Language, Bilingualism, and Executive Functioning in Early Development

2010 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 888-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bruce Morton
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Dimensional Change ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Standard Account ◽  
Card Sort ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Dimensional Change Card Sort ◽  
New Evidence

Okanda, et al. (2010) reported new evidence concerning associations between language ability, bilingualism, and executive functioning early in development. The paper adds to a growing body of literature suggesting that bilingualism is associated with advantages in executive functioning generally, and the Dimensional Change Card Sort task in particular. However, as with all findings that hinge on between-group comparisons, there is a need to exercise caution before drawing firm conclusions about the effects of bilingualism on the development of executive control. Several lines of recent evidence are outlined that challenge key assumptions underlying the standard account of the bilingual advantage. Okanda, et al.'s findings are discussed in light of this evidence.

scholarly journals Emotion understanding in preschool children

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Costa Martins ◽  
Ana Osório ◽  
Manuela Veríssimo ◽  
Carla Martins
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Dimensional Change ◽  
Emotion Understanding ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Peabody Picture Vocabulary ◽  
Card Sort ◽  
R Language ◽  
Dimensional Change Card Sort

This investigation was aimed at studying the relations between executive functions (EFs) and categorical emotion understanding while controlling for preschoolers’ IQ, language ability and theory of mind (ToM). Specifically, we wanted to analyse the association between emotion understanding and set shifting, due to the lack of studies with this EF. Data of 75 children aged 4½ years (52% boys) was collected in two laboratory visits. Emotion understanding was assessed using the Emotion Recognition Questionnaire, inhibitory control using the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task and set shifting using a version of the Dimensional Change Card Sort task. IQ was evaluated using the WPPSI-R, language using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Revised; and ToM using six standardized tasks. Set shifting, but not inhibitory control, predicted emotion understanding, over and above mothers’ age, and children’s IQ, language ability, and ToM. Mothers’ age and children’s language ability were also significant predictors in the final regression model. Results suggest that the capacity to shift mental sets is linked with inter-individual differences in children’s understanding of situational causes of emotion. Therefore studying EFs as correlates of emotion understanding is an important focus of future research.

scholarly journals Processing of Code-Switched Sentences in Noise by Bilingual Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1283-1302
Author(s):  
Megan C. Gross ◽  
Haliee Patel ◽  
Margarita Kaushanskaya
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Dimensional Change ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Card Sort ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Language Measures ◽  
Dimensional Change Card Sort

Purpose The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of code-switching on bilingual children's online processing and offline comprehension of sentences in the presence of noise. In addition, the study examined individual differences in language ability and cognitive control skills as moderators of children's ability to process code-switched sentences in noise. Method The participants were 50 Spanish–English bilingual children, ages 7;0–11;8 (years;months). Children completed an auditory moving window task to examine whether they processed sentences with code-switching more slowly and less accurately than single-language sentences in the presence of noise. They completed the Dimensional Change Card Sort task to index cognitive control and standardized language measures in English and Spanish to index relative language dominance and overall language ability. Results Children were significantly less accurate in answering offline comprehension questions about code-switched sentences presented in noise compared to single-language sentences, especially for their dominant language. They also tended to exhibit slower processing speed, but costs did not reach significance. Language ability had an overall effect on offline comprehension but did not moderate the effects of code-switching. Cognitive control moderated the extent to which offline comprehension costs were affected by language dominance. Conclusions The findings of the current study suggest that code-switching, especially in the presence of background noise, may place additional demands on children's ability to comprehend sentences. However, it may be the processing of the nondominant language, rather than code-switching per se, that is especially difficult in the presence of noise.

scholarly journals Enhancing executive functioning among toddlers in foster care with an attachment-based intervention

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 575-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Lind ◽  
K. Lee Raby ◽  
E. B. Caron ◽  
Caroline K. P. Roben ◽  
Mary Dozier
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Foster Children ◽  
Dimensional Change ◽  
Attention Problems ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Card Sort ◽  
Children In Foster Care ◽  
Control Intervention ◽  
Dimensional Change Card Sort

AbstractYoung children in foster care often experience adversity, such as maltreatment and lack of stability in early caregiving relationships. As a result, these children are at risk for a range of problems, including deficits in executive functioning. The Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up for Toddlers (ABC-T) intervention was designed to help foster parents behave in ways that promote the development of young children's emerging self-regulatory capabilities. Participants included 173 parent–toddler dyads in three groups: foster families that were randomly assigned to receive either the ABC-T intervention (n= 63) or a control intervention (n= 58), as well as low-risk parent–toddler dyads from intact families (n= 52). At a follow-up conducted when children were approximately 48 months old, children's executive functioning abilities were assessed with the attention problems scale of the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000) and a graded version of the Dimensional Change Card Sort developed for preschoolers (Beck, Schaefer, Pang, & Carlson, 2011). Results showed that foster children whose parents received the ABC-T intervention and low-risk children never placed in foster care had fewer parent-reported attention problems and demonstrated greater cognitive flexibility during the Dimensional Change Card Sort than foster children whose parents received the control intervention. These results indicate that an attachment-based intervention implemented among toddlers in foster care is effective in enhancing children's executive functioning capabilities.

scholarly journals Absence of a bilingual cognitive flexibility advantage: A replication study in preschoolers

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0255157
Author(s):  
Anahita Shokrkon ◽  
Elena Nicoladis
Keyword(s):  
Digit Span ◽  
Dimensional Change ◽  
Replication Study ◽  
Card Sort ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Dimensional Change Card Sort ◽  
Better Than ◽  
English Monolingual

Some studies have found a bilingual advantage in children’s executive function and some failed to find a bilingual advantage. For example, the results of a previous study by Bialystok & Martin (2004) indicated that Chinese-English bilingual preschool children outperformed English monolingual children in solving the dimensional change card sort (DCCS). The goal of our study was to replicate this study using the same dimensional change card sort task. We also tested our participants on vocabulary and digit span. Our participants were 40 English monolingual and 40 Mandarin-English bilingual children and were within the same age range as the children in Bialystok & Martin’s (2004) study. Our results showed no difference between bilinguals and monolinguals. Both groups of children in the present study performed better than those in Bialystok and Martin (2004), but the bigger difference was between the two groups of monolinguals. These results suggest that it could be important to attend to monolingual children’s performance, in addition to bilinguals’, when testing for a bilingual advantage. Our replication study is important because it helps with clarifying the validity of studies finding a bilingual advantage and to help future researchers know whether to build on their findings or not.

scholarly journals Not Quite as Grown-Up as We Like to Think

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adele Diamond ◽  
Natasha Kirkham
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Dimensional Change ◽  
Dependent Measure ◽  
The Other ◽  
Card Sort ◽  
Sensitive Measure ◽  
Infancy And Early Childhood ◽  
Dimensional Change Card Sort

Greater continuity in cognition between children and adults may exist than is usually appreciated. It was thought that after 3 to 4 years of age, the problem in switching on the dimensional-change card-sort task disappears. We show here, however, that if speed is used as the dependent measure, the effect of the first dimension is evident even in adults. Adults, like preschoolers, show difficulty in switching from a block of sorting by color or shape to a block of sorting by the other dimension. Notably, performance throughout the session was affected by the first dimension by which stimuli were sorted. We hypothesize that perhaps adults never fully outgrow any of the cognitive and perceptual biases of infancy and early childhood. Other examples of such biases that appear to still be present in adults are discussed. Conversely, the assumption that the optimal dependent measure for adults is the most sensitive measure for children is questioned.

Appendix: Summary of Versions of the Dimensional Change Card Sort Used

2003 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 120-123
Author(s):  
Philip David Zelazo ◽  
Ulrich Muller ◽  
Douglas Frye ◽  
Stuart Marcovitch
Keyword(s):  
Dimensional Change ◽  
Card Sort ◽  
Dimensional Change Card Sort

scholarly journals Tablet Use Affects Preschoolers’ Executive Function: fNIRS Evidence from the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Li ◽  
Dandan Wu ◽  
Jinfeng Yang ◽  
Jiutong Luo ◽  
Sha Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Dimensional Change ◽  
Heavy User ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Card Sort ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Dimensional Change Card Sort

This study aims to examine the impact of tablet use on preschoolers’ executive function during the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task (DCCS) task using the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Altogether 38 Chinese preschoolers (Mage = 5.0 years, SD = 0.69 years, 17 girls) completed the tasks before the COVID-19 lockdown. Eight children never used tablets, while 16 children were diagnosed as the ‘heavy-user'. The results indicated that: (1) the 'Non-user' outperformed the 'Heavy-user' with a significantly higher correct rate in the DCCS task; (2) the two groups differed significantly in the activation of the prefrontal cortex (BA 9): the 'Non-user' pattern is normal and healthy, whereas the 'Heavy-user' pattern is not normal and needs further exploration.

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