Hearts and Flowers Task
Alternate Names: Dots Task
FREE for use with an Inquisit Lab or Inquisit Web license.Background
The Hearts and Flowers Task was developed by Adele Diamond and colleagues in 2007 as a child friendly version of the widely used Simon Task paradigm, a behavioral measure of interference resolution and automatic response inhibition. Specifically, the Hearts and Flowers Task measures how easily a child can ignore irrelevant spatial information such as the screen location of an object when it conflicts with the correct response (e.g. responding with the left hand to an object placed on the right side of the screen).
Task Procedure
In a series of trials the participant learns to respond to HEART stimuli with the hand that corresponds to the screen location of the presented heart (congruent trials). If the heart appears on the left side of the screen, the correct response is made with the left hand. If the heart appears on the right side of the screen, the correct response is made with the right hand.
During the practice trials, the participant receives feedback. If the correct response is made, a smiley face appears. If an incorrect response is made, the computer repeats (using visual and auditory instructions) the correct response.
Likewise the participant learns to respond to FLOWER stimuli with the hand that is on the opposite side of the screen location of the presented flower (incongruent trials). If the heart appears on the left side of the screen, the correct response is made with the right hand. If the heart appears on the right side of the screen, the correct response is made with the left hand.
The Participant works through three different phases: a congruent phase (only heart stimuli are presented), an incongruent phase (only flower stimuli) and a mixed phase (hearts and flowers are presented). Each of these phases is preceded by a practice session that provides performance feedback and only moves on when the child corrects an incorrect response. If a child's performance is too low in the congruent and incongruent tasks, the mixed task is skipped. No feedback is provided during the actual test trials.
What it Measures
The Hearts and Flowers task is a child-friendly behavioral measure of interference resolution and inhibitory control.
Psychological domains
- Cognitive Control: Ability to quickly adapt one's thoughts and behavior to current demands
- Inhibitory Control / Response Inhibition: Ability to override automatic responses that interfere with one's goals
- Cognitive Flexibility: Ability to quickly change between different task demands
Main Performance Metrics
- Simon Effect: Difference in accuracy (response times) to incongruent trials and congruent trials = Measure of Interference Resolution and Response Inhibition
- Switch Accuracy/Speed: Measure of Cognitive Flexibility
Psychiatric Conditions
In children, the Hearts and Flowers task is primarily a tool for measuring the development of inhibitory control. Simon Effects may be impaired in children with the following conditions
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)
Available Test Variations
A child-friendly version of the Simon Task as developed by Davidson et al (2006).
A child-friendly version of the Simon Task s developed by Davidson et al (2006) that is optimized for mouse (or touchscreen).
References
Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit Hearts and Flowers Task.
M.C. Davidson, D. Amso, L.C. Anderson, A. Diamond (2006). Development of cognitive control and executive functions from 4 to 13 years: Evidence from manipulations of memory, inhibition, and task switching. Neuropsychologia 44, 2037–2078
Diamond,A., Barnett, W.S., Thomas,J. & Munro, S. (2007). Preschool Program Improves Cognitive Control. SCIENCE, 318, 1387-1388.
Green, T., Weinberger, R., Diamond, A., Berant, M., Hirschfeld, L., Frisch, A., . . . Gothelf, D. (2011). The Effect of Methylphenidate on Prefrontal Cognitive Functioning, Inattention, and Hyperactivity in Velocardiofacial Syndrome. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 21(6), 589-95.
Ursache, A., & Raver, C. (2013). Trait and state anxiety: Relations to executive functioning in an at-risk sample. Cognition & Emotion, 1-11.
Brocki, Karin C., & Tillman, Carin. (2014). Mental Set Shifting in Childhood: The Role of Working Memory and Inhibitory Control. Infant and Child Development, 23(6), 588-604.
Adele Ediamond, & Andy Ewright. (2014). An effect of inhibitory load in children while keeping working memory load constant. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, Frontiers in Psychology, 01 March 2014, Vol.5.
Ursache, A., & Raver, C. (2015). Iowa Gambling Task Performance and Executive Function Predict Low-income Urban Preadolescents' Risky Behaviors. Personality and Individual Differences, 79, 1-6.
Marion Stein, Max Auerswald, & Mirjam Ebersbach. (2017). Relationships between Motor and Executive Functions and the Effect of an Acute Coordinative Intervention on Executive Functions in Kindergartners. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, Frontiers in Psychology, 01 May 2017, Vol.8.