Blakey, Emma  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3685-3649 and Carroll, Daniel
2018.
Not all distractions are the same: Investigating why preschoolers make distraction errors when switching.
Child Development
89
(2)
, pp. 609-619.
10.1111/cdev.12721
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Abstract
When switching between tasks, preschoolers frequently make distraction errors – as distinct from perseverative errors. This study examines for the first time why preschoolers make these errors. One hundred and sixty-four two- and three-year-olds completed one of four different conditions on a rule-switching task where children sorted stimuli according to one rule and then switched to a new rule. Conditions varied according to the type of information that children needed to ignore. Children made significantly more distraction errors when the to-be-ignored information was related to the previous rule. When it was not related to a previous rule, even young preschoolers could disregard this information. This demonstrates that distraction errors are caused by children’s initial goal-representations that continue to affect performance.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Publication |
| Status: | Published |
| Schools: | Schools > Psychology |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Cognitive flexibility, executive functions, preschoolers |
| Publisher: | Wiley-Blackwell |
| ISSN: | 0009-3920 |
| Funders: | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 23 August 2016 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 19 August 2016 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Dec 2024 16:00 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/93989 |
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