title: How Toddlers Acquire and Transfer Tool Knowledge: Developmental Changes and the Role of Executive Functions.
abstract: This report investigates tool learning and its relations to executive functions (EFs) in toddlers. In Study 1 (N = 93), 18-, 20-, 22-, and 24-month-old children learned equally well to choose a correct tool from observation, whereas performance based on feedback improved with age. Knowledge transfer showed significant progress after 22 months of age: Older children ignored irrelevant features more easily and adjusted their behavior more flexibly. Study 2 (N = 62) revealed that spontaneous transfer in 22- to 24-month-olds was related to set-shifting skills and response inhibition. Flexible adaptation to feedback correlated with working-memory capacity. These findings suggest that toddlerhood is a highly dynamic phase of tool learning and that EFs are related to transfer performance at this age.
authors.affiliation: University of Heidelberg.
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5129-9004
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pauen
authors.affiliation: University of Heidelberg.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bechtel-Kuehne
mesh_terms: D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D014163:Transfer, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*