Hand Game

The Hand game aims to measure non-verbal inhibitory control in children aged 3 to 5 years and is based on the adapted hand game by Hughes (1996). During the task, the child is asked to place a flattened hand on the table whenever the researcher presents a fist and to present a fist whenever the researcher places a flattened hand on the table. Each child is first seated at a table with the researcher and is asked to mimic the researcher as he/she presents a fist and flattened hand on the table in front of the child. This is done in order to demonstrate that the child possesses the ability to manipulate his or her hand into these shapes. The child is then taught the instructions of the task. The child has at least two practice trials during which they are praised or corrected. Afterwards, 16 test trials are administered, eight with the experimenter’s fist as the stimulus, and eight with the experimenter’s flattened hand as a stimulus, arranged in a fixed pseudorandom order. The percentage correct trials is calculated.