Symbols and Executive Function

How do symbols affect 3-to 4-year-olds' executive function? Evidence from a reverse-contingency task. Symbols and executive function 2 Abstract In two experiments 330 3-to 4-year-olds competed for stickers in a game where the optimal response strategy was to point to an empty box that their opponent would receive in order to obtain a baited box for themselves. When the baited box contained stickers, children showed a strong tendency to point at the baited box and therefore lose the stickers to their opponent. In Experiment 1 children performed better when the number of stickers to be won was represented with five different symbols: numerals, number words, dots, a photograph or sweets. In Experiment 2 children transferred their improved performance in symbolic conditions to non-symbolic conditions. These findings suggest that symbols enable children to formulate an efficient response strategy, and that this effect may be qualitatively different in children compared with the effect of symbols in non-human primates. Symbols and executive function 3 How do symbols affect 3-to 4-year-olds' executive function? Evidence from a reverse contingency task.