Stuart Marcovitch

A hierarchical competing systems model of the emergence and early development of executive function

The hierarchical competing systems model (HCSM) provides a framework for understanding the emergence and early development of executive function--the cognitive processes underlying the conscious control of behavior--in the context of search for hidden objects. According to this model, behavior is determined by the joint influence of a developmentally invariant habit system and a conscious representational system that becomes increasingly influential as children develop. This article describes a computational formalization of the HCSM, reviews behavioral and computational research consistent with the model, and suggests directions for future research on the development of executive function.

The A-Not-B Error: Results from a Logistic Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis of the A-not-B error was conducted using logistic regression on studies conducted before September 1997 (107 data points). An earlier meta-analysis by Wellman, Cross, and Bartsch revealed that age, delay between hiding and retrieval, and number of hiding locations were significant predictors of both the proportion of infants who searched correctly on B trials and the proportion of infants who searched perseveratively. The current analysis replicated these findings with two exceptions: (1) The number of trials at the A location was a significant predictor, and (2) the number of locations was a significant predictor of the proportion of infants who searched perseveratively, but not the proportion of infants who searched correctly. Implications of these findings are discussed and a quantitative version of a hierarchical competing-systems model of infant search is proposed.

Moderate vagal withdrawal in 3.5‐year‐old children is associated with optimal performance on executive function tasks

Vagal tone (measured via respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) and vagal withdrawal (measured by decreases in RSA) have been identified as physiological measures of self-regulation, but little is known how they may relate to the regulation of cognitive activity as measured through executive function (EF) tasks. We expected that baseline measures of vagal tone, thought to be an indicator of attention, would correlate with EF performance. We also predicted that vagal withdrawal would allow for the reorientation of attention that is needed to succeed on EF tasks, but too much withdrawal would be detrimental. RSA measured at baseline was indeed related to EF performance in 220 3.5-year-old children, and those who exhibited a moderate decrease in RSA during the EF tasks outperformed children whose RSA decreased by too little or too much. These findings implicate vagal tone withdrawal as a psychophysiological measure of higher cognitive processes, most likely substantiated through increases in the levels of focused attention.

African American and European American Mothers' Beliefs About Negative Emotions and Emotion Socialization Practices

Objective . The authors examined mothers’ beliefs about their childrens negative emotions and their emotion socialization practices. Design . A total of 65 African American and 137 European American mothers of 5-year-old children reported their beliefs and typical responses to childrens negative emotions, and mothers’ emotion teaching practices were observed. Results . African American mothers reported that the display of negative emotions was less acceptable than European American mothers, and African American mothers of boys perceived the most negative social consequences for the display of negative emotions. African American mothers reported fewer supportive responses to childrens negative emotions than did European Americans and more nonsupportive responses to childrens anger. African American mothers of boys also reported more nonsupportive responses to submissive negative emotions than did African American mothers of girls. However, no differences were found by ethnicity or child gender in observed teaching about emotions. Group differences in mothers’ responses to negative emotions were explained, in part, by mothers’ beliefs about emotions. Conclusions . Differences in beliefs and practices may reflect African American mothers’ efforts to protect their children from discrimination.

Goal neglect and working memory capacity in 4- to 6-year-old children.

Goal neglect is the phenomenon of failing to execute the momentary demands of a task despite understanding and being able to recall the task instructions. Successful goal maintenance is more likely to occur in adults with high working memory capacity (WMC) who can keep rules mentally accessible while performing the task. The current study predicted that goal neglect would also be related to WMC in children. It assessed thirty-seven 4-year-old and twenty-eight 6-year-old children on the goal neglect version of the Dimensional Change Card Sort, and 3 tasks that measure WMC. As predicted, children with higher WMC scores were more likely to maintain goals adequately for task performance. The findings are consistent with a 2-factor model of working memory and its development.

Developmental Dynamics of Emotion and Cognition Processes in Preschoolers

Dynamic relations during the preschool years across processes of control and understanding in the domains of emotion and cognition were examined. Participants were 263 children (42% non-White) and their mothers who were seen first when the children were 3 years old and again when they were 4. Results indicated dynamic dependence among the processes studied. Specifically, change in cognitive processes of control and understanding were dependent upon initial levels of the other processes. Changes in emotion control and understanding were not predicted by earlier performance in the other processes. Findings are discussed with regard to the constructs of control and understanding and the developmental interrelations among emotion and cognitive processes.

Preschool-aged children's understanding of gratitude: Relations with emotion and mental state knowledge

Developmental precursors to childrens early understanding of gratitude were examined. A diverse group of 263 children was tested for emotion and mental state knowledge at ages 3 and 4, and their understanding of gratitude was measured at age 5. Children varied widely in their understanding of gratitude, but most understood some aspects of gratitude-eliciting situations. A model-building path analysis approach was used to examine longitudinal relations among early emotion and mental state knowledge and later understanding of gratitude. Children with a better early understanding of emotions and mental states understand more about gratitude. Mental state knowledge at age 4 mediated the relation between emotion knowledge at age 3 and gratitude understanding at age 5. The current study contributes to the scant literature on the early emergence of childrens understanding of gratitude.

Examining executive function in the second year of life: Coherence, stability, and relations to joint attention and language.

Several theories of executive function (EF) propose that EF development corresponds to childrens ability to form representations and reflect on represented stimuli in the environment. However, research on early EF is primarily conducted with preschoolers, despite the fact that important developments in representation (e.g., language, gesture, shared joint attention) occur within the 1st years of life. In the present study, EF performance and the relationship between EF and early representation (i.e., joint attention, language) were longitudinally examined in 47 children at 14 and 18 months of age. Results suggest that the 2nd year of life is a distinct period of EF development in which children exhibit very little coherence or stability across a battery of EF tasks. However, by 18 months, a subset of child participants consistently passed the majority of EF tasks, and superior EF performance was predicted by 14-month representational abilities (i.e., language comprehension and some episodes of initiating joint attention). This research suggests that the transition from foundational behavioral control in infancy to the more complex EF observed in preschool is supported by representational abilities in the 2nd year of life.

The Effect of the Number of A Trials on Performance on the A-Not-B Task

The A-not-B error (Piaget, 1954), which occurs when infants search perseveratively on reversal trials in a delayed-response task, is one of the most widely studied phenomena in developmental psychology. Nonetheless, the effect of A-trial experience on the probability and magnitude of this error remains unclear. In this study, 9-month-old infants were tested at location A until they searched correctly on 1, 6, or 11 A trials. Results revealed an effect of A trials on the proportion of infants who erred on the first B trial, and on the number of errors prior to a correct search at B (i.e., the error run). These effects were asymptotic, or U-shaped, consistent with a dual-process model according to which A-trial experience increases habit strength but also provides opportunities for reflection on task structure.

Longitudinal associations between children's understanding of emotions and theory of mind

Theory of mind competence and knowledge of emotions were studied longitudinally in a sample of preschoolers aged 3 (n=263) and 4 (n=244) years. Children were assessed using standard measures of theory of mind and emotion knowledge. Three competing hypotheses were tested regarding the developmental associations between childrens theory of mind abilities and their knowledge of emotions. First, that an understanding of emotion develops early and informs childrens understanding of others’ thinking. Alternatively, having a basic theory of mind may help children learn about emotions. Third, that the two domains are separate aspects of childrens social cognitive skills such that each area develops independently. Results of hierarchical regressions supported the first hypothesis that early emotion understanding predicts later theory-of-mind performance, and not the reverse.