Examining Perseveration in Three-Year-Olds Using the Go/No-Go Task

Perseveration, or responding in a previously relevant way that is no longer appropriate, has been traditionally studied in the context of the Dimensional Change Card Sort task (Zelazo, 2006). This study uses a modified version of the Go/No-Go task, which controls for spatial location of the test cards and perceptual conflict of the display, to examine perseveration. Three-year-old children were found to perseverate in the dimensional switch condition; they could not flexibly modify responding behavior and continued to respond to stimuli when no longer appropriate. Children did not perseverate in the non-dimensional switch condition. These findings suggest that perceptual conflict and spatial location associations are not necessary for perseveration errors.