Measuring the development of executive control with the shape school.
Although several neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders can emerge during the preschool period, there are comparatively few instruments to assess executive control. Evidence for validity of the Shape School (K. A. Espy, 1997) was examined in a sample of 219 typically developing young children. There was good evidence for validity, as Shape School performance variables were interrelated and were associated to other criterion measures considered to measure aspects of executive control. Also suggesting validity, the Shape School variables varied as a function of whether the task demands (a) were executive, (b) required inhibition of a prepotent response or context-controlled selection among relevant stimulus-response sets, and (c) included unitary or concurrent processing. The Shape School may be an effective tool by which to measure executive control in young children who have atypical developmental patterns.
Espy
Kimberly Andrews
KA
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Bull
Rebecca
R
School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen.
Martin
Jessica
J
Department of Family & Community Medicine, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.
Stroup
Walter
W
Department of Statistics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology