Language and cognitive shifting: evidence from young monolingual and bilingual children

The relationship between language and cognitive shifting in young children was examined. Specifically, second language experiences from infancy as well as individual differences in monolingual language experience may affect performances on the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task. 54 Japanese-French bilingual children and two groups of Japanese monolingual children participated (ns = 18). One monolingual group was matched to the bilingual group on verbal ability and chronological age (VC monolingual group) and the other group was matched by chronological age but had higher verbal ability (C monolingual group). The results showed that the groups of children who were bilingual and monolingual with higher verbal ability performed the task significantly better than matched monolingual children. Language experiences may affect cognitive set shifting in young children.     

Children in Asian cultures say yes to yes-no questions: Common and cultural differences between Vietnamese and Japanese children

We investigated whether children's response tendency toward yes-no questions concerning objects is a common phenomenon regardless of languages and cultures. Vietnamese and Japanese 2- to 5-year-old (N = 108) were investigated. We also examined whether familiarity with the questioning issue has any effect on Asian children's yes bias. As the result, Asian children showed a yes bias to yes-no questions. The children's response tendency changes dramatically with their age: Vietnamese and Japanese 2- and 3-year-olds showed a yes bias, but 5-year-olds did not. However, Asian 4-year-olds also showed a yes bias only in the familiar condition. Also, Asian children showed a stronger yes bias in the familiar condition than the unfamiliar condition. These two findings in Asian children were different from the previous finding investigated North American children (Fritzley & Lee, 2003). Moreover, there was a within-Asian cross-cultural difference. Japanese children showed different response tendencies, which were rarely observed in Vietnamese children. Japanese 2-year-olds and some 3-year-olds showed a "no answer" response: they tended not to respond to an interviewer's questions. Japanese 4- and 5-year-olds also showed an "I don't know" response when they were asked about unfamiliar objects. Japanese children tended to avoid a binary decision. We discussed the cross-cultural differences.     

Children's response biases to results of object sharing

This study investigated whether 2- to 6-year-old children exhibit a response bias to questions pertaining to the results of sharing objects that should attract their interest. An experimenter distributed four objects between herself/himself and a child, equally or unequally (more to the child or more to the experimenter) and asked the child yes-no questions: “Is this okay?” and “Is this bad?” The results indicated that 2- and 3-year-olds exhibited a yes bias in all conditions, 4-year-olds exhibited a yes bias to the equal condition and to the unequal condition with more distributed to the child, and 5-year-olds exhibited a yes bias to both unequal conditions, whereas 6-year-olds did not show any response bias. Young preschoolers exhibited a yes bias regardless of questions and children may become able to say both “yes” and “no” appropriately to questions about object sharing after the age of six.     

Visual experience influences 12-month-old infants' perception of goal-directed actions of others

In the present study, we investigated whether infants' own visual experiences affected their perception of the visual status of others engaging in goal-directed actions. In Experiment 1, infants viewed video clips of successful and failed goal-directed actions performed by a blindfolded adult, with half the infants having previously experienced being blindfolded. The results showed that 12-month-old infants who were previously blindfolded preferred to look longer at the demonstrator's successful actions, whereas no such preference was observed in 8-month-old infants. In Experiment 2, infants watched the same 2 actions when the adult demonstrator was not blindfolded. The responses of 12-month-old infants were the opposite of those observed in Experiment 1: they showed a preference for the failed actions. These findings suggest that previous experience influenced the subsequent perception of others' goal-directed actions in the 12-month-old infants. We favor the interpretation that the preference for the successful actions in the 12-months-old infants provided with blindfolded experience demonstrates the influence of perceptual experience on considering the visual status of others engaging in goal-directed actions.     

One-month-old infants' sensitivity to social contingency from mothers and strangers: a pilot study

Whether 1-mo.-old infants were sensitive to social contingency of their mothers and strangers via a Double Video live-replay paradigm was studied. 8 infants were tested (M age = 45.4 days, SD = 7.4) to compare behavioral changes across conditions: a first contingency (Live 1), a noncontingent (Replay), and a second contingency (Live 2). Infants showed an increase in gaze during Replay, counter to expectation. Also, these infants could detect mothers' noncontingent responses but not those of strangers. The result suggests that detection and expectancy may be subcomponents of sensitivity to social contingency. Detection appeared first and seems basic, while expectancy in social contingency appeared later.     

Do young and old preschoolers exhibit response bias due to different mechanisms? Investigating children's response time

Previous studies have suggested that younger preschoolers exhibit a yes bias due to underdeveloped cognitive abilities, whereas older preschoolers exhibit a response bias due to other factors. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the response latency to yes-no questions pertaining to familiar and unfamiliar objects in 3- to 6-year-olds. The 3-year-olds exhibited a strong yes bias for both objects, and their response latency was significantly shorter than that of the 6-year-olds. The 4- and 5-year-olds did not exhibit any response bias, whereas the 6-year-olds exhibited a nay-saying bias (a response bias to say “no”) for unfamiliar objects. Overall, children’s response bias scores were stronger for familiar objects than for unfamiliar objects. The results suggest that 3-year-olds exhibit a yes bias automatically, but 5- and 6-year-olds are sensitive to question context.