Factors responsible for performance on the day-night task: response set or semantics?
In a recent study Diamond, Kirkham and Amso (2002) obtained evidence consistent with the claim that the day-night task requires inhibition because the picture and its corresponding conflicting response are semantically related. In their study children responded more accurately in a dog-pig condition (see /day picture/ say "dog"; see /night picture/ say "pig") than the standard day-night condition (see /day picture/ say "night"; see /night picture/ say "day"). However, there is another effect that may have made the day-night condition harder than the dog-pig condition: the response set effect. In the day-night condition the names of the two stimuli ("day" and "night") and the two corresponding conflicting responses ("night" and "day") are from the same response set: both "day" and "night". In the dog-pig condition the names of the stimuli ("day", "night") and the corresponding responses ("dog", "pig") are from a different response set. In two experiments (Experiment 1 with 4-year-olds (n = 25); Experiment 2 with , 4-, 5-, 7- and 11-year-olds (n = 81)) children were tested on four experimental conditions that enabled the effects of semantics and response set to be separated. Overall, our data suggest that response set is a major factor in creating the inhibitory demands of the day-night task in children of all ages. Results are discussed in relation to other inhibitory tasks.
Simpson
Andrew
A
Department of Psychology, London Metropolitan University, Old Castle Street, London E1 7NT, UK.
Riggs
Kevin J
KJ
D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D003210:Concept Formation; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D009275:Names; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D012660:Semantics; D012718:Set, Psychology; D014796:Visual Perception; D014825:Vocabulary