Underpinnings of the costs of flexibility in preschool children: The roles of inhibition and working memory

Nicolas Chevalier, Tiffany D. Sheffield, Jennifer Mize Nelson, Caron A.C. Clark, Sandra A. Wiebe, Kimberly Andrews Espy

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

60 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)99-118
Number of pages20
JournalDevelopmental Neuropsychology
Volume37
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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