Measures and References: Cognitive Flexibility

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Measures

Numerous measures exist to gain a full picture of a student's learning strengths and challenges. Following are examples of measures used to assess this Learner Factor. These measures should be administered and interpreted by experienced professionals.

Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST) (Jacques & Zelazo, 2001): Assesses Cognitive Flexibility by having students manipulate card sets based on changing rules

References

Andersson, U. (2008). Working memory as a predictor of written arithmetical skills in children: The importance of central executive functions. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 78(2), 181-203.

Best, J. R., Miller, P. H., & Naglieri, J. A. (2011). Relations between executive function and academic achievement from ages 5 to 17 in a large, representative national sample. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(4), 327-336.

Blair, C., & Razza, R. P. (2007). Relating effortful control, executive function, and false belief understanding to emerging math and literacy ability in kindergarten. Child Development, 78(2), 647-663.

Bock, A. M., Gallaway, K. C., & Hund, A. M. (2015). Specifying links between executive functioning and theory of mind during middle childhood: Cognitive flexibility predicts social understanding. Journal of Cognition and Development, 16(3), 509-521.

Bull, R., & Scerif, G. (2001). Executive functioning as a predictor of children's mathematics ability: Inhibition, switching, and working memory. Developmental Neuropsychology, 19(3), 273-293.

Cepeda, N. J., Cepeda, M. L., & Kramer, A. F. (2000). Task switching and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 28(3), 213-226.

Clark, C. A. C., Pritchard, V. E., & Woodward, L. J. (2010). Preschool executive functioning abilities predict early mathematics achievement. Developmental Psychology, 46(5), 1176-1191.

George, J. L., & Greenfield, D. B. (2005). Examination of a structured problem-solving flexibility task for assessing approaches to learning in young children: Relation to teacher ratings and children's achievement. Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 69-84.

Jacques, S., & Zelazo, P. D. (2001). The Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST): A measure of executive function in preschoolers. Developmental Neuropsychology, 20(3), 573-591.

Mayes, S. D., Calhoun, S. L., Bixler, E. O., & Zimmerman, D. N. (2009). IQ and neuropsychological predictors of academic achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 19, 238-241.

Naglieri, J. A., & Das, J. P. (1997). Cognitive Assessment System. Itasca, IL: Riverside.

Puente, A. E. (1985). Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Test Critiques, 4, 677-682.

Oades, R. D., & Christiansen, H. (2008). Cognitive switching processes in young people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 23(1), 21-32.

Rauch, W. A., Gold, A., & Schmitt, K. (2012). To what extent are task-switching deficits in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder independent of impaired inhibition? ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders, 4(4), 179-187.

Sarsour, K., Sheridan, M., Jutte, D., Nuru-jeter, A., Hinshaw, S., & Boyce, W. T. (2010). Family socioeconomic status and child executive functions: The roles of language, home environment, and single parenthood. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 17, 120-132.

Spann, M. N., Mayes, L. C., & Kalmar, J. H. (2012). Childhood abuse and neglect and cognitive flexibility in adolescents. Child Neuropsychology, 18(2), 182-189.

Tombaugh, T. N. (2004). Trail Making Test A and B: Normative data stratified by age and education. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 19(2), 203-214.

Viterbori, P., Usai, M. C., Traverso, L., & De Franchis, V. (2015). How preschool executive functioning predicts several aspects of math achievement in Grades 1 and 3: A longitudinal study. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 140, 38-55.

Vitiello, V. E., Greenfield, D. B., Munis, P., & George, J. (2011). Cognitive flexibility, approaches to learning, and academic school readiness in head start preschool children. Early Education and Development, 22(3), 338-410.

Yeniad, N., Malda, M., Mesman, J., Ijzendoorn, M. H. Van, & Pieper, S. (2013). Shifting ability predicts math and reading performance in children: A meta-analytical study. Learning and Individual Differences, 23, 1-9.