Wikipedia

Draft:Sam Wass

  • Comment: Needs to be rewritten meet Wikipedia's neutrality standards. Most of the sources are his publications so not independent and certainty should not be used to support exceptional claims such as "He has pioneered the use of naturalistic real-world observations of real-world behaviors to study brain functions embedded in real-world settings." and that is but one example. S0091 (talk) 19:46, 15 June 2024 (UTC)

Sam Wass is a British developmental psychologist and neuroscientist internationally recognized for his theoretical and empirical contributions to understanding the relationship between stress and concentration during infancy and early childhood.[1]

Wass is a Professor of Early Years Neuroscience[2] and Leader of the BabyDev Lab[3] at the University of East London. He has written over 100 academic articles[4] that use methods including home wearables,[5] eyetracking,[6] autonomic monitoring[7] and neuroimaging[8] to understand the relationship between stress and concentration during early childhood,[9] and how young children's stress and concentration are influenced by the environment,[10] and people around them.[11] His research studies typically developing children, children from under-privileged socio-economic backgrounds,[12] and children in early stages of developing conditions such as Autism,[13] Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder[14] and anxiety.[11]

Wass is also very active in the publication communication of science. He has appeared as an on-screen scientist in four series of the award-winning[15] Channel 4 Series The Secret Life of 4- and 5-Year-Olds,[16] and as a public spokesperson for the NHS Start 4 Life campaign,[17] the UK Department for Education,[18] and many others.

Biography

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Wass received a first-class undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from Queen's College, Oxford University.[19] He completed his PhD in London, under Mark Johnson at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College London,[20] before being awarded a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, based at the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at Cambridge University.[21] He was then awarded an Economic and Social Research Council Future Research Leaders Fellowship, for which he moved to the University of East London.[22] In 2020 he was awarded a 5-year Starter Grant from the European Research Council. Other work includes awards from the Medical Research Council,[23] the Economic and Social Research Council,[22] the Leverhulme Trust[24] and Horizon Europe.[25]

Research

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Wass's research examines the early development of attention and stress[1]. He has pioneered the use of naturalistic real-world observations of real-world behaviors[26] to study brain functions embedded in real-world settings.

Environmental influences on stress and concentration

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Wass's research has developed new techniques including home wearables to study how early home[10] and educational environments[9] affect children's stress and attention. His research has shown that infants from noisy and high-density early living environments show altered physiological stress even as early as 12 months,[27] and that elevated stress in children associates with a profile of strengths (e.g. improved memory retention for rapidly presented objects) as well as weakness (e.g. impaired sustained attention).[28]

His research has also studied how young children first learn to change their behaviors 'on the fly' to compensate for changes in our environment, by changing their behavior to decrease information uptake when external stimulation is too high, and to increase it when it is too low..[29] This is known as allostasis, which is integral to self-regulation[1]

In addition to regulation, his research has also uncovered how the opposite processes can drive dysregulation , through behaviour changes that occur in response to external stimulation being too high, but which increase it still further[29]. These 'chain-reaction' events occur in parent-child stress contagion and in a tantrumming child. Wass's research has examined these processes in the context of child-caregiver interactions in the early development of anxiety[11] and ADHD.[30]

Attention and stress in social settings

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Wass has pioneered the use of concurrent dual brain recordings and home wearable recordings to study how fluctuations in stress and attention are jointly managed across the infant-caregiver dyad. This research has shown that infants and caregivers work together jointly to manage a young child's stress fluctuations and attentional engagement, a process known as co-regulation.[30]. For example, when infants have a peak in their own stress, the caregiver shifts their own stress state to temporarily match the child's[5]. Caregivers' cortical brain activity also tracks their infants' attention patterns to objects and people around them[8]. Infants are also very sensitive to when one of their behaviors evokes a response from the caregiver.[31] Wass's research has suggested that actions which evoke a response from the caregiver are selectively reinforced, which may drive the development of predictive brain mechanisms; and, through that, the development of self-control[31]

Media and public engagement

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Wass appeared as an on-screen scientist in four series of the Channel 4 series The Secret Life of 4- and 5-Year-Olds[16]. He has contributed guidance notes on child development for the UK Department for Education[18], and has appeared as a public spokesperson for Save The Children[17], and many other organisatations.

Representative publications

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Interviews and talks

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Wass, Samuel V. (2021-09-01). "The origins of effortful control: How early development within arousal/regulatory systems influences attentional and affective control". Developmental Review. 61: 100978. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2021.100978. ISSN 0273-2297.
  2. ^ "Sam Wass". University of East London. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  3. ^ "People". UEL Baby Dev Lab. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  4. ^ "Sam Wass". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  5. ^ a b Wass, Samuel Vincent; Smith, Celia Grace; Clackson, Kaili; Gibb, Caitlin; Eitzenberger, Joan; Mirza, Farhan Umar (July 2019). "Parents Mimic and Influence Their Infant's Autonomic State through Dynamic Affective State Matching". Current Biology. 29 (14): 2415–2422.e4. Bibcode:2019CBio...29E2415W. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.016. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 31303488.
  6. ^ Wass, Sam; Porayska-Pomsta, Kaska; Johnson, Mark H. (September 2011). "Training Attentional Control in Infancy". Current Biology. 21 (18): 1543–1547. Bibcode:2011CBio...21.1543W. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.08.004. ISSN 0960-9822. PMC 3202624. PMID 21889346.
  7. ^ Wass, Sam V. (July 2018). "How orchids concentrate? The relationship between physiological stress reactivity and cognitive performance during infancy and early childhood". Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 90: 34–49. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.03.029. ISSN 0149-7634. PMID 29608991.
  8. ^ a b Wass, Sam V.; Noreika, Valdas; Georgieva, Stanimira; Clackson, Kaili; Brightman, Laura; Nutbrown, Rebecca; Covarrubias, Lorena Santamaria; Leong, Vicky (2018-12-13). "Parental neural responsivity to infants' visual attention: How mature brains influence immature brains during social interaction". PLOS Biology. 16 (12): e2006328. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2006328. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 6292577. PMID 30543622.
  9. ^ a b Whiting, Sue B.; Wass, Sam V.; Green, Simon; Thomas, Michael S. C. (May 2021). "Stress and Learning in Pupils: Neuroscience Evidence and its Relevance for Teachers". Mind, Brain, and Education. 15 (2): 177–188. doi:10.1111/mbe.12282. ISSN 1751-2271. PMC 8248342. PMID 34239601.
  10. ^ a b Wass, Sam V.; Smith, Celia G.; Daubney, Katie R.; Suata, Zeynep M.; Clackson, Kaili; Begum, Abdul; Mirza, Farhan U. (December 2019). "Influences of environmental stressors on autonomic function in 12-month-old infants: understanding early common pathways to atypical emotion regulation and cognitive performance". Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 60 (12): 1323–1333. doi:10.1111/jcpp.13084. ISSN 0021-9630. PMID 31259425.
  11. ^ a b c Smith, Celia G.; Jones, Emily J. H.; Charman, Tony; Clackson, Kaili; Mirza, Farhan U.; Wass, Sam V. (May 2023). "Vocalization and physiological hyperarousal in infant–caregiver dyads where the caregiver has elevated anxiety". Development and Psychopathology. 35 (2): 459–470. doi:10.1017/S095457942100153X. ISSN 0954-5794. PMID 35105411.
  12. ^ Ballieux, Haiko; Wass, Sam V.; Tomalski, Przemyslaw; Kushnerenko, Elena; Karmiloff-Smith, Annette; Johnson, Mark H.; Moore, Derek G. (March 2016). "Applying gaze-contingent training within community settings to infants from diverse SES backgrounds". Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. 43: 8–17. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2015.12.005.
  13. ^ Wass, Sam V.; Jones, Emily J. H.; Gliga, Teodora; Smith, Tim J.; Charman, Tony; Johnson, Mark H.; BASIS team; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Bedford, Rachael; Bolton, Patrick; Chandler, Susie; Davies, Kim; Fernandes, Janice; Garwood, Holly; Hudry, Kristelle (2015-02-06). "Shorter spontaneous fixation durations in infants with later emerging autism". Scientific Reports. 5 (1): 8284. Bibcode:2015NatSR...5E8284.. doi:10.1038/srep08284. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 4319149. PMID 25655672.
  14. ^ "New studies aim to bridge knowledge gap in ADHD". www.ukri.org. 2023-07-15. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  15. ^ 2016-02-10T22:29:00+00:00. "Best popular factual programme: The Secret Life Of 4 Year Olds". Broadcast. Retrieved 2024-06-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ a b "The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds Press Pack | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  17. ^ a b "Scientists Warning - Toddlers | Save The Children UK". www.savethechildren.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  18. ^ a b "Professor Sam Wass – The Education Hub". educationhub.blog.gov.uk. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  19. ^ Leong, Dr Victoria (2016-02-27). "Dr Sam Wass". www.baby-linc.psychol.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  20. ^ "Sam Wass | Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development". cbcd.bbk.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  21. ^ "People". www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  22. ^ a b "Research in the School of Psychology". University of East London. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  23. ^ https://erc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/document/file/erc_2019_stg_results_sh.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ^ https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/listings?field_grant_scheme_target_id=13. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  25. ^ "Action CA22111". COST. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  26. ^ Wass, Sam; Jones, Emily J.H. (August 2023). "Editorial perspective: Leaving the baby in the bathwater in neurodevelopmental research". Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 64 (8): 1256–1259. doi:10.1111/jcpp.13750. ISSN 0021-9630. PMID 36597852.
  27. ^ "City babies more stressed, new UEL research shows". University of East London. 2021-11-02. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  28. ^ Wass, Samuel V.; Smith, Celia G.; Stubbs, Louise; Clackson, Kaili; Mirza, Farhan U. (August 2021). "Physiological stress, sustained attention, emotion regulation, and cognitive engagement in 12-month-old infants from urban environments". Developmental Psychology. 57 (8): 1179–1194. doi:10.1037/dev0001200. ISSN 1939-0599. PMID 34591564.
  29. ^ a b Wass, Samuel V. (February 2023). "Allostasis and metastasis: The yin and yang of childhood self-regulation". Development and Psychopathology. 35 (1): 179–190. doi:10.1017/S0954579421000833. ISSN 0954-5794. PMID 36914288.
  30. ^ a b Wass, Sam; Greenwood, Emily; Esposito, Giovanni; Smith, Celia; Necef, Isil; Phillips, Emily (April 2024). "Annual Research Review: 'There, the dance is – at the still point of the turning world' – dynamic systems perspectives on coregulation and dysregulation during early development". Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 65 (4): 481–507. doi:10.1111/jcpp.13960. ISSN 0021-9630. PMID 38390803.
  31. ^ a b Phillips, Emily A. M.; Goupil, Louise; Whitehorn, Megan; Bruce-Gardyne, Emma; Csolsim, Florian A.; Marriott-Haresign, Ira; Wass, Sam V. (2023-04-11). "Proactive or reactive? Neural oscillatory insight into the leader–follower dynamics of early infant–caregiver interaction". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 120 (15): e2122481120. Bibcode:2023PNAS..12022481P. doi:10.1073/pnas.2122481120. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 10104541. PMID 37014853.
  32. ^ Wass, Sam (December 4, 2018). "Smarter but More Stressed: How The Modern World Is Changing Children" – via www.ted.com.
  33. ^ "TES talks to...Dr Sam Wass | Tes Magazine". www.tes.com.
  34. ^ "EYFS: Why a child's birthplace matters for stress | Tes". www.tes.com.
  35. ^ "Listen to our Early Excellence Podcast | EEx Podcast". Early Excellence.
  36. ^ "Home". Early Excellence.
  37. ^ "Prof Sam Wass on the Neuroscience of Babies - Early Years TV". August 19, 2022.
  38. ^ "Early Years TV: Learn from the Leading Early Years Experts - FREE". August 24, 2021.
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