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Improving cognitive control by verbal self-instructions and training: Evidence from lifespan studies| old_uid | 10487 |
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| title | Improving cognitive control by verbal self-instructions and training: Evidence from lifespan studies |
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| start_date | 2011/12/02 |
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| schedule | 11h-12h |
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| online | no |
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| summary | Developmental changes in cognitive control across the lifespan can often be described as an inverted u-shaped function, that is, the efficiency of cognitive control processing increases during childhood and decreases across the adult lifespan. Most of the research in the last decades has focused on the question how age-related changes in intellectual functioning are related to age-related changes in cognitive control (e.g., Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006; Kray & Lindenberger, 2000). Surprisingly, less attention has been given to the question how developmental changes in cognitive control can be altered by cognitive interventions. One of my recent research goals was to determine how age-related changes in cognitive control can be reduced by means of cognitive interventions. One line of research examines whether verbal processes (e.g., verbal self-instructions) can serve as a compensatory tool for reducing age-related changes in cognitive control. Another line of research focuses on the extent to which age-related changes in cognitive control (task-switching abilities) can be reduced after training and the extent to which training gains can be transferred to other tasks. I will present the most important findings of both lines of research showing (1) that verbal self-instructions are useful and enhance cognitive control processes primarily in children and older adults (e.g., Kray, Eber, & Karbach, 2008; Kray, Lucenet, & Blaye, 2010). However, positive effects of verbal self-instruction training seems to be rather limited (Karbach, Mang, & Kray, 2011); and (2) that task-switching training can be transferred to a structurally similar, but new switching tasks, whereby children and older adults showed greater training gains compared to younger adults. Furthermore, task-switching training improved performance in other measures of cognitive control (working memory, interference control, fluid intelligence), indicating even transfer effects to untrained tasks in all age groups. These findings are important from the practical and theoretical perspective as they show that cognitive control is plastic and that the training is not restricted to the practice of task-specific components. Instead, it seems that the task-switching training practice general control abilities that overlap with cognitive processes required in a number of other cognitive tasks (Karbach & Kray, 2009). |
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| responsibles | Pélissier |
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