Shifting development in mid-childhood: The influence of between-task interference.

Abstract

Performance on the task-switching paradigm is greatly affected by the amount of conflict between tasks. Compared to adults, children appear to be particularly influenced by this conflict, suggesting that the ability to resolve interference between tasks improves with age. We used the task-switching paradigm to investigate how this ability develops in mid-childhood. Experiment 1 compared 5-to 8-year-olds' and 9-to 11-year-olds' ability to switch between decisions about the colour of an object and its shape. The 5-to 8-year-olds were slower to switch task and experienced more interference from the irrelevant task than the 9-to 11-year-olds, suggesting a developmental improvement in resolving conflict between tasks during mid-childhood. Experiment 2 explored this further, examining the influence of stimulus and response interference at different ages. This was done by separating the colour and shape dimensions of the stimulus and reducing overlap between responses. The results supported the development of conflict resolution in task-switching during mid-childhood. They also revealed that a complex interplay of factors, including the tasks used and previous experience with the task, affected children's shifting performance.

The role of goal representation in preschoolers’ flexibility and inhibition

“…To this end, 4-and 5-year-olds were tested in two conditions differing in the degree of cue transparency, that is, the strength with which cues were associated with the goals they signaled. In the flexibility phase, performance was higher for color naming than for shape naming and, consistent with previous studies (e.g., Cragg & Nation, 2009;Ellefson, Shapiro, & Chater, 2006), switching yielded a higher cost in performance for the easier color-naming task than for the more difficult shape-naming task. More important for the current study, both age groups performed faster and more accurately on both switch and no-switch trials in this phase when demands on goal representation were alleviated by using transparent cues instead of arbitrary cues.…”

The processes underlying flexibility in childhood

“…Larger switch costs are found for the colour task, which participants find easier to perform (Cragg & Nation, 2009;Ellefson, Shapiro, & Chater, 2006). Interestingly, the DCCS also employs colour and shape tasks; however, no difference has been found in switching between the two tasks (e.g., Frye et al, 1995).…”

“…In a version of the task-switching paradigm used with older children, separating responses was found to help 9-to 11-year-olds but not 5-to 7-year-olds switch task (Cragg & Nation, 2009, Experiment 2), perhaps indicating that the level at which conflict causes most difficulty may change with age. In contrast to the work with preschoolers, separating the stimulus dimensions by placing the shape on a coloured background increased stimulus-level conflict in this study, particularly for the 5-to 7-year-olds.…”

“…However, a comparison of the congruence effect in school-age children and adults using the task-switching paradigm (Cepeda et al, 2001) demonstrated a larger congruence effect in children, suggesting that they experience greater interference from incongruent stimulus -response mappings. Furthermore, a study comparing 5-to 8-year-olds and 9-to 11-year-olds suggested that this interference decreases with age (Cragg & Nation, 2009).…”

“…Fewer studies have been performed with schoolaged children; however, these tend to use either versions of the task-switching paradigm (Cepeda, Kramer, & Gonzalez de Sather, 2001;Cragg & Nation, 2009;Huizinga et al, 2006;Kray, Eber, & Lindenberger, 2004;Reimers & Maylor, 2005) or the WCST (e.g., Chelune & Baer, 1986;Welsh, Pennington, & Groisser, 1991). Some studies have adapted the DCCS for use with older children, combining the stimuli used in the preschool task with multiple switches, more similar to the task-switching paradigm.…”