Cognitive Flexibility in Early Childhood: A Contemporary View of the Development of Flexible Goal-Oriented Behavior

Öz

Cognitive flexibility is usually described as a skill that allows us to revise our behaviors or ideas as the task objective or the environment changes. Over 20 years, in addition to inhibitory control and working memory, cognitive flexibility has been presented as one of the main executive functions and has been considered to develop at around three to four years of age when children learn to easily switch from sorting cards according to one rule (e.g., shape) to the other rule (e.g., colour). This classic view of cognitive flexibility has been highly influential in improving our knowledge about the development of cognitive flexibility. However, in recent years, the way cognitive flexibility is understood has changed remarkably that leads the way that it should be thought and studied has also changed. The present paper aims to present a contemporary view of cognitive flexibility by reviewing recent advances in methodological and analytical techniques used to study cognitive flexibility. Particularly, recent research has started to use less constrained rule-switching tasks to assess cognitive flexibility and use more advanced modelling-based statistical approaches to analyse cognitive flexibility. These recent advances suggest that cognitive flexibility is not a stand-alone skill that emerges during the preschool years. Instead, cognitive flexibility is the culmination of the development of controlled, goal-oriented behavior that happens across a broader age span and in a much more diverse range of contexts than previously thought. While the earlier developments in cognitive flexibility in the first two years of life are underpinned by attention and language, the later developments in cognitive flexibility from around three years onwards are underpinned by inhibitory control and working memory.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Cognitive flexibility
• inhibitory control
• working memory

Erken Çocukluk Döneminde Bilişsel Esneklik: Esnek Amaç Odaklı Davranış Gelişimine Güncel Bakış

Öz

Bilişsel esneklik değişen hedefler ya da çevresel etkilere bağlı olarak düşünce ya da davranışlarımızı güncellememize olanak sağlayan yetenek olarak tanımlanabilir. Yirmi yılı aşkın süredir bilişsel esneklik, engelleyici kontrol ve çalışan bellek ile birlikte üç ana yürütücü işlevden biri olarak sunulmakta ve bilişsel esnekliğin çocukların belli kartları bir kuraldan (örn., şekil) diğer kurala (örn., renk) göre esnek bir şekilde sınıflandırmayı öğrendiği üç ile dört yaşları arasında geliştiği düşünülmektedir. Bilişsel esnekliğin üç ana yürütücü işlevden biri olduğunu ve üç ile dört yaşları arasında geliştiğini savunan bu klasik görüş, bilişsel esnekliğin gelişimini anlamamızda uzun yıllar etkili olmuştur. Fakat son yıllarda bilişsel esneklik konusundaki anlayışımız önemli ölçüde değişmiştir ve bu değişiklik bilişsel esnekliği daha iyi anlamamız ve daha iyi çalışmamız konusundaki değişikliklere de ön ayak olmuştur. Bu araştırma, bilişsel esnekliği çalışırken kullanılan yöntem ve analitik tekniklerdeki güncel gelişmeleri tarayarak bilişsel esneklik konusundaki güncel görüşü sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Özellikle, son zamanlarda yapılan araştırmalar bilişsel esnekliği ölçmek için daha az sınırlandırılmış kural-değiştirme bataryaları geliştirmekte ve bilişsel esnekliği analiz etmek için daha ileri modelleme analiz yöntemlerini kullanmaktadır. Yapılan son çalışmalar, bilişsel esnekliğin okul öncesi çağda ortaya çıkan tek başına bir yürütücü işlev olmadığını göstermektedir. Aksine, son çalışmalar bilişsel esnekliğin düşünülenden daha geniş zamana yayılan ve daha farklı şekillerde ortaya çıkan kontrollü, amaç-odaklı davranış gelişiminin son basamağı olduğunu göstermektedir. Güncel veriler, uzun gelişim evresine sahip bilişsel esnekliğin yaşamın ilk iki yılındaki erken gelişim dönemlerinin dikkat ve dil yetenekleri tarafından desteklenirken, üç yaş ve sonrası ileri gelişim dönemlerinin engelleyici kontrol ve çalışan bellek yetenekleri tarafından desteklendiğini göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Bilişsel esneklik
• engelleyici kontrol
• çalışan bellek

Kaynakça

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