Individual Differences In Cognitive Flexibility Research Articles

A computational model of inner speech supporting flexible goal-directed behaviour in Autism

Experimental and computational studies propose that inner speech boosts categorisation skills and executive functions, making human behaviour more focused and flexible. In addition, many clinical studies highlight a relationship between poor inner-speech and an executive impairment in autism spectrum condition (ASC), but contrasting findings are reported. Here we directly investigate the latter issue through a previously implemented and validated computational model of the Wisconsin Cards Sorting Tests. In particular, the model was applied to explore potential individual differences in cognitive flexibility and inner speech contribution in autistic and neurotypical participants. Our model predicts that the use of inner-speech could increase along the life-span of neurotypical participants but would be reduced in autistic ones. Although we found more attentional failures (i.e., wrong behavioural rule switches) in autistic children/teenagers and more perseverative behaviours in autistic young/older adults, only autistic children and older adults exhibited a lower performance (i.e., fewer consecutive correct rule switches) than matched control groups. Overall, our results corroborate the idea that the reduced use of inner speech could represent a disadvantage for autistic children and autistic older adults. Moreover, the results suggest that cognitive-behavioural therapies should focus on developing inner speech skills in autistic children as this could provide cognitive support throughout their whole life span.

Sufficient reliability of the behavioral and computational readouts of a probabilistic reversal learning task

Task-based measures that capture neurocognitive processes can help bridge the gap between brain and behavior. To transfer tasks to clinical application, reliability is a crucial benchmark because it imposes an upper bound to potential correlations with other variables (e.g., symptom or brain data). However, the reliability of many task readouts is low. In this study, we scrutinized the retest reliability of a probabilistic reversal learning task (PRLT) that is frequently used to characterize cognitive flexibility in psychiatric populations. We analyzed data from N = 40 healthy subjects, who completed the PRLT twice. We focused on how individual metrics are derived, i.e., whether data were partially pooled across participants and whether priors were used to inform estimates. We compared the reliability of the resulting indices across sessions, as well as the internal consistency of a selection of indices. We found good to excellent reliability for behavioral indices as derived from mixed-effects models that included data from both sessions. The internal consistency was good to excellent. For indices derived from computational modeling, we found excellent reliability when using hierarchical estimation with empirical priors and including data from both sessions. Our results indicate that the PRLT is well equipped to measure individual differences in cognitive flexibility in reinforcement learning. However, this depends heavily on hierarchical modeling of the longitudinal data (whether sessions are modeled separately or jointly), on estimation methods, and on the combination of parameters included in computational models. We discuss implications for the applicability of PRLT indices in psychiatric research and as diagnostic tools.

Quantitative prediction of individual cognitive flexibility using structural MRI.

Cognitive flexibility, a core dimension of executive functions, refers to one's ability to switch between multiple tasks and sets in a quick and flexible manner. However, whether objective neuroimaging can be used to quantitatively predict cognitive flexibility at the individual level remains largely unexplored. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging data of 100 healthy young participants from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) dataset were used to calculate gray matter volume (GMV). Cognitive flexibility was assessed by the Dimensional Change Card Sort Test (DCCS). Using a multivariate machine learning technique known as relevance vector regression (RVR), we examined the relationship between GMV and cognitive flexibility performance. We found that the application of RVR to GMV allowed quantitative prediction of the DCCS scores with statistically significant accuracy (correlation = 0.41, P = 0.0001; mean squared error = 73.35, P = 0.0001). Accurate prediction was mainly based on GMV in the temporal regions. In addition, a univariate approach also revealed an inverse association between DCCS scores and GMV in the temporal areas. Our findings provide preliminary support to the development of neuroimaging techniques as a useful means to inform the cognitive assessment of individuals. Furthermore, the significant contribution of temporal regions suggests the prominent role of temporal cortex morphology in individual differences in cognitive flexibility.

Cognitive underpinnings of nationalistic ideology in the context of Brexit

Nationalistic identities often play an influential role in citizens' voting behavior and political engagement. Nationalistic ideologies tend to have firm categories and rules for what belongs to and represents the national culture. In a sample of 332 UK citizens, we tested whether strict categorization of stimuli and rules in objective cognitive tasks would be evident in strongly nationalistic individuals. Using voting behavior and attitudes from the United Kingdom's 2016 EU referendum, we found that a flexible representation of national identity and culture was linked to cognitive flexibility in the ideologically neutral Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Remote Associates Test, and to self-reported flexibility under uncertainty. Path analysis revealed that subjective and objective cognitive inflexibility predicted heightened authoritarianism, nationalism, conservatism, and system justification, and these in turn were predictive of support for Brexit and opposition to immigration, the European Union, and free movement of labor. This model accounted for 47.6% of the variance in support for Brexit. Path analysis models were also predictive of participants' sense of personal attachment to the United Kingdom, signifying that individual differences in cognitive flexibility may contribute toward ideological thinking styles that shape both nationalistic attitudes and personal sense of nationalistic identity. These findings further suggest that emotionally neutral "cold" cognitive information processing-and not just "hot" emotional cognition-may play a key role in ideological behavior and identity.

An fMRI investigation of the relationship between future imagination and cognitive flexibility

While future imagination is largely considered to be a cognitive process grounded in default mode network activity, studies have shown that future imagination recruits regions in both default mode and frontoparietal control networks. In addition, it has recently been shown that the ability to imagine the future is associated with cognitive flexibility, and that tasks requiring cognitive flexibility result in increased coupling of the default mode network with frontoparietal control and salience networks. In the current study, we investigated the neural correlates underlying the association between cognitive flexibility and future imagination in two ways. First, we experimentally varied the degree of cognitive flexibility required during future imagination by manipulating the disparateness of episodic details contributing to imagined events. To this end, participants generated episodic details (persons, locations, objects) within three social spheres; during fMRI scanning they were presented with sets of three episodic details all taken from the same social sphere (Congruent condition) or different social spheres (Incongruent condition) and required to imagine a future event involving the three details. We predicted that, relative to the Congruent condition, future simulation in the Incongruent condition would be associated with increased activity in regions of the default mode, frontoparietal and salience networks. Second, we hypothesized that individual differences in cognitive flexibility, as measured by performance on the Alternate Uses Task, would correspond to individual differences in the brain regions recruited during future imagination. A task partial least squares (PLS) analysis showed that the Incongruent condition resulted in an increase in activity in regions in salience networks (e.g. the insula) but, contrary to our prediction, reduced activity in many regions of the default mode network (including the hippocampus). A subsequent functional connectivity (within-subject seed PLS) analysis showed that the insula exhibited increased coupling with default mode regions during the Incongruent condition. Finally, a behavioral PLS analysis showed that individual differences in cognitive flexibility were associated with differences in activity in a number of regions from frontoparietal, salience and default-mode networks during both future imagination conditions, further highlighting that the cognitive flexibility underlying future imagination is grounded in the complex interaction of regions in these networks.

Striatal activation as a neural link between cognitive and perceptual flexibility

Our brain continuously evaluates different perceptual interpretations of the available sensory data in order to enable flexible updates of conscious experience. Individuals' perceptual flexibility can be assessed using ambiguous stimuli that cause our perception to continuously switch between two mutually exclusive interpretations. Neural processes underlying perceptual switching are thought to involve the visual cortex, but also non-sensory brain circuits that have been implicated in cognitive processes, such as frontal and parietal regions. Perceptual flexibility varies strongly between individuals and has been related to dopaminergic neurotransmission. Likewise, there is also considerable individual variability in tasks that require flexibility in cognition, and dopamine-dependent striato-frontal signals have been associated with processes promoting cognitive flexibility. Given the anatomical and neurochemical similarities with regard to perceptual and cognitive flexibility, we here probed whether individual differences in perceptual flexibility during bistable perception are related to individual cognitive flexibility associated neural correlates. 126 healthy individuals performed rule-based task switching during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and reported perceptual switching during the viewing of a modified version of the Necker cube. Mean phase duration as measure of perceptual flexibility correlated with task-switching associated activity in the right putamen as part of the basal ganglia. In addition, we found a tentative correlation between perceptual and cognitive flexibility. These results indicate that individual differences in cognitive flexibility and associated fronto-striatal processing contribute to differences in perceptual flexibility. Our findings thus provide empirical support for the general notion of shared mechanisms between perception and cognition.

Distinct Global Brain Dynamics and Spatiotemporal Organization of the Salience Network.

One of the most fundamental features of the human brain is its ability to detect and attend to salient goal-relevant events in a flexible manner. The salience network (SN), anchored in the anterior insula and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, plays a crucial role in this process through rapid detection of goal-relevant events and facilitation of access to appropriate cognitive resources. Here, we leverage the subsecond resolution of large multisession fMRI datasets from the Human Connectome Project and apply novel graph-theoretical techniques to investigate the dynamic spatiotemporal organization of the SN. We show that the large-scale brain dynamics of the SN are characterized by several distinctive and robust properties. First, the SN demonstrated the highest levels of flexibility in time-varying connectivity with other brain networks, including the frontoparietal network (FPN), the cingulate–opercular network (CON), and the ventral and dorsal attention networks (VAN and DAN). Second, dynamic functional interactions of the SN were among the most spatially varied in the brain. Third, SN nodes maintained a consistently high level of network centrality over time, indicating that this network is a hub for facilitating flexible cross-network interactions. Fourth, time-varying connectivity profiles of the SN were distinct from all other prefrontal control systems. Fifth, temporal flexibility of the SN uniquely predicted individual differences in cognitive flexibility. Importantly, each of these results was also observed in a second retest dataset, demonstrating the robustness of our findings. Our study provides fundamental new insights into the distinct dynamic functional architecture of the SN and demonstrates how this network is uniquely positioned to facilitate interactions with multiple functional systems and thereby support a wide range of cognitive processes in the human brain.

Individual Differences in Cognitive Flexibility during Task Switching According to Cognitive Style

Individual Differences in Cognitive Flexibility during Task Switching According to Cognitive Style

Task-switching Cost and Intrinsic Functional Connectivity in the Human Brain: Toward Understanding Individual Differences in Cognitive Flexibility.

The human ability to flexibly alternate between tasks (i.e., task-switching) represents a critical component of cognitive control. Many functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have explored the neural basis of the task-switching. However, no study to date has examined how individual differences in intrinsic functional architecture of the human brain are related to that of the task-switching. In the present study, we took 11 task-switching relevant areas from a meta-analysis study as the regions of interests (ROIs) and estimated their intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) with the whole brain. This procedure was repeated for 32 healthy adults based upon their fMRI scans during resting-state (rfMRI) to investigate the correlations between switching cost and the iFC strength across these participants. This analysis found that switch cost was negatively correlated with a set of iFC involved ROIs including left inferior frontal junction, bilateral superior posterior parietal cortex, left precuneus, bilateral inferior parietal lobule, right middle frontal gyrus and bilateral middle occipital gyrus. These connectivity profiles represent an intrinsic functional architecture of task-switching where the left inferior frontal junction plays a hub role in this brain-behavior association. These findings are highly reproducible in another validation independent sample and provide a novel perspective for understanding the neural basis of individual differences in task-switching behaviors reflected in the intrinsic architecture of the human brain.

Individual differences in 10‐month‐olds' performance on the A‐not‐B task

This study used the classical A-not-B task (Piaget, ) to explore individual differences in cognitive flexibility in 10-month-old infants by: (1) examining how differences in search performance during A trials relate to search performance during B trials; (2) studying the relation between temperamental dimensions and A-not-B performance; and (3) investigating differences in search performance between looking and reaching responses within the same task. Forty infants were tested on a fixed-design-version of the A-not-B task, not allowing for training or individual adjustment, but instead eliciting additional search behaviors than the common correct responses in A trials and perseverative errors in B trials. Infants were also rated by their parents on the temperamental scales Activity level and Attention span. The main findings were: (1) performance on A trials affected B trial performance, with infants being more correct on A trials having more incorrect and less 'no search' responses on B trials; (2) activity level, but not attention span, was related to performance on the A-not-B task, with infants performing better on A trials having a lower activity level; and (3) there were a few differences in performance with regard to modality, indicating that responding correctly by looking may be less cognitively demanding than doing so by reaching. This study demonstrated that 10-month-olds show a wide variation of search behaviors on this A-not-B task, resulting in individual differences in performance. These differences are suggested to reflect variation in temperamental activity level as well as maturity of short term/working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility.

Cognitive flexibility depends on white matter microstructure of the basal ganglia

Ample evidence shows that the basal ganglia play an important role in cognitive flexibility. However, traditionally, cognitive processes have most commonly been associated with the prefrontal cortex. Indeed, current theoretical models of basal ganglia function suggest the basal ganglia interact with the prefrontal cortex and thalamus, via anatomical fronto-striato-thalamic circuits, to implement cognitive flexibility. Here we aimed to assess this hypothesis in humans by associating individual differences in cognitive flexibility with white matter microstructure of the basal ganglia. To this end we employed an attention switching paradigm in adults with ADHD and controls, leading to a broad range in task performance. Attention switching performance could be predicted based on individual differences in white matter microstructure in/around the basal ganglia. Crucially, local white matter showing this association projected to regions in the prefrontal cortex and thalamus. Our findings highlight the crucial role of the basal ganglia and the fronto-striato-thalamic circuit for cognitive flexibility.

Individual Differences in Cognitive Flexibility

I s it better to be flexible, or persistent? A colleague once said that the secret to success in science is perseveration (no, not mere perseverence—that wouldn’t get you very far at all). Yet we all believe that the highest levels of cognitive function are associated with extreme flexibility—the ability to juggle many things at once and not get hung up on just one. Indeed, this ability to juggle the many demands of being a scientist are seemingly even more important these days than perseverating on one important deep problem. Clearly, these two poles of flexibility and perseverence (aka stability) both have benefits and costs (even in the world beyond the ivory tower), and it would make sense that, at a population level, individuals might be differentially distributed across this spectrum to cover our collective bases (1). Samanez-Larkin et al. (2) provide an important advance in understanding the biological basis for these individual differences, leveraging the powerful technique of dopamine (DA) receptor availability measurements under radioligand positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. This technique is uniquely important for understanding the function of DA (and other neuromodulators) in humans, by virtue of being able to noninvasively assess both DA receptor availability and differences in DA levels, across different brain areas. Interestingly, they found that individual differences in cognitive flexibility were predicted by baseline DA D2/D3 receptor availability in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), parietal cortex, and thalamus, whereas amphetamineinduced DA release in the anterior striatum additionally predicted individual differences (and partially mediated the cortical and thalamic effects). Interpreting these results requires wading into a complex sea of countervailing effects of dopamine and dopamine receptors across the striatum and PFC, as nicely reviewed by Cools and D’Esposito (3). Broadly speaking, consistent with a variety of data, D1 receptors in the PFC are associated with greater stability, whereas D2 receptors promote flexibility. However, the opposite pattern seems to hold in the striatum: D1 receptors promote flexibility, and D2 promotes stability. Furthermore, in the striatum, DA activation of D2 receptors has an overall inhibitory effect, whereas it is excitatory on D1. Putting this all together, we see that Samanez-Larkin et al. (2) bowled a perfect strike: they found D2 baseline availability effects on flexibility in PFC but not in the striatum, whereas they found increased DA levels in the striatum associated with greater flexibility, which would presumably lead to greater D1 receptor activation. If someone ever figures out a way to image D1 receptor availability using PET, then one would predict the opposite pattern, in which flexibility is associated with greater D1 baseline availability effects in striatum and lower levels of D1 availability in the PFC. As emphasized by Cools and D’Esposito (3), these opposing dynamics in PFC versus striatum provide a nice opportunity for the commonly seen U-shaped

Prefrontal Cortical Mechanisms Underlying Individual Differences in Cognitive Flexibility and Stability

The pFC is critical for cognitive flexibility (i.e., our ability to flexibly adjust behavior to changing environmental demands), but also for cognitive stability (i.e., our ability to follow behavioral plans in the face of distraction). Behavioral research suggests that individuals differ in their cognitive flexibility and stability, and neurocomputational theories of working memory relate this variability to the concept of attractor stability in recurrently connected neural networks. We introduce a novel task paradigm to simultaneously assess flexible switching between task rules (cognitive flexibility) and task performance in the presence of irrelevant distractors (cognitive stability) and to furthermore assess the individual "spontaneous switching rate" in response to ambiguous stimuli to quantify the individual dispositional cognitive flexibility in a theoretically motivated way (i.e., as a proxy for attractor stability). Using fMRI in healthy human participants, a common network consisting of parietal and frontal areas was found for task switching and distractor inhibition. More flexible persons showed reduced activation and reduced functional coupling in frontal areas, including the inferior frontal junction, during task switching. Most importantly, the individual spontaneous switching rate antagonistically affected the functional coupling between inferior frontal junction and the superior frontal gyrus during task switching and distractor inhibition, respectively, indicating that individual differences in cognitive flexibility and stability are indeed related to a common prefrontal neural mechanism. We suggest that the concept of attractor stability of prefrontal working memory networks is a meaningful model for individual differences in cognitive stability versus flexibility.

Creating a Computerized Assessment of Cognitive Flexibility with a User-Friendly Participant and Experimenter Interface

Researchers are often faced with practical hurdles to data collection stemming from poorly designed research tools. In this set of studies, we utilized an iterative design process to develop a new assessment of individual differences in cognitive flexibility. The development cycle began with paper prototypes of the cognitive flexibility assessment and ended with a computerized prototype research tool. Here we outline our development process, report results from user testing, and demonstrate how human factors methodology, often used in product design, can also be successfully utilized to test and improve the user friendliness of psychology assessment tools.

Improved cognitive flexibility in serotonin transporter knockout rats is unchanged following chronic cocaine self‐administration

Cocaine dependence is associated with orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)-dependent cognitive inflexibility in both humans and laboratory animals. A critical question is whether cocaine self-administration affects pre-existing individual differences in cognitive flexibility. Serotonin transporter knockout (5-HTT(-/-) ) mice show improved cognitive flexibility in a visual reversal learning task, whereas 5-HTT(-/-) rats self-administer increased amounts of cocaine. Here we assessed: (1) whether 5-HTT(-/-) rats also show improved cognitive flexibility (next to mice); and (2) whether this is affected by cocaine self-administration, which is increased in these animals. Results confirmed that naïve 5-HTT(-/-) rats (n = 8) exhibit improved cognitive flexibility, as measured in a sucrose reinforced reversal learning task. A separate group of rats was subsequently trained to intravenously self-administer cocaine (0.5 mg/kg/infusion), and we observed that the 5-HTT(-/-) rats (n = 10) self-administered twice as much cocaine [632.7 mg/kg (±26.3)] compared with 5-HTT(+/+) rats (n = 6) [352.3 mg/kg (±62.0)] over 50 1-hour sessions. Five weeks into withdrawal the cocaine-exposed animals were tested in the sucrose-reinforced reversal learning paradigm. Interestingly, like the naïve 5-HTT(-/-) rats, the cocaine exposed 5-HTT(-/-) rats displayed improved cognitive flexibility. In conclusion, we show that improved reversal learning in 5-HTT(-/-) rats reflects a pre-existing trait that is preserved during cocaine-withdrawal. As 5-HTT(-/-) rodents model the low activity s-allele of the human serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region, these findings may have heuristic value in the treatment of s-allele cocaine addicts.

The antagonism between cognitive flexibility and stability: behavior, neural bases and interindividual differences

Event Abstract Back to Event The antagonism between cognitive flexibility and stability: behavior, neural bases and interindividual differences Kai Ueltzhöffer1, 2*, Diana J. Armbruster1, 2, Ulrike Basten2 and Christian J. Fiebach1, 2 1 BCCN Heidelberg-Mannheim, Germany 2 Goethe-University Frankfurt, Institute for Psychology, Germany In the present study, individual differences in cognitive flexibility and stability and their neural bases were examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Starting from computational models of working memory by Durstewitz and Seamans (2008), a new behavioral paradigm was developed, allowing us to assess cognitive flexibility in terms of task switching costs as well as cognitive stability in terms of distracter suppression. Individual differences were additionally captured by the relative number of switches in an ambiguous condition. The behavioral data showed reliable switching and distracter costs as well as an increased difficulty in the ambiguous condition, both in reaction times and error costs. Task performance relied on a distributed system of lateral and medial frontal, parietal and occipital regions. Cognitive flexibility additionally induced increased activation in the middle frontal gyrus/inferior frontal sulcus, while distracter suppression elicited increased activation in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Individual differences in cognitive flexibility modulated prefrontal processes, such that less flexible persons showed increased activity in the right inferior frontal junction area (IFJ) and bilateral DLPFC during task switching. The results of this study support a dichotomy of cognitive flexibility and stability and give first hints to the neural bases of interindividual differences in cognitive stability and flexibility. References Durstewitz, D., and Seamans, J. K. (2008). The dual-state theory of prefrontal cortex dopamine function with relevance to catechol-o-methyltransferase genotypes and schizophrenia. Biol. Psychiatry 64, 739–749. Keywords: Dopamine, dual state theory, Flexibility, interindividual differences, Neurons, networks and dynamical systems, stability Conference: BC11 : Computational Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference & Neurex Annual Meeting 2011, Freiburg, Germany, 4 Oct - 6 Oct, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: neurons, networks and dynamical systems (please use "neurons, networks and dynamical systems" as keywords) Citation: Ueltzhöffer K, Armbruster DJ, Basten U and Fiebach CJ (2011). The antagonism between cognitive flexibility and stability: behavior, neural bases and interindividual differences. Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: BC11 : Computational Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference & Neurex Annual Meeting 2011. doi: 10.3389/conf.fncom.2011.53.00150 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 22 Aug 2011; Published Online: 04 Oct 2011. * Correspondence: Mr. Kai Ueltzhöffer, BCCN Heidelberg-Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany, kueltzho@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Kai Ueltzhöffer Diana J Armbruster Ulrike Basten Christian J Fiebach Google Kai Ueltzhöffer Diana J Armbruster Ulrike Basten Christian J Fiebach Google Scholar Kai Ueltzhöffer Diana J Armbruster Ulrike Basten Christian J Fiebach PubMed Kai Ueltzhöffer Diana J Armbruster Ulrike Basten Christian J Fiebach Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Individual differences in cognitive-flexibility: The influence of spontaneous eyeblink rate, trait psychoticism and working memory on attentional set-shifting

Individual differences in psychophysiological function have been shown to influence the balance between flexibility and distractibility during attentional set-shifting [e.g., Dreisbach et al. (2005). Dopamine and cognitive control: The influence of spontaneous eyeblink rate and dopamine gene polymorphisms on perseveration and distractibility. Behavioral Neuroscience, 119(2), 483–490]. Here we replicate both the facilitatory and detrimental influence of spontaneous eyeblink rate upon switch costs across the two distinct conditions of a set-shifting task. We extend this by presenting additional, putatively dopamine related, individual differences that also influence attentional control. Whereas trait psychoticism showed a pattern of effects opposite to that of eyeblink rate, greater working memory served to decrease switch costs across both conditions. These results highlight the need for further exploration of the role of dopaminergic neurotransmission and component processes involved in such attentional paradigms, and illustrates the importance of considering individual differences in cognitive control.

Structural Influences on Deaf and Hearing Children's Recall of Temporal/Spatial Incongruent Letter Strings

Abstract A test of individual differences in cognitive flexibility was made by challenging 16 prelingually profoundly deaf children (CA = 11.33 yr.) and 16 hearing children (CA = 11.75 yr) with a short‐term memory task that required immediate recall of the temporal or spatial sequence in which four letters were presented. For each trial, letter presentation was arranged so that the temporal sequence was not correlated with the spatial sequence. On initial free‐response trials, all hearing children and seven deaf children showed a temporal orientation. The remaining nine deaf children showed a spatial orientation. On later trials, each child was instructed to take the orientation not originally taken. It was predicted from O'Connor & Hermelin (Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (1973) 25, 335‐343) that all groups would show substantial flexibility going from the initial to the challenge test, but only the hearing group actually showed the predicted recovery. Moreover, recall response times indica...