Chapter 7: Executive Function, Strategies
and Problem Solving
I.
Assumptions of the
information-processing approaches
A.
The information-processing system – information is
processed serially
1.
Multiple storage structures
a.
sensory register
b.
short-term memory
c.
long-term memory
B.
Limited capacity – cognition is domain general,
therefore all mental functions pull from the same limited mental resource
C.
Automatic and effortful processes
1.
Mental processes fall on a continuum, ranging from
automatic to effortful; this indicates how much mental capacity is required to
perform the process
2.
Automatic processes - not available to consciousness, do
not interfere with the execution of other processes, not amenable to practice,
not influenced by differences in intelligence, motivation, education.
The reverse of each is true of effortful processes.
II.
The development of basic-level
processes:
Executive function
A.
Executive processes – used for planning, includes
working memory, inhibitory processes, selective attention, cognitive flexibility
B.
Speed of processing
1.
Kail found a domain-general increase in processing speed
with development
C.
Memory span and working memory
1.
Memory span increases reliably with age; work by Cohen
suggests this is a true developmental phenomenon, reflecting increase in
capacity
a.
Not an absolute; sensitive to the effects of
nondevelopmental effects such as knowledge base
2.
Development of working memory
a.
Involves both storage and processing capacity
b.
Working memory span also increases with development,
perhaps due to rehearsal rate
c.
Baddeley’s and Hitch’s model of working memory
a.
Central executive
b.
Articulatory loop
c.
Visuo-spatial sketchpad - stores visual input
D.
Attention
1.
The ability to sustain attention appears to increase
developmentally, is domain-specific, and varies with the extent to which the
child comprehends the attended material
2.
Selective attention also improves with age; cultural
values may influence which aspects of the environment are selectively attended
E.
Learning how not to respond:
Inhibition and resistance to interference – inhibition refers to the
suppressing an active process, whereas resistance to interference refers to the
extent that one can ignore one input to concentrate on another
F.
Cognitive flexibility
1.
Ability to shift between rules or tasks, such as
required on Dimensional Card Sorting Task
2.
Developmental changes may be explained by cognitive
complexity and control theory:
age-related changes in reflection result increased behavioral/cognitive control
III.
The development of strategies
A.
Strategies – deliberate, goal-directed mental processes aimed at solving
a problem
B.
Increases in strategy use, improvements in performance
1.
Production deficiency – do not use strategy without prompting
2.
Even very young children use strategies, but likely simpler and less
effective
C.
Utilization deficiencies
1.
The use of a potentially effective strategy that results in no improvement or
even a decrement in performance
2.
May be due to lack of capacity, poor metacognition, use of the strategy for its
novelty rather than to improve performance
D.
How
do children’s strategies develop?
Siegler’s Adaptive Strategy Choice Model
1.
Many strategies are generated and tried for the same
task; those that prove to be most effective continue to be used while
ineffective ones are eventually dropped
2.
Used the microgenetic method to look at changes in
strategy use over a relatively brief time
3.
Children of various ages use a variety of strategies;
the frequency of use of any particular strategy changes with age; older children
may use more strategies
4.
Children use strategies selectively and adaptively, and
may use combinations of strategies
E.
The development of memory strategies (mnemonics)
1.
Rehearsal
a.
Style changes with development, moving from passive to active (cumulative)
b.
Older children more likely to use a rehearsal strategy spontaneously
2.
Organization – to impose a structure on a set of items
F.
Factors that influence children’s strategies use and effectiveness
1.
Mental capacity – strategies are effortful and deplete resources; older
children’s processing is more automatized and therefore require fewer resources,
making them more likely to use a strategy and to use it more effectively
2.
Knowledge
base – detailed knowledge of a domain results in more, and more efficient,
strategy use
3.
Metacognition – knowledge of one’s cognitive ability
a.
Declarative metacognition – conscious
knowledge of the characteristics of the cognitive
task, one’s ability relative to that task, possible strategies to use for
the task
b.
Procedural metacognition – conscious knowledge of when to use strategies and the
monitoring of performance
c.
Meta-attention
a.
Knowledge of one’s attentional ability
b.
Reaches near-adult capacity by around age 8
d.
Metamemory
a.
Preschool children may overestimate their memory performance
b.
Better procedural metamemory encourages use of strategies due to awareness of
improved recall; therefore younger children may benefit from feedback on memory
performance
IV.
Learning to solve problems
A.
The development of problem solving
1. When do children
demonstrate goal-directed behavior
a.
Piaget: 8 months
b.
Willatts demonstrated 8-month olds can pull on a cloth to obtain a toy
(means-end problem solving)
c.
Zhe et al. found that although few 1-year-olds initially solved a problem
independently, once shown the solution they were able to generalize it to
similar problems
d.
Young children may not demonstrate goal-directed behavior on more
complicated tasks
e.
Impact of context: more sophisticated problem solving demonstrated on
tasks embedded in meaningful context
B.
The development of reasoning – requires one to make an
inference, draw conclusion from evidence
1.
Analogical reasoning – using knowledge of relationships
between two components to understand the relationship between two new objects;
Piaget proposed not present until adolescence
C.
Scientific reasoning – generate and systematically test
hypotheses; requires evidence to draw a conclusion