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Iwasaki S, Moriguchi Y, Sekiyama K. Balancing exploration and exploitation? The impact of cost and inhibitory control on information gathering in early childhood. BRITISH JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2024; 42:583-595. [PMID: 39152735 DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/19/2024]
Abstract
The information-seeking behaviour of adults focuses on optimizing the gathering and utilizing information to minimize search costs. In contrast, children tend to engage in information search during decision-making with less consideration for costs. This difference in behaviour is believed to be linked to the development of executive functions. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between executive function and cost-related information-gathering behaviour. We assessed 56 children aged 4-6 years, involving three tasks: an information-gathering task, an inhibitory control and a working memory task. In the information-gathering task, children participated in both non-cost and cost conditions, where they were given the opportunity to freely gather information or incur a cost to acquire information. The findings revealed that children with higher inhibitory control tended to gather less information when a cost was involved. This highlights the important role of inhibitory control in shaping information-seeking behaviour in early childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shoko Iwasaki
- Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | | | - Kaoru Sekiyama
- Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
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Tandoc MC, Nadendla B, Pham T, Finn AS. Directing Attention Shapes Learning in Adults but Not Children. Psychol Sci 2024; 35:1139-1154. [PMID: 39163348 DOI: 10.1177/09567976241263347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Children sometimes learn distracting information better than adults do, perhaps because of the development of selective attention. To understand this potential link, we ask how the learning of children (aged 7-9 years) and the learning of adults differ when information is the directed focus of attention versus when it is not. Participants viewed drawings of common objects and were told to attend to the drawings (Experiment 1: 42 children, 35 adults) or indicate when shapes (overlaid on the drawings) repeated (Experiment 2: 53 children, 60 adults). Afterward, participants identified fragments of these drawings as quickly as possible. Adults learned better than children when directed to attend to the drawings; however, when drawings were task irrelevant, children showed better learning than adults in the first half of the test. And although directing attention to the drawings improved learning in adults, children learned the drawings similarly across experiments regardless of whether the drawings were the focus of the task or entirely irrelevant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlie C Tandoc
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
| | | | - Theresa Pham
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Western Ontario
| | - Amy S Finn
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
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Wan Q, Sloutsky VM. Exploration, Distributed Attention, and Development of Category Learning. Psychol Sci 2024; 35:1164-1177. [PMID: 39158984 DOI: 10.1177/09567976241258146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Category learning is a crucial aspect of cognition that involves organizing entities into equivalence classes. Whereas adults tend to focus on category-relevant features, young children often distribute attention between relevant and irrelevant ones. The reasons for children's distributed attention are not fully understood. In two category-learning experiments with adults and with children aged 4, 5, and 6 (N = 201), we examined potential drivers of distributed attention, including (a) immature filtering of distractors and (b) the general tendency for exploration or broad information sampling. By eliminating distractor competition, we reduced filtering demands. Despite identifying the features critical for accurate categorization, children, regardless of their categorization performance, continued sampling more information than was necessary. These results indicate that the tendency to sample information extensively contributes to distributed attention in young children. We identify candidate drivers of this tendency that need to be examined in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianqian Wan
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University
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Fu Y, Guo T, Zheng J, He J, Shen M, Chen H. Children exhibit superior memory for attended but outdated information compared to adults. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4058. [PMID: 38744836 PMCID: PMC11094159 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48457-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Research on the development of cognitive selectivity predominantly focuses on attentional selection. The present study explores another facet of cognitive selectivity-memory selection-by examining the ability to filter attended yet outdated information in young children and adults. Across five experiments involving 130 children and 130 adults, participants are instructed to use specific information to complete a task, and then unexpectedly asked to report this information in a surprise test. The results consistently demonstrate a developmental reversal-like phenomenon, with children outperforming adults in reporting this kind of attended yet outdated information. Furthermore, we provide evidence against the idea that the results are due to different processing strategies or attentional deployments between adults and children. These results suggest that the ability of memory selection is not fully developed in young children, resulting in their inefficient filtering of attended yet outdated information that is not required for memory retention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingtao Fu
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Tingyu Guo
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jiewei Zheng
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jie He
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
| | - Mowei Shen
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
| | - Hui Chen
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
- The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
- The State Key Lab of Brain-Machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
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Gao M, Turner BM, Sloutsky VM. The Role of Attention in Category Representation. Cogn Sci 2024; 48:e13438. [PMID: 38605457 PMCID: PMC11018344 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
Numerous studies have found that selective attention affects category learning. However, previous research did not distinguish between the contribution of focusing and filtering components of selective attention. This study addresses this issue by examining how components of selective attention affect category representation. Participants first learned a rule-plus-similarity category structure, and then were presented with category priming followed by categorization and recognition tests. Additionally, to evaluate the involvement of focusing and filtering, we fit models with different attentional mechanisms to the data. In Experiment 1, participants received rule-based category training, with specific emphasis on a single deterministic feature (D feature). Experiment 2 added a recognition test to examine participants' memory for features. Both experiments indicated that participants categorized items based solely on the D feature, showed greater memory for the D feature, were primed exclusively by the D feature without interference from probabilistic features (P features), and were better fit by models with focusing and at least one type of filtering mechanism. The results indicated that selective attention distorted category representation by highlighting the D feature and attenuating P features. To examine whether the distorted representation was specific to rule-based training, Experiment 3 introduced training, emphasizing all features. Under such training, participants were no longer primed by the D feature, they remembered all features well, and they were better fit by the model assuming only focusing but no filtering process. The results coupled with modeling provide novel evidence that while both focusing and filtering contribute to category representation, filtering can also result in representational distortion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengcun Gao
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University
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Roark CL, Thakkar V, Chandrasekaran B, Centanni TM. Auditory Category Learning in Children With Dyslexia. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2024; 67:974-988. [PMID: 38354099 PMCID: PMC11001431 DOI: 10.1044/2023_jslhr-23-00361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE Developmental dyslexia is proposed to involve selective procedural memory deficits with intact declarative memory. Recent research in the domain of category learning has demonstrated that adults with dyslexia have selective deficits in Information-Integration (II) category learning that is proposed to rely on procedural learning mechanisms and unaffected Rule-Based (RB) category learning that is proposed to rely on declarative, hypothesis testing mechanisms. Importantly, learning mechanisms also change across development, with distinct developmental trajectories in both procedural and declarative learning mechanisms. It is unclear how dyslexia in childhood should influence auditory category learning, a critical skill for speech perception and reading development. METHOD We examined auditory category learning performance and strategies in 7- to 12-year-old children with dyslexia (n = 25; nine females, 16 males) and typically developing controls (n = 25; 13 females, 12 males). Participants learned nonspeech auditory categories of spectrotemporal ripples that could be optimally learned with either RB selective attention to the temporal modulation dimension or procedural integration of information across spectral and temporal dimensions. We statistically compared performance using mixed-model analyses of variance and identified strategies using decision-bound computational models. RESULTS We found that children with dyslexia have an apparent selective RB category learning deficit, rather than a selective II learning deficit observed in prior work in adults with dyslexia. CONCLUSION These results suggest that the important skill of auditory category learning is impacted in children with dyslexia and throughout development, individuals with dyslexia may develop compensatory strategies that preserve declarative learning while developing difficulties in procedural learning. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25148519.
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Affiliation(s)
- Casey L. Roark
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, PA
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, PA
| | - Vishal Thakkar
- Department of Psychology, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
| | - Bharath Chandrasekaran
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, PA
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, PA
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Wang J, Guo X, Xing Z, Wang G, Wang J, Hu J, Sun J, Li C, Tong S, Hong X. EEG correlates of anticipatory attention and target processing in children and adults during visual spatial attention. Physiol Behav 2023; 271:114341. [PMID: 37660775 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2023.114341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2023] [Revised: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
The ability of attentional orienting has been suggested to keep developing throughout childhood. Electroencephalography (EEG) studies have shown that 6-10 year old children exhibit lateralized alpha-band (8-13 Hz) activity and event-related potentials (ERPs) that are classic markers of spatial attentional orienting in adults. However, the lack of a direct comparison of these EEG correlates between children and adults in the same experiment made it difficult to evaluate developmental effects on neural activity throughout attentional stages. This study aimed to directly compare cue-related alpha activity and ERPs for the anticipatory attention stage and target-related ERPs for the target processing stage between healthy children and adults. Participants, including 19 children (6-10 years) and 23 adults (18-34 years), successfully completed a visual spatial attention task, although children responded more slowly and less consistently than adults. Both age groups exhibited significant cue-related alpha lateralization and ERPs (EDAN, ADAN, and LDAP) during anticipatory attention and significant attentional modulation of target-related N1 during target processing. However, no significant difference was found in the magnitude of attentional modulation of these EEG correlates between children and adults. These findings suggest that the neural underpinnings of anticipatory attention and target processing during visual spatial attention could have been largely developed in 6-10 year old children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaqi Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Xiaoli Guo
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Ziping Xing
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Guanghai Wang
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Pediatric Translational Medicine Institute, Shanghai Children's Medical Center Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Jingyi Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Jingyi Hu
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Junfeng Sun
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Chunbo Li
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 600 Wan Ping Nan Road, Shanghai 200030, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT), Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai 200030, China; Institute of Psychology and Behavioral Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China
| | - Shanbao Tong
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China.
| | - Xiangfei Hong
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 600 Wan Ping Nan Road, Shanghai 200030, China.
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Iwasaki S, Moriguchi Y, Sekiyama K. Parental responsiveness and children's trait epistemic curiosity. Front Psychol 2023; 13:1075489. [PMID: 36778159 PMCID: PMC9910790 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1075489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/31/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Curiosity, the desire to learn new information, has a powerful effect on children's learning. Parental interactions facilitate curiosity-driven behaviors in young children, such as self-exploration and question-asking, at a certain time. Furthermore, parenting quality predicts better academic outcomes. However, it is still unknown whether persistent parenting quality is related to children's trait epistemic curiosity (EC). The current study examined whether parenting practices, responsiveness, and demandingness are cross-sectionally related to the trait EC of children in different age groups (preschoolers, younger and older school-aged children). We adopted a shortened Japanese version of the parenting style questionnaire and modified the trait EC questionnaire in young children. A sample of 244 caregivers (87.37% mothers) of children (ages 3-12) was recruited through educational institutions in Japan and reported on their parenting practices and trait EC. All data analyses were performed using SPSS version 26. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to determine the explanatory variables for children's trait EC. Self-reported parental responsiveness significantly explained EC scores. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show a cross-sectional relationship between parental responsiveness and children's trait EC. Future research should clarify whether parental responsiveness in early childhood predicts children's EC later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shoko Iwasaki
- Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | | | - Kaoru Sekiyama
- Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
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Ibbotson P. The Development of Executive Function: Mechanisms of Change and Functional Pressures. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2023. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2022.2160719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Paul Ibbotson
- School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
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