3～4岁幼儿认知灵活性实验研究

采用维度变化卡片分类测验,对3~4岁儿童进行认知灵活性测试。根据测验结果发现在标准版本与全部变化版本间存在十分显著差异,在部分变化版与全部变化版本间同样存在十分显著差异,而在标准版本与部分变化版本间差异不显著。性别之间在后转换阶段成绩存在显著差异。年龄之间在前转换阶段成绩存在显著差异,这就表明3岁幼儿当需要在两套不相容的规则之间进行灵活的转换时遇到了困难,即前转换阶段激活了的规则保持在后转换阶段中。超过3岁到4岁间的幼儿比低于3岁或刚3岁的幼儿分类成绩要好。     

抑制控制在类比映射发展中的作用:认知负荷的影响

本研究采用负启动范式,设置不同的认知负荷任务,探究抑制控制在儿童和成人类比映射中的作用。实验一中,31名7岁儿童、33名10岁儿童和34名成人完成高认知负荷的相对大小类比映射的负启动任务。结果表明,所有群体均出现负启动效应,且负启动效应随年龄增长而减小。实验二中,30名7岁儿童、30名10岁儿童和32名成人完成低认知负荷的相对大小类比映射的负启动任务。结果表明,所有群体均出现负启动效应,但负启动效应无显著年龄差异。本研究的结果揭示了抑制控制和认知负荷在类比映射发展中的重要作用。     

类皮亚杰数量守恒任务中的负启动效应

采用负启动研究范式,考察九岁儿童在类皮亚杰数量守恒任务中的负启动效应。实验一重复了Houdé等人的实验过程,发现我国儿童在解决类皮亚杰数量守恒任务中也存在负启动效应,负启动量为310.9ms;实验二改进了Houdé等人研究的实验材料,排除实验材料形状的干扰,发现依然存在负启动效应,负启动量为200.04ms。实验结果表明,成功完成类皮亚杰数量守恒任务需要认知抑制过程的参与。     

潜逻辑运算类皮亚杰守恒任务中的负启动效应

本研究的目的是检验完成潜逻辑运算类皮亚杰守恒任务是否需要认知抑制的参与。被试为两组11岁的儿童,全部通过了标准皮亚杰重量及液体守恒任务。实验一发现儿童在解决类皮亚杰重量守恒任务时出现了负启动效应,负启动量为138.06ms。实验二发现儿童在完成类皮亚杰液体守恒任务时仍然存在负启动效应,负启动量为67.4ms。实验结果表明要成功完成潜逻辑运算领域类皮亚杰守恒任务,也需要认知抑制过程的参与。     

比例推理的过度使用及其认知机制:一项发展性的负启动研究

从抑制控制模型出发,采用负启动范式探究过度使用比例推理的认知机制。研究包括3个实验,以小学生、中学生和大学生为被试,分别考察了抑制控制在解决缺值应用题、图片推理任务中的作用,以及数字比(整数比、非整数比)是否对抑制控制过程有影响。结果发现:小学生、中学生和大学生在两类实验任务中均出现了负启动效应,但负启动量不存在年级差异;在图片推理任务中,不同数字比类型下的负启动量具有显著差异。研究结果支持了抑制控制模型的观点,即成功解决问题不仅需要掌握问题的内在逻辑,更需要对不恰当策略进行抑制;在解决问题的过程中,无论是儿童、青少年还是成人都需要抑制控制的参与,三者在抑制控制效率上没有差异;数字比类型对抑制过程有影响,但仅限于图片推理问题。     

与当前任务无关的规则对自动反应激活过程的影响

摘要：本研究致力于探讨自上而下的任务因素对自动反应激活过程的影响。研究包含两个实验,采用掩蔽启动范式,选取字母和数字作为刺激,任务因素为与当前任务无关的处于预备状态的任务规则。实验一初步验证了与当前无关的处于预备状态的任务规则可以影响自动反应激活过程;实验二进一步证明了这种影响具有广泛性,即与当前无关的任务规则所设定的所有刺激系列都可以影响当前任务中的反应启动过程。研究总结论为：与当前任务目的无关、且存在自动刺激-反应联结的其他任务规则也能通过对被掩蔽的启动刺激反应的调节来影响对靶刺激的反应,从而影响启动效应的发生。     

视觉观点采择需要抑制控制的参与：一项负启动研究

从抑制控制模型出发,采用负启动范式考察视觉观点采择的认知机制。实验1采用自身体转换任务(N=35) 、实验2采用圆点数量判断任务(N=33)分别考察成人在完成二级和一级视觉观点采择任务时是否需要抑制控制的参与。结果发现,成人在完成两类视觉观点采择任务时均出现了负启动效应,说明当他人观点和自我观点不一致时,个体需要抑制自我的观点才能成功采择他人的观点。     

儿童执行功能对数学能力的预测模型

使用数点数广度任务(C-span)、Stroop任务、威斯康星卡片分类任务(WCST)测查儿童的执行功能,用《小学儿童数学能力测查量表》(一年级)、《韦克斯勒儿童智力测量》分别测查儿童的数学能力和智力,对64名小学一年级儿童的执行功能(抑制、转换、刷新)和数学能力的关系进行了研究,相关分析和回归分析发现,数学能力与执行功能任务测量都有显著相关,抑制、转换和刷新都分别对数学能力存在显著回归效应;在此基础上,建立了执行功能及其对儿童数学能力的预测模型。结果表明,抑制控制、转换和刷新都能对数学能力产生直接影响,但抑制控制还通过转换和刷新对数学能力产生间接影响。说明儿童数学能力的认知差异,主要在于抑制控制能力的差异,而抑制控制的差异又导致转换和刷新能力表现的差异。     

9~10岁儿童和成人的一致性序列效应

一致性序列效应是指个体根据前一情境中的冲突信息, 灵活适应当前环境的能力。研究选取9~10岁的儿童和18~25岁的成人为被试, 采用色-词Stroop任务和Stroop与Flanker刺激混合的任务, 在控制重复启动的影响后, 考察一致性序列效应在不同任务中的年龄差异。结果发现, 在不同的任务中, 儿童和成人均表现出显著的一致性序列效应, 且一致性序列效应的大小不存在显著差异。研究结果表明, 冲突适应过程涉及更高级的加工过程, 9~10岁的儿童已具备类似成人的、更一般化的冲突适应能力。     

对选择注意中负启动效应的研究

以数字命名作业为任务对选择注意中的负启动效应作了探讨,发现在强调反应正确性时,有负启动效应产生;若强调反应速度,则表现出正启动效应。干扰项的活动状态是启动效应性质的决定因素。研究结果还验证了扩散抑制及其扇形效应的构想,并支持注意后期选择理论。     

The Effects of Feedback on Perseverative Errors in Preschool Aged Children

Research using the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) showed that young children are usually able to sort accurately by an initial rule but are unable to switch to a new rule when the two rules conflict. In 2 experiments, the DCCS was modified to study the effects of feedback on 3- to 5-year-old children in a problem-solving task. In Experiment 1, half of the children in each of two age groups (36 to 44 months and 52 to 60 months) were administered the DCCS task using the standard (no feedback) procedure and the other half received feedback on their post-switch responses. Children who received feedback were able to categorize according to the new (correct) rule, whereas the children in the younger age group who did not receive feedback continued to perseverate. Experiment 2 with 3-year-olds replicated the results from Experiment 1 but found that children's successful performance with feedback on the card-sorting task did not lead to improved performance on the post-switch phase of a subsequent DCCS task. Successful performance under conditions of feedback in both studies implies that 3-year-olds are capable of shifting their response mode from one rule to an alternate rule under conditions that offer clear guidance. Poor performance on the standard version is interpreted to be a reflection of the inability to monitor their own task performance in the absence of clear contextual cues.     

Young children's difficulty with inhibitory control in a social context1

Abstract: The authors’ prior research has documented that young children's behaviors in the Dimensional Change Card Sorting (DCCS) task can be influenced by their observation of another person performing the task and has suggested that young children committed perseverative errors in a social context. The present study explored whether children who committed perseverative errors in the social context also committed perseverative errors in the standard DCCS task. Three‐ and 4‐year‐old children were given the standard DCCS and the observation version of the DCCS, and the relationship between them was examined. The results showed that the correlation between these two tasks was significant. Furthermore, 4‐year‐old children displayed more difficulty in the observation version than in the standard DCCS, whereas 3‐year‐olds did not. The results are discussed in terms of the development of inhibitory control and social cognition.     

The facilitative effect of positive stimuli on 3-year-olds’ flexible rule use

This study examined the effect of emotional stimuli on 3- to 4-year old children's flexible rule use, as measured by the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS). In Experiment 1, children in two countries (Canada and China) were given 2 versions of the DCCS. The Standard version required children to sort red and blue boats and rabbits first by shape and then by color (or vice versa); the Emotional Faces version required children to sort happy and sad male and female faces first by emotion and then by gender (or vice versa). Children performed significantly better on the Emotional Faces version, and performance on the 2 versions was related. Order in which dimensions were presented had no effect. Experiment 2 examined which aspects of the emotional faces were responsible for the facilitation of children's performance. Performance on the Standard version was compared to performance on three contextual faces versions, in which children were shown happy, sad, or neutral faces and required to sort them by age (child versus adult) and then by gender (or vice versa). Facilitation was only seen in the context of happy faces. Results are consistent with the suggestion that positive stimuli promote cognitive flexibility, perhaps by increasing dopamine levels in prefrontal cortex.     

Negative priming in a gender decision task and in a semantic categorization task

In three experiments, we tested the hypothesis that negative priming (NP) can occur without prime or target selection, when conflicting properties are associated with the prime and the target, and when the experimental conditions allow the encoding of the target as a separate episode from the prime. These predictions were confirmed in Experiment 1, using a gender decision task. Responses were slower when prime and target had the same gender than when they had different genders, with an inter-stimulus interval (ISI) of 600 ms but not with an ISI of 25 ms. Experiment 2 eliminated a possible explanation of the NP obtained in Experiment 1, in terms of response inhibition during the prime processing. Finally, Experiment 3 demonstrated the replicability and the generality of our NP, in a semantic categorization task. Empirical and theoretical consequences of our results for studies using the priming paradigm are discussed.     

Problem decomposability as a factor in complexity of the dimensional change card sort task

According to cognitive complexity and control (CCC) theory complexity depends on number of levels of a hierarchy of rules. According to relational complexity (RC) theory complexity is a function of the number of related variables in the task, and the most difficult tasks are those in which there is a constraint on decomposition into simpler subtasks. One hundred and twenty, 3–6-year old children were tested on the standard dimensional change card sort (DCCS) task, or a modified version, the DecompDCCS, in which the dimensions could be decomposed into subtasks. The standard version requires two levels of a hierarchy to be processed, and is ternary relational according to RC theory, whereas the subtasks of the DecompDCCS are binary relational. The DecompDCCS was easier than the DCCS for 3–4 year-olds, but all 5–6 year-olds succeeded on both. The results indicate that decomposability into simpler subtasks, as suggested by RC theory, is a factor in difficulty of DCCS. The role of decomposability in other tasks that are persistently difficult for young children is discussed.     

Performance Effects of Reward-Related Feedback on the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task

The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) is one of the most widely used measures of preschool executive function, yet relatively little is known about how altering emotional demands of the task affects DCCS performance. This study examined the effects of emotionally evocative reward-related feedback on preschool children's performance on the DCCS in a sample of 105 children aged 3.5–4.5 years. In a within-subjects design, children completed the standard DCCS and a modified version of the DCCS in which sticker rewards were gained or lost after each trial. With a reward at stake, children were more accurate but had slower reaction time on the post-switch DCCS. Another sample (N = 20) of 3.5- to 4.5-year-olds who completed the standard DCCS twice without reward showed no change in performance, indicating results are not due to practice effects. Findings demonstrate preschool children's ability to adjust their approach to the DCCS in the presence of emotionally evocative reward-related feedback by prioritizing accuracy over speed. Trial-by-trial reward-related feedback may facilitate cognitive control in early childhood.     

Negative priming with numbers: No evidence for a semantic locus

Selective attention has been studied extensively using the negative priming (NP) paradigm. An important issue regards the representational level at which NP occurs. We investigated this issue by using numbers as stimuli. Because numbers have a well-defined semantic organization, which can be clearly measured by means of the distance effect, they are very suitable for testing the assumption that NP is situated at a central semantic level. Four experiments are presented in which the numerical distance between prime distractor and probe target was manipulated. The task was magnitude comparison. Target and distractor were defined on the basis of colour. In Experiment 1, all numbers were presented in Arabic format; NP was observed only with identical prime distractor and probe target, and no distance-related NP was observed. This could not be explained by a decay of inhibition since in Experiment 2 similar results were obtained with a shortened response-to-stimulus interval. Experiment 3 showed that these observations also hold for numbers presented verbally. Nevertheless, a cross-notational experiment with Arabic prime and verbal probe (Experiment 4) revealed no NP whatsoever and excluded the possibility that the absence of distance-related negative priming was the result of a fine-tuned inhibitory mechanism operating at the semantic level. The results are considered in the light of current theories of negative priming.     

Cultural differences in the development of cognitive shifting: East-West comparison

Prior research has documented that Japanese children's performance on the Dimensional Change Card Sorting (DCCS) task can be influenced by their observation of another person completing the task, which is referred to as social transmission of disinhibition. The current study explored whether Canadian children would also show a social transmission of disinhibition and whether their performance would be comparable to that of Japanese children. In this study, 3- and 4-year-olds in Canada and Japan were given both the standard version and social version of the DCCS. Results indicated that Canadian children displayed the social transmission of disinhibition, but their effects were significantly weaker than those with Japanese children. On the other hand, performance on the standard DCCS was comparable between children in the two countries. We discuss the results in terms of cultural differences in the relationship between self and other.     

Two types of perseveration in the Dimension Change Card Sort task

In the Dimension Change Card Sort (DCCS) task, 3-year-olds can sort cards well by one dimension but have difficulty in switching to sort the same cards by another dimension when asked; that is, they perseverate on the first relevant information. What is the information that children perseverate on? Using a new version of the DCCS, the experiments in this article reveal that there are two types of perseverators: those who perseverate at the level of dimensions and those who perseverate at the level of values (stimulus features). This novel finding has implications for theories of perseveration.