Executive Functioning
Executive function is the ability to use thought flexibly to guide actions (Doebel & Zelazo, 2013). It is the process that serves to monitor and control thoughts and actions, including attention regulation and response inhibition (Carlson, Davis, & Leach, 2005). Executive function develops early in childhood and changes in ability between the ages of three and five years (Doebel & Zelazo, 2013). Inhibitory control, a key component of executive function, is the capacity to inhibit thought processes or actions that are not relevant to the goal (Carlson, Davis, & Leach, 2005). The dimensional change card sort measures executive functioning in children (Zelazo, 2006).
In the standard version of the dimensional change card sort, children are shown two target cards and are asked to sort a series of bivalent test cards according to one dimension (Zelazo, 2006). Then during the post-switch phase, the children are told to sort the same type of test cards according to another dimension (Zelazo, 2006). The majority of three year olds perseverate during the post-switch phase by continuing to sort the test cards by the first dimension that was used in the pre-switch phase (Zelazo, 2006). By the age of five, the majority of the children are able to switch immediately between dimensions when told to do so (Zelazo, 2006). Variations of the standard version of the dimensional change card sort were used to study if they effects shown any improvements in the executive functioning of the younger children.
In one study conducted by Doebel and Zelazo (2013), the experimenter labeled the relevant dimension on the test card. The children were more likely to perform correctly on the post-switch phase (Doebel & Zelazo, 201...
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...ad an effect on the children’s performance. Also, most of the children had already participated in the same stud with previous researchers. To further this study, researchers could experiment with children who were not familiar with the dimensional card sorting task and had an equal sample size across gender.
Works Cited
Carlson, S. M., Davis, A. C., & Leach, J. G. (2005). Less is more: Executive function and symbolic representation in preschool children. Psychological Science, 16, 609 - 616.
Doebel, S., & Zelazo, P. D. (2013). Bottom-up and top-down dynamics in young children’s executive function: Labels aid 3-year-olds’ performance on the dimensional change card sort. Cognitive Development, 28, 222 - 232.
Zelazo, P. D. (2006). The dimensional change card sort (dccs): A method of assessing executive function in children. Nature Protocols, 1, 297 - 301.
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As both types occur in children’s development, Piagetian and information-processing theories complement each other, with some researchers attempting to combine the two in an effort to develop stronger cognitive-developmental theories. “Scientific reasoning begins in infancy, babies see how objects move and behave, gather information, build patterns of expectations about the world around them and form general categories” (Gopnik, Meltzoff & Kuhl, 1999). Under the Bayley Scale of Infant Intelligence, based on (Bayley, 1993), he had a good report as well as the assessment done by the early childhood specialist at his preschool. The examiner commented that Kieran was able to concentrate very well during all of the testing.
The behavioral dimension goes hand in hand with pragmatism. It asks how is it possible to get a child to do something effectively. So its main focus is on what the person says or thinks not what he says about what he can do or think. Which requires precise measurement. Another important question in the behavioral dimension is to ask not just was the behavior changed but whose behavior was changed. The test- retest, and the inter- rater reliability techniques are of major importance for considering the presence of this dimension.
Myers, C.L., Bour, J.L., Sidebottom, K.J., Murphy, S.B., and Hakman, M. (2010). Same constructs, different results: Examining the consistency of two behaviors-rating scales with referred preschoolers. Psychology in the Schools,47, 205-216.
Piaget proposed that cognitive development from infant to young adult occurs in four universal and consecutive stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations (Woolfolk, A., 2004). Between the ages of zero and two years of age, the child is in the sensorimotor stage. It is during this stage the child experiences his or her own world through the senses and through movement. During the latter part of the sensorimotor stage, the child develops object permanence, which is an understanding that an object exists even if it is not within the field of vision (Woolfolk, A., 2004). The child also begins to understand that his or her actions could cause another action, for example, kicking a mobile to make the mobile move. This is an example of goal-directed behavior. Children in the sensorimotor stage can reverse actions, but cannot yet reverse thinking (Woolfolk, A., 2004).
Björklund, D. F. (2000). Children‘s thinking: Developmental function and individual differences (3rd. Ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth.
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Saracho, O. N., Spodek, B., & ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early, Childhood Education. (1984). Cognitive style and children's learning: Individual variation in cognitive processes
During middle childhood, children are able to excel in many aspects of development that they could not have obtained before. Children starting around age seven are able to excel in their learning and cognitive development, like being able to read and enjoy going to school to learn something new. They enjoy being able to practice their new knowledge by practicing it until they get it perfect. By this age, middle school age children are able to direct their attention to a particular situation or objective and ignore everything else; this is also called selective attention, “ability to concentrate on some stimuli while ignoring others.” (Berger, 2011, p.305) Another aspect of middle school age children, are seen to be able to control their actions or thoughts and think about the consequences before doing any given action. This can also be seen as middle school age children, who have major advances in controlling their emotions.
It should be noted, however, that despite Piaget’s vehement assertions that this is how every child develops, it has since been shown that not all children reach concrete operations, much less formal operations. Indeed, some American adults show a lack of reaching formal operational thought (Neimark, 1979, as cited by Bukatko,
The types of games that children play change dramatically compared to early childhood. In addition to the activities that they already play, they start to strive for a challenge. Middle childhood is the time when children acquire skills such as reading and arithmetic. During this time children start to play games that are complicated and rule oriented. Because of these changes, children begin to play games based on strategy such as playing cards and other games that test their mind. They play games such as Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh. These card games require children to count, remember, and plan strategies. By playing these games, children begin to plan consciously, coordinate actions, evaluate their progress, and modify their plans and strategies based on reflection and evaluation.
Van de Walle, J.A., Karp, K. S., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2013). Elementary and middle school
In this paper, the researchers are interested in expanding the understanding of executive function. This is the process that is used to guide goal oriented behavior. It includes the ability to prioritize behavior, to resist information that is irrelevant to the situation, and to switch between different goals. Like many other concepts in psychology, executive function has many different dimensions and there are many differing viewpoint about its basic structure. Because executive function involves an individual guiding their own behavior often in novel situations, it by nature is difficult to measure in a laboratory setting. The laboratory setting is structured which that may cause problems with proper testing measures especially when the participant is given rules or instructions.
Van de Walle, J. A., Karp, K. S., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2013). Elementary and middle school