Information Processing and Executive Function in Problem Solving

1. Last Class • Hypothetico-deductive reasoning/think like a scientist. • Hypothetical solutions; Test them one at a time. • Pendulum Problem. • Think about thinking and reflective abstraction. • Egocentricity and Personal Fable (playing to an audience); Invulnerability

2. Last Class • Contributions: Task-based, Role of the child, Equilibration as an explanation, Accurate description • Criticisms: Underestimated, trained (task specific), overestimated adults (garlic powder) • Fuzzy Trace Theory: reason by processing inexact memory representations, continuum • Fuzzy Traces are more easily remembered. • Output Interference: Scheduling Effects and Feedback Effects • Children are biased towards verbatim memories. • They shift to gist during the school years. • Brainerd & Gordon (1994)

3. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 1PSYCHOLOGY 3050:Executive Function, Strategies, and Problem Solving (Chapter 7) Dr. Jamie Drover SN-3094, 864-8383 e-mail – jrdrover@mun.ca Winter Semester, 2015

4. Assumptions of Information Processing • Information moves through a system or pathway. • Depicted by flow charts. • Input must go through this system of stores in serial fashion. • Based on the Atkinson-Shiffrin Model (1968).

5. The Information Processing System

6. Assumptions of Information Processing • We can only deal with a certain amount of info at a time, i.e., we have limited capacity. • If too many operations are added, it will interfere with the execution of other operations. • Cognition is domain-general. • They rely on the same pool of mental resources.

7. Assumptions of Information Processing • Automatic Processes: require none of the short-term store’s limited capacity. • Occur without intention, don’t interfere with other processes, don’t improve with practice, not influenced by individual differences in intelligence. • E.g., Frequency of occurrence judgments.

8. Assumptions of Information Processing • Effortful Processes: require the use of mental resources for their successful completion. • Often referred to as strategies or control processes. • Available to consciousness, interfere with other processes, improve with practice, influenced by individual differences. • Using a memory strategy.

9. The Development of Executive Function • Executive Functions: the processes involved in planning and monitoring what we attend to and what we do with the input. • It involves: • Working Memory: How much one can hold in the short-term store and “think about” • Inhibition and resisting interference. • Selective attention. • Cognitive flexibility.

10. The Development of Executive Function • Individual differences on executive function are related to higher level cognitive abilities. • Reading, mathematics, IQ

11. Speed of Processing • Young children require more time and use more of their limited capacity to execute cognitive processes. • The results of these limitations are seen on several memory tasks. • Constraints on time and resources/capacity translate into poorer performance on WM tasks.

12. Speed of Processing • Kail (1991; 1997) • Showed that general developmental changes in processing speed are similar across different tasks • Participants aged 6 to 21 yr • Series of reaction time (RT) tasks: • RT is the time it takes to make a response • Assumption in controlled conditions is that longer RT means more thinking • Measure of processing load

13. Speed of Processing • Tasks varied in cognitive requirements, difficulty • Mental rotation • Memory search • Name retrieval • Mental addition • Visual search • Pattern of responses varied across the tasks was the same across age – faster RT – increased speed

14. Kail (1991) – Speed of Processing

15. Speed of Processing • Kail believes that maturationally based factors are primarily responsible for the age-related changes in speed of processing. • Brain maturation (e.g., myelin – neural speed) accounts for this in part.

16. Memory Span and Working Memory • Usually assessed with tests of memory span. • Unrelated items that can be recalled in order. • Digit span improves with age. • Span of apprehension has been tested. • Number of items that can be kept in mind at any one time. • Amount of information people can attend to at any one time

17. Memory Span and Working Memory • Can be measured while one is playing computer games and hears number presented over headphones. • Told to ignore numbers. Later recall numbers. • Apprehension span increases with age. • A detailed knowledge base in a particular area facilitates memory for that information. • Eg. Chess experts.

18. Chi (1978) – chess experts versus novices So organized knowledge facilitates recall from STM:

19. Development of Working Memory • Working Memory: involves storage of memory and the capacity to transform information in the short-term system. • STM is just storage.

20. Last Class • Information Processing: Process info, goes through stores • Sensory-STM-LTM • Limited Capacity: Deal with a certain amount of info. • Automatic: without intention, don’t interfere, don’t improve • Effortful: available, interfere, improve • Speed of Processing: Children slow, perform poorly. • Kail: 6-21 (RT task: mental rotation, memory search, name retrieval, mental addition, visual search). • Memory Span (words, digits) • Span of Apprehension: what can be kept in mind at any one time. • Knowledge Base, expertise (Chi, 1978)

21. The Development of Working Memory • Baddely and Hitch (1974) stated that working memory contained a central executive that stores information. • Also, two temporary systems. • Articulatory Loop: encodes verbal information. Verbal information may be rehearsed here. • Visuo-Spatial Sketch Pad: encodes visual information.

22. Visuo-spatial Sketch pad Central Executive Articulatory loop Stores: Visual info Stores: Verbal info Attentional system: Directs, coordinates “slave systems” Rehearsal (subvocalize)

23. The Development of Working Memory • Age differences in verbal memory span are caused by developmental changes in the articulatory loop. • Verbal or phonological information is stored in the articulatory loop. • Rehearsal of information takes place here. • As we get older, the rate of rehearsal in the articulatory loop increases. • We rehearse more information. • We remember more information.

24. Baddeley’s Model: speech rate and memory span linearly related High Low Memory Span Low Rate of Speech (items/sec) High Short words Older kids Fast talkers Causes of Speech rate differences Long words Young kids Slow talkers

25. The Development of Working Memory • Speed of information processing is important. • Speed of articulation is important. • Familiarity with the information is also critical. • Speed of processing is important to cognitive development in general.

26. Attention as Resources • Attention = Concentration • Attention may consume mental resources. • Age differences in the ability to attend to a task may lead to differences in the ability to allocate limited mental resources. • There are individual differences and age differences in the ability to stay on task. • Attention span increases with age.

27. Inhibition and Resistance to Interference • Inhibition: Active suppression process, such as the removal of task-irrelevant information from working memory. • As children get older, they are better able to inhibit inappropriate responses which permits more efficient execution of other operations. • Resistance to Interference: avoiding performance decrements under conditions of multiple distracting stimuli.

28. Inhibition and Resistance to Interference • Can be assessed using the day/night task. • Very difficult for preschoolers. • Can also be assessed with the tapping task or Simon says. • Young children show difficult inhibiting speech (Kipp & Pope, 1997).

29. Developmental Differences • As children get older, they are better able to execute inhibitory processes. • Harnishfeger and Bjorklund (1990; 1994) propose that differences in the ability to keep task-inappropriate information out of working memory influences task performance. • Young children can not ignore task-irrelevant info • Can’t keep task irrelevant thoughts out of WM. • Task-irrelevant info clutters WM reducing functional memory space.

30. The Development of Strategies • Memory strategies: • Goal directed processes that are adopted to enhance cognitive (e.g., memory) performance • Effortful • Deliberate • Usually conscious or explicit

31. The Development of Strategies • Even a 2-year-old will use strategies. • The frequency and effectiveness of strategy use increases with age. • Younger children can be taught strategies that they do not use spontaneously, which can improve their performance. • Eg. rehearsal • Production deficiency

32. The Development of Strategies • Preschoolers do use strategies, even though they lead to incorrect answers. • Children as young as 18 months use strategies.

33. The Development of Strategies • De Loache, Cassidy, & Brown (1985) • 18- 24-mo-olds watch as Big Bird hidden in their home environment (e.g., under sofa cushion) • During a distraction (attractive toy), kids interrupted play to comment on Big Bird or the hiding place • Looked at hiding location • “strategic” – i.e., do something to aid recall

34. cage cage house cage house house house house cage house cage cage Utilization Deficiencies • There is a phase in which young children use strategies as effectively as older children, but do not benefit. • Miller et al (1990) found that young preschoolers showed no selective strategy.

35. Utilization Deficiencies • Later, children partially use selective strategies. • Later, they use selective strategies, but they do not help, i.e., utilization deficiency. • Utilization deficiencies are common.

36. Utilization Deficiencies • These deficiencies may be due to lack of mental resources. • Don’t have enough available resources to retain the information. • May be due to poor metacognition. • Utilization deficiencies may be beneficial and may be short-lived. • Coyle & Bjorklund (1997). • But see Schlagmüller & Schneider (2002).

37. How Do Strategies Develop? • Children use a variety of strategies to solve a problem. • Siegler’s adaptive strategy choice model proposes that in cognitive development, children generate a variety of strategies. • Those that are effective will remain, those that are less effective will eventually decrease in frequency.

38. How Do Strategies Develop? • But development occurs as a series of overlapping waves, not through a series of steps. • Multiple strategies are available, but those that are used change with age.

39. Last Class • Working Memory: Central Exec, Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad, Articulatory Loop • Articulatory Loop develops, rehearse faster, rehearse more, remember more. • Strategies: Effortful, deliberate, conscious. • Production Deficiency, Not always (DeLoache et al., 1985). • Utilization Deficiency (Miller et al., 1990). • Coyle & Bjorklund (1997). • But see Schlagmüller & Schneider (2002). • Limited capacity, metacognition • Adaptive Strategy Choice Model: Have a number of strategies available. • Those used most frequently change with age.

40. How Do Strategies Develop? • A common example to illustrate strategy development is simple arithmetic. • There are many available strategies. • Sum strategy, min strategy, fact retrieval, • Children use a variety of these strategies at any one time. • The frequency with which they are used varies with age.

41. How Do Strategies Develop? • Bjorklund and Rosenblum (2002) looked at strategies used by children when playing Snakes and Ladders and performing academic arithmetic. • Children rarely relied on one strategy only and distribution varied depending on the context. • The sum strategy was most used in the game context, but least used in the academic context. • Strategies also varied with the difficulty of the problem.

42. The Development of Memory Strategies • AKA Mnemonics. • Rehearsal • Flavell et al. (1966) • Grade K, 2, and 5 children were shown pictures they were asked to remember. • Age-related increases in amount of rehearsal (lip movements), in picture recall task • 85% of GR 5 vs. 10% of GR K. • Within age – more rehearsal, better recall • greater frequency

43. The Development of Memory Strategies • Ornstein et al. (1975) – not only frequency, but type of rehearsal is important • Used overt rehearsal procedure in grade 3, 6, and 8 children. • All kids instructed to rehearse. • Age difference in style of rehearsal, not in frequency • Young children use passive rehearsal. • Older children use cumulative rehearsal. • older kids showed better recall than younger

44. Rehearsal sets Word presented Eighth grade child Third grade child 1. Yard yard, yard, yard yard, yard, yard, yard, yard 2. Cat cat, yard, cat, yard cat, cat, cat, cat, cat 3. Man man, cat, yard, man, man, man, man, cat, yard, man, man, man 4. Desk desk, man, cat, yard, desk, desk, desk, desk, man, cat, yard desk, desk

45. The Development of Memory Strategies • Organization • The structure discovered or imposed on a set of items that is used to guide performance. • Often assessed by clustering. • Adults who show high levels of clustering tend to recall more. • Recall and clustering increase with age.

46. The Development of Memory Strategies • Children can be trained to use clustering. • This often leads to positive results. • Production Deficiency

47. Factors Influencing Strategy Use and Effectiveness • Mental Capacity • Perhaps children do not have enough resources to execute a strategy and perform other aspects of the task at the same time. • Bjorklund and Harnishfeger (1987) had grade 3 and 7 children study a list of words using organization. • At the same time they had to press a space bar as fast as they could. • Tapping rates were compared to those from a baseline measure.

48. Factors Influencing Strategy Use and Effectiveness • The more mental effort required from the strategy use, the slower the tapping rate. • Both groups used the organization strategy. • Both groups showed decreases in tapping rates. • Only the grade 7 children showed recall improvement. • Strategies are effortful, particularly in young children. • They are less likely to benefit from strategy use.

49. Factors Influencing Strategy Use and Effectiveness • Knowledge base affects the use of strategies. • Having a detailed or elaborate knowledge base results in faster processing for domain specific information. • This results in more efficient processing and greater availability of mental resources.

50. Factors Influencing Strategy Use and Effectiveness • There are three ways in which knowledge can affect task performance. • Item specific effects • Individual items are more richly represented in the semantic memories of older children than in younger children. • Leads to easier retrieval.