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Novelty and learning in cognitive control: evidence from the Simon task.

ABSTRACT: While information that is associated with inappropriate responses can interfere with an ongoing task and be detrimental to performance, cognitive control mechanisms and specific contextual conditions can alleviate interference from unwanted information. In the spatial correspondence (Simon) task, interference has been consistently shown to be reduced by spatial non-correspondence in the previous trial (i.e., correspondence sequence effect, CSE); however the mechanisms supporting this sequential effect are not well understood. Here we investigated the role of novelty and trial-to-trial changes in stimulus and response features in a Simon task, observing similar modulation of CSE for novel and non-novel stimulus changes. However, changing the response modality from trial to trial dampened CSE, and this dampening was more pronounced when the probability of switch trials was higher, suggesting a role for long-term learning. The results are consistent with recent accounts, which indicate that spatial interference can be prevented by cognitive control mechanisms triggered by learned bindings.

SUBMITTER: De Cesarei A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10497436 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Novelty and learning in cognitive control: evidence from the Simon task.

De Cesarei Andrea A D'Ascenzo Stefania S Nicoletti Roberto R Codispoti Maurizio M

Psychological research 20230331 8

While information that is associated with inappropriate responses can interfere with an ongoing task and be detrimental to performance, cognitive control mechanisms and specific contextual conditions can alleviate interference from unwanted information. In the spatial correspondence (Simon) task, interference has been consistently shown to be reduced by spatial non-correspondence in the previous trial (i.e., correspondence sequence effect, CSE); however the mechanisms supporting this sequential ...[more]

PMID: 37000249

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Project description:In this paper we probe the interaction between sequential and hierarchical learning by investigating implicit learning in a group of school-aged children. We administered a serial reaction time task, in the form of a modified Simon Task in which the stimuli were organised following the rules of two distinct artificial grammars, specifically Lindenmayer systems: the Fibonacci grammar (Fib) and the Skip grammar (a modification of the former). The choice of grammars is determined by the goal of this study, which is to investigate how sensitivity to structure emerges in the course of exposure to an input whose surface transitional properties (by hypothesis) bootstrap structure. The studies conducted to date have been mainly designed to investigate low-level superficial regularities, learnable in purely statistical terms, whereas hierarchical learning has not been effectively investigated yet. The possibility to directly pinpoint the interplay between sequential and hierarchical learning is instead at the core of our study: we presented children with two grammars, Fib and Skip, which share the same transitional regularities, thus providing identical opportunities for sequential learning, while crucially differing in their hierarchical structure. More particularly, there are specific points in the sequence (k-points), which, despite giving rise to the same transitional regularities in the two grammars, support hierarchical reconstruction in Fib but not in Skip. In our protocol, children were simply asked to perform a traditional Simon Task, and they were completely unaware of the real purposes of the task. Results indicate that sequential learning occurred in both grammars, as shown by the decrease in reaction times throughout the task, while differences were found in the sensitivity to k-points: these, we contend, play a role in hierarchical reconstruction in Fib, whereas they are devoid of structural significance in Skip. More particularly, we found that children were faster in correspondence to k-points in sequences produced by Fib, thus providing an entirely new kind of evidence for the hypothesis that implicit learning involves an early activation of strategies of hierarchical reconstruction, based on a straightforward interplay with the statistically-based computation of transitional regularities on the sequences of symbols.

Project description:This paper presents an experimental study investigating artificial grammar learning in monolingual and bilingual children, with and without dyslexia, using an original methodology. We administered a serial reaction time task, in the form of a modified Simon task, in which the sequence of the stimuli was manipulated according to the rules of a simple Lindenmayer grammar (more specifically, a Fibonacci grammar). By ensuring that the subjects focused on the correct response execution at the motor stage in presence of congruent or incongruent visual stimuli, we could meet the two fundamental criteria for implicit learning: the absence of an intention to learn and the lack of awareness at the level of resulting knowledge. The participants of our studies were four groups of 10-year-old children: 30 Italian monolingual typically developing children, 30 bilingual typically developing children with Italian L2, 24 Italian monolingual dyslexic children, and 24 bilingual dyslexic children with Italian L2. Participants were administered the modified Simon task developed according to the rules of the Fibonacci grammar and tested with respect to the implicit learning of three regularities: (i) a red is followed by a blue, (ii) a sequence of two blues is followed by a red, and (iii) a blue can be followed either by a red or by a blue. Results clearly support the hypothesis that learning took place, since participants of all groups became increasingly sensitive to the structure of the input, implicitly learning the sequence of the trials and thus appropriately predicting the occurrence of the relevant items, as manifested by faster reaction times in predictable trials. Moreover, group differences were found, with bilinguals being overall faster than monolinguals and dyslexics less accurate than controls. Finally, an advantage of bilingualism in dyslexia was found, with bilingual dyslexics performing consistently better than monolingual dyslexics and, in some conditions, at the level of the two control groups. These results are taken to suggest that bilingualism should be supported also among linguistically impaired individuals.

Dataset Information

Novelty and learning in cognitive control: evidence from the Simon task.

Publications

Novelty and learning in cognitive control: evidence from the Simon task.

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