Validation of executive function tasks with young children

The development of inhibitory control in preschool children: Effects of “executive skills” training

“…In addition to Diamond's work, there is much evidence within the neuropsychological literature to suggest that executive functions are subserved by the prefrontal cortical region of the brain (Dempster, 1992;Denckla, 1994;Dennis, 1991;Gnys & Willis, 1991;Levin et al, 1991;Welsh, Pennington, & Groisser, 1991). Clinical case studies have shown that adults with frontal lesions exhibit impaired planning, goal establishment, set maintenance, self-monitoring, and cognitive flexibility (Becker, Isaac, & Hynd, 1987;Petrides & Milner, 1982;Shallice, 1982;Stuss & Benson, 1984).…”

Developmental change in the cross-modal Stroop effect

“…Researchers (e.g., Diamond & Taylor, 1996;Gnys & Willis, 1991;Levin et al, 1991;Passler, Isaac, & Hynd, 1985;Zelazo et al, 1997) have used such tasks as the Tower of London, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, the go-no-go task, and delayed alternation to study developmental change in semantic associations, concept formation, mental flexibility, planning, and problem solving. We would argue that development in executive functioning greatly affects children's ability to play experimental games properly and most likely influenced performance on the cross-modal Stroop task.…”

“…Executive skills essential for purposeful goal-directed activity, such as planning and monitoring action, selfregulation, impulse control, holding goals in active memory, maintaining proper response sets, and making use of feedback (Anderson, 1998;Gnys & Willis, 1991), are thought to be mediated by the frontal cortex and the prefrontal cortex, which are the slowest maturing areas in the brain (Anderson, 1998;Bell & Fox, 1992;Chugani, Mazziotta, & Phelps, 1993). Researchers (e.g., Diamond & Taylor, 1996;Gnys & Willis, 1991;Levin et al, 1991;Passler, Isaac, & Hynd, 1985;Zelazo et al, 1997) have used such tasks as the Tower of London, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, the go-no-go task, and delayed alternation to study developmental change in semantic associations, concept formation, mental flexibility, planning, and problem solving.…”

An Investigation into the Relationship Among ADHD Symptomatology, Creativity, and Neuropsychological Functioning in Children

“…Overall, this task appears to be a developmentally sensitive and neuropsychologically valid planning measure (Lyon, 1994). Only on very young children is a satisfactory test-retest reliability of 0.71 explicitly reported (Gnys & Willis, 1991). …”