Not All Distractions Are the Same: Investigating Why Preschoolers Make Distraction Errors When Switching.

• Autores: Emma Blakey, Daniel J. Carroll
• Localización: Child development, ISSN 0009-3920, Vol. 89, Nº. 2, 2018, págs. 609-619
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • When switching between tasks, preschoolers frequently make distraction errors-as distinct from perseverative errors. This study examines for the first time why preschoolers make these errors. One hundred and sixty-four 2- and 3-year-olds completed one of four different conditions on a rule-switching task requiring children to sort stimuli according to one rule and then switch to a new rule. Conditions varied according to the type of information that children needed to ignore. Children made significantly more distraction errors when the to-be-ignored information was related to the previous rule. When it was not related to a previous rule, even young preschoolers could disregard this information. This demonstrates that distraction errors are caused by children's initial goal representations that continue to affect performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]