The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 50 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Object Classification Task for Children (OCTC): A Measure of Concept Generation and Mental Flexibility in Early Childhood
Open accessAbstract
In this study, the development of concept generation and mental flexibility was investigated in 84 Australian children between 3 and 7 years of age, using the Object Classification Task for Children (OCTC), a newly developed executive function test for use with young children. On this task, which was adapted from the Concept Generation Test (Levine, Stuss, & Milberg, 1995) and the Concept Generation Test for Children (Jacobs, Anderson, & Harvey, 2001), children were asked to categorize 6 plastic toys according to 3 predetermined groupings (i.e., color, size, and function). The test included 3 performance levels, each providing increasing levels of structure for the child. Findings from the OCTC show meaningful age-related changes in performance across age groups, with older children being less dependent on additional structure to complete the task, in comparison to younger children. Furthermore, findings from this study suggest that the ability to generate concepts emerges between 3 and 4 years of age, continuing to develop beyond the age of 7 years. A developmental spurt in cognitive flexibility was observed around 4 to 5 years of age, with refinement of this capacity occurring between 5 and 7 years of age. Results suggest that the OCTC is a useful measure of conceptual reasoning skills in early childhood.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“It is not until children are aged 5-years that they can identify and sort according to a second and third dimension.”
From Assessing Executive Function in Preschoolers (2012) · cites this paper as Smidts, Jacobs, & Anderson, 2004
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“The assessment of conceptual reasoning in preschoolers can be attempted with the Object Classification Task for Children (Smidts, Jacobs, & Anderson, 2004).”
From Assessing Executive Function in Preschoolers (2012) · cites this paper as Smidts, Jacobs, & Anderson, 2004
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
(1998) · Cited by 4,172
The Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological test battery: Theory and clinical interpretation
Reitan, R. M., & Wolfson, D. E. (1993) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 3,413
The somatic marker hypothesis and the possible functions of the prefrontal cortex
Damasio, A. R. (1996) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.1996.0125 · Cited by 2,847 · cited 1×
“In addition, executive skills are also implicated in social–emotional processes, such as the modulation of emotions, personal and social decision making, perspective taking, affect, and social self-awareness (e.g., Anderson, Bechara, Damasio, Tranel, & Damasio, 1999; Anderson, Damasio, Tranel, & Damasio, 2000; Barrash…”
A Modified Card Sorting Test Sensitive to Frontal Lobe Defects
Nelson, H. E. (1976) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/s0010-9452(76)80035-4 · Cited by 2,454
A simple objective technique for measuring flexibility in thinking
Berg, E. A. (1948) · The Journal of General Psychology · doi:10.1080/00221309.1948.9918159 · Cited by 2,255
Grant, D. A., & Berg, E. (1948) · Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0059831 · Cited by 2,244
Bruner, J. S., Olver, R. R., & Greenfield, P. M. (1966) · Cited by 2,002
Luria, A. R. (1973) · Cited by 1,861
Impairment of social and moral behavior related to early damage in human prefrontal cortex
Anderson, S. W., Bechara, A., Damasio, H., Tranel, D., & Damasio, A. R. (1999) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/14833 · Cited by 1,539
Severe disturbance of higher cognition after bilateral frontal lobe ablation: Patient EVR
Eslinger, P. J., & Damasio, A. R. (1985) · Neurology · doi:10.1212/wnl.35.12.1731 · Cited by 1,426 · cited 1×
“…(e.g., Anderson, Bechara, Damasio, Tranel, & Damasio, 1999; Anderson, Damasio, Tranel, & Damasio, 2000; Barrash, Tranel, & Anderson, 2000; Benton, 1991; Damasio, 1998; Eslinger, Biddle, & Grattan, 1997; Eslinger & Damasio, 1985; Eslinger, Grattan, Damasio, & Damasio, 1992; Stuss & Alexander, 2000).”
Research works printed but not linked: 5
- 10.1037//0894-4105.7.4.519 · DOI
- Flavell, J. H. (1985). Cognitive development (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
- Goldstein, K. H. & Scheerer, M. (1953). Tests of abstract and concrete behavior. In A. Weidner (Ed.), Contributions to medical psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 702-730). New York: Ronald.
- Laine, M. (1988). Correlates of word fluency performance. In P. Koivuselka-Sallinen & L. Sarajarvi (Eds.), Studies in languages (No. 12). Joensuu, Finland: University of Joensuu, Faculty of Arts.
- Stuss, D. T. & Benson, D. F. (1987). The frontal lobes and control of cognition and memory. In E. Perecman (Ed.), The frontal lobes revisited (pp. 141-158). NewYork: IRBN Press.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 101–111 of 111
Executive Function and its Impact on Academic and Behavior Problems in Very Preterm Children
Aarnoudse-Moens, C. S. H. (2012) · Pure Amsterdam UMC
INHIBITIE BIJ JONGE KINDEREN MET EN ZONDER ADHD EN/ OF DBD
Abbink, C. (2011)
The Effects of Prenatal Cortisol Concentrations on Working Memory Performance in Preschool Children
Cameron, E. E. (2016) · Libraries and Cultural Resources (University of Calgary) · doi:10.11575/prism/28113
Valcke, A. (2017) · UWSpace (University of Waterloo)
Using a game-like procedure as a new test of problem solving and concept formation in children
Pavitt, A. (2017) · UEL Research Repository (University of East London) · doi:10.15123/pub.6736
Thinking skills in the early years: A literature review
Ridley, K. (2007) · set Research Information for Teachers · doi:10.18296/set.0525
فزاع, ع. ع., زيدان, م. س. أ. أ., & بيومى, ه. م. (2024) · مجلة دراسات تربوية واجتماعية · doi:10.21608/jsu.2024.343756
PASAT performance improves across adolescence in a sex-specific manner
Waldman, J. S. (2013) · CommonKnowledge Research Repository (Pacific University Oregon)
Valcke, A., & Nilsen, E. S. (2026) · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2026.101944
Jeong, J. (2026) · Journal of Experimental Child Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2026.106546
Northrop, T. J., Tolmie, A. K., & Wass, S. V. (2026) · Developmental Review · doi:10.1016/j.dr.2026.101290
Metadata
- Authors
- Smidts, D. P., Jacobs, R., & Anderson, V.
- Affiliations
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Venue
- Developmental Neuropsychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2004-08
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 385-401
- ISSN
- 1532-6942 (ISSN-L)
- 8756-5641
- OpenAlex
- W1987413903
- Cited by
- 111
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 4.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- research.vu.nl
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Developmental Neuropsychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- idea generation, cognitive flexibility, executive function, early childhood cognitive development, conceptual reasoning, categorization, age-related development, test development
- MeSH terms
- Age Factors, Attention, Awareness, Child, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Color Perception, Concept Formation, Cues, Discrimination Learning, Female, Form Perception, Humans, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Problem Solving, Reference Values, Size Perception
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
