THE DEVELOPMENT OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION IN EARLY ...

(or, alternatively, habituated to) in an automatic and relatively passive fashion. In this case, even irrelevant
cues from dimensions that do not conflict with the relevant dimension may be negatively primed. Negative
priming may be an emergent consequence of a discrimination process inherent in memory retrieval (Milliken
et al., 1998) or a consequence of episodic retrieval (Neill & Valdes, 1992).
Experiment 9 aimed to investigate these two possibilities using two new versions of the DCCS (see Figure 17),
the Negative Priming (redundant preswitch) version and the Redundant version ( Jacques, 1995). In the
Negative Priming (redundant preswitch) version, target and test cards were identical during the preswitch phase,
and the values of the formerly relevant dimension were replaced during the postswitch phase, as in the Negative
Priming version. In the Redundant version, target and test cards were identical during the preswitch phase, and
conflicting target and test cards were introduced during the postswitch phase.
If negative priming depends on active selection against a competing alternative, then performance on the
Negative Priming (redundant preswitch) version should be good. If it does not, then performance on this version
should be poor.
Errors on the postswitch phase of the Redundant version could reflect both negative priming and persistent
activation, and this version was included to explore further the circumstances in which these potential
influences occur. If negative priming depends on active selection against a competing alternative, then no
negative priming should be observed on the Redundant version. Predictions regarding activation were less clear.
In Experiment 8, errors were observed in the Partial-Partial Change versions even though it was not possible
during the preswitch rules to sort by the alternative rules. This may indicate that activation occurs even in the
absence of competing alternative rules. In the Redundant version, it was possible to sort by alternative rules
during the preswitch phase, but the alternative rules prescribed the same responses as the preswitch rules (and
hence, were not "competing"). Additionally, unlike in the Partial-Partial Change versions, in the Redundant
version there was no conflict between target and test cards during the preswitch phase. If some mismatch
between target and test cards is required to elicit activation of selected rules, then no persistent activation should
be observed on the Redundant version.
In addition to the Redundant version, performance on the Negative Priming (redundant preswitch) version was
compared to performance on the standard (target cards refreshed) version, the Total Change (no preswitch
feedback) version, and the Negative Priming version.
Method
Participants. Eighty-seven 3- to 4-year-olds (M = 41.4, range: 36 months to 48 months; 44 girls and 43
boys) were recruited in the same fashion as in Experiment 1. Six additional children were excluded from the
final sample because of experimenter error (n = 5) or for admitting to tricking the experimenter (n = 1).
Design. Children at each age were randomly assigned to receive one of five versions of the DCCS: the standard
(target cards refreshed) version, the Total Change (no preswitch feedback) version, the Negative Priming
version, the Negative Priming (redundant preswitch) version, or the Redundant version. For all versions, the
dimension (color or shape) that was relevant during the preswitch phase was counterbalanced. Card sets were
the same as in Experiments 7 and 8, and they were counterbalanced in the same fashion as in these experiments.
Procedure. The standard (target cards refreshed), Total Change (no preswitch feedback), and Negative Priming
versions were the same as in Experiment 8. The procedure for the remaining two versions was identical to that
of the other versions except for the cards used. In the Negative Priming (redundant preswitch) version, the
target cards and test cards were identical during the preswitch phase, and the values of the dimension that was
relevant during the preswitch phase were replaced during the postswitch phase. In the Redundant version, the
target cards and test cards were identical during the preswitch phase; standard test cards were used during the
postswitch phase. The total procedure took approximately 10 minutes to administer.