The role of attention in preschoolers’ working memory

Decoding the content of working memory in school-aged children

Developmental improvements in working memory (WM) maintenance predict many real-world outcomes, including educational attainment. It is thus critical to understand which WM mechanisms support these behavioral improvements, and how WM maintenance strategies might change through development. One challenge is that specific WM neural mechanisms cannot easily be measured behaviorally, especially in a child population. However, new multivariate decoding techniques have been designed, primarily in adult populations, that can sensitively decode the contents of WM. The goal of this study was to deploy multivariate decoding techniques known to decode memory representations in adults to decode the contents of WM in children. We created a simple computerized WM game for children, in which children maintained different categories of information (visual, spatial or verbal). We collected electroencephalography (EEG) data from 20 children (7-12-year-olds) while they played the game. Using Multivariate Pattern Analysis (MVPA) on children's EEG signals, we reliably decoded the category of the maintained information during the sensory and maintenance period. Across exploratory reliability and validity analyses, we examined the robustness of these results when trained on less data, and how these patterns generalized within individuals throughout the testing session. Furthermore, these results matched theory-based predictions of WM across individuals and across ages. Our proof-of-concept study proposes a direct and age-appropriate potential alternative to exclusively behavioral WM maintenance measures in children. Our study demonstrates the utility of MVPA to measure and track the uninstructed representational content of children's WM. Future research could use our technique to investigate children's WM maintenance and strategies.

Disentangling Processing and Storage Accounts of Working Memory Development in Childhood

Researchers have been asking the question of what drives the development of working memory (WM) during childhood for decades. This question is particularly challenging because so many aspects of cognition develop with age that it is difficult to disentangle them and find out which factors are causal or fundamental. In this review, we first prepare to discuss this issue by inquiring whether increases in storage, processing, or both are the fundamental driving factor(s) of the age-related increase in WM capability in childhood. We contend that by experimentally manipulating either factor and observing changes in the other, it is possible to learn about causal roles in WM development. We discuss research on school-aged children that seems to suggest, by means of such an approach, that the growth of storage is causal for some phases or steps in WM tasks, but that the growth of processing is causal for other steps. In our theoretical proposal, storage capacity of the focus of attention determines earlier steps of information processing by constraining the selective encoding of information into WM, whereas processing dependent on the focus of attention determines later steps, like the detection of patterns that can simplify the effective memory load and adoption of a proactive stance of maintenance in dual-task settings. Future directions for research are discussed.

Decoding the content of working memory in school-aged children

Developmental improvements in working memory (WM) maintenance predict many real-world outcomes, including educational attainment. It is thus critical to understand which WM mechanisms support these behavioral improvements, and how WM maintenance strategies might change through development. One challenge is that specific WM neural mechanisms cannot easily be measured behaviorally, especially in a child population. However, new multivariate decoding techniques have been designed, primarily in adult populations, that can sensitively decode the contents of WM. The goal of this study was to deploy multivariate decoding techniques known to decode memory representations in adults to decode the contents of WM in children. We created a simple computerized WM game for children, in which children maintained different categories of information (visual, spatial or verbal). We collected electroencephalography (EEG) data from 20 children (7-12-year-olds) while they played the game. Using Multivariate Pattern Analysis (MVPA) on children's EEG signals, we reliably decoded the category of the maintained information during the sensory and maintenance period. Across exploratory reliability and validity analyses, we examined the robustness of these results when trained on less data, and how these patterns generalized within individuals throughout the testing session. Furthermore, these results matched theory-based predictions of WM across individuals and across ages. Our proof-of-concept study proposes a direct and age-appropriate potential alternative to exclusively behavioral WM maintenance measures in children. Our study demonstrates the utility of MVPA to measure and track the uninstructed representational content of children's WM. Future research could use our technique to investigate children's WM maintenance and strategies.

How attention factors into executive function in preschool children

Executive Function consists of self-regulation processes which underlie our ability to plan, coordinate, and complete goal-directed actions in our daily lives. While attention is widely considered to be central to the emergence and development of executive function during early childhood, it is not clear if it is integral or separable from other executive function processes. Previous studies have not addressed this question satisfactorily because executive function and attention are multidimensional constructs, but they are often studied without differentiating the specific processes that are tested. Moreover, some studies consist of only one task per process, making it difficult to ascertain if the pattern of results is attributable to different processes or more simply to task variance. The main aim of this study was to more fully investigate how attention factored into the underlying structure of executive function in preschool children. Preschool children (n = 137) completed a battery of tasks which included executive function (i.e., response inhibition, working memory) and attentional control (i.e., sustained attention, selective attention) processes; there were two tasks per process. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted to test which of three models fit the data best: (1) a unitary one-factor model with attention loading onto the same factor as other executive function processes, (2) a two-factor model with attention loading onto a separate factor than other executive function processes, or (3) a three-factor model with attention, response inhibition, and working memory as separate factors. Fit indices and model comparisons indicated that the two-factor model fit the data best, suggesting that attentional control and executive function were related, but separable. Although this study is not the first to advocate for a two-factor model during the preschool years, it is the first to suggest that the two factors are attentional control and executive function, not working memory and response inhibition. One important implication of these findings is that a complete assessment of executive function during the preschool years necessitates measuring not only response inhibition and working memory, but attentional control as well.

Working memory development: A 50-year assessment of research and underlying theories

The author has thought about working memory, not always by that name, since 1969 and has conducted research on its infant and child development since the same year that the seminal work of Baddeley and Hitch (1974) was published. The present article assesses how the field of working memory development has been influenced since those years by major theoretical perspectives: empiricism (along with behaviorism), nativism (along with modularity), cognitivism (along with constructivism), and dynamic systems theory. The field has not fully discussed the point that these theoretical perspectives have helped to shape different kinds of proposed working memory systems, which in turn have deeply influenced what is researched and how it is researched. Here I discuss that mapping of theoretical viewpoints onto assumptions about working memory and trace the influence of this mapping on the field of working memory development. I illustrate where these influences have led in my own developmental research program over the years.

Play First Before Doing Your Exercise: Does Acting in a Game-Like Task Improve 5-Year-Olds' Working Memory Performance?

It has been shown that acting in a game-like task improves preschoolers’ working memory when tested in a reconstruction task. The game context and the motor activity during the game would provide goal cues bringing support to the memory processes. The aim of the present study was to test this hypothesis by examining preschoolers’ working memory performance in a game-like task compared to an exercise-like task, which offers less goal cues. In the present study, 5-year-olds had to maintain a series of fruits and vegetables while acting in a game-like task or remaining static during the same task presented in a school-exercise context (within-subject factor). Memory performance was tested either through oral recall or reconstruction of the series of memory items (between-subject factor). Despite the fact that memory performance did not differ between the two conditions (game vs. exercise) whatever the type of memory tests, performance was worst in the game-like than in the exercise condition when the exercise was presented first. No difference emerged between conditions when the game condition was performed first. This result suggests that preschoolers were able to take advantage of acting in the game-like condition to integrate some task requirements, which were beneficial for performing the exercise condition.

Do goal cue and motor activity impact preschoolers' working memory?

Preschoolers are well known for their poor working memory (WM) performance. This could result from goal neglect, which would hamper the setting of maintenance strategies. Previous studies have shown that preschoolers' WM performance can be improved in game-like tasks, because they provide cues to support goal maintenance. However, in these studies, it was unclear what features of the task (either the main toy or the motor activity required by the game) provide efficient cues. The aim of the present study was to disentangle the two features to examine cue effects in 5- to 7-year-old children. No improvement of WM performance was observed when the toy was a potential goal cue, whereas the motor activity had a detrimental effect in all age groups. The latter effect could result from a distraction of attention from attention-based maintenance activities. Hence, preschoolers' poor WM performance would not be fundamentally due to goal neglect.

The use of attention to maintain information in working memory: A developmental investigation of spontaneous refreshing in school-aged children

The capacity of working memory is limited and undergoes important developmental changes during childhood. One proposed reason for the expansion of working memory capacity during childhood is the emergence and increased efficiency of active maintenance mechanisms, such as that of refreshing. Refreshing is a proposed mechanism to keep information active in working memory by bringing memory items back into the focus of attention. One prevalent view is that the spontaneous use of refreshing emerges around the age of 7 and becomes more efficient during middle childhood and beyond. Using a novel approach to examine refreshing in children in Experiment 1, we show, against common conceptions, that simply giving free time in a basic working memory task does not lead to spontaneous refreshing in 9-12-year-old children. Instead, their focus of attention appears to linger on the last-presented memory item, even when ample time for refreshing is provided. Experimentally imposing the use of refreshing in Experiment 2, however, showed that children in this age range are able to switch their focus of attention away from the last-presented item in switch to another memory item. Thus, the current study uncovers that children in middle childhood do not always spontaneously switch attention away from the last-presented memory item to refresh the entire list, even though they are able to switch attention away from the last-presented memory item when instructed to do so. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Five-Year-Old Children's Working Memory Can Be Improved When Children Act On A Transparent Goal Cue

Working memory is a key component of human cognition and its development throughout childhood a major predictor of cognitive development and school achievement. Noticeably, preschoolers exhibit poor performance in working memory tasks. The present study aimed at testing different means to improve working memory performance in preschoolers. To this aim, we tested the effect of abstract and transparent goal cues in a Brown-Peterson task performed by 4- and 5-year-old preschoolers. If the transparent goal cue helps to better maintain the instructions, it should lead to better memory performance. Moreover, preschoolers had to track, either visually or with their fingers, the goal cue during the retention interval. If the motor activity favors the active engagement of the children in the task, the finger tracking should lead to improvement in memory performance. Our findings were that 5-year-old children benefitted from a transparent goal cue when they acted on it, while 4-year-old children did not show any improvement. These results suggest that working memory performance can be improved in 5-year-old children when the task embeds elements that can scaffold the task goal.

Cognition-Action Trade-Offs Reflect Organization of Attention in Infancy

This chapter discusses what cognition-action trade-offs in infancy reveal about the organization and developmental trajectory of attention. We focus on internal attention because this aspect is most relevant to the immediate concerns of infancy, such as fluctuating levels of expertise, balancing multiple taxing skills simultaneously, learning how to control attention under variable conditions, and coordinating distinct psychological domains. Cognition-action trade-offs observed across the life span include perseveration during skill emergence, errors and inefficient strategies during decision making, and the allocation of resources when attention is taxed. An embodied cognitive-load account interprets these behavioral patterns as a result of limited attentional resources allocated across simultaneous, taxing task demands. For populations where motor errors could be costly, like infants and the elderly, attention is typically devoted to motor demands with errors occurring in the cognitive domain. In contrast, healthy young adults tend to preserve their cognitive performance by modifying their actions.

Developmental improvement in strategies to maintain verbal information in working memory

Although it has been proposed that maintenance of verbal information in adults’ working memory relies on two strategies, articulatory rehearsal and attentional refreshing, little is known about the interplay of these strategies in children. To examine strategy changes around the age of seven, children were asked to maintain digits during a retention interval introduced between encoding and recall. In Experiment 1, this interval was either unfilled in a delayed span task or filled with an attention-demanding task in a Brown-Peterson task. This concurrent task was either silent or aloud to vary the availability of rehearsal. Experiment 2 introduced variation in the attentional demand of the concurrent task, and an independent concurrent articulation. As predicted, recall performance was better in older children, but was reduced under concurrent articulation or when attention was less available, bringing further evidence in favor of two maintenance strategies. Moreover, the measure of the availability of attention for refreshing was correlated with recall performance in eight- and seven-year-olds, though only when rehearsal was impeded for seven-year-olds, but it did not correlate with six-year-olds’ recall. This could suggest that rehearsal is the default strategy in young children who can adaptively switch to refreshing when articulatory processes are unavailable.

Highlighting in Early Childhood: Learning Biases Through Attentional Shifting

The literature on human and animal learning suggests that individuals attend to and act on cues differently based on the order in which they were learned. Recent studies have proposed that one specific type of learning outcome, the highlighting effect, can serve as a framework for understanding a number of early cognitive milestones. However, little is known how this learning effect itself emerges among children, whose memory and attention are much more limited compared to adults. Two experiments were conducted using different versions of the general highlighting paradigm: Experiment 1 tested 3 to 6 year olds with a newly developed image-based version of the paradigm, which was designed specifically to test young children. Experiment 2 tested the validity of an image-based implementation of the highlighting paradigm with adult participants. The results from Experiment 1 provide evidence for the highlighting effect among children 3-6 years old, and they suggest age-related differences in dividing attention among multiple cues during learning. Experiment 2 replicated results from previous studies by showing robust biases for both image-based and text-based versions of the highlighting task. This study suggests that sensitivity to learning order emerges early through the process of cued attention, and the role of the highlighting effect in early language learning is discussed.

Dissociating rehearsal and refreshing in the maintenance of verbal information in 8-year-old children

Recent models of working memory suggest that two systems are involved in verbal working memory: one is dedicated to the maintenance of phonological representations through verbal rehearsal, while the other would maintain multimodal representations through attentional refreshing (Camos et al., 2009; Baddeley, 2012). Previous studies provided evidence on the existence of these two maintenance systems, on their independence, and how they affect recall performance in adults. However, only one study had already explored the relationships between these two systems in children ( Tam et al., 2010). The aim of the present study was to further examine how the two systems account for working memory performance in children. Eight-year-old children performed complex span tasks in which the availability of either the rehearsal or the refreshing was impeded by a concurrent articulation or an attention-demanding task, respectively. Moreover, the phonological similarity of the memoranda was manipulated. Congruently with studies showing that older children can used these maintenance systems, impeding any of the two systems reduced recall performance. Moreover, the manipulation of the two mechanisms did not interact, as previously observed in adults. This suggests that the two maintenance mechanisms are independent in 8-year-old children as they are in adults. However, the results concerning the phonological similarity effect (PSE) differed from what is observed in adults. Whereas the PSE relies only on the availability of rehearsal in adults, a more complex pattern appeared in children: the concurrent articulation as well as the concurrent task modulated the emergence of the PSE.