scholarly journals Can inhibition or shifting training enhance cognitive abilities in emerging adults?

2021 ◽  
pp. 138-152
Author(s):  
Anja Podlesek ◽  
Marina Martinčević ◽  
Andrea Vranić
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Core Executive ◽  
Cognitive Activities ◽  
Transfer Tasks ◽  
Inhibition Training

Executive functions enable and support most of our daily cognitive functioning. Within the number of executive functions proposed, updating, inhibition and shifting are most often considered as the three core executive functions. Cognitive training paradigms provide a platform for a possible enhancement of these functions. Since updating training has been studied to a greater extent, we wanted to investigate the effectiveness of inhibition and shifting training in this study. Emerging adults (psychology students) were randomly assigned either to the inhibition training (based on the Simon task; n = 36) or to the shifting training (based on the task switching paradigm; n = 35). Both groups underwent twelve 20-minute sessions distributed over four weeks. Measurements before and after the training included criterion tasks (i.e. the training tasks), near-transfer tasks (i.e. tasks that address the trained functions but use different types of stimuli or rules to respond), and far-transfer tasks (i.e., tasks that address untrained cognitive functions). The control participants (n = 36) were tested with a combination of these tasks. Both training groups improved their criteria task performance over time, while convincing training-related gains were not found in either near- or far-transfer tasks. This study raises some conceptual questions for the training of executive functions with respect to a sample of emerging adults with above-average cognitive abilities, motivational elements of training, and the role of executive functions in more complex everyday cognitive activities.

Music and Attention, Executive Function, and Creativity

2018 ◽  
pp. 262-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Psyche Loui ◽  
Rachel E. Guetta
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Conflict Monitoring ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Monitoring Task ◽  
Art Form ◽  
Creative Art ◽  
Research Questions

This chapter provides an overview of research at the intersection of music and cognitive functions. Music, an intrinsically creative art form, requires bottom-up and top-down perceptual processing, attention, and integration of executive functions. Literature on music and attention spans debates on selection theories, and the role of temporal attention and neuronal entrainment. Attention is a subset of executive functioning, goal-directed processes including conflict monitoring, task switching, and working memory. Considerable research has addressed the effects of musical training on executive functions, with contrasting reports of success in far transfer. Finally, contrary to goal-directed processes, creativity entails unconstrained thought processes that yield novel output. Perhaps due to the unrestricted nature of both music and creativity, the relevant research has also been variable. Considering these seemingly disparate aspects of cognitive function in tandem can inspire new and interesting research questions, promoting a more cohesive conceptualization of music within cognitive science more generally.

scholarly journals The Contribution of Executive Functions in Predicting Mathematical Creativity in Typical Elementary School Classes: A Twofold Role for Updating

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Marije Stolte ◽  
Trinidad García ◽  
Johannes E. H. Van Luit ◽  
Bob Oranje ◽  
Evelyn H. Kroesbergen
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Primary School ◽  
School Children ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Mathematical Creativity ◽  
Mathematical Ability ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Starting Model ◽  
General Creativity

The goal of the current study was to investigate the role of executive functions in mathematical creativity. The sample included 278 primary school children (ages 8–13). Two models were compared: the starting model tested whether executive functions (shifting, updating, and inhibition), domain-general creativity, and mathematical ability directly predicted mathematical creativity. The second model, which fitted the data best, included the additional assumption that updating influences mathematical creativity indirectly through mathematical ability and domain-general creativity. Updating was positively related to mathematical creativity. Additionally, updating was positively related to mathematical ability and domain-general creativity. Inhibition, shifting, domain-general creativity and mathematical ability did not have a significant contribution to either model but did positively correlate with mathematical creativity. This study reports the first empirical evidence that updating is a predictor of mathematical creativity in primary school children and demonstrates that creativity is a higher order cognitive process, activating a variety of cognitive abilities.

On the Role of Cognitive Abilities in Second Language Vowel Learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-280
Author(s):  
Payam Ghaffarvand Mokari ◽  
Stefan Werner
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Phonological Learning ◽  
Before And After

This study investigated the role of different cognitive abilities—inhibitory control, attention control, phonological short-term memory (PSTM), and acoustic short-term memory (AM)—in second language (L2) vowel learning. The participants were 40 Azerbaijani learners of Standard Southern British English. Their perception of L2 vowels was tested through a perceptual discrimination task before and after five sessions of high-variability phonetic training. Inhibitory control was significantly correlated with gains from training in the discrimination of L2 vowel pairs. However, there were no significant correlations between attention control, AM, PSTM, and gains from training. These findings suggest the potential role of inhibitory control in L2 phonological learning. We suggest that inhibitory control facilitates the processing of L2 sounds by allowing learners to ignore the interfering information from L1 during training, leading to better L2 segmental learning.

Relating mindfulness and executive function in children

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 435-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena M C Geronimi ◽  
Brenda Arellano ◽  
Janet Woodruff-Borden
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
The Core ◽  
Core Executive

Despite the important role of cognitions in mindful awareness, research on the cognitive processes underlying mindfulness in young populations is scarce. This study explores the association between the core executive functions (i.e. inhibition, working memory, and shifting) and mindfulness within the same model in a sample of children. Seventy-two parent–child dyads participated in the study. Difficulties with executive functioning and child mindfulness level were assessed. Inhibition, working memory, and shifting were significantly correlated with mindfulness. Furthermore, moderate to good fit was found in a model testing the association between mindfulness and the latent executive function variable composed by the three executive functions, and individual executive functions demonstrated significant loadings in relation to the latent variable. In a model relating mindfulness to each individual executive function, mindfulness was uniquely associated with inhibition, working memory, and shifting. The application of current theoretical models of mindfulness to child populations and clinical implications are discussed.

The Effect of Working Memory Training on Cognitive Control and Reading Comprehension

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-paul Snijder
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Memory Training ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Near Transfer ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Selection Of

!Note: The current paper is a thesis project. It has not been published, nor attempted to be published due to insufficient sample size! Abstract: Working memory (WM) training has seen a surge of popularity in recent years. There is evidence for near transfer of training, but findings regarding far transfer have been inconclusive. Furthermore, concerns have surfaced regarding the methodological design used in many WM training studies. This paper examines these concerns and presents an improved experimental design. This experiment then tests three hypotheses: (a) WM capacity will improve as a function of training, (b) WM training facilitates near and far transfer, and (c) changes in different cognitive abilities will be correlated. The cognitive abilities measured before and after training were cognitive control (Stroop and AX-CPT) and reading comprehension (Nelson Denny and a selection of the GRE passage comprehension). Cognitive control served as a near transfer measure and reading comprehension as a measure of far transfer. The results show that WM training is associated with an improvement in cognitive control but not in reading comprehension. This finding is consistent with recent meta-analyses and suggests that WM training can induce near transfer but not far transfer.

scholarly journals ARE THERE DIFFERENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS OF CHILDREN WITH A TYPICAL AND ATYPICAL DEVELOPMENT STIMULATED BY A GAME ON A TABLET?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian A. Rojas-Barahona ◽  
◽  
Carla E. Förster Marín ◽  
Francisco Aboitiz ◽  
Jorge Gaete ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Atypical Development ◽  
Initial Literacy

"Introduction: Executive functions (EF) are developed early, building a fundamental basis of higher cognitive processes in adulthood (Garon et al., 2008). There are studies with children of typical development (Passolunghi et al., 2006; Welsh et al., 2010) that have demonstrated the key role of EF, such as working memory, inhibitory control, planning and attentional flexibility, in initial literacy and precalculus. What is still unclear is whether these EF can be stimulated early and if it has any effect on their development. At the same time, it is known that children with atypical development, such as ADHD, have deficiencies in the development of EF (Barkley, 1997). Early stimulation of EF in this type of population will have the same effects as in a typical development population? The objective of the study is to evaluate the effect of a stimulation program of the EF (working memory, inhibitory control, planning and attentional flexibility), by means of a tablet digital game, in the development of the EF of preschool children with and without symptoms of ADHD, of socioeconomically disadvantaged sectors. Method: Two groups, control (CG) and intervention (IG) were selected at random, both were evaluated twice (before and after). In total there were 408 participants, 212 with typical development and 196 with atypical development. The IG was exposed to a digital game of EF through a tablet during 12 sessions (in the classroom). Results: The main results show differences in favor of IG in the different EF evaluated, both for children with and without ADHD symptoms, with the exception of attentional variable for which no differences were observed. There are differences in the effect of EF among children evaluated. Discussion: These differences and their possible implications in the educational and social environment are discussed."

Refining our understanding of the “elephant in the room”

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Whiten
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Technological Culture

Abstract The authors do the field of cultural evolution a service by exploring the role of non-social cognition in human cumulative technological culture, truly neglected in comparison with socio-cognitive abilities frequently assumed to be the primary drivers. Some specifics of their delineation of the critical factors are problematic, however. I highlight recent chimpanzee–human comparative findings that should help refine such analyses.

Task-Switching Training and Transfer

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 106-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsófia Anna Gaál ◽  
István Czigler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
Training Procedure ◽  
Far Transfer ◽  
Near Transfer ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Transfer Tasks

Abstract. We used task-switching (TS) paradigms to study how cognitive training can compensate age-related cognitive decline. Thirty-nine young (age span: 18–25 years) and 40 older (age span: 60–75 years) women were assigned to training and control groups. The training group received 8 one-hour long cognitive training sessions in which the difficulty level of TS was individually adjusted. The other half of the sample did not receive any intervention. The reference task was an informatively cued TS paradigm with nogo stimuli. Performance was measured on reference, near-transfer, and far-transfer tasks by behavioral indicators and event-related potentials (ERPs) before training, 1 month after pretraining, and in case of older adults, 1 year later. The results showed that young adults had better pretraining performance. The reference task was too difficult for older adults to form appropriate representations as indicated by the behavioral data and the lack of P3b components. But after training older adults reached the level of performance of young participants, and accordingly, P3b emerged after both the cue and the target. Training gain was observed also in near-transfer tasks, and partly in far-transfer tasks; working memory and executive functions did not improve, but we found improvement in alerting and orienting networks, and in the execution of variants of TS paradigms. Behavioral and ERP changes remained preserved even after 1 year. These findings suggest that with an appropriate training procedure older adults can reach the level of performance seen in young adults and these changes persist for a long period. The training also affects the unpracticed tasks, but the transfer depends on the extent of task similarities.

Child and Adolescent Suicides in Bosnia and Herzegovina Before and After the War (1992–1995)

Crisis ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almir Fajkic ◽  
Orhan Lepara ◽  
Martin Voracek ◽  
Nestor D. Kapusta ◽  
Thomas Niederkrotenthaler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Child And Adolescent ◽  
Youth Suicide ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sex And Age Differences

Background: Evidence on youth suicides from Southeastern Europe is scarce. We are not aware of previous reports from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which experienced war from 1992 to 1995. Durkheim’s theory of suicide predicts decreased suicide rates in wartime and increased rates afterward. Aims: To compare child and adolescent suicides in Bosnia and Herzegovina before and after the war. Methods: Data on youth suicide for prewar (1986–90) and postwar (2002–06) periods were analyzed with respect to prevalence, sex and age differences, and suicide methods. Suicide data from 1991 through 2001 were not available. Results: Overall youth suicide rates were one-third lower in the postwar than in the prewar period. This effect was most pronounced for girls, whose postwar suicide rates almost halved, and for 15–19-year-old boys, whose rates decreased by about a one-fourth. Suicides increased among boys aged 14 or younger. Firearm suicides almost doubled proportionally and were the predominant postwar method, while the most common prewar method had been hanging. Conclusions: The findings from this study indicate the need for public education in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the role of firearm accessibility in youth suicide and for instructions on safe storage in households. Moreover, raising societal awareness about suicide risk factors and suicide prevention is needed.

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