TY  - JOUR
A1  - Rodriguez-Villagra, Odir Antonio
A1  - Göthe, Katrin
A1  - Oberauer, Klaus
A1  - Kliegl, Reinhold
T1  - Working memory capacity in a go/no-go task - age differences in interference, processing speed, and attentional control
JF  - Developmental psychology
N2  - We tested the limits of working-memory capacity (WMC) of young adults, old adults, and children with a memory-updating task. The task consisted of mentally shifting spatial positions within a grid according to arrows, their color signaling either only go (control) or go/no-go conditions. The interference model (IM) of Oberauer and Kliegl (2006) was simultaneously fitted to the data of all groups. In addition to the 3 main model parameters (feature overlap, noise, and processing rate), we estimated the time for switching between go and no-go steps as a new model parameter. In this study, we examined the IM parameters across the life span. The IM parameter estimates show that (a) conditions were not different in interference by feature overlap and interference by confusion; (b) switching costs time; (c) young adults and children were less susceptible than old adults to interference due to feature overlap; (d) noise was highest for children, followed by old and young adults; (e) old adults differed from children and young adults in lower processing rate; and (f) children and old adults had a larger switch cost between go steps and no-go steps. Thus, the results of this study indicated that across age, the IM parameters contribute distinctively for explaining the limits of WMC.
KW  - working memory capacity
KW  - interference model
KW  - inhibition
KW  - children
KW  - old adults and young adults
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030883
SN  - 0012-1649
VL  - 49
IS  - 9
SP  - 1683
EP  - 1696
PB  - American Psychological Association
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Austin, Gina
A1  - Groppe, Karoline
A1  - Elsner, Birgit
T1  - The reciprocal relationship between executive function and theory of mind in middle childhood: a 1-year longitudinal perspective
JF  - Frontiers in psychology
N2  - There is robust evidence showing a link between executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) in 3-to 5-year-olds. However, it is unclear whether this relationship extends to middle childhood. In addition, there has been much discussion about the nature of this relationship. Whereas some authors claim that ToM is needed for EF, others argue that ToM requires EF. To date, however, studies examining the longitudinal relationship between distinct sub components of EF [i.e., attention shifting, working memory (WM) updating, inhibition] and ToM in middle childhood are rare. The present study examined (1) the relationship between three EF subcomponents (attention shifting, WM updating, inhibition) and ToM in middle childhood, and (2) the longitudinal reciprocal relationships between the EF subcomponents and ToM across a 1-year period. EF and ToM measures were assessed experimentally in a sample of 1,657 children (aged 6-11 years) at time point one (t1) and 1 year later at time point two (t2). Results showed that the concurrent relationships between all three EF subcomponents and ToM pertained in middle childhood at t1 and t2, respectively, even when age, gender, and fluid intelligence were partialle dout. Moreover, cross-lagged structural equation modeling (again, controlling for age, gender, and fluid intelligence, as well as for the earlier levels of the target variables), revealed partial support for the view that early ToM predictslater EF, but stronger evidence for the assumption that early EF predictslater ToM. The latter was found for attention shifting and WM updating, but not for inhibition. This reveals the importance of studying the exact interplay of ToM and EF across childhood development, especially with regard to different EF subcomponents. Most likely, understanding others' mental states at different levels of perspective-taking requires specific EF subcomponents, suggesting developmental change in the relations between EF and ToM across childhood.
KW  - executive function
KW  - theory of mind
KW  - longitudinal
KW  - middle childhood
KW  - attention shifting
KW  - inhibition
KW  - working memory updating
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00655
SN  - 1664-1078
VL  - 5
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  -