The task we had called 'Dots' and now call 'Hearts & Flowers'-

Try your hand at the Hearts & Flowers task with the Hearts & Flowers demo

A list of some of the studies that have used the Hearts & Flowers task appears below.

For some more information about the Hearts & Flowers task, Click Here

Camerota, M., Willoughby, M. T., Magnus, B. E., & Blair, C. B. (2020). Leveraging item accuracy and reaction time to improve measurement of child executive function ability. Psychological Assessment, 32, 1118-1132.  doi:10.1037/pas0000953

Camerota, M., Willoughby, M. T., & Blair, C. B. (2019). Speed and accuracy on the hearts and flowers task interact to predict child outcomes. Psychological Assessment, 31(8), 995-1005. doi:10.1037/pas0000725

Diamond, A., Barnett, W.S., Thomas, J., & Munro, S. (2007). Preschool program improves cognitive control, Science, 318, 1387-1388.  doi:10.1126/science.1151148  (abstract)  (pdf)

Davidson, M.C., Amso, D., Anderson, L.C. , & Diamond, A. (2006). Development of cognitive control and executive functions from 4-13 years: Evidence from manipulations of memory, inhibition, and task switching. Neuropsychologia, 44, 2037 – 2078.  doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.02.006  (abstract)  (pdf)

Wright, A. & Diamond, A. (2014). An effect of inhibitory load in children while keeping working memory load constant. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1-9. (Special issue on Development of Executive Function during Childhood).  doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00213  (abstract)  (pdf)

Wu, T., Weiland, C., McCormick, M., Hsueh, J., Snow, C., & Sachs, J. (2024). One score to rule them all? Comparing the predictive and concurrent validity of 30 hearts and flowers scoring approaches. Assessment (Odessa, Fla.), 31, 1702. doi:10.1177/10731911241229566

 

and a further subset of the pubs available in the literature:

 

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Abreu-Mendoza, R. A., Coulanges, L., Ali, K., Powell, A. B., & Rosenberg-Lee, M. (2020). Children’s discrete proportional reasoning is related to inhibitory control and enhanced by priming continuous representations. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 199, 104931.  doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104931  (abstract)  (pdf)

Blair, C., & Raver, C. (2014). Closing the achievement gap through modification of neurocognitive and neuroendocrine function: Results from a cluster randomized controlled trial. Developmental Psychology, 50, 1970–1981.  (abstract)  (pdf)

Callaghan, T., Colasante, T., Muhammad, S., Corbit, J., Yavuz-Muren, M., Raffaele, C., Akter, R., Al Janaideh, R., Duan, T., Didkowsky, N., Beuze, J., Homer, B., Cameron, C. A., ... & Rochat, P. (2021). Developing social understanding: A collaborative, international study of moral, social, and cognitive development in early childhood. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 86(3), 7–137. doi:10.1111/mono.12477

Edgin, J. O., Mason, G. M., Allman, M. J., Capone, G. T., DeLeon, I., Maslen, C., & Nadel, L. (2010). Development and validation of the Arizona Cognitive Test Battery for Down syndrome. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 2(3), 149–164.  (abstract)  (pdf)

Fernandes, V. R., Becker, D. R., McClelland, M. M., & Rohde, L. A. (2023). Motor and executive function proficiency in preschoolers is associated with later proficiency in reading but not math. Child Neuropsychology, 29, 847–861. doi:10.1080/09297049.2022.2138302

Gambarini, A., Dell’Acqua, R., & Roebers, C. M. (2023). Refining the understanding of executive functions: On the reliability and validity of a single latent construct in 5-year-old children. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1149053. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1149053

Ger, E., & Roebers, C. M. (2024). Monitoring and control processes within executive functions: Is post-error slowing related to pre-error speeding in children? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 246, 105975. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105975

Ger, E., & Roebers, C. M. (2024). Training kindergarten children on learning from their mistakes. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 42, 478–494. doi:10.1111/bjdp.12508

Ger, E., & Roebers, C. (2023). Hearts, flowers, and fruits: A training study to improve executive functioning in preschoolers. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 859. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00859

Ger, E., & Roebers, C. M. (2023). The relationship between executive functions and self-regulation with a new rating tool in 5- to 6-year-olds. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2024. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02024

Goldín, A. P., Vladisauskas, M., Paz, G. O., Nin, V., Guillén, J. A., Belloli, L., ... & Fernández-Slezak, D. (2024). The long and winding road to real-life experiments: Remote assessment of executive functions with computerized games—Results from 8 years of naturalistic interventions. Brain Sciences, 14, 262. doi:10.3390/brainsci14030262

Keye, S. A., Walk, A. M., Cannavale, C. N., Iwinski, S., McLoughlin, G. M., Steinberg, L. G., & Khan, N. A. (2021). Six-minute walking test performance relates to neurocognitive abilities in preschoolers. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10, 584.  doi.org/10.3390/jcm10040584

Roebers, C. M., Mayer, B., & Herrmann, E. (2021). The role of executive functions for interactive theory of mind. Journal of Intelligence, 11(4), 64. doi:10.3390/jintelligence11040064

Rosas, R., Espinoza, V., Porflitt, F., & Ceric, F. (2019). Executive functions can be improved in preschoolers through systematic playing in educational settings: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2024. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.923615

Schonert-Reichl, K., Hanson-Peterson, J., & Hymel, S. (2015). Enhancing cognitive and social–emotional development through a simple-to-administer mindfulness-based school program for elementary school children: A randomized controlled trial. Developmental Psychology, 51(1), 52–66.  (abstract)  doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0112393  (pdf)

Spiegler, O., & Petrova, E. (2023). Investigating the longitudinal reciprocal relationships between working memory and executive functions in the transition to school. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 923615. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.923615

Stein, M., & Nazari, P. (2023). The interplay of executive functions and contextual information during word processing in kindergarten children. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1149053. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.923615

Stroth, S., Hille, K., Spitzer, M., & Reinhardt, R. (2010). Impact of aerobic exercise training on cognitive functions of older adults. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 94(4), 597–605.  (abstract)  (pdf)  doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2010.08.003

von Suchodoletz, A., Fäsche, A., Gunzenhauser, C., & Hamker, S. (2013). Exploring the impact of feedback on preschoolers’ executive function performance. Child Development Research, 2013, 1–7. doi:10.1155/2013/683425

Zaitchik, D., Iqbal, Y., & Carey, S. (2014). The effect of executive function on biological reasoning in young children: An individual differences study. Child Development, 85, 160–175.  doi:10.1111/cdev.12145  (abstract)  (pdf)

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Summary of H&F Scoring Methods as reported in
Table 1 of Wu et al. (2024).