TY - JOUR
T1 - Executive functioning in preschool children
T2 - Performance on A-not-B and other delayed response format tasks
AU - Espy, Kimberly Andrews
AU - Kaufmann, Paul M.
AU - McDiarmid, Melanie D.
AU - Glisky, Martha L.
N1 - Funding Information:
The A-not-B (AB) task has been hypothesized to measure executive/frontal lobe function; however, the developmental and measurement characteristics of this task have not been investigated. Performance on AB and comparison tasks adapted from developmental and neuroscience literature was examined in 117 preschool children (ages 23–66 months). Age significantly predicted performance on AB, Delayed Alternation, Spatial Reversal, Color Reversal, and Self-Control tasks. A four-factor analytic model best fit task performance data. AB task indices loaded on two factors with measures from the Self-Control and Delayed Alternation tasks, respectively. AB indices did not load with those from the reversal tasks despite similarities in task administration and presumed cognitive demand (working memory). These results indicate that AB is sensitive to individual differences in age-related performance in preschool children and suggest that AB performance is related to both working memory and inhibition processes in this age range. ª 1999 Academic Press This research was supported, in part, by a grant from the University of Arizona Foundation, I/5ESPY. The authors thank the staff from the Beginning School, Presbyterian Child Development Center, and the Child Development Laboratory and the participating families. We also thank Dennis Molfese for comments on an earlier draft of this paper.
PY - 1999/11
Y1 - 1999/11
N2 - The A-not-B (AB) task has been hypothesized to measure executive/frontal lobe function; however, the developmental and measurement characteristics of this task have not been investigated. Performance on AB and comparison tasks adapted from developmental and neuroscience literature was examined in 117 preschool children (ages 23-66 months). Age significantly predicted performance on AB, Delayed Alternation, Spatial Reversal, Color Reversal, and Self-Control tasks. A four-factor analytic model best fit task performance data. AB task indices loaded on two factors with measures from the Self- Control and Delayed Alternation tasks, respectively. AB indices did not load with those from the reversal tasks despite similar/ties in task administration and presumed cognitive demand (working memory). These results indicate that AB is sensitive to individual differences in age-related performance in preschool children and suggest that AB performance is related to both working memory and inhibition processes in this age range.
AB - The A-not-B (AB) task has been hypothesized to measure executive/frontal lobe function; however, the developmental and measurement characteristics of this task have not been investigated. Performance on AB and comparison tasks adapted from developmental and neuroscience literature was examined in 117 preschool children (ages 23-66 months). Age significantly predicted performance on AB, Delayed Alternation, Spatial Reversal, Color Reversal, and Self-Control tasks. A four-factor analytic model best fit task performance data. AB task indices loaded on two factors with measures from the Self- Control and Delayed Alternation tasks, respectively. AB indices did not load with those from the reversal tasks despite similar/ties in task administration and presumed cognitive demand (working memory). These results indicate that AB is sensitive to individual differences in age-related performance in preschool children and suggest that AB performance is related to both working memory and inhibition processes in this age range.
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U2 - 10.1006/brcg.1999.1117
DO - 10.1006/brcg.1999.1117
M3 - Article
C2 - 10590818
AN - SCOPUS:0032728581
SN - 0278-2626
VL - 41
SP - 178
EP - 199
JO - Brain and Cognition
JF - Brain and Cognition
IS - 2
ER -