Lecture 4: Executive functions Flashcards
EF processes characteristics
- Interfering with execution of other non-automated processes
- Require effort, get better with practice
- Are influenced by individual differences in intelligence, motivation and education
executive functions=
- “mental processes” that support “(t)he regulation of goal-directed behavior”
- “psychological processes involved in the conscious control of thought and action”
- “top-down mental processes needed when you have to concentrate and pay attention”
-> building contractor/conductor:
* Chooses what to play / work on
* Decides on the interpretation / how
* Determines the pace / when
* Directs each group of musicians / each discipline to jump in at the right moment
EFs and health
Mental health: EF impaired in addictions, ADHD, depression
Physical health: Poor EF associated with overeating
Quality of life: Higher EF associated with higher quality of life
School readiness: EF important factor in school readiness
School success{ EF predict math and reading performance
Job success: Poor EF associated with difficulty keeping job
Marital harmony: Partner with poor EF likely to act on impulse
Public safety: Poor EF associated with social problems (crime)
cool vs hot EF
cool = purely cognitive, nothing at stake, lab tasks
hot = real life, reward, social evaluation or something else at stake, often reported from interviews or questionnaires, not tested directly
EF components (different perspectives, but this is the most adhered to)
– Inhibition (suppression of responses)
– Updating (updating and monitoring information; working memory)
– Shifting (switching between tasks or mental sets), also called cognitive flexibility
inihibition=
- Controlling one’s attention, behavior, thoughts, and/or emotions to override a strong internal predisposition or external lure, and instead do what’s more appropriate or needed
- Even though it is not doing something -> active process
voorbeeld hot and cool inhibition
hot: behavioural inhibition (suppression of a behavioural response)
cold: interference control (selective attention, cognitive inhibition, e.g. stroop task)
Delay of gratification paradigm (Mischel)
- Measurement intent: Self-control, which is aspect of inhibitory control that involves resisting temptations and not acting impulsively or prematurely
- Waiting time is key
associations between pre-school waiting time in delayed gratification paradigm and performance in later life
Shoda, Mischel, & Peake (1990)
* Significant correlations with SAT scores over a decade later (.57 for math, .42 for verbal)
Watts, Duncan, & Quan (2018)
* Significant correlations (.24, .17)
* Relations weaken (sometimes to ns) when controlling for:
– Child background (e.g., family income; mother’s education and score on a vocabulary test; learning materials in home environment)
– Child cognitive skills at preschool
Explanations for limited replication of results
“delay of gratification”:
- Traditional measures of early cognition are better predictors of later academic performance than MM-test
- Background is better predictor of later performance than MM
working memory=
holding information in mind and mentally working with it
Baddeley model
central executive
fluid memory: visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer, phonological loop
crystallized memory: visual meaning <-> episodic long-term memory <-> language
tekenen in schrift
visuo-spatial sketchpad
- limited capacity (the visuo-spatial sketchpad can only hold a small amount of visual and spatial information at a time. This means it can be easily overloaded)
- simultaneous processing (Unlike the phonological loop, which processes information sequentially (one item at a time, like how we rehearse words in our head), the visuo-spatial sketchpad can process multiple visual/spatial elements at once. This makes sense because we often perceive entire scenes or spatial layouts simultaneously rather than step by step)
Examples:
- When you’re mentally rotating an object, you use the visuo-spatial sketchpad to hold and manipulate the image.
- When you navigate a familiar route in your head, you’re relying on this system to process spatial relationships.
- When you solve a jigsaw puzzle, you hold and compare different piece shapes using this part of working memory.
typical WM tasks=
reproduce elements in reverse order
effect of word length=
people remember shorter words more easily than longer words because shorter words can be rehearsed more quickly in the phonological loop. the longer the word, the more time it takes to rehearse, reducing the number of items that can be held in working memory at once.
effect of verbalization =
concrete objects are easier to remember because they represent tangible objects or concepts that can easily be visualized. abstract words are harder to visualize and rehearse, and therefore are more challenging to retain in working memory
rakit test meet…
fluid and crystallized intelligence
episodic buffer=
- Integration of multimodal information, including information from long-term memory (LTM)
- LTM contains more and more information with development. That is also why working memory is becoming more and more effective with development.
(Some researchers argue that WM is the core EF as the central executive involves inhibition and shifting as well)
shifting/cognitive flexibility=
Adapt to changing environment, switching between rules
bv.
- cold: Dimensional Change Card Sorting (DCCS), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)
- hot: many daily situations, e.g., taking turns in conversations, switching between classroom rules for circle vs independent work vs playtime
overzichtje EF diagram
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executive functioning development:
- first months: eye movement control -> selective attention
- 1 year: succeeds at A-not-B task
- 3-5 years: spurt in development of EF
- Further development until 12 years and into young adulthood
- Inhibition develops earliest
- Inhibition and shifting develop up to 15 years.
- Working memory develops until 21 years of age.
- In adulthood: decline of EF
waarom is persuasive media messaging zo gevaarlijk voor kids
omdat hun EF nog niet helemaal is ontwikkeld, they cant:
- inhibit response to perceptual salient and appealing features
- shift attention away from affect-based message to their advertising knowledge
- process the message by comparing it to their advertising knowledge in long-term memory (updating)
are EFs unique and internally consistent?
- Unique? Working memory, shifting and inhibition often go together -> “You must hold your goal in mind to know what is relevant or appropriate and what to inhibit.”
- Internally consistent? Multiple tasks for each EF component; do they indeed measure this component and only this one?
how do you study EF components
- Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA): Makes underlying structure of EF visible
- Each component is a latent variable, measured with manifest variables
- Relations reflect what tasks have in common
