Age difference in dual-task interference effects on procedural learning in children

Specific Cues Can Improve Procedural Learning and Retention in Developmental Coordination Disorder and/or Developmental Dyslexia

The present study investigates procedural learning of motor sequences in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and/or developmental dyslexia (DD), typically-developing children (TD) and healthy adults with a special emphasis on (1) the role of the nature of stimuli and (2) the neuropsychological functions associated to final performance of the sequence. Seventy children and ten adults participated in this study and were separated in five experimental groups: TD, DCD, DD, and DCD + DD children and adults. Procedural learning was assessed with a serial reaction time task (SRTT) that required to tap on a specific key as accurately and quickly as possible when stimuli appeared on the screen. Three types of stimuli were proposed as cues: the classical version of the SRTT with 4 squares aligned horizontally on the screen, giving visuospatial cues (VS cues), and two modified versions, with 4 letters aligned horizontally on the screen (VS + L cues) and letters at the center of the screen (L cues). Reaction times (RT) during the repeated and random blocks allowed assessing three phases of learning: global learning, specific learning and retention of the sequence. Learning was considered as completed when RT evolved significantly in the three phases. Neuropsychological assessment involved, among other functions, memory and attentional functions. Our main result was that learning and retention were not influenced by the available cues in adults whereas learning improved with specific cues in children with or without neurodevelopmental disorders. More precisely, learning was not completed with L cues in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. For children with DD, learning was completed with the VS and VS + L cues whereas for children with DCD (with or without DD), learning was completed with combined VS + L cues. Comorbidity between DD and DCD had no more impact on procedural learning than DCD alone. These results suggest that learning depends on the nature of cues available during practice and that cues allowing learning and retention depend on the type of disorder. Moreover, selective attention was correlated with RT during retention, suggesting that this neuropsychological function is important for procedural learning whatever the available cues.

Rhyming abilities in a dual-task in school-age children who stutter

PURPOSE

We compared school-age children who stutter (CWS) and age and gender matched control participants (CWNS) in a dual-task involving a word-level rhyming task and a tone task involving pitch decisions.

METHODS

Participants were 30 children (CWS, n = 15) between 7 and 16 years. Auditory word - picture stimuli pairs from the rhyme task were categorized into nonrhyme (e.g., bear-cart), rhyme (e.g., bear-pear), and replica (e.g., bear-bear) categories. The effort associated with managing resources in the dual-task was varied through the manipulation of stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the stimuli of the two tasks. Mixed methods analyses of the response time (RT, ms) and error (%) data were conducted with Group, Category, and SOA as the fixed effects and participants as the random effect. Age and phoneme awareness skills were included in the analyses.

RESULTS

More rhyming errors and a significant positive correlation between rhyming errors and age was observed in the CWS compared to the CWNS. Compared to the CWNS, a higher percentage of rhyming errors was observed in the rhyme than the nonrhyme and replica categories in the CWS in both the SOA conditions, and this effect was influenced by age and phoneme awareness skills. Analysis of the tone task data indicated that a subgroup of CWNS with higher phoneme awareness skills showed reduced RT difference between the long and the short SOA conditions thereby suggesting higher efficiency with resource allocation for dual tasking. Task-specific differences between the CWS and CWNS are interpreted to suggest limitations in the encoding of the phonological aspects of covert speech in a dual-task.

Developmental Differences in the Availability of Cognitive Resources Supporting Rhyming and Dual Tasking

Purpose We investigated developmental differences in a dual task involving rhyming and tone judgment/decisions and the effects of varying cognitive demands on task performance. Method Participants were 7- to 11-year-olds, 12- to 15-year-olds, and adults between 18 and 40 years (n = 19 per group). The rhyming task consisted of three stimuli categories (nonrhyme, rhyme, and replica), and the tone task stimuli were presented at short (100 ms) versus long (900 ms) stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) from the onset of the rhyme task to vary cognitive demands. Response time (RT) and error data were analyzed using linear and binomial mixed-methods analysis, respectively. Results and Conclusions Adults did not show an SOA-based effect in rhyming RT, while the 12- to 15-year-olds showed the most effect (RT, long > short SOA). Response to the replica category was significantly faster than for the other categories in all age groups. A reverse SOA effect was evident in the tone task (RT, short > long SOA) in all age groups. The 7- to 11-year-olds showed twice the task switch cost effect in the tone task RT. Age grouping and phoneme awareness were significant predictors of performance in both tasks, and additionally, SOA was a significant predictor of performance in the secondary task. The findings have implications for (a) understanding maturational differences in rhyming and executive control for dual tasking and the cognitive mechanisms supporting such effects and (b) identifying variables contributing to the developmental differences.

Age-related changes in children's cognitive-motor dual tasking: Evidence from a large cross-sectional sample

Children coordinate two tasks simultaneously at several occasions throughout the day; however, this dual-task ability and its development across childhood are poorly understood. Therefore, the current study investigated age-related changes in children's dual-task ability using a large cross-sectional sample of 8- to 13-year-old children (N = 135). In our dual-task methodology, children were asked to walk across an electronic pathway while performing three concurrent cognitive tasks. These tasks targeted at children's executive function components: inhibition, switching, and updating skills. Our findings indicate associations between age and children's stride time variability but not with normalized velocity. Younger children showed higher stride time variability in the dual-task situation as compared with older children after accounting for their single-task performance, intelligence, anthropometric variables, and sex, indicating a more regular gait pattern in older children. Furthermore, age was differently related to children's accuracy in solving the concurrent cognitive tasks. Whereas age was associated with children's performance in the updating and switching task, there was no relation between age and children's inhibitory skills. In addition, our data imply that children's dual-task ability was associated with a number of individual variables. In particular, children with higher intelligence scores showed fewer errors and girls showed lower stride time variability in the dual tasks. Our results suggest a considerable developmental progression in children's ability to coordinate two simultaneous tasks across middle childhood. Furthermore, our study qualifies previous dual-task research and implies that heterogeneous findings may be related to a differential involvement of executive function components in the dual task.

Association between the level of attention and dual-task costs on postural sway and cognitive yield in children, adolescents, and young adults

BACKGROUND

Postural stability requires attentional resources. Dual-task paradigms are used to investigate the attentional demand of the studied tasks. However, no studies have been conducted on the subjects' level of attention, analyzing its association with dual-task costs (DTC).

RESEARCH QUESTION

To evaluate the attentional level and DTC on postural sway and cognitive yield in children, adolescents, and young adults, investigating age-related differences, and to analyze if the participants' attention level is associated with DTC.

METHODS

Postural sway and cognitive-yield of 30 children, 24 adolescents, and 32 young adults were assessed in a dual-task paradigm. We calculated DTC on postural sway and cognitive yield. Attention level was tested using Psychological Battery for Attention Assessment. We tested the association between DTC and attention level.

RESULTS

Young adults showed higher DTC on area and velocity of postural sway than children and adolescents. No differences in DTC on cognitive yield were found between the groups. Children showed lower attention levels than adolescents and young adults. Attention level was negatively associated with DTC on cognitive yield in young adults. Focused Attention is responsible for 24.4% of the variance in DTC on cognitive yield.

CONCLUSION

Age impacts DTC on postural stability, but not on cognitive performance. The smaller changes in sway found in children/adolescents when dual-tasking, potentially reflect less developed attentional levels and postural control, which make them performing postural tasks closed to their stability boundaries, and, therefore, make them prioritize stability protection more than adults. Similar DTC on cognition between groups may reflect an equalization of the chosen cognitive task at everyone's difficulty level. The lower attention levels of children may reflect an attentional system in development, with prioritization o postural tasks when dual-tasking to maintain stability. Although attention level increases throughout age, attention only predicted DTC on cognition. Better Focused Attention's levels predicted lower DTC on cognitive yield for young adults.

Developmental trajectory of rule management system in children

The ability to apply rules for environmental adaptation is crucial for human life. This capacity may require high-order cognitive control, such as when managing personal behavior by selecting among context-dependent internal rules. This process is poorly understood in children, especially in terms of the age at which multiple-rules processing becomes possible. We created a child-appropriate "rule management paradigm" to elucidate developmental changes in rule processing, and used it to investigate the trajectory of the rule management system in 322 children aged 4 to 6 years, with comparison to 57 adults. We found age-specific capacities in multiple-rules processing, with the majority of 4-year-olds failing at concurrent management of multiple-rules processing, a capacity that became well developed by age 6. Task performance in multiple-rules processing improved steeply with age and approached the adult level by late age 6. By contrast, single-rule processing on single-feature stimuli approached the adult level by age 5. Our main findings suggest that the critical period for the development of the multiple-rules processing system occurs before age 7, and is associated with the developmental period of the rule management system and other cognitive resources.