Developmental differences in young children's implied use of cognitive resources in their self-regulation strategies

The emergence of self-regulation during the preschool years is due, in part, to children's development of cognitive resources that can regulate their behavior. However, there is little direct evidence that age influences the extent to which young children's strategies involve such resources. We investigated age differences in the extent that young children's strategies imply cognitive resources. A sample of 154 children (77 girls; M age 45.15 months, range 30-60 months) and mothers from middle-class families (M income = $89,541) in a small mid-Atlantic American city (94.2% White). They participated in a 9-min delayed reward task in which mothers told children they must wait to open a gift; children were reminded every 3 min. The latency, frequency, and average duration of the extent to which children's strategies implied cognitive resources were examined in relation to task time and age. In line with Kopp's framework, results from multilevel models indicated older preschool-age children engaged strategies implying higher-level cognitive resources more quickly and frequently, but not longer than younger children. Regardless of age, children engaged cognitive resources more quickly, more often, and longer in the first 3 min of the task than later in the task, suggesting that such engagement was not sustained. The findings are discussed in terms of both the emergence and complexities of regulatory strategy development.