No abstract

The aim of the current study was to investigate to what extent children's potential for learning is related to their level of cognitive flexibility. Potential for learning was measured through a dynamic testing procedure that aimed to measure how much a child can profit from a training procedure integrated into the testing process, including the amount and type of feedback the children required during this training procedure. The study followed a pre-test-training-post-test control group design. Participants were 153 6-7-year-old children. Half of this group of children were provided with a standardised graduated prompts procedure. The other half of the participants performed a non-inductive cognitive task. Children's cognitive flexibility was measured through a card sorting test and a test of verbal fluency. Results show that cognitive flexibility was positively related to children's performance, but only for children in the practice-only condition who received no training. These outcomes suggest that dynamic testing, and more in particular, the graduated prompting procedure, supports children's cognitive flexibility, thereby giving children with weaker flexibility the opportunity to show more of their cognitive potential as measured through inductive reasoning.

Is planning related to dynamic testing outcomes? Investigating the potential for learning of gifted and averageability children.

Dynamic testing aims to assess potential for learning by measuring how much a child can profit from a training procedure during the testing process. These procedures often include transfer tasks as a measure of the potential for learning, as the ability to transfer learned skills and knowledge is considered essential in successful learning. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether including a specific type of transfer task in a dynamic testing context, a so-called reversal procedure, would provide extra information on 6-7-year-old children's potential for learning. Moreover, it was investigated whether children's ability to transfer newly learned skills was dependent on their level of cognitive flexibility, as this executive function has previously been argued to be of significant importance in the transfer of academic skills. The results revealed that children's transfer abilities were indeed related to another measure of potential for learning, i.e. children's learner status. In addition, children's cognitive flexibility predicted greater transfer abilities and appeared to play a greater role for children who did not receive training or did not profit much from the training procedure. The results underline the importance of supporting children's cognitive flexibility when teaching for transfer.

This study investigated potential differences in the processes of solving analogies between gifted and average-ability children (aged 9–10 years old) in a dynamic testing setting. Utilizing a pre-test-training-post-test control group design, participants were split in four subgroups: gifted dynamic testing (n = 24), gifted control (n = 26), average-ability dynamic testing (n = 48), and average-ability control (n = 52). Irrespective of ability group, dynamic testing resulted in a larger number of accurately applied transformations, changes in the proportion of preparation time utilized, and more advanced usage of solution categories. Differences were found between and within the groups of gifted and average-ability children in relation to the different process variables examined.