Switching to a new rule
Switching to a new rule in a game is hard for young children. In a card-sorting game, most 3-year-olds kept using the old rule even after being told the new one, and most 5-year-olds could switch.
We haven't yet found studies that measured the age when most children start. The sections below say what is known.
How sure are we?
Not sure yet. Only one small study with numbers has been read so far. How we know this
What it’s a sign of
Your child is learning to let go of one way of doing things and switch to another, part of flexible thinking.
The age depends on the version of the game: when colour and shape were shown separately, about twice as many young children could switch.
We don't yet know the age when half of children can switch. The larger studies with ages haven't been read yet.
A main source for the ages
Preschool Children's Performance in Task Switching on the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task: Separating the Dimensions Aids the Ability to Switch
Adele D. Diamond, Stephanie M. Carlson, Danielle M. Beck · 2005 · Developmental Neuropsychology
- Children
- About 60 children
- Where
- The United States and Canada
- Ages
- 2½ to 3½ years
- How
- Researchers played a card-sorting game with each child
- What it found
- Only about 1 in 3 of these young children could switch from sorting cards by colour to sorting by shape. When colour and shape were shown separately, about 6 in 10 could.
- Limits
- A small group of young children.
A classic study on this
The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS): a method of assessing executive function in children
Philip David Zelazo · 2006 · Nature Protocols
- Children
- Not given in the summary we read
- Where
- Not given in the summary we read
- Ages
- 3 to 5 years
- How
- A guide to the card-sorting game
- What it found
- Most 3-year-olds keep sorting by the old rule even when told the new one, and most 5-year-olds switch.
- Limits
- We have only read the summary.
If you’re worried about your child, talk to your child and family health nurse or GP.
Last checked 2 November 2026