 7 through 18 years were tested in a visual inspection time task, a Go/no-go reaction time task, a letter-matching task, and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI). Diffusion modeling showed that IT captures top-down sensory and attentional processes underlying the IT-IQ relation and that individual differences in drift rate of ECTs predict individual differences in intelligence. Therefore, IT and attention make unique contributions to the prediction of IQ variability.