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A Method for Investigating Age-related Differences in the Functional Connectivity of Cognitive Control Networks Associated with Dimensional Change Card Sort Performance
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Problem solving flexibility across early development.

Lydia M Hopper1, Sarah L Jacobson2, Lauren H Howard3

  • 1Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL 60614, USA.

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|August 30, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Cognitive flexibility develops in early childhood. This study shows 4-year-olds are more flexible problem solvers than 2-year-olds, though less so than primates.

Keywords:
ChimpanzeeComparative cognitionConservatismExecutive functionGorillaProblem solving

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental psychology
  • Comparative cognition
  • Cognitive flexibility research

Background:

  • Cognitive flexibility enables adaptation to new situations but develops slowly in early childhood.
  • Task complexity and opacity influence the development of cognitive flexibility.
  • Previous research explored this ability in nonhuman primates.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the development of flexible problem-solving skills in young children (2, 3, and 4 years old).
  • To compare children's cognitive flexibility with that of nonhuman primates using a novel task.
  • To examine how task demands affect flexible adaptation in early childhood.

Main Methods:

  • A physically simple, novel problem-solving task involving removing barriers from a clear tube to retrieve a ball.
  • Two test phases with varying ball locations, requiring different numbers of barriers to be removed.
  • Data collection on efficiency, solution strategies, and solve latency across age groups and phases.

Main Results:

  • Children improved efficiency and reduced problem-solving time across trials in Phase 1.
  • Four-year-olds demonstrated significantly greater efficiency and flexibility than 2-year-olds in both phases.
  • No child age group matched the flexibility of nonhuman primates, possibly due to less initial task exploration.

Conclusions:

  • Cognitive flexibility shows developmental changes throughout early childhood.
  • This study provides insights into species differences in cognitive flexibility.
  • Task exploration in initial phases may be crucial for later flexible adaptation.