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.

Trail Making Test (part B) (Bowie & Harvey, 2006): Measures Cognitive Flexibility by requiring students to connect/draw a line between labeled points on a sheet of paper according to a rule of alternating between numbers and letter (e.g. 1-> A->2->B->3->C…)

References

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.

Bialystok, E. (2011). Global-Local and Trail-Making Tasks by monolingual and bilingual children: Beyond Inhibition. Developmental Psychology, 46(1), 93-105.

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.

Bowie, C., Harvey, P. D. (2006). Administration and interpretation of Trail Making Test. Nature Protocols, 1(5), 2277-2281.

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.

Drijbooms, E., Groen, M. A., & Verhoeven, L. (2015). The contribution of executive functions to narrative writing in fourth grade children. Reading and Writing, 28, 989-1011.

Kieffer, M. J., Vukovic, R. K., & Berry, D. (2013). Roles of attention shifting and inhibitory control in fourth-grade reading comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 48(4), 333-348.

Nouwens, S., Groen, M. A., & Verhoeven, L. (2016). How storage and executive functions contribute to children's reading comprehension. Learning and Individual Differences, 47, 96-102.

Poljac, E., Simon, S., Ringlever, L., & Bekkering, H. (2010). Impaired task switching performance in children with dyslexia but not in children with autism. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63(2), 401-416.

Randazzo, A. C., Muehlbach, M. J., Schweitzer, P. K., & Walsh, J. K. (1998). Cognitive function following acute sleep restriction in children ages 10-14. Sleep, 21(8), 861-868.

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.

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.

Randazzo, A. C., Muehlbach, M. J., Schweitzer, P. K., & Walsh, J. K. (1998). Cognitive function following acute sleep restriction in children ages 10-14. Pediatric Sleep, 21(8), 861-868.

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.

Van der Niet, A. G., Hartman, E., Smith, J., & Visscher, C. (2014). Modeling relationships between physical fitness, executive functioning, and academic achievement in primary school children. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 15(4), 319-325.

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