Development and Plasticity of Cognitive Flexibility in Early and Middle Childhood

Frances Buttelmann, Julia Karbach, Frances Buttelmann, Julia Karbach

Abstract

Cognitive flexibility, the ability to flexibly switch between tasks, is a core dimension of executive functions (EFs) allowing to control actions and to adapt flexibly to changing environments. It supports the management of multiple tasks, the development of novel, adaptive behavior and is associated with various life outcomes. Cognitive flexibility develops rapidly in preschool and continuously increases well into adolescence, mirroring the growth of neural networks involving the prefrontal cortex. Over the past decade, there has been increasing interest in interventions designed to improve cognitive flexibility in children in order to support the many developmental outcomes associated with cognitive flexibility. This article provides a brief review of the development and plasticity of cognitive flexibility across early and middle childhood (i.e., from preschool to elementary school age). Focusing on interventions designed to improve cognitive flexibility in typically developing children, we report evidence for significant training and transfer effects while acknowledging that current findings on transfer are heterogeneous. Finally, we introduce metacognitive training as a promising new approach to promote cognitive flexibility and to support transfer of training.

Keywords: DCCS; childhood; cognitive flexibility; executive functions; intervention; metacognition; task switching.

References

    1. Andersen L. M., Visser I., Crone E. A., Koolschijn P. C., Raijmakers M. E. (2014). Cognitive strategy use as an index of developmental differences in neural responses to feedback. Dev. Psychol. 50 2686–2696. 10.1037/a0038106
    1. Anderson V. A., Anderson P., Northam E., Jacobs R., Catroppa C. (2001). Development of executive functions through late childhood and adolescence in an Australian sample. Dev. Neuropsychol. 20 385–406. 10.1207/S15326942DN2001_5
    1. Au J., Sheehan E., Tsai N., Duncan G. J., Buschkuehl M., Jaeggi S. M. (2015). Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory: a meta-analysis. Psychon. Bull. Rev. 22 366–377. 10.3758/s13423-014-0699-x
    1. Bherer L., Kramer A. F., Peterson M. S., Colcombe S., Erickson K., Becic E. (2008). Transfer effects in task-set cost and dual-task cost after dual-task training in older and younger adults: further evidence for cognitive plasticity in attentional control in late adulthood. Exp. Aging Res. 34 188–219.10.1080/03610730802070068
    1. Bunge S. A., Wright S. B. (2007). Neurodevelopmental changes in working memory and cognitive control. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 17 243–250.10.1016/j.conb.2007.02.005
    1. Bunge S. A., Zelazo P. D. (2006). A brain-based account of the development of rule use in childhood. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 15 118–121.
    1. Bürki C. N., Ludwig C., Chicherio C., de Ribaupierre A. (2014). Individual differences in cognitive plasticity: an investigation of training curves in younger and older adults. Psychol. Res. 78 821–835. 10.1007/s00426-014-0559-3
    1. Carpenter M., Nagell K., Tomasello M., Butterworth G., Moore C. (1998). Social cognition, joint attention, and communicative competence from 9 to 15 months of age. Monogr. Soc. Res. Child Dev. 63 1–143. 10.2307/1166214
    1. Casey B. J., Tottenham N., Liston C., Durston S. (2005). Imaging the developing brain: what have we learned about cognitive development? Trends Cogn. Sci. 9 104–110. 10.1016/j.tics.2005.01.011
    1. Cepeda N. J., Kramer A. F., Gonzalez de Sather J. C. M. (2001). Changes in executive control across the life span: examination of task-switching performance. Dev. Psychol. 37 715–730. 10.1037//0012-1649.37.5.715
    1. Chevalier N., Blaye A. (2009). Setting goals to switch between tasks: effect of cue transparency on children’s cognitive flexibility. Dev. Psychol. 45 782–797. 10.1037/a0015409
    1. Chevalier N., Blaye A. (2016). Metacognitive monitoring of executive control engagement during childhood. Child Dev. 87 1264–1276. 10.1111/cdev.12537
    1. Chevalier N., Dauvier B., Blaye A. (2009). Preschoolers’ use of feedback for flexible behavior: insights from a computational model. J. Exp. Child Psychol. 103 251–267. 10.1016/j.jecp.2009.03.002
    1. Colé P., Duncan L. G., Blaye A. (2014). Cognitive flexibility predicts early reading skills. Front. Psychol. 5:565 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00565
    1. Crone E. A., Donohue S. E., Honomichl R., Wendelken C., Bunge S. A. (2006). Brain regions mediating flexible rule use during development. J. Neurosci. 26 11239–11247. 10.1523/jneurosci.2165-06.2006
    1. Crone E. A., Ridderinkhof K. R., Worm M., Somsen R. J. M., van der Molen M. W. (2004). Switching between spatial stimulus–response mappings: a developmental study of cognitive flexibility. Dev. Sci. 7 443–455. 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2004.00365.x
    1. Davidson M. C., Amso D., Anderson L. C., Diamond A. (2006). Development of cognitive control and executive functions from 4 to 13 years: evidence from manipulations of memory, inhibition, and task switching. Neuropsychologia 44 2037–2078. 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.02.006
    1. Diamond A. (2012). Activities and programs that improve children’s executive functions. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 21 335–341. 10.1177/0963721412453722
    1. Diamond A. (2013). Executive functions. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 64 135–168. 10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750
    1. Doebel S., Zelazo P. D. (2015). A meta-analysis of the Dimensional Change Card Sort: implications for developmental theories and the measurement of executive function in children. Dev. Rev. 38 241–268. 10.1016/j.dr.2015.09.001
    1. Dörrenbächer S., Müller P. M., Tröger J., Kray J. (2014). Dissociable effects of game elements on motivation and cognition in a task-switching training in middle childhood. Front. Psychol. 5:1275 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01275
    1. Duncan J., Johnson R., Swales M., Freer C. (1997). Frontal lobe deficits after head injury: unity and diversity of function. Cogn. Neuropsychol. 14 713–741. 10.1080/026432997381420
    1. DuPuis D., Ram N., Willner C. J., Karalunas S., Segalowitz S. J., Gatzke-Kopp L. M. (2014). Implications of ongoing neural development for the measurement of the error-related negativity in childhood. Dev. Sci. 18 452–468. 10.1111/desc.12229
    1. Espinet S. D., Anderson J. E., Zelazo P. D. (2012). N2 amplitude as a neural marker of executive function in young children: an ERP study of children who switch versus perseverate on the Dimensional Change Card Sort. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 2 49–58. 10.1016/j.dcn.2011.12.002
    1. Espinet S. D., Anderson J. E., Zelazo P. D. (2013). Reflection training improves executive function in preschool-age children: behavioral and neural effects. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 4 3–15. 10.1016/j.dcn.2012.11.009
    1. Ezekiel F., Bosma R., Morton J. B. (2013). Dimensional change card sort performance associated with age-related differences in functional connectivity of lateral prefrontal cortex. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 5 40–50. 10.1016/j.dcn.2012.12.001
    1. Garon N., Bryson S. E., Smith I. M. (2008). Executive function in preschoolers: a review using an integrative framework. Psychol. Bull. 134 31–60. 10.1037/0033-2909.134.1.31
    1. Gogtay N., Giedd J. N., Hayashi K. M., Greenstein D., Vaituzis C., Nugent T. F., et al. (2004). Dynamic mapping of human cortical development during childhood through early adulthood. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101 8174–8179. 10.1073/pnas.0402680101
    1. Houdé O., Zago L., Crivello F., Moutier S., Pineau A., Mazoyer B., et al. (2001). Access to deductive logic depends on a right ventromedial prefrontal area devoted to emotion and feeling. Neuroimage 14 1486–1492. 10.1006/nimg.2001.0930
    1. Houdé O., Zago L., Mellet E., Moutier S., Pineau A., Mazoyer B., et al. (2000). Shifting from the perceptual brain to the logical brain. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 12 721–728. 10.1162/089892900562525
    1. Hughes C. (1998). Executive function in preschoolers: links with theory of mind and verbal ability. Br. J. Dev. Psychol. 16 233–253. 10.1111/j.2044-835X.1998.tb00921.x
    1. Huizinga M., Dolan C. V., van der Molen M. W. (2006). Age-related change in executive function: developmental trends and a latent variable analysis. Neuropsychologia 44 2017–2036. 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.01.010
    1. Huizinga M., van der Molen M. W. (2007). Age-group differences in set-switching and set-maintenance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task. Dev. Neuropsychol. 31 193–215. 10.1080/87565640701190817
    1. Jaeggi S. M., Buschkuehl M., Jonides J., Shah P. (2011). Short-and long-term benefits of cognitive training. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 108 10081–10086. 10.1073/pnas.1103228108
    1. Jurado M. B., Rosselli M. (2007). The elusive nature of executive functions: a review of our current understanding. Neuropsychol. Rev. 17 213–233.10.1007/s11065-007-9040-z
    1. Karbach J., Kray J. (2007). Developmental changes in switching between mental task sets: the influence of verbal labeling in childhood. J. Cogn. Dev. 8 205–236. 10.1080/15248370701202430
    1. Karbach J., Kray J. (2009). How useful is executive control training? Age differences in near and far transfer of task-switching training. Dev. Sci. 12 978–990. 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00846.x
    1. Karbach J., Kray J. (2016). “Executive functions,” in Cognitive Training – An Overview of Features and Applications, eds Strobach T., Karbach J. (Cham: Springer International; ), 93–103.
    1. Karbach J., Unger K. (2014). Executive control training from middle childhood to adolescence. Front. Psychol. 5:390 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00390
    1. Karbach J., Verhaeghen P. (2014). Making working memory work a meta-analysis of executive-control and working memory training in older adults. Psychol. Sci. 25 2027–2037. 10.1177/0956797614548725
    1. Katz B., Jones M. R., Shah P., Buschkühl M., Jaeggi S. M. (2016). “Individual differences and motivational effects,” in Cognitive Training – An Overview of Features and Applications, eds Strobach T., Karbach J. (Cham: Springer International; ), 157–166.
    1. Kloo D., Perner J. (2003). Training transfer between card sorting and false belief understanding: helping children apply conflicting descriptions. Child Dev. 74 1823–1839. 10.1046/j.1467-8624.2003.00640.x
    1. Könen T., Karbach J. (2015). The benefits of looking at intraindividual dynamics in cognitive training data. Front. Psychol. 6:615 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00615
    1. Könen T., Strobach T., Karbach J. (2016). “Working memory,” in Cognitive Training – An Overview of Features and Applications, eds Strobach T., Karbach J. (Cham: Springer International; ), 59–68.
    1. Kray J., Eber J., Karbach J. (2008). Verbal self-instructions in task switching: a compensatory tool for action-control deficits in childhood and old age? Dev. Sci. 11 223–236. 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00673.x
    1. Kray J., Karbach J., Haenig S., Freitag C. (2012). Can task-switching training enhance executive control functioning in children with attention deficit/-hyperactivity disorder? Front. Hum. Neurosci. 5:180 10.3389/fnhum.2011.00180
    1. Miyake A., Friedman N. P., Emerson M. J., Witzki A. H., Howerter A., Wager T. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: a latent variable analysis. Cogn. Psychol. 41 49–100. 10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
    1. Moffitt T. E., Arseneault L., Belsky D., Dickson N., Hancox R. J., Harrington H., et al. (2011). A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 108 2693–2698. 10.1073/pnas.1010076108
    1. Monsell S. (2003). Task switching. Trends Cogn. Sci. 7 134–140. 10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00028-7
    1. Moriguchi Y., Hiraki K. (2009). Neural origin of cognitive shifting in young children. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106 6017–6021. 10.1073/pnas.0809747106
    1. Moriguchi Y., Hiraki K. (2011). Longitudinal development of prefrontal function during early childhood. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 1 153–162. 10.1016/j.dcn.2010.12.004
    1. Moriguchi Y., Hiraki K. (2014). Neural basis of learning from television in young children. Trends Neurosci. Educ. 3 122–127. 10.1016/j.tine.2014.07.001
    1. Moriguchi Y., Sakata Y., Ishibashi M., Ishikawa Y. (2015). Teaching others rule-use improves executive function and prefrontal activations in young children. Front. Psychol. 6:894 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00894
    1. Morton J. B., Bosma R., Ansari D. (2009). Age-related changes in brain activation associated with dimensional shifts of attention: an fMRI study. Neuroimage 46 249–256. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.01.037
    1. Reimers S., Maylor E. A. (2005). Task switching across the life span: effects of age on general and specific switch costs. Dev. Psychol. 41 661–671.10.1037/0012-1649.41.4.661
    1. Röthlisberger M., Neuenschwander R., Cimeli P., Michel E., Roebers C. M. (2012). Improving executive functions in 5- and 6-year-olds: evaluation of a small group intervention in prekindergarten and kindergarten children. Infant Child Dev. 21 411–429. 10.1002/icd.752
    1. Rubia K., Smith A. B., Woolley J., Nosarti C., Heyman I., Taylor E., et al. (2006). Progressive increase of frontostriatal brain activation from childhood to adulthood during event-related tasks of cognitive control. Hum. Brain Mapp. 27 973–993. 10.1002/hbm.20237
    1. Rueda M. R., Cómbita L. M., Pozuelos J. P. (2016). “Childhood and adolescence,” in Cognitive Training – An Overview of Features and Applications, eds Strobach T., Karbach J. (Cham: Springer International; ), 33–44.
    1. Schwaighofer M., Fischer F., Bühner M. (2015). Does working memory training transfer? A meta-analysis including training conditions as moderators. Educ. Psychol. 50 138–166. 10.1080/00461520.2015.1036274
    1. Shipstead Z., Redick T. S., Engle R. W. (2012). Is working memory training effective? Psychol. Bull. 138 628–654. 10.1037/a0027473
    1. Stuss D. T., Alexander M. P. (2000). Executive functions and the frontal lobes: a conceptual view. Psychol. Res. 63 289–298.
    1. Titz C., Karbach J. (2014). Working memory and executive functions: effects of training on academic achievement. Psychol. Res. 78 852–868. 10.1007/s00426-013-0537-1
    1. Traverso L., Viterbori P., Usai M. C. (2015). Improving executive function in childhood: evaluation of a training intervention for 5-year-old children. Front. Psychol. 6:525 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00525
    1. van Bers B. M., Visser I., Raijmakers M. (2014). Preschoolers learn to switch with causally related feedback. J. Exp. Child Psychol. 126 91–102. 10.1016/j.jecp.2014.03.007
    1. Wendelken C., Munakata Y., Baym C., Souza M., Bunge S. A. (2012). Flexible rule use: common neural substrates in children and adults. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 2 329–339. 10.1016/j.dcn.2012.02.001
    1. Wiebe S. A., Espy K. A., Charak D. (2008). Using confirmatory factor analysis to understand executive control in preschool children: I. Latent structure. Dev. Psychol. 44 575–587. 10.1037/0012-1649.44.2.575
    1. Wiebe S. A., Sheffield T., Nelson J. M., Clark C. A. C., Chevalier N., Espy K. A. (2011). The structure of executive function in 3-year-olds. J. Exp. Child Psychol. 108 436–452. 10.1016/j.jecp.2010.08.008
    1. Yeniad N., Malda M., Mesman J., van Ijzendoorn M. H., Pieper S. (2013). Shifting ability predicts math and reading performance in children: a meta-analytical study. Learn. Individ. Differ. 23 1–9. 10.1016/j.lindif.2012.10.004
    1. Zelazo P. D. (2006). The Dimensional Change Card Sort: a method of assessing executive function in children. Nat. Protoc. 1 297–301. 10.1038/nprot.2006.46
    1. Zelazo P. D., Muller U., Frye D., Marcovitch S. (2003). The development of executive function. Monogr. Soc. Res. Child Dev. 68 vii-137. 10.1111/j.0037-976x.2003.00261.x
    1. Zinke K., Einert M., Pfennig L., Kliegel M. (2012). Plasticity of executive control through task switching training in adolescents. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 6:41 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00041

Source: PubMed

赞助者和合作者

医疗条件

药物干预

3
订阅