Does reversal learning predict social competence in children?

The ability to detect a change in rule, and update one’s behaviour correspondingly is known as reversal learning. Better reversal learning in adults has shown to facilitate interpersonal competence across various social domains. The aim of the current research was to investigate the development of reversal learning in children in relation to the executive functions, and how this ability may predict children’s social competence. A final sample of 73 children aged between 3-to 12-years-old engaged in a balloon-pumping game (i.e., a measure of reversal learning) along with three executive function tasks measuring working memory, cognitive inhibition, and cognitive flexibility. As an outcome measure, parents were asked to fill the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) questionnaire regarding their child’s social competencies. In line with predictions, as children grow older they performed better on discrimination learning and two other executive function tasks; Black-not-White (measuring cognitive inhibition), and Reverse Digit Span (measuring working memory). However, contradictory to the predictions, age was not found to be a predictor of reversal learning, nor the executive function measure, Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS; measuring cognitive inhibition and flexibility). Additionally, inconsistent with predictions, as children grow older they exhibited more risk-taking behaviours, and reversal learning was not found to be a predictor of social skills. Offering partial support for the hypotheses, this research extends our understanding on the development of reversal learning in children, particularly in a wider age range. Additionally, results indirectly imply that reversal learning may be more predictive of specific social skills rather than general social competencies