5: Preschool Cognitive Measures

Question 1

List five advantages for search tasks.

Answer 1

Game-like.

Ecologically valid.

Easy to control variables.

Used across wide range of ages.

Feedback inherent, but not negative.

Question 2

Describe Piaget’s A-not-B task. What tends to happen and what does this argue?

Answer 2

Hide attractive toy under box “A”, baby searches for toy and finds it, activity repeated several times. Experimenter moves toy under box “B”, also within easy reach of baby.

Babies 8 months or younger perseverate, meaning they look under box “A” even though saw experimenter move toy under box “B”. Piaget argued this meant lack of object permanence.

Question 3

What three design changes affect the A-not-B task?

Answer 3

With age, increasing delay to err required.

Increased distance = fewer mistakes.

Increased distinctiveness of covers = fewer mistakes.

Question 4

The A-not-B task implies memory failure. Why is this?

Answer 4

Proactive interference: displacement of new information by old information.

Question 5

What did Diamond argue about the A-not-B task?

Answer 5

Implies memory AND inhibition failure. Know where to search but when memory (or representation) fragile, cannot compete with previous rewarded behaviour.

Question 6

What occurs in the sandbox A-not-B task with preschoolers?

Answer 6

Biased to A when searching at B.

Question 7

Describe the two basic findings of DeLoache’s Model Room Search Task. What is an explanation for them?

Answer 7

Symbolic development: age 2.5 have difficulties using model of room to help them search in a room, 3.0 do well.

Both age groups remember well.

Dual representation: symbol and object.

Question 8

Provide a piece of supportive evidence for DeLoache’s Model Room Search Task.

Answer 8

If emphasize object properties (or deemphasize symbolic properties) leads to poor performance by 3-year-olds (e.g., play with model). Reverse leads to better performance (e.g., behind window).

Question 9

What happens if you remove the symbolic requirements in DeLoache’s Model Room Search Task.

Answer 9

If children believe model is room itself (not a symbol for the room), do much better (picture, video, credible shrinking room).

Question 10

What are the conclusions of DeLoache’s research?

Answer 10

Difficulties are with representing symbolic properties of the model because of its salient object properties.

Question 11

Mazes, where kids search for the correct path, is what kind of measure? What are two advantages to this measure?

Answer 11

Planning measure.

Can vary difficulty, useful across wide age range.

Question 12

Difficulty in mazes can be varied by what three things?

Answer 12

Number of turns to solution (e.g., 4 vs. 22 turns).

Number of alternate paths.

Length and number of turns in alternate paths before dead end reached.

Question 13

Executive functions are thought to control ones’ novel what?

Answer 13

Thoughts, actions, emotions, attention.

Question 14

List four examples of higher cognitive processes associated with executive functions.

Answer 14

Planning.

Working Memory.

Motor Response Inhibition/Inhibitory Control.

Cognitive Flexibility.

Question 15

List four infant/preschool measures of working memory.

Answer 15

A-not-B.

Spin the pots.

Forward/Backward digit span: listen to series of digits, repeat series in correct forward or backward order.

Forward/Backward word span.

Question 16

Inhibitory control tasks invoke what?

Answer 16

Desire or dominant response AND need to inhibit responding on that desire or dominant response.

Question 17

Inhibitory control tasks involve what two versions?

Answer 17

Neutral versions, affective/cognitive versions.

Question 18

Give three examples of neutral (“cool”) inhibitory tasks.

Answer 18

Tapping or finger task.

Go No Go task: ask children to press key when see sun, not moon; press key when see sad face, not happy.

Flanker task: press key on right when middle arrow points right, left key with left arrow, ignoring all other arrows.

Question 19

In flanker tasks, accuracy and reaction times differences between incompatible and compatible distractor trials are used as what?

Answer 19

Measure of control abilities.

Question 20

Describe the variations of the Stroop test.

Answer 20

Colour of ink as quickly as possible; can’t use on preschoolers, easier to name colours as they can’t read.

Day-Night Stroop: “night” with sun, “day” with moon. No problems mapping if words linked to unique patterns.

Question 21

A measure that uses target cards (e.g., red car, blue flower) and test cards (e.g., blue car, red flower) is what kind of task? What does it measure?

Answer 21

Dimensional Change Card Sort.

Cognitive flexibility.

Question 22

This task involves objects where size and colour are relevant and shape is irrelevant. Participants are asked to sort on their own. What is this task?

Answer 22

Flexible Item Selection Task.

Question 23

What are conflict tasks? Provide examples.

Answer 23

Perspective 1 is an easy trial, and perspective 2 is hard. Examples include Dimensional Change Card Sort, Flexible Item Selection Task, and Stroop tests.

Question 24

What is theory of mind?

Answer 24

Understanding mental states, and that others have them and act on them. Include desires, intentions, emotions, beliefs.

Question 25

Do mental states represent reality? Do people act on them?

Answer 25

Represent reality, can also misrepresent reality (multiple states possible about same reality).

Question 26

Relating to theory of mind, people act on _____, not ____, per se.

Answer 26

Mental states; reality.

Question 27

What does theory of mind allow? How can it function in aggressive children?

Answer 27

Permits accurate prediction of others’ thoughts and behaviours - deception, jokes, lies, figures of speech, sarcasm, persuasion, pretending, playing games that require hiding info.

Can have deficits, hostile attribution bias (e.g., will take being accidentally bumped into as hostility).

Question 28

Describe unexpected location and unexpected content tasks.

Answer 28

Unexpected location: you know where object is, character does not; required to make inference based on character’s false belief, not your correct one.

Unexpected content: e.g., receive Crayola box, you expect crayons, there are sticks in there instead. Ask what others will think is in the Crayola box.

Question 29

What is a representational change task? What ages fail and pass?

Answer 29

Unexpected content, but ask “what did you initially think was in the box?” after unexpected content revealed.

3 years fail, 5 years pass.

Question 30

What do representational change tasks measure?

Answer 30

Whether children understand their OWN representations can change, and whether they can update own false beliefs with new information.

Question 31

What is second order theory of mind?

Answer 31

Attributing beyond a single person (e.g., John thinks that Jane thinks that…).

Question 32

What are three theories proposed for understanding mental states.

Answer 32

“Theory” theory: scientific theory formation.

Simulation theory: can put self in other’s shoes.

Modularity theory: part of brain dedicated to TOM processing.

Question 33

Provide two ways executive function can account for theory of mind development.

Answer 33

Better inhibitory control abilities.

Changes in “cognitive flexibility,” assess ability to reason from a difficult perspective, ignoring simpler one.

Question 34

Provide a brief overview of Piaget’s four stages of intelligence development.

Answer 34

Sensorimotor thought.

Preoperational thought (pre-logical thought): logic swayed by perceptual features.

Concrete operational (logical, but with concrete evidence).

Formal operational (logical and abstract).

Question 35

List two tasks assessing shifts from preoperational to concrete thought.

Answer 35

Conservation tasks.

Perspective taking tasks.

Question 36

One example of a perspective taking task is Piaget’s three mountain task. Describe it. What are the results?

Answer 36

Children asked to walk around and play with a model of 3 distinctly shaped mountains, sit on one side of model and shown a doll who has a “different view”, asked to identify the picture (among many) that corresponded to the doll’s perspective.

Almost always picked the picture that represented their own current point of view.

Question 37

Widespread changes in development in the 3-to 5-year range may be due to what?

Answer 37

Development of separate cognitive abilities (mental states reasoning, executive function, logical reasoning).