The purpose of this study is to understand the development of optimism in young children, with a specific focus on children growing up in St. Louis. Optimism may be especially important in the early years of life and influence how children reason about future events, learn, confront challenges, and overcome setbacks. This study addresses a number of questions about early optimism including whether it is expressed differently in children compared to adults, the role of environmental factors, and the influence of children’s early experiences. Our goals are to determine how optimism guides and shapes future learning and to identify factors of resiliency that can be fostered in kids. Children enroll in this study through a participating school. Once enrolled, children will complete several short game-based optimism tasks that are administered across 3 sessions in their school. Eligible families will also have the option to come to our lab for a separate EEG study in which we are investigating the relationship between neural response to reward and optimism. Contact: 314-273-0098 or efleuchaus@wustl.edu . Ask for Ethan