Two birds in the hand: Concurrent and switching cognitive flexibility in preschoolers

Abstract

Cognitive flexibility, the ability to think of something in more than one way, has been studied in preschoolers from two different approaches. Within executive function research, most studies operationalize cognitive flexibility using sequential tasks in which children must think of a specific stimulus first in one way and then in another way (switching cognitive flexibility). In contrast, Piagetian multiplicative classification tasks also require cognitive flexibility by asking children to consider multiple dimensions of a single stimulus at the same time. Piagetian tasks are typically inductive and require abstraction skills. Although research with Piagetian tasks suggests that children are unable to consider multiple dimensions simultaneously until they reach the concrete operational stage, there is some evidence that preschoolers can coordinate two dimensions simultaneously in deductive tasks. In this study, we examined a deductive version of a matrix completion task in which preschoolers (N = 102) were asked to consider two dimensions of a given stimulus simultaneously. We show that 4- and 5-year-olds can succeed on this task and compare children’s performance on the matrix completion task with their performance on a widely used switching cognitive flexibility task, the Dimensional Change Card Sort. We discuss the implications of relating the two aspects of cognitive flexibility development.