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Simpson A, Lipscombe S, Carroll DJ. Why are some inhibitory tasks easy for preschool children when most are difficult? Testing two hypotheses. J Exp Child Psychol 2022; 220:105431. [PMID: 35421630 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105431] [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: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the processes that create inhibitory demands is central to understanding the role of inhibitory control in all aspects of development. The processes that create inhibitory demands on most developmental tasks seem clear and well understood. However, there is one inhibitory task that appears substantially easier than the others: the Reverse Categorization task, in which children are asked to "reverse sort" items (e.g., put large items in a small box and put small items in a large box). This finding is both surprising and problematic because it cannot be explained by any existing account of inhibitory development. Four experiments with 3- and 4-year-olds sought to explain why the Reverse Categorization task is easy. Two experiments (N = 64) investigated the hypothesis that children conceptualize the task in a way that reduces its inhibitory demands; and two experiments (N = 56) tested the hypothesis that the task is easier because children sort items slowly. The data indicate that children spontaneously respond more slowly on the Reverse Categorization task than on other inhibitory tasks and that this slowing reduces the task's cognitive demands. The way in which slowed responding works, and its relation to other inhibition-reducing interventions, is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Simpson
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex CO4 3SQ, UK.
| | - Stuart Lipscombe
- School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Suffolk, Ipswich IP4 1QJ, UK
| | - Daniel J Carroll
- Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 2LT, UK
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Draperi M, Aïte A, Cassotti M, Le Stanc L, Houdé O, Borst G. Development of cool and hot theory of mind and cool and hot inhibitory control abilities from 3.5 to 6.5 years of age. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0262251. [PMID: 35085269 PMCID: PMC8794116 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Attributing affectively neutral mental states such as thoughts (i.e., cool theory of mind, cool ToM) to others appears to be rooted in different processes than the ones involved in attributing affectively charged mental states such as emotions (i.e., hot ToM) to others. However, no study has investigated the developmental pattern of hot and cool ToM abilities using a similar task and the relative contribution of cool and hot inhibitory control (IC) to cool and hot ToM development. To do so, we tested 112 children aged 3.5 to 6.5 years on a cool and a hot version of a ToM task and on a cool and hot version of an IC task. We found that hot ToM abilities developed more rapidly than cool ToM. Importantly, we found that hot IC abilities mediated the relation between age and hot ToM abilities. Taken together, our results suggest that the ability to attribute emotions to others develops more rapidly than the ability to attribute thoughts and that the growing efficiency of hot ToM with age is specifically rooted in the growing efficiency of hot IC abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ania Aïte
- LaPsyDÉ, Université de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France
- * E-mail:
| | - Mathieu Cassotti
- LaPsyDÉ, Université de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | | | - Olivier Houdé
- LaPsyDÉ, Université de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - Grégoire Borst
- LaPsyDÉ, Université de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
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Aranda-Martín B, Ballesteros-Duperón MÁ, Lupiáñez J. What gaze adds to arrows: Changes in attentional response to gaze versus arrows in childhood and adolescence. Br J Psychol 2022; 113:718-738. [PMID: 34997569 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
From early ages, gaze acts as a cue to infer the interests, behaviours, thoughts and emotions of social partners. Despite sharing attentional properties with other non-social directional stimuli, such as arrows, gaze produces unique effects. A spatial interference task revealed this dissociation. The direction of arrows was identified faster on congruent than on incongruent direction-location trials. Conversely, gaze produced a reversed congruency effect (RCE), with faster identifications on incongruent than congruent trials. To determine the emergence of these gaze-specific attentional mechanisms, 214 Spanish children (4-17 years) divided into 6 age groups, performed the aforementioned task across three experiments. Results showed stimulus-specific developmental trajectories. Whereas the standard effect of arrows was unaffected by age, gaze shifted from an arrow-like effect at age 4 to a gaze-specific RCE at age 12. The orienting mechanisms shared by gaze and arrows are already present in 4-year olds and, throughout childhood, gaze becomes a special social cue with additional attentional properties. Besides orienting attention to a direction, as arrows would do, gaze might orient attention towards a specific object that would be attentionally selected. Such additional components may not fully develop until adolescence. Understanding gaze-specific attentional mechanisms may be crucial for children with atypical socio-cognitive development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belén Aranda-Martín
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Center, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | | | - Juan Lupiáñez
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Center, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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Zhu Y, Liu L, Yang D, Ji H, Huang T, Xue L, Jiang X, Li K, Tao L, Cai Q, Fang Y. Cognitive control and emotional response in attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder comorbidity with disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders. BMC Psychiatry 2021; 21:232. [PMID: 33947370 PMCID: PMC8094501 DOI: 10.1186/s12888-021-03221-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND This study investigated cognitive and emotional functioning in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders (DICCD). METHODS Thirty patients with ADHD, 26 with DICCD, 22 with ADHD+DICCD were recruited from the outpatient department of Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, plus 20 healthy controls (HC). Differences between the groups in cognitive and emotional functioning were examined using Golden's Stroop and Emotional Stroop tests. For Emotional Stroop Mean reaction time (RT) of positive word (POS) and negative word (NEG) with color congruence (C) or incongruence (I) were recorded as POS-C, POS-I, NEG-C and NEG-I, respectively. RESULTS For Golden's interference scores (IGs), both errors and RTs in the ADHD group were higher than in the other groups. Longer mean RTs of POS-C, POS-I, NEG-C and neural word (NEU) of the ADHD group, and NEG-I of ADHD+DICCD and DICCD groups were observed compared to HC. After 12 weeks of methylphenidate treatment, differences between ADHD subgroups and HC on Golden's Stroop RT disappeared, but differences in Golden's Stroop errors and Emotional Stroop mean RTs remained. The ADHD+DICCD group showed longer mean RTs in NEG-C, NEG-I and NEU of the Emotional Stroop test than the ADHD group. CONCLUSIONS Our study shows that regardless of emotional responding, deficit in cognitive control is the core symptom of ADHD. However, emotionally biased stimuli may cause response inhibitory dysfunction among DICCD with callous-unemotional traits, and the comorbidity of ADHD and DICCD tends to account for the negative emotional response characteristic of DICCD. These deficits may be eliminated by medication treatment in ADHD, but not the ADHD with comorbid DICCD. Our results support the notion that ADHD with comorbid DICCD is more closely related to DICCD than to ADHD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuncheng Zhu
- grid.415630.50000 0004 1782 6212Shanghai Hongkou Mental Health Center, Shanghai, 200083 China ,grid.16821.3c0000 0004 0368 8293Clinical Research Center, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200030 China ,grid.410642.5Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, 200335 China
| | - Li Liu
- grid.410642.5Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, 200335 China
| | - Daoliang Yang
- grid.410642.5Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, 200335 China
| | - Haifeng Ji
- grid.410642.5Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, 200335 China
| | - Tianming Huang
- grid.410642.5Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, 200335 China
| | - Lianxue Xue
- grid.410642.5Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, 200335 China
| | - Xixi Jiang
- Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, 200335, China.
| | - Kaiyun Li
- grid.454761.5University of Jinan, Shandong Province, Jinan, 250022 China
| | - Lily Tao
- grid.22069.3f0000 0004 0369 6365Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE & STCSM), Shanghai Changning-ECNU Mental Health Center, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062 China
| | - Qing Cai
- grid.22069.3f0000 0004 0369 6365Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE & STCSM), Shanghai Changning-ECNU Mental Health Center, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062 China
| | - Yiru Fang
- Clinical Research Center, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200030, China. .,CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai, 200031, China. .,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic disorders, Shanghai, 201108, China.
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Pecora G, Bellagamba F, Chiarotti F, Paoletti M, Castano ML, Addessi E. The Effect of Symbolic Distancing on Delay Tolerance across the Preschool Period. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2019.1693374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Simpson A, Carroll DJ. Understanding Early Inhibitory Development: Distinguishing Two Ways That Children Use Inhibitory Control. Child Dev 2019; 90:1459-1473. [DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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Rademacher A, Koglin U. Analyzing the latent factor structure of self-regulation in preschoolers: New directions regarding a differentiation of cool self-regulation. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/17405629.2019.1620728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Annika Rademacher
- Department of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Ute Koglin
- Department of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
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Hao J. Do Children with Better Inhibitory Control Donate More? Differentiating between Early and Middle Childhood and Cool and Hot Inhibitory Control. Front Psychol 2017; 8:2182. [PMID: 29321755 PMCID: PMC5733552 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Inhibitory control may play an important part in prosocial behavior, such as donating behavior. However, it is not clear at what developmental stage inhibitory control becomes associated with donating behavior and which aspects of inhibitory control are related to donating behavior during development in early to middle childhood. The present study aimed to clarify these issues with two experiments. In Experiment 1, 103 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers completed cool (Stroop-like) and hot (delay of gratification) inhibitory control tasks and a donating task. The results indicated that there were no relationships between cool or hot inhibitory control and donating behavior in the whole group and each age group of the preschoolers. In Experiment 2, 140 elementary school children in Grades 2, 4, and 6 completed cool (Stroop-like) and hot (delay of gratification) inhibitory control tasks and a donating task. The results showed that inhibitory control was positively associated with donating behavior in the whole group. Cool and hot inhibitory control respectively predicted donating behavior in the second and sixth graders. Therefore, the present study reveals that donating behavior increasingly relies on specific inhibitory control, i.e., hot inhibitory control as children grow in middle childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Hao
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
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Kloo D, Sodian B. The developmental stability of inhibition from 2 to 5 years. BRITISH JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2017; 35:582-595. [PMID: 28792070 DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2016] [Revised: 06/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Executive functions or cognitive self-regulatory control processes are critical for children's ability to successfully navigate their academic and social environment. In this study, we focused on the development of one critical executive function skill, that of inhibitory control. In a longitudinal study, we tested 96 children at 24, 30, 36, 50, and 60 months of age with age-appropriate measures of inhibition. We found evidence for the developmental stability of inhibitory abilities. Inhibitory control at 30 months of age was strongly related to inhibitory control at 60 months of age even when verbal IQ was partialled out. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Prior research has shown that executive functions play a key role in children's academic as well as social development. However, evidence on the stability of individual differences in executive functions, especially in preschool children, is sparse and contradictory. What the present study adds? The present work was designed to investigate the stability of one particular executive function, namely inhibitory control, over a relatively large period of time, from 24 to 60 months of age. The most important finding is a robust correlation between Reverse Categorization at 30 months and Simon Says at 60 months (r = .56). We argue that this further highlights the importance of early EF interventions due to a possible 'ripple effect'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Kloo
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Germany
| | - Beate Sodian
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Germany
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Wilkinson M, Lim AR, Cohen AH, Galaburda AM, Takahashi E. Detection and Growth Pattern of Arcuate Fasciculus from Newborn to Adult. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:389. [PMID: 28769741 PMCID: PMC5509799 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Fractional anisotropy (FA) threshold is commonly used to perform diffusion MRI tractography. However, FA threshold may be one aspect of tractography that needs additional scrutiny in accurately assessing pathways in immature, developing brains, as well as in adult brains. Using high-angular resolution diffusion MRI (HARDI) tractography without an FA threshold, we identified the arcuate fasciculus (AF) of 83 healthy subjects ranging in age from 40 gestational weeks (GW) (newborns) to 28-year-old adults. The AF was identified in both hemispheres in all subjects with high inter-rater reliability. The detected AF included regions with very low FA values. The entire AF was segmented into anterior, posterior, and long tracts. Growth and laterality patterns were investigated using tract count (number of detected streamlines), total volume of imaging voxels (touched by the detected streamlines), mean length, mean FA, and mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). Comparison of subjects under 3 years old, to those that were older, revealed the three AF tracts that took different developmental courses. As expected, the anterior and long tracts showed lower ADC values in subjects over 3 years old, while the posterior tract showed higher ADC in that same age range. The posterior tract did not show age-related effect in terms of FA, tract count, length, and volume. These results suggest that the posterior AF tract shows a matured state, indexed by most of the used measurements in early postnatal developmental ages, and ADC is a measurement that can detect further maturation of the posterior tract. Interestingly, in all tracts, hemispheric asymmetries were found in raw (left<right), and in whole brain (WB)-normalized (left>right) tract count, as well as in raw volume (left<right). In raw, and in WB-normalized length, as well as in WB-normalized volume, rightward asymmetry (left<right) was found only in the anterior tract; other tracts were not significantly affected by hemisphere. Although many previous studies have observed a leftward asymmetry in the AF, rightward asymmetry has also been reported in other studies, and together with the present report, the results in the literature are likely to reflect differences in the methods used.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly Wilkinson
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Northeastern UniversityBoston, MA, United States.,Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBoston, MA, United States
| | - Ashley R Lim
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBoston, MA, United States.,Department of Psychology, Northeastern UniversityBoston, MA, United States
| | - Andrew H Cohen
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Northeastern UniversityBoston, MA, United States.,Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBoston, MA, United States
| | - Albert M Galaburda
- Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical SchoolBoston, MA, United States
| | - Emi Takahashi
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBoston, MA, United States
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Abstract
Patience in children has usually been studied using delay of gratification paradigms. However, another important aspect of patience that has not been well documented is the ability to adjust one's behavior while waiting without an explicit reward as a motivator (e.g., sitting in the doctor's waiting room). To examine this aspect of patience, video-recordings of sixty-one 3- and 4-year olds waiting for two separate 3-min periods were examined and coded for children's spontaneous behaviors. We found that 4-year olds displayed more patient (i.e., staying still) behaviors than 3-year olds during this "waiting paradigm." Interestingly, we also found that children who displayed less patient behaviors during the waiting paradigm were also those who succeeded on a future-thinking task. These findings have important implications for measuring patience in young children and highlight the potential impact of spontaneous behaviors on children's performance in cognitive tasks such as those assessing future-oriented cognition.
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