@article{CzapkaFestman2021,
  author    = {Czapka, Sophia and Festman, Julia},
  title     = {Wisconsin Card Sorting Test reveals a monitoring advantage but not a switching advantage in multilingual children},
  series = {Journal of experimental child psychology : JECP},
  volume    = {204},
  journal   = {Journal of experimental child psychology : JECP},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Amsterdam},
  issn      = {0022-0965},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.jecp.2020.105038},
  pages     = {19},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is used to test higher-level executive functions or switching, depending on the measures chosen in a study and its goal. Many measures can be extracted from the WCST, but how to assign them to specific cognitive skills remains unclear. Thus, the current study first aimed at identifying which measures test the same cognitive abilities. Second, we compared the performance of mono- and multilingual children in the identified abilities because there is some evidence that bilingualism can improve executive functions. We tested 66 monolingual and 56 multilingual (i.e., bi- and trilingual) primary school children (M-age = 109 months) in an online version of the classic WCST. A principal component analysis revealed four factors: problem-solving, monitoring, efficient errors, and perseverations. Because the assignment of measures to factors is only partially coherent across the literature, we identified this as one of the sources of task impurity. In the second part, we calculated regression analyses to test for group differences while controlling for intelligence as a predictor for executive functions and for confounding variables such as age, German lexicon size, and socioeconomic status. Intelligence predicted problem solving and perseverations. In the monitoring component (measured by the reaction times preceding a rule switch), multilinguals outperformed monolinguals, thereby supporting the view that bi- or multilingualism can improve processing speed related to monitoring.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HeinzelLorenzPelzetal.2016,
  author    = {Heinzel, Stephan and Lorenz, Robert C. and Pelz, Patricia and Heinz, Andreas and Walter, Henrik and Kathmann, Norbert and Rapp, Michael A. and Stelzel, Christine},
  title     = {Neural correlates of training and transfer effects in working memory in older adults},
  series = {NeuroImage : a journal of brain function},
  volume    = {134},
  journal   = {NeuroImage : a journal of brain function},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {San Diego},
  issn      = {1053-8119},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.068},
  pages     = {236 -- 249},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {As indicated by previous research, aging is associated with a decline in working memory (WM) functioning, related to alterations in fronto-parietal neural activations. At the same time, previous studies showed that WM training in older adults may improve the performance in the trained task (training effect), and more importantly, also in untrained WM tasks (transfer effects). However, neural correlates of these transfer effects that would improve understanding of its underlying mechanisms, have not been shown in older participants as yet. In this study, we investigated blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes during n-back performance and an untrained delayed recognition (Sternberg) task following 12 sessions (45 min each) of adaptive n-back training in older adults. The Sternberg task used in this study allowed to test for neural training effects independent of specific task affordances of the trained task and to separate maintenance from updating processes. Thirty-two healthy older participants (60-75 years) were assigned either to an n-back training or a no-contact control group. Before (t1) and after (t2) training/waiting period, both the n-back task and the Sternberg task were conducted while BOLD signal was measured using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in all participants. In addition, neuropsychological tests were performed outside the scanner. WM performance improved with training and behavioral transfer to tests measuring executive functions, processing speed, and fluid intelligence was found. In the training group, BOLD signal in the right lateral middle frontal gyrus/caudal superior frontal sulcus (Brodmann area, BA 6/8) decreased in both the trained n-back and the updating condition of the untrained Sternberg task at t2, compared to the control group. fMRI findings indicate a training-related increase in processing efficiency of WM networks, potentially related to the process of WM updating. Performance gains in untrained tasks suggest that transfer to other cognitive tasks remains possible in aging. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{WarnerLensingFay2017,
  author    = {Warner, Greta J. and Lensing, Johanna Nele and Fay, Doris},
  title     = {Personal initiative},
  series = {Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology},
  volume    = {52},
  journal   = {Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {New York},
  issn      = {0193-3973},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.appdev.2017.06.004},
  pages     = {114 -- 125},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Although the effects of personal initiative (PI) on adults' performance and other favorable outcomes are well documented, research has only recently begun to study PI in childhood. This study aimed at examining the development of PI, its predictors, and its developmental effects from childhood to early adolescence. A total of 1,593 German children participated in a longitudinal study starting at Grades 2 to 4, with a second measurement wave two years later. Latent change score analyses revealed that 1) children differed significantly in their change scores of PI, that 2) executive functions and positive parenting predicted change scores in PI, and that 3) high initial levels and change scores in PI reduced the development of internalizing and externalizing problems and supported the development of prosocial behavior and academic competencies. These findings endorse the plasticity of PI and shed light on the active part of children in promoting their own development.},
  language  = {en}
}