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Souissi S, Chamari K, Bellaj T. Assessment of executive functions in school-aged children: A narrative review. Front Psychol 2022; 13:991699. [PMID: 36405195 PMCID: PMC9674032 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.991699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction In the past three decades, there has been increasing interest in assessing children's Executive Functions (EF). However, studies on the conceptualization and operationalization of this construct are incongruent and guidance for clinicians and researchers aiming to assess EF is insufficient due to measurement variability. Aims The purpose of this article was to examine current theories and models of EF in children, identify their assessment instruments, issues, and challenges, and discuss their impact on children's cognitive, behavioral, social and/or emotional development. Methods This narrative review reflected on English and French scholarly articles on EF assessment in children. References were identified through searches of PubMed, Medline, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and APA PsychNet throughout the last two decades up to June 2022. Results There are commonalities despite divergence in the definition and operationalization of EF. Assessment of EF requires psychometric tests as well as rating scales that must be integrated and interpreted considering the child's biological makeup, environmental background, and cultural specificities. Conclusion Current EF theories, assessment tools, issues, and challenges were discussed in addition to the impact of their components' dysfunctions on children's development. Further studies should be conducted to develop new measurement methods and technologies to improve the ecological and ethological validity of youth assessment, treatment, and interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofiane Souissi
- Aspetar, Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, Doha, Qatar
- Psychology Laboratory, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Tunis, Tunis University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Karim Chamari
- Aspetar, Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Biological Sciences, ISSEP Ksar-Said, La Manouba University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Tarek Bellaj
- Psychology Program, Department of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Science, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
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Yanaoka K, Saito S. The Development of Learning, Performing, and Controlling Repeated Sequential Actions in Young Children. Top Cogn Sci 2021; 14:241-257. [PMID: 34125991 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Our daily lives are composed of several sequential actions that we perform routinely, such as making breakfast, taking a train, and changing clothes. Previous research has demonstrated that a routine system plays a role in performing and controlling repeated sequential actions in familiar situations, and a top-down control system involves the control of the routine system in novel situations. Specifically, most developmental studies have focused on the top-down control system (e.g., executive functions) as a factor enabling the control of goal-directed actions in novel situations. Yet, it has not been thoroughly examined how young children learn, perform, and control repeated sequential actions in familiar contexts. In this review, based on recent computational accounts for adults, we highlight two critical aspects of the routine system from a developmental perspective: (1) automatic flexible changes of contextual representations, which enables humans to select context-dependent actions appropriately; and (2) detection of deviant situations, which signals the need for control to avoid errors. In addition, we propose the developmental mechanism underlying the routine system and its potential driving factors such as statistical regularities and executive functions. Finally, we suggest that an investigation into the interplay between routine and executive functions can form foundations for understanding learning, performing, and controlling repeated sequential actions in young children and discuss future directions in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaichi Yanaoka
- Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo.,Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
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Bardikoff N, Sabbagh MA. Multidimensional Reasoning Can Promote 3-Year-Old Children's Performance on the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task. Child Dev 2021; 92:e924-e939. [PMID: 33496007 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
An important aspect of executive functioning is the ability to flexibly switch between behavioral rules. This study explored how considering the multidimensionality of objects affects behavioral rule switching in 3-year-old children. In Study 1 (N = 40), children who participated in a brief game separating and aggregating an object's dimensions (i.e., color and shape) showed improved performance on the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS), a measure of behavioral rule switching, relative to controls. In Study 2 (N = 80) DCCS performance improved even when the initial practice involved a different dimension (pattern and shape). Thus, practice thinking about multidimensionality can affect 3-year-olds' DCCS performance and therefore may play an important role in the development of flexible thinking.
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Multisensory stimuli enhance 3-year-old children's executive function: A three-dimensional object version of the standard Dimensional Change Card Sort. J Exp Child Psychol 2019; 189:104694. [PMID: 31574323 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Revised: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
A three-dimensional object version of the standard Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) was developed to examine the influence of multisensory stimuli on 3-year-old children's executive function. Whereas the developmental phenomenon marking 3-year-olds' difficulties with rule use in the standard DCCS can be attributed to several cognitive factors, we examined the possibility that better encoding of object features could facilitate children's rule-switching behavior. We examined whether 3-year-olds might be able to capitalize on cues available to multiple senses to create a more robust representation of object features that would enable them to overcome previous difficulties with rule switching in the standard DCCS. Participants were randomly assigned to the standard two-dimensional DCCS or the three-dimensional object version that was designed to match the rabbit and boat images used in the card version. The 3-year-olds who completed the object version outperformed those who completed the standard card version, succeeding in switching rules more accurately when provided with visual, auditory-verbal labeling, and tactile information of object features. Notably, more children achieved perfect accuracy and fewer children achieved floor-level performance in the object version than in the card version. We attribute 3-year-olds' success in the object version to greater cognitive control made possible by the enhanced encoding of the stimulus properties through multisensory input and enhanced cognitive processing of ecologically valid three-dimensional objects.
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Pan J, Sawyer K, McDonough E, Slotpole L, Gansler D. Cognitive, Neuroanatomical, and Genetic Predictors of Executive Function in Healthy Children and Adolescents. Dev Neuropsychol 2018; 43:535-550. [PMID: 30216102 DOI: 10.1080/87565641.2018.1516770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) is a measure of cognitive flexibility for children, which requires rule-use and shifting. Demographic, cognitive, regional cortical thickness, and genetic variables, including those related to language and executive function, were used to build predictive models of DCCS scores in 556 healthy pediatric participants. Gender, age, frontal, and temporal lobe regions of interest, and measures of sustained attention, inhibition, and word reading were selected as the best predictors of DCCS performance. Results indicated that DCCS performance is related to a broad range of cognitive functions and anatomic regions associated with various levels of cognitive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Pan
- a Department of Psychology , Suffolk University , Boston , MA , USA
| | - Kayle Sawyer
- b Boston VA Healthcare System , Boston , MA , USA.,c Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology , Boston University School of Medicine , Boston , MA , USA.,d Sawyer Scientific, LLC , Boston , MA , USA.,e Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging , Massachusetts General Hospital , Boston , MA , USA
| | - EmilyKate McDonough
- d Sawyer Scientific, LLC , Boston , MA , USA.,f Medical Education , Tufts University , Boston , MA , USA
| | - Laura Slotpole
- g Department of Psychology , Dickinson College , Carlisle , PA , USA
| | - David Gansler
- a Department of Psychology , Suffolk University , Boston , MA , USA
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Darby KP, Castro L, Wasserman EA, Sloutsky VM. Cognitive flexibility and memory in pigeons, human children, and adults. Cognition 2018; 177:30-40. [PMID: 29627718 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Revised: 03/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
This work examines cognitive flexibility using a comparative approach. Pigeons (Experiment 1), human children (Experiment 2a), and human adults (Experiment 2b) performed a task that required changing responses to the same stimuli twice across the experiment. The results indicate that all three groups demonstrated robust memory for learned information. In addition, pigeons showed comparable and substantial perseveration following both response shifts. In contrast, both children and adults exhibited some perseveration following a first response shift, while exhibiting no cost following the second response shift. These findings are discussed in relation to memory-based theories of cognitive flexibility, according to which perseveration occurs as a result of competition between long-term and working memory, revealing important differences in memory and cognitive flexibility between species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin P Darby
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, United States
| | - Leyre Castro
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, The University of Iowa, W311 Seashore Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
| | - Edward A Wasserman
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, The University of Iowa, W311 Seashore Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
| | - Vladimir M Sloutsky
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, United States.
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Landry O, Al-Taie S, Franklin A. 3-Year-Olds’ Perseveration on the DCCS Explained: A Meta-Analysis. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2017.1345910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Doebel S, Zelazo PD. A meta-analysis of the Dimensional Change Card Sort: Implications for developmental theories and the measurement of executive function in children. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2015; 38:241-268. [PMID: 26955206 DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2015.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) is a widely used measure of executive function in children. In the standard version, children are shown cards depicting objects that vary on two dimensions (e.g., colored shapes such as red rabbits and blue boats), and are told to sort them first by one set of rules (e.g., shape) and then by another (e.g., color). Most 3-year-olds persist in sorting by the pre-switch rules, whereas 5-year-olds switch flexibly. We conducted a meta-analysis of standard and experimental versions of the task (N = 69 reports, 426 conditions) to examine the influence of diverse task variations on performance. Age, how the test stimuli were labeled for the child, emphasis on conflict in the verbal introduction of the post-switch rules, and the number of pre-switch trials each independently predicted switching on the standard DCCS, whereas pre-switch feedback, practice, and task modality did not. Increasing the relative salience of the post-switch dimension was associated with higher rates of switching, and, conversely, decreasing post-switch salience was associated with lower rates of switching, and under both kinds of manipulation performance continued to be associated with age. Spatially separating the dimensional values was associated with higher rates of switching, and it was confirmed that the degree of spatial separation matters, with children benefiting most when the dimensional values are fully spatially segregated. Switch rates tended to be higher in versions on which children were prompted to label the stimuli compared to when the experimenter provided labels, and lower when reversal instructions were used in conjunction with the standard task stimuli. Theoretical and practical implications for the study and measurement of executive function in early childhood are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Doebel
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado - Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Philip David Zelazo
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Doebel S, Zelazo PD. 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 2013; 28:222-232. [PMID: 24882942 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2012.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Executive function (EF) improves between the ages of 3 and 5 and has been assessed reliably using the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS), a task in which children first sort bivalent cards by one dimension (e.g., shape) and then are instructed to sort by a different dimension (e.g., color). Three-year-olds typically perseverate on the pre-switch dimension, whereas 5-year-olds switch flexibly. Labeling task stimuli can facilitate EF performance (Jacques & Zelazo, 2005; Kirkham, Cruess, & Diamond, 2003), but the nature of this effect is unclear. In 3 experiments we examined 2 hypotheses deriving from different theoretical perspectives: first, that labels facilitate performance in a more bottom-up fashion, by biasing attention to relevant task rules (Kirkham et al., 2003); and second, that labels aid performance in a more top-down fashion by prompting reflection and an understanding of the hierarchical nature of the task (Zelazo, 2004). Children performed better on the DCCS when labels referred to the relevant sorting dimension (Experiment 1). This was a function of the content of the labels rather than the change in auditory signal across phases (Experiment 2). Furthermore, labeling the opposite dimension only did not have a symmetrically negative effect on performance (Experiment 3). Together, these results suggest external, verbal labels bias children to attend to task-relevant information, likely through interaction with emerging top-down, endogenous control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Doebel
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, United States
| | - Philip David Zelazo
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, United States
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