title: Underpinnings of the costs of flexibility in preschool children: the roles of inhibition and working memory.
abstract: This study addressed the respective contributions of inhibition and working memory to two underlying components of flexibility, goal representation (as assessed by mixing costs) and switch implementation (as assessed by local costs), across the preschool period. By later preschool age (4 years, 6 months and 5 years, 3 months), both inhibition and working-memory performance were associated with mixing costs, but not with local costs, whereas no relation was observed earlier (3 years, 9 months). The relations of inhibition and working memory to flexibility appear to emerge late in the preschool period and are mainly driven by goal representation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA. nicolas.chevalier@colorado.edu
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chevalier
authors.forename: Tiffany D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Sheffield
authors.forename: Jennifer Mize
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Caron A C
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Sandra A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Wiebe
authors.forename: Kimberly Andrews
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Espy
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests