The system neurophysiological basis of non-adaptive cognitive control: Inhibition of implicit learning mediated by right prefrontal regions

Abstract Cognitive control constrains retrieval processing and so restricts what comes to mind as input to the attribution system. We review evidence that older adults, patients with Alzheimer's disease, and people with traumatic brain injury exert less cognitive control during retrieval, and so are susceptible to memory misattributions in the form of dramatic levels of false remembering.

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Patterns of Implicit Learning Below the Level of Conscious Knowledge

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000018 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 91-101 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Juliana Yordanova ◽

Rolf Verleger ◽

Ullrich Wagner ◽

Vasil Kolev

Keyword(s):

Implicit Learning ◽

Explicit Knowledge ◽

Implicit Knowledge ◽

Knowledge Generation ◽

Sleep Stages ◽

Implicit Processing ◽

Implicit Processes ◽

Late Night ◽

On Line ◽

On Line Learning

The objective of the present study was to evaluate patterns of implicit processing in a task where the acquisition of explicit and implicit knowledge occurs simultaneously. The number reduction task (NRT) was used as having two levels of organization, overt and covert, where the covert level of processing is associated with implicit associative and implicit procedural learning. One aim was to compare these two types of implicit processes in the NRT when sleep was or was not introduced between initial formation of task representations and subsequent NRT processing. To assess the effects of different sleep stages, two sleep groups (early- and late-night groups) were used where initial training of the task was separated from subsequent retest by 3 h full of predominantly slow wave sleep (SWS) or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. In two no-sleep groups, no interval was introduced between initial and subsequent NRT performance. A second aim was to evaluate the interaction between procedural and associative implicit learning in the NRT. Implicit associative learning was measured by the difference between the speed of responses that could or could not be predicted by the covert abstract regularity of the task. Implicit procedural on-line learning was measured by the practice-based increased speed of performance with time on task. Major results indicated that late-night sleep produced a substantial facilitation of implicit associations without modifying individual ability for explicit knowledge generation or for procedural on-line learning. This was evidenced by the higher rate of subjects who gained implicit knowledge of abstract task structure in the late-night group relative to the early-night and no-sleep groups. Independently of sleep, gain of implicit associative knowledge was accompanied by a relative slowing of responses to unpredictable items suggesting reciprocal interactions between associative and motor procedural processes within the implicit system. These observations provide evidence for the separability and interactions of different patterns of processing within implicit memory.

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Daily Experiences of Commuting Strain and Self-Control at Work and at Home

Journal of Personnel Psychology ◽

10.1027/1866-5888/a000256 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 125-134

Author(s):

Bettina S. Wiese ◽

Olivia Chaillié ◽

Ruth Noppeney ◽

Anna M. Stertz

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Emotional Stability ◽

Self Control ◽

Diary Data ◽

Daily Experiences ◽

At Home

Abstract. The study investigates how commuting strain affects daily self-control capacities at work and at home. Irritability (i.e., increased readiness to express negative emotions when facing frustration) and concentration (i.e., a cognitive control capacity that relies on attention) were used as indicators of (impaired) self-control. Based on 5-day diary data from N = 185 train commuters, we found that on days with a strenuous ride from home to work, commuters indicated higher irritability and lower concentration capacity at work. On days with higher strain during the work-to-home ride, commuters reported to be more irritable back home. Moreover, commuters with low emotional stability turned out to be more affected by commuting strain but only if considering self-control impairment at home.

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Do Young Children Modulate Their Cognitive Control?

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000320 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 63 (2) ◽

pp. 117-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Solène Ambrosi ◽

Patrick Lemaire ◽

Agnès Blaye

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

Inhibitory Control ◽

Age Range ◽

Stroop Tasks ◽

And Task

Abstract. Dynamic, trial-by-trial modulations of inhibitory control are well documented in adults but rarely investigated in children. Here, we examined whether 5-to-7 year-old children, an age range when inhibitory control is still partially immature, achieve such modulations. Fifty three children took flanker, Simon, and Stroop tasks. Above and beyond classic congruency effects, the present results showed two crucial findings. First, we found evidence for sequential modulations of congruency effects in these young children in the three conflict tasks. Second, our results showed both task specificities and task commonalities. These findings in young children have important implications as they suggest that, to be modulated, inhibitory control does not require full maturation and that the precise pattern of trial-by-trial modulations may depend on the nature of conflict.

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A Bird in the Hand Isn’t Good for Long

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000385 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 65 (1) ◽

pp. 23-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Stefan Scherbaum ◽

Simon Frisch ◽

Maja Dshemuchadse

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Cognitive Control ◽

The Other ◽

Decision Task ◽

Short Term ◽

Additional Time ◽

Control Processes ◽

Folk Wisdom ◽

Study Participants ◽

Insight Into

Abstract. Folk wisdom tells us that additional time to make a decision helps us to refrain from the first impulse to take the bird in the hand. However, the question why the time to decide plays an important role is still unanswered. Here we distinguish two explanations, one based on a bias in value accumulation that has to be overcome with time, the other based on cognitive control processes that need time to set in. In an intertemporal decision task, we use mouse tracking to study participants’ responses to options’ values and delays which were presented sequentially. We find that the information about options’ delays does indeed lead to an immediate bias that is controlled afterwards, matching the prediction of control processes needed to counter initial impulses. Hence, by using a dynamic measure, we provide insight into the processes underlying short-term oriented choices in intertemporal decision making.

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A Review of the Role of Cue Processing in Task Switching

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000125 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 221 (1) ◽

pp. 5-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Kerstin Jost ◽

Wouter De Baene ◽

Iring Koch ◽

Marcel Brass

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Control ◽

Task Switching ◽

Task Switch ◽

Task Set ◽

Switch Costs ◽

Set Switching ◽

Controversial Topic ◽

Cue Encoding ◽

Cue Processing

The role of cue processing has become a controversial topic in research on cognitive control using task-switching procedures. Some authors suggested a priming account to explain switch costs as a form of encoding benefit when the cue from the previous trial is repeated and hence challenged theories that attribute task-switch costs to task-set (re)configuration. A rich body of empirical evidence has evolved that indeed shows that cue-encoding repetition priming is an important component in task switching. However, these studies also demonstrate that there are usually substantial “true” task-switch costs. Here, we review this behavioral, electrophysiological, and brain imaging evidence. Moreover, we describe alternative approaches to the explicit task-cuing procedure, such as the usage of transition cues or the task-span procedure. In addition, we address issues related to the type of cue, such as cue transparency. We also discuss methodological and theoretical implications and argue that the explicit task-cuing procedure is suitable to address issues of cognitive control and task-set switching.

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