what are executive functions? (EF)
- a single cog process
- Behaviourally: frontal lobe damage affects different EF abilities differently
- Biologically: different areas of the frontal lobe are involved in different tasks
what are the 3 factors which emerge from EF battery tasks?
Inhibitory control
Updating/ working memory
Shifting
- these are in a tripartite structure
what is inhibitory control?
simple is shown in infancy
complex can involve conflict
there are diff cog demands for diff tasks
what is updating/WM?
More complex tasks directing behaviour towards future goals require more executive control (eg backwards digit span)
by age of 4 we have a pretty adultlike structure of WM – what seems to change is a dev in the capacity
As we move from 4-15 we get this increase in capacity
what is shifting?
the ability to shift between mental states
- it requires inhibition and WM
- Hughes found that 3-4 year olds could shift between 2 response sets in story form - determine one teddy’s favourite shape is and then determine a different teddy’s favourite colour
what is metacognition?
Older children/adults slow response times when shifting sets suggesting they understand slowing down will reduce errors – don’t see the trade off in much younger children
what is hot EF?
top down influences
more heavily reliant on OFC
As children get older they have less tantrums as they can control their beh and emotions much better
more closely reflects everyday dm
what is the biological model of EF?
Interconnections mean PFC is well placed to integrate information and control other systems
Phineas Gage - Wide ranging symptoms following frontal lobe damage. Can be on their own or in different combinations
what did Norman and Shallice discover? (1988)
we have a supervisory system which is triggered by schemas (triggered by perceptual info) which then trigger our responses
- When the supervisory system is damaged it is much harder to override the schemas – therefore that selected schema is likely to win
what did Duncan discover? (2001)
PFC neurons seem to be adapting to carry specific signals depending on the task the monkeys are doing. Suggests coding in the PFC might be adaptive and combine WM, attention, and control. Would influence how we map functions and specialisations in PFC
what is the VLPFC involved in? (ventro lateral PFC)
simple tasks e.g. STM
what is DLPFC involved in? (dorso lateral PFC)
manipulating info/making plans
what is the RPFC involved in? (rostral pre-frontal cortex)
high level human abilities
what is the OFC involved in?
motivation and reward, especially adjusting actions
what is the ACC involved in? (anterior cingulate cortex)
behavioural regulation
regarding focal activation where is there more and less activation?
more - EF related areas
less - in adults than infants
what are examples of EF tests?
- Wisconsin card sort
- trail making
- stroop test
- tower of hanoi (cant stack larger discs on smaller ones)
what does the NIH toolbox cognition battery allow you to compare?
need normal functioning with no disorder and it is freely available,
it is ages 3-85 and so means you can compare a variety of ages
what does NEPSY allow you to compare?
children aged 3-16
Can compare diff children and follow them through their life
what did Zelazo show regarding dev of EF?
Development over middle childhood seems to be increased control of attention, efficiency flexibility, and organisation of complex problems
- gradually declines after 25
when does the tripartite structure appear to be in place by?
middle childhood
what does the ability to hold rules in the mind improve with?
age
how does performance seem to improve on?
multiple diff tasks
what are A not B errors?
toys hidden repeatedly at A. Infants reach for toy at A. When toy hidden at B, infants reach for A again
The older infants get, the longer delay is necessary for them to make the A not B error.
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lecture111
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lecture 2 - face perception24
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lecture 3 - typical and atypical language25
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lecture 4 - cognitive dev26
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lecture 5 - the object concept and mental representations27
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lecture 6 - numerical cognition28
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Pascalis reading9
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Baillargeon - object permanence in 5 month old infants3
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cog dev reading8
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lecture 7 - social learning and social dev21
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ch 6 reading6
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ch 14 reading15
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ch 15 reading8
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lecture 8 - development of prosocial beh and moral reasoning21
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lecture 9 - neurodivergence in dev and autism20
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gernsbacher and yergeau paper4
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lecture 10 - adolescence and adulthood20
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recommended reading11
