Related Experiment Videos
Two-year-olds' executive functioning: The influence of task-specific vocabulary knowledge.
Christina C Schonberg1, Natsuki Atagi2, Catherine M Sandhofer3
1UW-Madison, United States.
Infant Behavior & Development
|October 1, 2018
Summary
Vocabulary in task instructions significantly impacts young children's executive function (EF) performance. Simpler language in EF tasks improves results for 2-year-olds, suggesting vocabulary knowledge is key.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Early Childhood Education
Background:
- Executive function (EF) tasks often involve nonverbal responses.
- The language used to explain EF tasks might influence performance in young children.
- Understanding the role of vocabulary in early cognitive assessments is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the vocabulary used in explaining an executive function task affects 2-year-olds' performance.
- To compare task performance using standard vs. simplified instructions.
- To determine the relationship between children's productive vocabulary and EF task outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted using the Reverse Categorization Task with 2-year-olds.
- Experiment 1 utilized standard task instructions.
- Experiment 2 employed simplified instructions with less reliance on size-specific vocabulary.
Main Results:
- Children's performance differed between the two instruction sets.
- Productive vocabulary knowledge correlated with task performance only in Experiment 1 (standard instructions).
- Simplified instructions in Experiment 2 showed improved performance, independent of vocabulary size.
Conclusions:
- Task-specific vocabulary knowledge can influence performance on nonverbal executive function tasks.
- The language used in explaining cognitive tasks is a critical factor for young children's performance.
- Future research should consider linguistic factors when assessing early executive functions.