Factors Affecting Preschoolers’ Cognitive Flexibility Performance Gal Podjarny, Deepthi Kamawar, Corrie Vendetti, Katherine Andrews, & Andrea Astle – Carleton University

Cognitive Flexibility The ability to think about something in more than one way

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Why Study Cognitive Flexibility?

� Nonverbal intelligence (Siegler & Svetina, 2002)

� Academic skills and school readiness (Blair & Razza, 2007)

� Creativity (Diamond, 2006) � Perspective taking (Perner et al.,

2002)

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Why Preschoolers?

� Three- and four-year-olds � Significant developments during

preschool years (e.g., Cragg & Chevalier, 2012; Garon et al., 2008)

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Types of Cognitive Flexibility

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Consecutive Cognitive Flexibility

� Thinking about two dimensions consecutively

� Switching, set-shifting � Example: Modified Object

Classification Task for Children

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Modified Object Classification Task for Children (M-OCTC)

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Based on Smidts et al. (2004)

Concurrent Cognitive Flexibility

� Coordinating two dimensions simultaneously

� Confronting perspectives (Perner et al., 2002)

� Very little research with preschoolers � New Task: Multidimensional Card

Selection

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Multidimensional Card Selection (MCS)

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Inductive and Deductive Tasks

� Jacques and Zelazo (2005) � Deductive tasks: all information is

given � Inductive tasks: an inference step is

required

� Essential difference: dimensions identified

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Current Study - Purpose

� Chart concurrent cognitive flexibility development in preschoolers

� Distinguish between the two types of cognitive flexibility (consecutive and concurrent)

� Examine the effects of inductive and deductive tasks on performance

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Methods

� Participants: 121 preschoolers.

� 3-Year-Olds (N = 59) � 37-47 months (M = 43.5, SD = 2.4)

� 34 girls

� 4-Year-Olds (N = 62) � 47-59 months (M = 52.4, SD = 3.4)

� 30 girls

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Cognitive Flexibility Tasks

Consecutive Concurrent

Inductive

Deductive

M-OCTC, M-FIST

Matrix sort

DCCS Matrix completion, MCS

Participant’s Score: Number of tasks performed above chance.

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Results

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0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

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Consecutive Cognitive Flexibility Concurrent Cognitive Flexibility

Num

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Mean Score By Cognitive Flexibility Type

3-Year-Olds

4-Year-Olds

Factor 1: Consecutive vs. Concurrent

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0.5

1

1.5

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2.5

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Inductive Tasks Deductive Tasks

Num

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Mean Score By Task Type

3-Year-Olds

4-Year-Olds

Factor 2: Inductive vs. Deductive

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* *

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

Consecutive Inductive Consecutive Deductive Concurrent Inductive Concurrent Deductive

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Ab

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Mean Score By Factors

3-Year-Olds

4-Year-Olds

Interaction between Factors

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Discussion

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Discussion

� Concurrent cognitive flexibility ≠ consecutive cognitive flexibility in preschoolers. �  Interesting area � Three-Year-Olds did well on consecutive

cognitive flexibility

� Interaction between type of cognitive flexibility and type of task

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Discussion Continued

� Work towards expanding our understanding of cognitive flexibility development

� Help create more targeted interventions

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Next Steps

� Examine relationships with other executive functions

� Control aspects more carefully

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Future Directions

� Fairly exploratory � Lots to do! J

� Different predictions

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Thank You! Thanks to daycares coordinators and staff and to parents and children who participated.

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References Blair, C., & Razza, R. P. (2007). Relating effortful control, executive function, and

false belief understanding to emerging math and literacy ability in kindergarten. Child Development, 78(2), 647-63. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01019.x

Cragg, L., & Chevalier, N. (2012). The processes underlying flexibility in childhood. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006), 65(2), 209-32. doi:10.1080/17470210903204618

Diamond, A. (2006). The early development of executive functions. In E. Bialystok & F. Craik (Eds.), Lifespan cognition: Mechanisms of change (pp. 70-95). Oxford, England: University Press.

Garon, N., Bryson, S., & Smith, I. (2008). Executive function in preschoolers: A review using an integrative framework. Psychological Bulletin, 134(1), 31-60. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.1.31

Jacques, S., & Zelazo, P. (2005). On the possible roots of cognitive flexibility. In B. Homer & C. Tamis-LeMonda (Eds.), The development of social cognition and communication (pp. 53-81). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Perner, J., Stummer, S., Sprung, M., & Doherty, M. (2002). Theory of mind finds its piagetian perspective: Why alternative naming comes with understanding belief. Cognitive Development, 17(3-4), 1451-1472. doi:10.1016/S0885-2014(02)00127-2

Siegler, R., & Svetina, M. (2002). A microgenetic/cross-sectional study of matrix completion: Comparing short-term and long-term change. Child Development, 73(3), 793-809. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00439

Smidts, D., Jacobs, R., & Anderson, V. (2004). The object classification task for children (OCTC): A measure of concept generation and mental flexibility in early childhood. Developmental Neuropsychology, 26(1), 385-401. doi:10.1207/s15326942dn2601_2

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Chance Levels Calculations Task Chance per

Trial Number of

Trials Number of

Trials to Pass

DCCS .5 8 7

FIST .2 8 5

MOCTC .2 3 2

Matrix Sort .3 3 3

Matrix Completion .17 5 3

MCS .25 3 3

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