title: The dynamics of development on the Dimensional Change Card Sorting task.
abstract: A widely used paradigm to study cognitive flexibility in preschoolers is the Dimensional Change Card Sorting (DCCS) task. The developmental dynamics of DCCS performance was studied in a cross-sectional design (N = 93, 3 to 5 years of age) using a computerized version of the standard DCCS task. A model-based analysis of the data showed that development on the DCCS task is best described as a discontinuous change in performance on the post-switch phase of the task. In addition to a perseveration group and a switch group, a transitional group that showed shifts between perseverating and switching during the post-switch trials could be distinguished. Computational models of performance and development on the DCCS task cannot, in their current forms, explain these results. We discuss how a catastrophe model of the developmental changes in task performance could be used to generate specific hypotheses about the variables that control development of DCCS performance.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. b.m.c.w.vanbers@uva.nl
authors: Bianca M C W
authors: BM
authors: van Bers
authors: Ingmar
authors: I
authors: Visser
authors: Tessa J P
authors: TJ
authors: van Schijndel
authors: Dorothy J
authors: DJ
authors: Mandell
authors: Maartje E J
authors: ME
authors: Raijmakers
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis