Young infants reach correctly in A-not-B tasks: On the development of stability and perseveration

Clearfield, Melissa W.; Diedrich, Frederick J.; Smith, Linda B.; Thelen, Esther

doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2006.03.001

Cited by 81 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Although this model effectively captured a host of data and generated novel predictions (e.g., Clearfield, Smith, Diedrich & Thelen, 2006;Diedrich, Clearfield, Smith & Thelen, 2007;Diedrich, et al, 2001;Diedrich, et al, 2000), it is limited in several respects. For instance, it does not address issues of how reference frames are calibrated and re-aligned during the task.…”

Section: Piaget's A-not-b Task In Infancymentioning

confidence: 99%

Generalizing the dynamic field theory of spatial cognition across real and developmental time scales

Simmering¹,

Schutte²,

Spencer³

2008

Brain Research

115

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Within cognitive neuroscience, computational models are designed to provide insights into the organization of behavior while adhering to neural principles. These models should provide sufficient specificity to generate novel predictions while maintaining the generality needed to capture behavior across tasks and/or time scales. This paper presents one such model, the Dynamic Field Theory (DFT) of spatial cognition, showing new simulations that provide a demonstration proof that the theory generalizes across developmental changes in performance in four tasks-the Piagetian A-not-B task, a sandbox version of the A-not-B task, a canonical spatial recall task, and a position discrimination task. Model simulations demonstrate that the DFT can accomplish both specificity-generating novel, testable predictions-and generality-spanning multiple tasks across development with a relatively simple developmental hypothesis. Critically, the DFT achieves generality across tasks and time scales with no modification to its basic structure and with a strong commitment to neural principles. The only change necessary to capture development in the model was an increase in the precision of the tuning of receptive fields as well as an increase in the precision of local excitatory interactions among neurons in the model. These small quantitative changes were sufficient to move the model through a set of quantitative and qualitative behavioral changes that span the age range from 8 months to 6 years and into adulthood. We conclude by considering how the DFT is positioned in the literature, the challenges on the horizon for our framework, and how a dynamic field approach can yield new insights into development from a computational cognitive neuroscience perspective.

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Section: Piaget's A-not-b Task In Infancymentioning

confidence: 99%

Generalizing the dynamic field theory of spatial cognition across real and developmental time scales

Simmering¹,

Schutte²,

Spencer³

2008

Brain Research

115

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In economics, principles of self-organization have been applied as an explanation for the complexity of macro-and microeconomics (Arthur, 1999;Rosser, 1999Rosser, , 2007. In psychology and neuroscience, recent research has included studies of leadership behavior (Guastello & Bond, 2007), self-esteem (Delignières, Fortes, & Ninot, 2004), self-control (Warren, Sprott, & Hawkins, 2002), emotion (Lewis, 2000(Lewis, , 2005, empathy (Guastello, Pincus, & Gunderson, 2006), motor development and coordination (Athènes, Sallagoïty, Zanone, & Albaret, 2004;Bardy, Oullier, Bootsma, & Stoffregen, 2002;Clearfield, Diedrich, Smith, & Thelen, 2006;Kelso & Zanone, 2002;Lagarde & Kelso, 2006), cognitive development (Thelen et al, 2001), social development (Granic & Patterson, 2006), judgment (van Rooij & Bongers, 2000), learning (Churchill, 2008;de Bot, Lowie, & Verspoor, 2007;Kostrubiec, Tallet, & Zanone, 2006), language and speech (Almonte, Jirsa, Large, & Tuller, 2005;McDougall, 2006), dynamic adaptation in complex tasks (Kozma, Harter, & Achunala, 2007), perception (Giraudo & Pailhous, 1999;Rodriguez et al, 1999), and neural coordination (Freeman, 2003;Kerick, Hatfield, & Allender, 2007;Varela, Lachaux, Rodriguez, & Martinerie, 2001). Evidence for a self-organizing basis of cognition has also been provided by a large number of modeling studies simulating empirical data, covering a diverse collection of topics-for example, language (Elman, 2004;Farrar & Van Orden, 2001;…”

Section: An Example: Intertemporal Choicementioning

confidence: 99%

Making decisions with a continuous mind

Scherbaum

Dshemuchadse

Kalis

2008

Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience

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“…It has to be acknowledged that the mechanism behind A-not-B performance, in particular perseveration, is a matter of debate. The A-not-B task has been shown to be sensitive to many contextual factors (Smith et al, 1999;Thelen et al, 2001), and the role of inhibition, versus other potential mechanism of task performance, such as memory and motor programming, remains controversial (e.g., Clearfield, Diedrich, Smith, & Thelen, 2006;Munakata, 1998). However, even though the A-not-B task is not yet fully understood, it seems feasible to conclude that the results of the current study cannot be adequately explained by a set of contextual influences.…”

Section: Task Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Diamond has suggested that working memory and inhibitory control are the key abilities underlying successful A-not-B performance (Diamond, 1985(Diamond, , 1991Diamond et al, 1997). This proposal has been controversial with several theorists proposing alternative mechanisms underlying task performance (Clearfield et al, 2006;Munakata, 1998;Thelen et al, 2001). Mechanisms related to visual attention have not often been the focus of such debates.…”

Section: Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Stability Of Frontal Cortexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frontal Cortex Functioning in Infancy

Holmboe

2017

Preprint

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The functional status of the frontal cortex in infancy and early childhood is relatively poorly understood, and not much is known about the relationships between the few tasks developed to assess such functioning. The work presented in this thesis investigated these questions using an individual differences approach. Two cohorts of children were tested longitudinally on a set of tasks that have been associated with the frontal cortex in an attempt to establish whether these tasks share common functional mechanisms. Cohort 1 (n = 24) was tested at 9 and 24 months of age, and Cohort 2 (n = 104) was tested at 4 and 9 months of age. Furthermore, a new task, termed the Freeze-Frame task, was developed to assess inhibitory functioning in infancy using eye movements as the dependent measure. The relationship between performance on infant frontal cortex tasks and measures of temperament and general development was also investigated. Finally, a common genetic variation, the COMT Val 158 Met polymorphism, which has been specifically associated with variation in the neurobiology of the frontal cortex, was investigated in relation to performance on the infant frontal cortex tasks. The results indicated that frontal cortex tasks administered at the same age shared functional mechanisms.Performance indices from the new Freeze-Frame task were associated with performance on several other infant and toddler frontal cortex tasks. Associations between frontal cortex tasks administered at 9 months were stronger than between the tasks administered at 4 months.Longitudinal associations were generally lacking between 4 and 9 months, but some strong associations were found between 9 and 24 months of age. At 4 months of age frontal cortex tasks tended to be associated with better self-regulation as assessed by a parent-report temperament questionnaire. However, at 9 and 24 months of age this pattern had reversed indicating that more reactive children tended to perform better on frontal cortex tasks. Some of the frontal cortex tasks were associated with measures of general cognitive development. However, the associations found between frontal cortex tasks could generally not be accounted for by variation in general cognitive ability. The COMT Val 158 Met polymorphism was found to be related to a selective aspect of performance on the new Freeze-Frame task, but not to any of the other frontal cortex tasks. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for our understanding of frontal cortex functioning in infancy and early childhood.4

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Young infants reach correctly in A-not-B tasks: On the development of stability and perseveration

Cited by 81 publications

References 22 publications

Generalizing the dynamic field theory of spatial cognition across real and developmental time scales

Generalizing the dynamic field theory of spatial cognition across real and developmental time scales

Making decisions with a continuous mind

Frontal Cortex Functioning in Infancy

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