The role of cognitive flexibility in young children’s potential for learning under dynamic testing conditions

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 average-ability children

“…In a study by Wiedl et al (2004), in which adult psychiatric patients were administered a dynamic version of the WCST, for example, planning was associated more strongly with the post-test than with the pre-test. The participants were, however, With regard to the relationship between planning and instructional needs, it was found that the instructions children needed in the first training session only could be predicted by their planning abilities, with children with weaker planning skills requiring more prompts, as was also found in earlier research into different executive functions (Stad et al, 2018). These results likely reveal that planning abilities are only initially associated with need for instruction in a training or learning context, and that further learning experiences counter the influence of planning.…”

“…Executive functions are often considered to be a conglomerate of inter-related complex, general cognitive processes that enable control of thinking and behavior (Monette, Bigras, & Guay, 2011). Most of the studies in this field examined the role of working memory (e.g., Swanson, 2006;Stevenson, Heiser, & Resing, 2013), and, to a lesser extent, cognitive flexibility (Stad et al, 2018), and metacognition (Vogelaar et al, 2017). In general, it seems that, by providing children with feedback and help during training, dynamic testing facilitates children with weaker executive functions in showing their cognitive potential.…”

“…It was expected that children's planning ability would predict accuracy, with those with stronger planning abilities outperforming those whose planning abilities were weaker (Zook et al, 2004). It was expected, however, that after training planning abilities would no longer have such a relationship with their accuracy scores as a result of the hypothesized facilitating effect of the training procedure (e.g., Stad et al, 2018;Stevenson et al, 2013;Vogelaar et al, 2017). Furthermore, it was explored whether this compensating effect of the graduated prompts training would be equally present for gifted and average-ability children.…”

“…Our final research question focused on the unique contribution of planning and ability group in predicting children's instructional needs. Based on earlier research in which executive functions were found to significantly predict children's need for instructions (Stad et al, 2018), it was expected that planning abilities would predict the number of prompts children needed during training, with children with weaker planning abilities requiring more prompts than their peers with stronger planning abilities. The potential unique predictive effects of ability group on instructional needs were explored.…”

A Free-Operant Reward-Tracking Paradigm to Study Neural Mechanisms and Neurochemical Modulation of Adaptive Behavior in Rats

“…Cognitive flexibility (CF) is a core executive function generally defined as the capacity to efficiently adjust behavior in response to changing situational demands [1]. In humans, CF confers a higher potential for learning in children [2] and predicts academic achievement in college students [3]. Furthermore, CF facilitates resilience to negative life events and everyday stress among adults [4], and is in turn impaired in adults exposed to early life stress [5].…”