Relations as Rules: The Role of Attention in the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task

Preschoolers are typically unable to switch sorting rules during the Dimensional Change Card Sort task. One explanation for this phenomenon is attentional inflexibility (Kirkham, Cruess, & Diamond, 2003). In 4 experiments with 3- to 4-year-olds, we tested this hypothesis by examining the influen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental psychology 2011-01, Vol.47 (1), p.50-60
Main Authors: Honomichl, Ryan D., Chen, Zhe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attention
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child development
Child, Preschool
Children
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive Development
Cognitive Hypothesis Testing
Cognitive Processes
Color Perception
Developmental psychology
Executive Function
Experimental psychology
Experiments
Female
Functional analysis
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Preschool Children
Psychological Theory
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychomotor Performance
Set Shifting
Space Perception
Spatial Ability
Stimulus Similarity
Task performance
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Summary:Preschoolers are typically unable to switch sorting rules during the Dimensional Change Card Sort task. One explanation for this phenomenon is attentional inflexibility (Kirkham, Cruess, & Diamond, 2003). In 4 experiments with 3- to 4-year-olds, we tested this hypothesis by examining the influence of dimensional salience on switching performance. Results from these experiments demonstrated that it was more difficult for children to redirect attention from attribute-based rule sets, such as color and shape, than from spatial relational rule sets. Overall, these findings point to a role for attention in performance on the Dimensional Change Card Sort task.
ISSN:0012-1649
1939-0599
DOI:10.1037/a0021025