introduction retarded growth in early learners.pdf

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Social and emotional competence has been recognized as fundamental in early education

for many reasons. Social competence aids children in the way they carry out interpersonal goals

effectively and appropriately (Guralnick, 1990; Junge et al., 2020). To do so, a child must

coordinate spontaneous emotional and behavioral responses (Langner et al., 2018). How these

responses are internally modulated is critical to children's intellectual growth, and wellbeing

emotional regulation is associated with wellness, while repression of emotion can lead to

negative consequences, such as substance abuse, poor compliance, and self-harm (Patel et al.,

2018). Adults who cannot manage disappointments or undesirable behaviors might have

difficulties adhering to social and legal rules. Comparatively, children who have difficulties in

managing their internal feelings, often have problems with following rules and paying attention

in class. For these reasons, this field of research is critical in teaching and learning.

The last century witnessed a vast pool of research examining how children and adults pay

attention, avoid impulsivity, and regulate their emotions and behaviors (McCoy, 2019).

Regulation is defined as a willful motion to gain control of emotion and affect, behavior, and

cognition (Hadwin et al., 2017). One important criterion of healthy regulation is its path “to an

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adaptive end” (Montroy et al., 2016). This competency is linked to both social-emotional and

academic outcomes (Jones, 2013).

Currently, there is no clear consensus regarding whether self-regulation of action is

preceded by emotion regulation. Emotional regulation is often described as a step-by-step

process that generates, stops, reduces, or enhances a certain emotion (Langner et al., 2018;

Montroy et al., 2016); while there is also a contrary view considering emotional regulation as a

brain’s separate process. However, studies show that both processes require the activation of a

of their day in school, it is logical to argue that this ability to control a reaction or an action could

be learned through observing peers and adults in their classrooms, and then monitoring,

implementing, and adjusting one’s own behaviors accordingly (Davidov & Grusec, 2006; Morris

et al., 2013).

Research on inhibition in adults has provided initial evidence of inhibition training

efficacy in clinical, home, and school settings (Pozuelos et al., 2018). Such studies suggest that

inhibitory skills can be shaped through interpersonal scaffolding. However, in children

developing this higher order of cognitive skills, seems to depend on the quality of interactions

between adults/teachers and children, and their relationships-- that is the quality of adult-child

attachment (Bodrova & Leong 2006).

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Teachers’ own emotional management and sensitivity toward children are other areas of

research in education These skills are interlinked to the development of the counterpart skills in

children. Nevertheless, it is less understood how teachers can deploy these skills in early

childhood classrooms (Bardack & Obradovic, 2019). There is also evidence that the teacher’s

stress is associated with children’s deficits in inhibition skills (Loomis et al., 2022). Similarly,

children with negative or conflictual relationships with their teachers tend to have more

challenging behaviors (Loomis et al., 2022). To date, there are very few studies that focus on the

emotional regulation, and self-regulation are taught and learned, both consciously and

unconsciously. As the classroom dynamic can often become stressful, the teacher's reaction to

the distress, and job demand is crucial in their own overall wellbeing. At the same time, this

proficiency can potentially be beneficial to students. Research has solidly established that a

warm, positive, and supportive relationship between the teacher and children has proven to be

beneficial to children’s social-emotional and academic success, whereas the teacher’s stress has

negative effects on children (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017). In addition, a positive relationship

between the teacher and the child might be related to the teacher’s sense of self-efficacy, and

their success in their work. This in turn can play an important role in the child’s emotional

development and self-regulation, since teaching and learning in the classroom is a reciprocal

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process, and stressors, reactions to them, and their management are learned consciously and

unconsciously (Frenzel et al., 2017).

In this dissertation, I attempt to understand aspects of inhibition, because inhibition is a

key component of emotional regulation and self-regulation in children (Neuenschwander et al.,

2017).

I seek to address the following research questions:

-regulation, inhibition, and theory of mind in young children, to understand the complex

interactions between these skills in children. I then analyze the nature of emotional development

in early childhood, especially in kindergarten and the role of teachers in fostering both emotional

and cognitive skills. A review of the teacher's sense of efficacy and its consequence on the

teacher-child relationship will also be presented. I review the current literature on the teacher-

child relationship and its role in both teacher and children's emotional wellbeing. Finally,

although the current literature only emphasizes a one-way direction, I present that it is logical to

argue that there is a possible bidirectional relationship between positive teacher-child

relationship and children's regulatory outcome, which is in turn mediated by teacher’s sense of

efficacy.

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CHAPTER 2

Literature Review

Key Terms

information while actively performing other mental tasks. Shifting or flexibility refers to

the ability to switch tasks or attention.

strong internal thought(s) or demand(s).

or/and the ability to pretend to be someone else. This skill is critical in the social and

emotional development of young children.

may not possess the same knowledge that one has. This helps children to act based on

how they think the other person will react in a certain situation.

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Self-regulation is essential to child development. Self-regulation widely refers to the

ability to manage emotions and behaviors, so that one can cope effectively (Blair & Razza, 2007;

Calkins & Williford, 2009). Having poor self-regulation has been often linked to attention-

deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive and habit disorders, addiction, depression,

and other disorders (Fineberg et al., 2014; Tseng et al., 2017). Research on emotional regulation

and self-regulation has never been aligned. The two constructs appear to be overlapped. It is

often conceptualized that self-regulation is a broad construct, which includes emotional

regulation as a single component within this construct (Gagne et al., 2021).

Researchers tend to agree that self-regulation is the adjustment of thoughts (cognition),

emotions, and behaviors (Edossa et al., 2018). Self-regulation can happen both internally and/or

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skill (metacognition) to help them understand emotional contexts so that they can increase their

regulatory skills. While self-regulation is now considered whole the brain’s effort, it used to be

seen as only one component of the executive function (Diamond, 2013).

Children with greater self-regulation are believed to be goal-directed. They can follow

complex instructions or finish a task over a long time or in an ever-changing environment. For

example, they can get ready for the line-up, stay in the line, and stay quiet while walking down

the staircase as the class goes outside. To be goal-directed, children must override their impulses,

“cognitive control,” or “executive function.” Understanding one’s own cognition is also studied

under terms such as “theory of mind” and “metacognition.” Comparably, in recent literature,

understanding emotions are equivalent to “emotional knowledge.” According to Blankson and

colleagues (2017), these four general domains (i.e, cognition, theory of mind, emotion, and

emotional knowledge) have been rarely studied jointly, even though they might impact each

other.

setting. Understanding and controlling emotions and cognition can be exemplified in the

example graph below (Figure 1) in a situation when a child notices that the teacher’s behavior,

such as facial, verbal, body language, and tone seem to express anger.

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Figure 1. Interactions between cognition, emotions, and behavior in children

The outcome of an interaction between a child's thoughts and emotional regulation in

reaction to the observation of the teacher’s anger is the child’s change in behavior, such as

withdrawal or avoidance, or no observable change in the child’s behavior. Outward

manifestations of children’s internal state, such as their physiological and emotional changes can

be different from one child to another (Smith & Pollak, 2022). The control of manifestations of

emotional and physical reactions, such as cortisol change, in behaviors, could be something that

children learn in childhood through their culture. For example, a study found that across cultures

preschoolers can hide their disappointment in the classroom, depending on the dictates of their

culture (Hartelman et al., 1998). This phenomenon highlights along with having positive

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positively affect children's physiology, such as a change in their morning cortisol level, and their

behaviors (Hadwin et al., 2017).

On the other hand, children’s knowledge of teachers' gestures and body language can

influence children's regulation of emotion (Sak, 2020). It is highly probable that the way children

understand their teacher's emotional state can play a role in their own emotional understanding

and regulation (Esenturk & Asi, 2022)

Despite a clear interaction between the regulation of emotions and the cognitive

In this study, the concept of self-regulation is guided by the notion that it involves one or

multiple mechanisms between cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes. More specifically,

self-regulation is the outcome that depends on interactions between understanding and

controlling thoughts and emotions (Basilio & Rodriguez, 2017). This interconnection and

intercommunication start out in infancy and becomes more fluid and integrated as the child gets

older (Graziano et al., 2010). In the early childhood period this development can be disrupted by

adversity, but at the same time can benefit from a warm and connected relationship with the

teacher (Sunthemeir & Wolf, 2020).

processes depends on more than one factor, but the most influential and constituent factor is the

quality of care and the relationship between the child and the caregiver (Crowell, 2021).

The newborn infant is extremely limited in self-regulation skills. Infants gain a large

repertoire of self-soothing and self-regulating skills by responding to their primary caregivers in

their first years of life. By four months, an infant can tell if what they are seeing is pleasant or

unpleasant (Flom &Bahrick, 2007). At this age, the infant uses other additional sources of

information, for example, vocalization to distinguish unpleasant from pleasant concepts since

their faces move (Camras et al., 2017).

On the other hand, Camras and colleagues also found that infants’ spontaneous facial

behaviors do not entirely resemble adults. Infants and young children have the most similar

expressions to adults in joyful situations. Young children express their surprise, anger, sadness,

or full-face surprise very differently compared to their counterpart expressions in adults (Camras

et al., 2017). Others have similarly stated that an assumption about a young child’s facial

expressions does not always reflect what that child’s internal and emotional state might be

(Pollak et al., 2019). Recent research on emotional expression in children has found that

children’s facial expressions are more complex and diverse than previously thought; that is there

are more than four common types of emotional expressions in children: happy, proud, angry, and

fearful (Hoeman et al., 2019). Young children’s outward response is not stable across time, a

child’s expression can be just temporary, as it changes, even from moment-to-moment, (Cole &

Hollenstein, 2018). Furthermore, children go through major changes in their facial expressions

from infancy to different stages of childhood (Camras et al., 2017). Holodynski and Seeger

(2019) argued that it is unreliable to measure emotion in children.

The Development of Language and Emotion

Initially, the infant learns from their caregivers’ responses as to how to manage their own

2020). Learning emotional words lay the groundwork for the child to understand their own

emotions, as Kopp suggested in 1989, particularly, those emotional concepts that are relevant to

the child’s own culture (Lindquist, 2021). However, because of the abstract and complex nature

of emotions, children continue to face difficulties in organizing their various emotions by the end

of infancy (Hoemann et al., 2019)

Toddlerhood is the time when children become aware of their own feelings and learn to

express them externally. Moreover, by being more mobile and independent - walking, catching,

and grabbing objects -- children realize that they can do certain things to meet their own needs.

Similarly, toddlers start to organize and adjust their movements and actions by understanding

and according to others’ emotions (Silkenbeumer et al., 2016; Ornaghi et al., 2020). From three

to five years of age, children accumulate an increasingly large pool of skills to down-regulate

stress and express joy and contentment. Episodes of frustration and seeking out adult help

decline from 47% in four-year-old to 10% in six-year-old (Holodynski & Seeger, 2019).

Adults’ use and complexity of language and conversation with children help them

develop knowledge of emotions. However, the complexity of an adult's language is not the only

factor that can influence children’s knowledge of emotion (Ogren & Sandhofer, 2021). Rather, it

is the merge of tone, facial, body posture, and contextual information that makes children learn

alongside self-talk, which is a higher mental function.

Self-talk is often tied to planning, and executive function in preschool and kindergarten years

(Geurts, 2018). Self-talk happens naturally, as adults do not teach children this skill. It is

believed that this phenomenon of talking to the self serves as a transitory step between the

caregiver’s speech and the development of an inner speech when the child starts to gain self-

regulation. For example, after being warned by an adult to not touch a hot toaster, the child may

talk to themselves, while trying not to come too close to the object by repeating the phrase

“Don’t come too close, it is hot.” Fernyhough and Fradley (2005) observed 5-and 6-year-old

children playing puzzles and found that self-talk skills in children were positively correlated with

task completion. When it is aloud, self-talk is termed private speech (private talk). In Vygotsky

and Piaget’s view, private speech is an “egocentric speech.”

Typically, after preschool, children are still talking to themselves, but more often in

silence (Thomaes et al., 2019). Thus, as children grow up, self-talk becomes an “inner speech” or

verbal thought (Guert, 2019). This internal thought or “sense” serves as a bridge between

cognition and emotion (Fossa et al.,2019). In Vygotsky’s and Luria’s view, inner speech is a

verbal self-guidance. It aids memory, planning, and decision-making (Vygotsky,1978; Vygotsky

which are influenced by the quality of caregiving, within the child’s culture and environment.

On the other hand, research has established that there is a strong connection between language

development, emotional, and social understanding, and the Theory of Mind development in

children (Astington & Dack, 2008; Carlson & Moses, 2001; Fernyhough, 2008).

Theory of Mind is a metacognitive ability, which is described in detail in a later section.

Investigators are still in the early stage of understanding separations and connections, and

cooperation between emotional and cognitive representations at the level of the neuronal and

network circuitry, although there are many shared neurocircuitry in several mechanisms of the

human brain (Garfinkle & Critchley, 2013). These interconnected processes demonstrate the

complex relationship between emotions, cognition, and the execution of behavior in children.

Inhibition in Young Children

In this section, I discuss inhibition as one aspect of executive function (EF). Within the

area of inhibition, I focus on preschoolers’ inhibition development, brain mechanism of

inhibition, measurements of inhibition, and how stress can affect inhibition.

Self-regulation development in children is known to be inseparable from the construction

of executive function (Solomon et al., 2018). This neurocognitive process operates in the

academic skills. There is a strong connection between EF and learning (Powell & Carey, 2017).

EF is believed to also relate to children's emotional regulation, but it has not been established to

have a causal relationship to emotional regulation (Li et al., 2020). However, EF is linked to

emotional regulation through the development of one of its important domains, which is

inhibition. The development of inhibition is closely related to children’s ability to regulate their

emotions during preschool years, which has long-term behavioral outcomes (Vandenbroucke et

al., 2017; Diamond et al., 2019)

Inhibition has been studied as a unitary construct, yet, it has been investigated in a

remarkably diverse manner in the last 30 years (Rey-Mermet et al., 2018). In developmental

psychology, inhibition is broadly defined as the capacity to voluntarily control one’s attention or

behaviors, namely attentional inhibition and response inhibition (Tiego et al., 2018). Response

inhibition has other names such as “Motor Inhibition,” and “Prepotent Response Inhibition,”

while attention inhibition has been known also as “Interference Control,” “Interference

Suppression,” “Resistance to Interference,” or “Attention Constraint” (Kane et al., 2016).

Aside from its common definition as “resisting outside interferences” (McClelland et al.,

2007), inhibition also represents a person’s ability to select information and ignore any

distracting ones (Dang, 2017; Denis et al., 2009; Dorahy et al., 2004; Duan et al., 2019). In

conceptualizations (Nigg, 2017).

Inhibition allows the child to suppress one or more behaviors in favor of a suitable result

or goal (Nigg, 2017). On the other hand, an inhibition deficit is defined as “the tendency to act

prematurely without foresight” (Sanchez-Salvador et al., 2021). This process might operate in

concert or interact with other brain circuitry rather than within the prefrontal cortex (Roeber,

2017)

In the field of developmental psychology, there is a disagreement about what terminology

to use to represent the concept of inhibition; for example, terms like self-regulation, effortful

control, executive functioning, planning, or cognitive flexibility (Eisenberg, 2017). The

constructs of inhibition and self-control usually overlap, despite efforts to differentiate between

the two, (Nigg, 2017). Although inhibition and self-control are not the same, inhibition is a key

component in many self-control theories, models, and frameworks.

Measuring Inhibition in Children

Studies on tests of the inhibition began to flourish in the 1980s (Barkley, 1999; Hill,

2004; Eishnberg & Zhou, 2016). Inhibition studies look at the skills of individuals at different

age levels from early to late childhood, as well as in young adulthood (Liu at al., 2015). Due to

rapid changes in early development, many studies in early childhood focus on children ages 3

performance-based tests of inhibition are only applicable to a laboratory setting (Zelazo et al.,

2016). In fact, laboratory-based experimental designs are the most common types of studies used

for measuring inhibition. These types of studies typically measure the number of successes vs.

failures in a test of inhibition task used in either adults or children

One test that is commonly used in a laboratory setting is the Day/Night Stroop test

(Diamond 1994, 2013). This test measures children’s response inhibition. In experiments that

use this test, children are shown a picture representing a concept. For example, they are shown a

picture of the moon and stars, representing the concept of “night.” Children are instructed not to

say the word that correctly represents the picture. Instead, they are to say the opposite word for

that picture, that is saying the word, “day” instead of “night.” Using this test, researchers have

consistently found that older children do better in this test. For example, when children are asked

not to say “night,” 68.8% of 4-year-olds, 78.1% of 5-year-olds, and 86.9% of 6-year-olds are

able to do so correctly (Gerstadt et al., 1994; Joyce et al., 2016).

Another popular test of inhibition is the Stop-Signal test. In this test, children are given a

tablet. Once the test starts, the tablet displays an arrow that appears on the screen and points in a

right or left direction. Children are instructed to touch either a left or a right button on the screen

according to the direction that the arrow is pointing unless they hear a sound signal. Once

Logan and Cowan conceptualized inhibition within this Stop-Signal task as a race between two

opposite goals, for example, the goal of “stopping” self from touching the correct signal, and

“going” to touch the opposite signal. Some critics have stated that the two goals are equivalent,

such as in a horse race (Matzke et al.,2019), while others have explained that the two goals are

different in this task, and this creates a rivalry between goal representations in the prefrontal

context (Munataka et al., 2011). This means that the result of inhibition in the individual depends

on the strength of what each goal represents in the task.

capture motor cortex activation during preparation for inhibition; Electroencephalography (EEG)

to provide a global measure of cortical activity; and fMRI, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)

and ERP (event-related potential) to capture neuro activities and pupil dilation.

Neuroanatomically, inhibition involves different regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC).

These include dorsal lateral, ventral, and medial areas of PFC; and the anterior cingulate cortex,

or ACC. Certain activities call for activation of dorsal and lateral parts of PFC, while others

activate ventral and medial parts of the brain. To date, most studies validate a model, which

Inhibition starts to develop in the first year of life and shifts rapidly in toddlerhood and

preschool years (Lengua et al., 2015). Children who can inhibit their actions well at 3 years of

age have stronger inhibiting scores a year later (Roncadin et al., 2006). There seems to be a

considerable improvement in inhibition by children’s fourth birthday (Joyce et al., 2016); and

rapid growth in inhibition may occur after the fourth birthday. A longitudinal study of children’s

inhibitory skills starting at age four found that children showed a great improvement in their

inhibitory skills after a 16-month follow-up (Li- Grining, 2007). A similar study found that

inhibition skills increase between the ages of four and six years old (Dennis et al., 2009).

However, this result is only true for simpler inhibition tests and not in tasks that are more

complex, such as in the Simon Says game, which presents a more difficult task of inhibition

Both social baseline theory and social regulation theory share certain perspectives with

John Bowlby’s attachment theory (Bowlby,1958) as they emphasize social comfort and

closeness between children and adults (Beckes & Coan, 2011). In fact, being close to someone

has been found to have a long-term positive impact on young children (Callaghan & Tottenham,

2016). The literature pertaining to joint action, synchrony, and physiological synchrony have

shown that being together socially is more beneficial than harmful (Mckillopp & Connell, 2018).

It is noteworthy that young children are very active in pair interactions. As elaborated in

Mind (ToM), which is discussed next.

Theory of Mind and Inhibition

Theory of Mind (ToM) has long been studied in the developmental literature. In many

ways, ToM is a social cognitive skill (Wade et al., 2018) as it refers to the ability to understand

other people’s behaviors/expressions such as desire, emotion, and belief. ToM skill also includes

an understanding of more nuanced cues such as deception, lying, humor, or sarcasm. Another

definition of ToM is the ability to appreciate one’s and other’s state of mind, which is highly

relevant to how children can explain and foresee others’ behaviors (Flavell, 2004).

There are two levels of ToM. First-order ToM is often studied in early childhood.

Advanced ToM (AToM), or children’s high-level proficiency in reading complex social

incidents and mental states (e.g., loneliness or friend making), are typically developed after the

age of 7 (Osterhaus & Koeber, 2021). In a more complex line of research known as the

Componential Model of ToM (Tsoi, 2016), researchers explored components such as intuitive

ToM and reflective ToM. Another branch of ToM scholarship further differentiates “affective

ToM” (i.e., the capability to understand affective states, emotions, and feelings of other people)

from “cognitive ToM” (i.e., the reasoning ability) (Duval et al., 2011; Shamay-Tsoory et al.,

2010). While scholars pay much attention to making a clear distinction between different ToM

life, ToM often works in concert with other brain activities to support other aspects such as

decision-making and learning. In fact, it is quite imperative to gauge the interplay between ToM

and other cognitive pathways. Efforts have been recently made to explore ToM in tandem with

other systems such as inhibition. Specifically, some initial research findings reveal that children

with social difficulties such as anxiety have lower scores in both ToM and inhibition (An &

Kochanska, 2021). A study focusing on 4 years old children's shyness shows that how children

inhibit their expression did influence their ToM ability (MacGowan et al., 2022). This

investigation measures the change in resting breathing rate, a physiological marker of self-

regulation and inhibition, while participants were asked to follow a TOM task. These results

suggest that ToM and inhibition might be interconnected (Wade et al., 2018), especially among

pre-K children (Wellman, 2018). Nevertheless, how exactly these two constructs interact with

each other remains elusive (Wade et al., 2018)

Some scholars attempt to measure ToM and inhibition concurrently (Doenyas et al.,

2018). Others examine whether inhibition precedes or follows ToM. The findings are mixed. For

example, a study employed multiple batteries to measure false belief, working memory, and

inhibition among 72 children. According to data analysis, both working memory and inhibition

contributed to the development of ToM (Mutter et al., 2006). In children with

preschool suggested that inhibition is among the factors influencing cognitive ToM. Inhibition,

meanwhile, has little impact on affective ToM (Longobardi et al., 2021)

There remain other possibilities in the relationship between ToM and inhibition. First,

ToM might influence inhibition. Second, ToM and inhibition might co-develop. Cognitive and

developmental neuroscience appears to support the hypothesis that ToM and inhibition share

certain brain activation pathways. While evidence documenting the inhibition-to-ToM

directional relationship is more abundant than the reverse, such claims need further scrutiny

because neuroimaging studies of children responding to emotional stimuli have been quite

limited. In fact, intervention research has shown the robust mutual effects of ToM and inhibition

(Kloo & Perner, 2003) as the maturation of ToM and inhibition largely involve the prefrontal

cortex area (Wade et al., 2018).

Metacognition

There is a consensus that children need to acquire cognitive ToM before affective ToM.

Mastery of ToM allows young children to explain and predict what will happen in the next

moment in their social life. Within cognitive ToM, there are the ability to understand others and

the ability to understand themselves (Misailidi & Tsiara, 2021). Metacognition is an umbrella

ask or tell themselves: “Do I need to finish this painting?” “Why do I need to stay in line?” or “I

remember my teacher wants me to get in line whenever we go outside.” Flavell (1979) argued

that ‘‘metacognition” is the interplay between metacognitive knowledge, and metacognitive

actions. Similarly, Brown and Deloache (1977) suggested that children need to engage in the

“monitor and control” mode to follow a “goal-directed” plan.

Metamemory is another related concept. John Flavell, who first introduced the term in

1971, defined “metamemory” as the activity to monitor and retrieve memory (Flavell,1976).

Also in the 1970s, Earl Butterfield and colleagues proposed that metamemory requires two

components to ensure task accomplishment, conscious access to memory and an ability to

control and monitor it (Butterfield et al., 1996).

The metacognitive and affective model of self-regulated learning (MASRL Model)

proposed various mechanisms through which self-regulated learning improves over the course of

development (Efklides, 2011). As such, the MARSRL Model highlighted the involvement of

metacognitive knowledge and learning experiences. Metacognition is vital to learning as it

enables children in persisting in tasks, recognize patterns, develop self-efficacy and self-evaluate.

While metacognition is conceptualized as monitoring activity, inhibition is considered as a

controlling partner, and they are intertwined (Roebers, 2016).

Metacognition, Meta-Emotion, ToM, and Inhibition

In many ways, metacognition is partially overlapped with emotional regulation, self-

regulation, and even self-concept (Frazier et al., 2021). This faculty is closely associated with

mathematics learning and emotional regulation among young children. Metacognitive

development has been recently studied in conjunction with both inhibition and ToM (Cornway et

al., 2019; Schneider, 2008). Relevant research documents young children’s notable skill and

sensitivity to understanding others’ perspectives (Kramarski et al., 2021). Children as young as

preschool age are capable to see the world through the teacher’s eyes (Kuhn et al., 2021). This is

a great change in the literature since there was an established agreement that metacognition only

appears in middle childhood. Nevertheless, very little attempt has been made to investigate the

developmental sequences of these three skills. Newer findings in this area point to the conjecture

of co-development of inhibition, metacognition, and ToM. It appears that when children have

difficulties with their metacognition, their ToM is lagging behind (Simons et al., 2020).

According to some scholars, metacognition is such a broad concept that it already poses a

great challenge just to decide if it is in fact an umbrella term for both ToM and inhibition (Kuhn

et al., 2021). Others believe that metacognition, inhibition, and ToM are separated (Lombardi et

al., 2022). It should be noted though that social interaction can help facilitate metacognition

relationships. Along those lines, social relation is often described as a complex web of

interpersonal communication, which requires various components, including understanding

social behavior, emotional understanding, perspective taking, problem-solving, and language

development (both receptive and expressive) (Longobardi et al., 2015). Particularly, Peter

Caruthers emphasized that both adults and children in an interpersonal relationship represent

their minds (e.g., feeling, belief, intention) with people around, thereby forming their

expectations accordingly (Carruthers, 2009).

Understanding others, or “reflective self-awareness,” is the skill an average toddler

develops at 2-3 years (Misailidi & Tsiara, 2021). Some might start to gain an early understanding

of another person’s perspective at 14 months (Arioli et al., 2018). Despite these disagreements,

most scholars agree that social cooperation cannot be obtained without both parties’ knowledge

of self and others.

The communication (both verbal and non-verbal) between a child and a teacher is a good

example of how the knowledge of self and others is developed in young children. As they learn

to know each other through various activities, each party gains a full and conscious

understanding of the other’s state of consciousness based on previous experience. This is called a

dyadic state of consciousness (Tronick & Beehgly 2011). Because of these exchanges, the child

can understand what needs to be done. Children as young as 18 months were found to have the

ability to perceive that adults need help and indicate their willingness to offer help (Warneken &

Tomasello, 2006).

Some researchers further argue that preschoolers know that comforting and cheering up

others will cheer them up (Moore 2007). Moreover, understanding adults’ emotions can motivate

children to adjust their own behaviors. Their decision to modify behavior is flexible and context

driven (Ornaghi et al.,2020). This phenomenon has long been documented in empathic concerns

studies (Decety & Svetlova, 2012; Kagan & Hamburg, 1981). Children become more empathetic

once they gain the ability to tell the difference between themselves from others (Eissenberg,

2010).

Teacher-child relationship in kindergarten deserves to be further investigated as it has a

significant impact on student life in early childhood and elementary school years. Kindergarten is

the first year that children spend longer hours at school. It provides children with a longer time to

interact with other adults on a regular basis. Numerous efforts have been made to study the

influence of teacher-child relationships on learning outcomes (Hamre et al., 2017). Teacher-child

relationship depends on the inputs from both the child and the teacher. Existing research suggests

that a high-quality relationship between the teacher and student can moderate the child’s self-

A teacher is an attachment figure for young children (Pianta, 1992). Teachers can provide

a “secure base” and “safe haven” for their students, particularly in stressful situations. Teachers’

emotional well-being is, consequentially, critical to how children learn to adapt behaviorally

(Ferreira et al., 2020).

A teacher’s emotions are complex and vary in state and intensity, including the teacher’s

own internal signals and their interactions with students, parents, and school (Farouk, 2012).

Teaching is a career of emotional labor. In his seminal work, “Teacher and Child: A Book for

Parents and Teachers,” Haim Ginott (1976) wrote: “I have come to a frightening conclusion. I

am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It

is my daily mood that makes the weather” (p. 266).

Particularly, early childhood classrooms often expect teachers to express positive

emotions while minimizing negative ones. Teachers who feel emotionally depleted are less

capable of supporting their students. In turn, a poor relationship with students is linked to

emotional exhaustion among teachers (Corbin et al., 2019). This requires teachers to regulate

both internally and externally to match their job responsibilities (Grandey, 2000; Yin et al,

2018). The way teachers perceive and express their emotions in the classroom can have an

impact on their competence perception and job satisfaction (Spilt et al., 2011).

students. In worse cases, teachers’ level of stress is linked to children’s aggressive behavior

(Jeon et al., 2018).

Teachers’ Emotional Regulation as Part of Teaching

Teaching-related stress is contingent on emotional regulation (Fathi et al.,2021), a skill

that is necessary for both children and teachers (Hoffmann et al., 2020). Teaching involves not

only instruction and classroom management but also the regulation of internal feelings to

maintain an environment conducive to learning (Eisenberg & Spinrad, 2004). Until recent years,

scholars had not paid enough attention to teachers’ emotions, probably due to a common belief

that teaching is strictly limited to the transfer of knowledge (Chen & Cheng, 2021). By and large,

emotional regulation helps teachers manage their demanding tasks.

Oftentimes, teachers are asked to maintain their outer expressions to avoid too strong

emotions that are deemed unprofessional and undesirable. But early childhood teachers have a

much more complicated job as they sometimes must fake certain negative emotions (e.g.,

pretending to be angry and disappointed) or hide positive emotions (e.g., hiding thrill and

excitement) (Buric et al., 2019) as part of teaching. Because of this challenge, teachers in early

childhood classrooms carry an extra workload in maintaining their emotional wellbeing. Another

stressful aspect of teaching is the demand to sustain meaningful interactions with students

(Aron, 2015). This is quite alarming because research finds that emotional suppression is

correlated with emotional exhaustion and burnout (Taxer & Frenzel, 2015).

On the other hand, relationship with students has a considerable impact on teachers’

wellbeing (Pliskova, 2021). Findings from several studies suggest that students’ challenging

behaviors factor in teachers’ emotional distress (Frenzel, 2014). Teachers are responsible for not

only disciplining challenging behaviors but also gauging student needs and deploying proper

actions to respond. It should be noted, however, that teachers could only respond appropriately

and maintain emotional warmth once they understand their own emotions, as well as those of

emotions of their students.

As illustrated in Figure 4, two competing models are tested with child inhibition being

the dependent variable. It shows the hypothesized impacts of teacher-child relationship and

teacher self-efficacy and how these predictor variables interact in influencing child inhibition

outcomes.

This study uses secondary data analysis of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study 2010-

2011. The ECLS 2010-2011 is the third nationally represented data studying child development,

early learning, and school progress across the United States. It is sponsored by the National

Center for Education Statistics (NCES). NCES located within the U.S. Department of Education

administrators, parents, teachers, and childcare providers. During the kindergarten year, it also

included surveys from before- and after- school care providers. The ECLS-K:2011 brings forth

decades of the 2000s. This data enables researchers to analyze and understand a wide range of

children, family, classroom, and community characteristics related to children’s development

and experiences in the early school age period.

Research Questions

This project sets out to explore the interconnected relationships between teacher-child

relationship, teacher’s self-efficacy, and their specific impacts on child inhibition. Specifically,

the dissertation addresses the following research questions:

Conceptual Model

ECLS-K:2011 is designed based on the framework of children’s development which

emphasizes the interconnection between the child and family, the child and school, and the

The ECLS-K:2011 follows children from kindergarten form the 2010–11 school year

through the 2015–16 school year. It includes both children who enroll in kindergarten for the

first time and those who repeat kindergarten. Almost 18,000 kindergartners from 970 schools

and their parents, teachers, school administrators, and care providers participated in both Fall

2010 and Spring 2011 data collection. Kindergarten collection is marked as the base-year of data

collection. Beginning with the fall of the first grade, children who moved away from base-year

schools were contacted for follow-up. Approximately 50 percent of children who moved away

were subsampled out and stayed out of the sample. Due to the scope of this study, I present the

base year data only.

Table 1. Types of measurement instruments used in the ECLS-K:2011 kindergarten data

Study Measurements

The design of the ECLS-K:2011 was developed to gauge children’s experiences across

multiple contexts and development domains. Multiple measurement instruments were used to

measure and collect data on a broad range of children’s experiences, including children’s growth

and development, as well as the quality of childcare they received. ECLS 2011 information was

collected from kindergarteners, their parents/guardians, teacher teachers, special education

teachers, school administrators and care providers. Various standardized measures were used for

direct assessment as well as interviews of study participants.

Table 2. Type of instruments used in direct assessment of children in ECLS-K:2011 kindergarten

home literacy activities, household finance, care coordination, and demographic indicators.

Parents were also surveyed on their children’s health, socioemotional well-being and skills, and

developmental status or other diagnosed conditions.

Teachers Interviews. To understand the educational context, teachers provided

information on each participating child and their (teacher’s) own information. When teachers

were asked to rate a child, the questionnaire was named child-level. At the child level, teachers

were asked to rate the child’s noncognitive dimensions such as the child’s attitude to learning,

The ECLS-K:2011 study involved recruiting a representative population of children with

probabilities that were approximately the same for each child. Data sampling is a statistical

technique used to select a representative subset of a population instead of surveying every single

individual. A multi-stage sampling was designed that involved Primary Sampling Units (PSUs).

To reduce data collection costs in surveying the whole population, ECLS-K:2011 also adopted a

clustered design method. In cluster sampling, the researcher divides the whole population into

small groups, each is called a cluster. This method is widely used in large populations,

particularly in the condition where people live in a widely geographically dispersed area. The

sampling for the ECLS-K:2011 was conducted through three stages. In the first stage, the

country was divided into primary sampling units (PSUs), or geographic locations that are

counties or a cluster of counties, and 90 PSUs were sampled in total. Secondly, samples of public

and private schools with kindergarten programs were selected within the sampled PSUs. Both

PSUs and schools were selected with probability proportional to measures of size (defined as the

population size) that adjusted to a desired oversampling purpose of having populations of Asians,

Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders (APIs).

ECLS-K:2011’s first stage sampling was a list of the 3,141 counties in the United States.

The list utilized 2007 Census Bureau’s total population estimation in each county, and estimation

size were chosen for the ECLS-K:2011 study. The remaining PSUs were chosen using a

stratified sampling procedure. These PSUs were grouped into 40 strata defined by geographic

region, size, per capita income, and the race/ethnicity of 5-year-old children living in the PSU

(particularly for the percentage of 5-year-old APIs, the percentage of 5-year-old Blacks, and the

percentage of 5-year- old Hispanics).

The second stage was the selection of public and private schools that had kindergarten

programs. The number of schools participating in the base year was 180 private and 720 public

schools, for a total of 900 schools. Public schools with fewer than 23 children and private

schools with fewer than 12 children were clustered together. This gave smaller schools a better

chance of being selected than if they were not clustered. For public schools, geography and size

were used as sort variables. For private schools, religious affiliation and school size were used as

sort variables. A cluster of schools was treated as a single sampling unit, as was each non-

clustered school. Table 3 shows the number of schools across the geographic regions included in

this study. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA, defined as an area with large population). Non-

Metropolitan Statistical area (non-MSA) is commonly defined as an area no part of which is

within an area designated as a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and which does not contain a

city with population exceeds fifty thousand individuals.

Over sampling aims to modify unequal data classes to obtain a balanced data set, because

the data set include all children who live in the U.S. Asian/Pacific Islanders (API) were over

sampled to assure that the data set include enough student of this ethnicity to make an accurate

estimation of this students as a group. Based on the ECK-L study (1998), the ECLS-K:2011

designers opt to oversample at rate of 2.5 to ensure the level of reliability.

Two independent sampling groups were formed within each school, one containing API

children and the second containing all other children. API children were sampled with a rate that

demographic variables such as age, sex, and ethnicity. In this study, the population data was

weighted to accurately represent the student population in the United States. For the base year

(the kindergarten year), weights were provided at the child and school levels.

A sample weight was produced for use of every component of the study such as child

assessment, parent interview, and for every combination of components. However, data

weighting comes with budgetary limits in a big data set. ECL-K analysts determined which

weights would be most useful for researchers analyzing data from the base year, with

considering how analysts were likely to use the data. The computation of sample weight in

ECLK-K:2011 included PSU level, school level, and child’s level. Weights developed for use

with the ECLS-K:2011 base year data, and components for which nonresponse adjustments were

made. See Table 4 (above) for the distribution of weights.

Table 4. Weight for school year 2010-2011

Step 2. Conduct a regression analysis with X predicting M to test for path a.

test the statistical significance of an indirect effect (Pituch & Stapleton, 2008). Bootstrapping is a

resampling procedure that allows building a sampling distribution of statistics from observed data

teacher’s self-efficacy on child inhibition and the possibility of an indirect influence on the

outcome variable due to the interplay between the two independent variables. The nuanced three-

step toward a stringent methodological approach to analyzing a large nationally represented data

CHAPTER 4

Overview

The study findings are presented in three steps. First, preliminary analyses are reported

through descriptive statistics as well as results of separate regression models among independent,

dependent, and mediator variables. These separate regressions establish zero-order associations

between teacher self-efficacy and teacher-child relationship (path a), teacher self-efficacy and

on child inhibition. The results help address this study’s research question (RQ).

Data Screening

Data were assessed for accuracy, outliers, and biases of the sample. In addition, all

continuous variables were examined for both skewness and kurtosis, with all in question

demonstrating normality scores (less than 3.00 and 10.00, respectively) within acceptable limits

(Kline, 2023). Prior to hypothesis testing, preliminary analysis was conducted to screen data for

normality and partially transform data into composite scores. Teacher self-efficacy in the

analysis is a single composite index with values ranging from 22 to 46. Teacher-child

relationships contain two variables measured on a 5-point scale. Child inhibition outcomes

consist of social inhibition (SSRS) with values varying between 2 and 11 and learning inhibition

(ALS) with scores ranging from 1 to 4 (see Table 6). Due to missing values across variables of

interest, a total of 15,063 cases in the data set were available for analysis.

Table 6. Descriptive statistics of variables (n = 15,063)

Tests of Hypotheses and Research Question

Direct Effects of Teacher-Child Relationship on Child Inhibition

SSRS as the dependent variable. According to the results, Closeness accounted for 14.4% of the

explained variance in SSRS, F(1, 15061) = 2538.59, p < .001. As indicated in the regression

coefficient (b), higher levels of teacher-student closeness were significantly associated with

stronger social inhibition skills.

Second, a similar regression was conducted with Conflict acting as the predictor and

SRRS being the outcome. The analysis showed that Conflict significantly contributed to SSRS,

explaining 50.3% of the observed variance in SSRS, F(1, 15061) = 15224.2, p < .001. The b

value for Conflict was negative, indicating that conflictual relationships with teachers weakened

social inhibition among students.

In the third analysis, Closeness was regressed against ALS to examine its predictive

power on the dependent variable. According to the results, Closeness accounted for 18.6% of the

skills among children.

Table 7. Linear regression models: Effects of teacher-child relationship on child inhibition

outcome

Note: b = regression coefficient; SE = standard error.

Overall, teacher-child relationship variables had direct effects on child inhibition

outcomes. While teacher-child closeness served to enhance social and learning inhibition among

kindergarten students, teacher-student conflict undermined both inhibition skills. Thus, the

analyzed data provided full support for H1.

Indirect Effects of Teacher Self-Efficacy on Child Inhibition through Teacher-Child

Relationship

Preliminary Analysis. In the logic of regression-based methods for mediation analysis

conducted to predict Closeness based on Efficacy. The regression equation was not statistically

significant, F(1, 15061) = 1.76, p > .05, indicating a lack of association between teachers' sense

of efficacy and teacher-student closeness. The second test examined relationship between teacher

self-efficacy and teacher-student. In this model, Efficacy was the independent variable whereas

Conflict was the dependent variable. According to the results, teachers’ sense of efficacy

contributed to the explained variance in teacher-student conflict, F(1, 15061) = 41.32, p < .001.

The last set of linear regressions were performed to determine the predictive significance

of teacher self-efficacy on child inhibition outcomes (SSRS and ALS). With SSRS being the

dependent variable, the model was statistically significant F(1,15061) = 19.05, p < .001. Teacher

self-efficacy was able to predict the change in child social inhibition. The final linear model

regressed Efficacy against ALS. The analysis indicates that teacher self-efficacy could

significantly explain the variance in child learning inhibition F(1,15061) = 5.04 , p < .05.

These preliminary results suggest zero-order relationships among variables of interest.

While only one a-path (Efficacy → Conflict) was significant, all c-paths (Efficacy → SSRS,

Efficacy → ALS) were significant. Consequently, mediation analysis to determine the

significance of the c’ paths was conducted with teacher-student conflict being the sole mediator.

Because the link from teacher self-efficacy to teacher-student closeness was non-significant, the

Essentially, these are the c’ paths in mediation analysis. The bootstrap procedure randomly

resampled (with replacement) the 15,603 data points 1,000 times to address non-normality in the

observed data. Regression was run for each resample to obtain a distribution of values and to

calculate the 95% confidence intervals (CI), which were then used to estimate the original

sample confidence interval and the bootstrap regression coefficient.

Table 8. Mediation effects of teacher-student conflict analyzed through bootstrapping

can be explained by the conceptualization of conflict as part of job demands and of closeness as

part of job resources (Oliver et al., 2024). Teacher self-efficacy, as a personal resource, has a

strong correlation with efforts to manage teacher-child conflict. Those who believe in their

ability to help students develop inhibition skills (i.e., high self-efficacy) are highly invested in

meeting job demands as they might perceive conflict with students as a personal failure (Chang,

2009). On the other hand, the linkage between self-efficacy and closeness is unclear. Teachers

who feel highly self-efficacious might not necessarily be able to form closer relationships with

from kindergarten to later grades, their direct contact with teachers lessens. Fewer opportunities

to interact lead to lower levels of closeness. It has been reported that teacher-student closeness

tends to drop from kindergarten through Grade 6 (Ettekal & Shi, 2020). While students gradually

lose close relations with their teachers, relational conflict emerges. As shown in empirical

research, conflict increases from kindergarten to Grade 4 (Jerome et al., 2009). The present study

utilized data in the kindergarten year, which marks a pivotal transition with conflict taking over

from closeness in defining the quality of teacher-student relationship. The lack of evidence

showing that closeness mediates the causal connection between teacher self-efficacy and child

inhibition outcomes can be partially explained in this context.

With the competing mediation model (RQ) failing to show a significant contribution of

teacher self-efficacy to the effects of teacher-child relationship variables (i.e., conflict, closeness)

on child inhibition in social skills and learning, this dissertation helps establish a form of

directionality in the pathways connecting the focal concepts. Taken together, the study findings

indicate that teachers’ sense of efficacy is likely to precede teacher-child relationship in

influencing child inhibition, not the other way around. This conclusion is inherent in the

preponderance of studies emphasizing how teachers’ positive mindset can mitigate student-

development of inhibition and healthy functioning. The finding has several practical implications

in early childhood education. Below are the main takeaways:

bonding to conflict management in teacher-student relationship. Therefore, it is

important for kindergarten teachers to be proactive and systematic in deploying

conflict mitigation strategies throughout the school year, from early fall, winter break,

to late spring.

classroom management, fostering a cooperative manner in class activities, thereby

minimizing conflictual relationships with students.

comfort in embracing exploratory approaches to learning and social behaviors (e.g.,

making new friends, solving problems, being comfortable with new and challenging

circumstances, overcoming shyness or unreasonable fears).

race, ethnicity, culture) in building relationships with their students. Emotional

expression and behavior can be misinterpreted due to explicit or implicit biases

situation, both children and teachers encode the information and decide to respond

simultaneously. Instead of seeing it as a conflict-creating factor in the kindergarten

classroom, teachers can seize the moment to be in sync with their students, encourage

them to play an active role in exploring inhibition and collaboration skills.

This study also suggests that child inhibition as evidenced through social skills and

learning approaches depends on teachers’ ability to form and modulate their sense of efficacy.

This finding helps illuminate a prime opportunity to improve student learning and wellbeing by

adjusting and strengthening teacher self-efficacy. The following implications are applicable to

the kindergarten classroom:

example for early childhood students to motivate themselves through difficult tasks

(Bandura, 1986; Wheatley, 2002). How teachers feel internally will be expressed

outward and transferred to students via the co-regulation mechanism. Teachers who

are more skillful in controlling their own impulses may be better able to guide

children. Those who show their agitation and frustration too often are likely to miss

the opportunity to foster inhibition skills in young children. This is particularly true in

inhibition. In order to achieve desirable inhibition outcomes in student social skills

and approaches to learning, it is important to start with training teachers and

equipping them with tools to enhance their sense of efficacy.

enriches the quality of teacher-student relationships through conflict reduction,

thereby improving classroom climate. School administrators can offer incentives and

professional development programs to promote work enjoyment, stress reduction, and

conflict mitigation. These initiatives help instill in early childhood teachers the belief

that they have the capacity to meet the job demands and work with their students

effectively.

construct that could be adjusted and improved through professional development.

Although kindergarten teachers rarely discuss this topic with colleagues or

administrators, research suggests that professional development and counselling are

helpful in building teachers’ stronger sense of efficacy (Siwatu et al., 2016).

resulting in hostility, insecurity, and withdrawal among children. Teachers’ sense of

This highly efficacious perspective prevents teachers and students from blaming each

other, thereby minimizing the possibility of exacerbating conflict.

Limitations

While valuable theoretical and practical implications can be drawn from the current

study, caution should be taken in interpreting its results. It is also important to acknowledge the

fact that an analysis of longitudinal public data with a large nationally representative sample is

associated with several limitations. These constraints range from research design, measurement,

to data characteristics.

First, as a secondary analysis of existing data, the ECLS 2010-2011 study were not

collected to specifically address the dissertation’s research question or to test its hypotheses. The

data were limited to what was accessible to the public. Certain indicators of pertinent concepts

were not be available for analysis. For example, teacher self-efficacy was measured by a

composite index that obscures the distinction between different aspects of this concept. Because

of data restrictions, teacher/classroom identification and a sample of kindergarten teachers were

not included, making it impossible to account for teacher-level estimates within classrooms.

As long-established and validated research instruments, measures of children’s inhibitory

skills in this study relied on teacher reports, which may be biased by social desirability or

informative in testing theoretical relationships. Meanwhile, the directional linkages from teacher

self-efficacy to teacher-student conflict to child inhibition outcomes reported here are

insufficient to offer definitive evidence for causation. Inferences about causality can only be

established through true experiments.

Further, due to confidentiality, publicly available datasets tend to delete identifying

variables about respondents, including important demographic information such as geographic

location, gender, race, ethnicity, etc. This limitation can create residual confounding effects

when the omitted variables are possible covariates to control for. Another potential issue pertains

to the absence of information on classroom climate, teacher stress, or instructional practices.

These are important factors influencing teachers’ sense of efficacy, teacher-child relationships,

and child inhibition.

It should also be noted that participants were identified based upon their willingness to

participate in this longitudinal study. Moreover, students who participated in the English for

Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Exceptional Student Education (ESE), Special Education

programs or have a known disability were not included in this study. Students who have repeated

kindergarten were also excluded. If the sampling was based on different selection and exclusion

of interest.

Finally, although the ECLS 2010-2011 dataset comes from a large nationally represented

sample and is suitable for the theory-driven nature of the present study, it is several years old and

has its own shelf life. As such, this analysis is likely to overlook changes or new phenomena that

have occurred in early childhood education since the data were collected.

Future Research

This dissertation offers a more nuanced understanding of the connections between

teacher self-efficacy and teacher-child relationship and their specific effects on child inhibition.

The study’s contributions and limitations warrant future consideration of several interesting

questions for scholars studying inhibition development in early childhood classrooms. Additional

approaches are waiting to be explored.

The findings reported here point to direct effects of both dimensions of teacher-child

relationship (closeness and conflict) on inhibition outcomes. It is demonstrated in the analyzed

data that teacher-student conflict mediates the impact of teacher self-efficacy on social and

learning inhibition among kindergarten students. A direct extension of the present study should

look beyond mediation to examine whether the effect of teacher-student conflict on child

nature of dynamic interactions between teachers and kindergarteners and their implications for

classroom climate, teacher self-efficacy, as well as social and learning inhibition among students.

Moreover, very few qualitative studies have been conducted to gauge children’s perception of

their teachers or the way teachers foster relationships with them. A rich narrative that includes

the student perspective would help supplement and balance out self-administered teacher

surveys. The psychological mechanism underlying how teachers and students perceive and

interact with each other should be examined in greater depth.

Another direction for subsequent investigations is to examine the specific linkages

between teachers’ sense of efficacy, teacher-child relationship, and child inhibition through

experiments. Experimental research design allows scholars the opportunity to have complete

control over treatment conditions and observe outcomes directly, ensuring that the observed

effects can be attributed to the causal factors. The superior internal validity of experimental data

enables the generation of more concrete evidence regarding causation.

In conclusion, the present study builds on previous efforts across disciplines to explore

how teachers' sense of efficacy contributes to students’ inhibition outcomes directly and

indirectly through their relationships in kindergarten classrooms. Like parents and guardians,

teachers are role models for young children in showing self-regulation explicitly and implicitly.