Improving dimensional change card sort performance of preschoolers with developmental language disorder: Effects of two task variations

Purpose: This research note addresses whether task administration variations can improve Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) performance in preschoolers with developmental language disorder (DLD). Method: Participants included preschoolers with DLD who failed the standard DCCS, which is characterized by inability to switch from one card sorting rule to a new rule. After an approximately 2.5-month delay, participants were retested on the DCCS in one of three conditions: repeating standard administration, participants labeling relevant card dimensions, or briefly removing target cards before the switch. Results: Children in both the labeling and target removal conditions scored significantly higher on the second administration relative to the first. However, comparing across conditions, participants in the target removal condition scored higher on the second DCCS compared to participants in the standard and labeling conditions, which did not differ from each other. Conclusions: DCCS performance of preschoolers with DLD can be improved by changing task administration. The most effective change is increasing the salience of the switch to the new sorting rule, as opposed to directing children’s attention via their own labeling behavior.