Yanaoka Kaichi

Active maintenance of goal representations is an integral part of our mental regulatory processes. Previous developmental studies have highlighted goal neglect, which is the phenomenon caused by a failure to maintain goal representations, and demonstrated developmental changes of the ability to maintain goal representations among preschoolers. Yet, few studies have explored the cognitive mechanisms underlying preschoolers' development of goal maintenance. The first aim of this study was to test whether working memory capacity and inhibitory control contribute to goal maintenance using a paradigm for measuring goal neglect. Moreover, although recent studies have shown that preschoolers recruit lateral prefrontal regions in performing executive functions tasks, they could not specify the neural underpinnings of goal maintenance. Thus, the second aim was to examine whether lateral prefrontal regions played a key role in maintaining goal representations using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Our results showed that developmental differences in inhibitory control predicted the degree of goal neglect. It was also demonstrated that activation in the right prefrontal region was associated with children's successful avoidance of goal neglect. These findings offer important insights into the cognitive and neural underpinnings of goal maintenance in preschoolers.

Delay of gratification refers to the ability to forgo a small immediate reward to obtain a larger delayed reward. Cognitive mechanisms underlying the delay of gratification in young children have been examined extensively. However, the neural mechanism of this process is largely unknown. The present study examined whether inferior prefrontal regions play an important role in the delay of gratification choice paradigm in young children. Preschool children were given a choice version of a delay of gratification task, and their neural activation during the task was assessed using near-infrared spectroscopy in cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal designs (Study 2). Results revealed the activation of the right inferior prefrontal regions of children during the task in both studies. Specifically, the inferior prefrontal regions of the children were activated during immediate choices but not during delay choices. This study is the first to demonstrate the neural correlates of the delay of gratification in young children. We discuss how the right inferior prefrontal regions of preschool children are activated during the delay of gratification.

The execution of a script often requires detecting and resolving conflict with a goal, particularly in nonroutine situations. To take the example of taking a bus daily to work, if someone's usual bus is delayed and a bus for another destination comes first, the person must inhibit taking it and wait for the usual one. Young children can gradually acquire the ability to control the execution of scripts in such nonroutine situations, but few studies have explored the control process involved. In two experiments, we investigated the role of developments in the maintenance of hierarchical goal representations and in executive functions. We measured the ability to control the execution of scripts using a task in which children helped a doll select items to wear; clothing options were presented in an unexpected order in the nonroutine situations. The younger children (4-year-olds) could not flexibly control their execution of scripts in nonroutine situations, although they could exogenously detect and resolve conflict if they were prompted to maintain a subgoal. The older children (5-year-olds) endogenously controlled script execution based on a main goal, whereas subgoal maintenance led them to rigidly control their performance. In addition, children's inhibition abilities were associated with their control of script execution. These findings indicate that the development of the control process underlying the execution of scripts in nonroutine situations is partially dependent on the ability to maintain hierarchical goal representations. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by problems with reciprocal social interaction, repetitive behaviours/narrow interests, and impairments in the social cognition and emotional processing necessary for intention-based moral judgements. The aim of this study was to examine the information used by early adolescents with and without ASD when they judge story protagonists as good or bad. We predicted that adolescents with ASD would use protagonists' behaviour, while typically developing (TD) adolescents would use protagonists' characteristics when making the judgements. In Experiment 1, we measured sentence by sentence reading times and percentages for good or bad judgements. In Experiment 2, two story protagonists were presented and the participants determined which protagonist was better or worse. Experiment 1 results showed that the adolescents with ASD used protagonist behaviours and outcomes, whereas the TD adolescents used protagonist characteristics, behaviours, and outcomes. In Experiment 2, TD adolescents used characteristics information when making "bad" judgements. Taken together, in situations in which participants cannot go back and assess (Experiment 1), and in comparable situations in which all information is available (Experiment 2), adolescents with ASD do not rely on information about individual characteristics when making moral judgements.

This research examined the effects of planning and executive functions on young children's (ages 3-to 5-years) strategies in changing scripts. Young children (N = 77) performed a script task (doll task), three executive function tasks (DCCS, red/blue task, and nine box task), a planning task, and a receptive vocabulary task. In the doll task, young children first enacted a "changing clothes" script, and then faced a situation in which some elements of the script were inappropriate. They needed to enact a script by compensating inappropriate items for the other script items or by changing to the other script in advance. The results showed that shifting, a factor of executive function, had a positive influence on whether young children could compensate inappropriate items. In addition, planning was also an important factor that helped children to change to the other script in advance. These findings suggest that shifting and planning play different roles in using the two strategies appropriately when young children enact scripts in unexpected situations.

This study investigated the effects of age and cognitive ability on preschoolers' understanding of the generality of their kindergarten script. Four- and 5-year-old kindergarteners (N= 106) were asked to produce their own kindergarten script and a fictional person's kindergarten script at regular intervals. In Experiment 1, it was found that only the 5-year-olds reported fewer acts in the fictional person's script condition than in their own script condition, and a measure of theory of mind (ToM) and vocabulary test were associated with the difference between the two conditions. In Experiment 2, we replicated the results of Experiment 1 by comparing a friend in their kindergarten condition with the fictional person's kindergarten condition. The findings suggest that 5-year-old children are capable of understanding the generality of their script among individuals, and their ToM is closely associated with the understanding of that generality.

This research examined the effects of planning and executive functions on young children's performance in executing a script with and without turning back (returning to a previous state). Young children (N＝94) performed a newly developed "doll task," two executive function tasks (DCCS and red/blue tasks), a planning task, and a receptive vocabulary task. The doll task required participants to enact a script by changing a doll's clothes and then turn back (return the doll to its previous state) by removing obstructive items. The results showed that on the doll task children's answers were divided into three steps. Specifically, shifting (the ability to switch as related to cognitive flexibility), an executive function factor, had a positive influence on whether young children could turn back. Planning was also an important factor that helped enable children to take the shortest route to execute the script. These findings suggest that shifting and planning play different roles in turning back when children execute scripts in different situations.