Getting ready to use control: Advances in the measurement of young children’s use of proactive control

Abstract

A key developmental transition in executive function is in the temporal dynamics of its engagement: children shift from reactively calling to mind task-relevant information as needed, to being able to proactively maintain information across time in anticipation of upcoming demands. This transition is important for understanding individual differences and developmental changes in executive function; however, methods targeting its assessment are limited. We tested the possibility that Track-It, a paradigm developed to measure selective sustained attention, also indexes proactive control. In this task children must track a target shape as it moves unpredictably among moving distractors, and identify where it disappears, which may require proactively maintaining information about the target or goal. In two experiments (5–6 year-olds, Ns = 33, 64), children's performance on Track-It predicted proactive control across two established paradigms. These findings suggest Track-It measures proactive control in children. Theoretical possibilities regarding how proactive control and selective sustained attention may be related are also discussed.

Why are children so distractible? Development of attention and motor control from childhood to adulthood

“…Taken together, these findings are in line with a reactive to proactive shift in attention and motor control during childhood (Blackwell & Munakata, 2014;Chevalier et al, 2014;Doebel et al, 2017;Munakata et al, 2012). Interestingly, if the reactive form is predominant during early childhood, the present results show that some proactive control is already present at 6 years of age and progressively matures until young adulthood.…”

“…Among the different facets of voluntary attention, two components related to distractibility have been behaviorally investigated: attentional orienting and sustained attention (Kanaka et al, 2008;Lin et al, 1999;Posner, 1980Posner, , 2012. The processing of relevant information can be proactively amplified by voluntary attentional processes allowing improved anticipation of upcoming events and sustained focus on ongoing tasks (Doebel et al, 2017;Gaspar & McDonald, 2014;Marini et al, 2016;Sawaki et al, 2012;Serences et al, 2004). Voluntary orienting of attention operates by proactively enhancing the processing of relevant information and inhibiting irrelevant events (van Zomeren & Brouwer, 1994;Posner, 1980Posner, , 2012.…”

Why Are Children So Distractible? Development of Attention and Motor Control From Childhood to Adulthood

“…Among the different facets of voluntary attention, two components related to distractibility have been behaviorally investigated: attentional orienting and sustained attention (Kanaka et al, 2008; Lin, Hsiao, & Chen, 1999; Posner, 1980, 2012). The processing of relevant information can be proactively amplified by voluntary attentional processes allowing improved anticipation of upcoming events and sustained focus on ongoing tasks (Doebel et al, 2017; Gaspar & McDonald, 2014; Marini, Demeter, Roberts, Chelazzi, & Woldorff, 2016; Sawaki, Geng, & Luck, 2012; Serences, Yantis, Culberson, & Awh, 2004). Voluntary orienting of attention operates by proactively enhancing the processing of relevant information and inhibiting irrelevant events (Posner, 1980, 2012; van Zomeren & Brouwer, 1994).…”

Abstracting and Aligning Essential Features of Cognitive Development

“…More complex rule representations are inherently more abstract (in that they apply across a wider range of situations) and allow for more flexibility and intentional control, as manifested in specific EF skills that continue to improve into early adulthood. These accounts are supported by research on the development of rule use [e.g., Amso, Haas, McShane & Badre, 2014;Bunge & Zelazo, 2006;Crone, Donohue, Honomichl, Wendelken, & Bunge;Unger, Ackerman, Chatham, Amso, & Badre, 2016;Zelazo, Muller, Frye, & Marcovitch, 2003], which shows clear age-related increases in abstraction, hierarchical complexity, and intentional control, including a progressive shift from more reactive to more proactive control over behavior [e.g., Doebel, Barker, Chevalier, Michaelson, Fisher, & Munakata, 2017]. In addition, there is evidence that the formulation and use of more complex rules that control the application of simpler rules (e.g., if color game, then if red, then it goes here) involves the recruitment of increasingly anterior regions of lateral prefrontal cortex into an increasingly complex, hierarchically arranged network of prefrontal cortex regions, where higher levels in the hierarchy operate on the products of lower levels [e.g., Badre & D'Esposito, 2007;Botvinick, 2008;Christoff & Gabrieli, 2000;Goldberg & Bilder, 1987;Koechlin, Ody, & Kouneiher, 2003;Ranti, Chatham, & Badre, 2015].…”