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UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Developmental changes in cognitive control Temporal dynamics of task performance across trial sequences Smulders, S.F.A. Publication date 2017 Document Version Final published version License Other Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Smulders, S. F. A. (2017). Developmental changes in cognitive control: Temporal dynamics of task performance across trial sequences. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:27 Sep 2021 Developmental Changes in Cognitive Control Changes in Cognitive Developmental Developmental studies of cognitive control indicated that control processes develop gradually during UITNODIGING childhood through adulthood. The focus of this thesis is on developmental change in performance Developmental Changes voor het bijwonen van de openbare adjustments across trial sequences in relatively simple reaction time tasks. The results yielded robust verdediging van het proefschrift developmental trends across an age range between 5 and 25 years. Collectively, however, the results in Cognitive Control question the idea that developmental change in trial-to-trial performance adaptation is guided by DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN maturational changes in top-down cognitive control. COGNITIVE CONTROL Temporal Dynamics of Task Performance across Trial Sequences Temporal dynamics of task performance across trial sequences Silvan F.A. Smulders door Silvan F.A. Smulders op woensdag 15 november 2017 om 12:00 uur in de Agnietenkapel van de Universiteit van Amsterdam Oudezijds Voorburgwal 229-231 1012 EZ Amsterdam U bent van harte welkom op de receptie na aoop van de promotie in de Agnietenkapel Silvan F.A. Smulders Keizerin 78 2635 MC Den Hoorn 06 14917556 [email protected] Paranimfen: Frank Versteegh (06 28840031) [email protected] Christiaan Lubbers (06 45588253) [email protected] Silvan F.A. Smulders F.A. Silvan ISBN 978-94-6299-665-6 DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN COGNITIVE CONTROL TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF TASK PERFORMANCE ACROSS TRIAL SEQUENCES Silvan F.A. Smulders The empirical work presented in this thesis was supported by grant no. 490-22-218 / 425-20-504 from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO-MaGW), and the Psychology Research Institute, University of Amsterdam. Developmental changes in cognitive control: temporal dynamics of task performance across trial sequences. PhD Thesis, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ISBN 978-94-6299-665-6 Cover: Hugo Seriese – ikstripje.nl Printed by Ridderprint BV – www.ridderprint.nl Copyright © 2017 by Silvan F.A. Smulders. All rights reserved. DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN COGNITIVE CONTROL TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF TASK PERFORMANCE ACROSS TRIAL SEQUENCES ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. ir. K.I.J. Maex ten overstaan van een door het College voor Promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op woensdag 15 november 2017, te 12:00 uur door Silvan Franciscus Apollo Smulders geboren te ‘s-Gravenhage Promotiecommissie Promotor Prof. dr. M.W. van der Molen Universiteit van Amsterdam Copromotor Prof. dr. E.L.L. Soetens Vrije Universiteit Brussel Overige leden Prof. dr. B. Hommel Universiteit Leiden Prof. dr. H.M. Huizenga Universiteit van Amsterdam Dr. S.A. Los Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Prof. dr. H.L.J. van der Maas Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. K.R. Ridderinkhof Universiteit van Amsterdam Faculteit der Maatschappij- en Gedragswetenschappen (FMG) aan mijn ouders voor Teun, Job en Annelies Contents Chapter 1 General introduction 9 Chapter 2 Sequential effects on speeded information processing: 41 A developmental study Chapter 3 Developmental change in sequential effects on speeded 69 information processing is altered by response-to-stimulus interval but not practice Chapter 4 What happens when children encounter an error? 93 Chapter 5 How do children deal with conflict? A developmental study 123 of trial-to-trial conflict adaptation Chapter 6 General discussion 157 References 191 Summary 221 Samenvatting 225 Dankwoord 231 About the author 239 General introduction 1 General introduction KEY concepts and short thesis OUtline 1 Introduction For a long time, it was thought that humans were born as ‘tabulae rasae’ (i.e., blank slates), that completely filled up during the development through experiences. For example, James (1890) stated: “The baby, assailed by eyes, ears, nose, skin, and entrails at once, feels it all as one great blooming, buzzing confusion.”, and Locke (1689) wrote already centuries before: “All ideas come from sensation or reflection. Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas.” It is clear that this picture is not entirely correct. Young children are, for example, fully capable detecting (ir)regularities in their environment. In this way, they are perfectly able to quickly learn routines or rules (e.g., Pascalis, de Haan, & Nelson, 2002; Piaget, 1954; Romberg & Saffran, 2010; Zelazo, Frye, & Rapus, 1996). Rita Vuyk, the first full professor of developmental psychology at the University of Amsterdam (1960-1978), concluded already in her 1945 dissertation on analogy formation and induction in five- and six year old children that, “…the mental organization of man is already fully existent, if not completely developed, in the small child” (Vuyk, 1945; p. 126). However, on the other hand, anyone who has interacted with (young) children knows that adults are far better in flexibly and dynamically monitoring and controlling their actions and goals, and re- flecting on their own thoughts compared to children. Munakata, Snyder, and Chatham (2012) pose: “Infants and children show striking limitations in their abilities to break out of habitual ways of thinking and behaving.” (p. 1). But how develops a child, initially thinking and behaving routinely in habitual ways, to an adult who flexibly controls thoughts and behavior, and is, consequently, able to decide to pay attention to something, make plans or derogate from it, create a strategy, solve problems, or adjust their behavior after making an error? Obviously, an enormous leap has to be made. How do these underlying fundamental control processes develop from childhood to adulthood? Clarifying these developmental changes is the main focus of this thesis. This chapter is a general introduction addressing the key topics covered in this thesis. The concept of cognitive control and the developmental changes therein will be explained in more detail first. Following a short thesis outline, the three main topics (including the questions addressed in this thesis) that are central to the four empirical chapters will be introduced; i.e., sequential effects, performance monitoring and ad- justment, and conflict monitoring and adaptation. The chapter concludes with a short summary and a list of references of the studies presented in this thesis. 11 Chapter 1 Cognitive control Acting effectively in non-routine situations to achieve our behavioral goals, by monitor- ing and adjusting our performance, is a hallmark for intelligent behavior, is essential for success in life, and keeps us standing in a complex dynamically changing environ- ment. This goal-directed behavior refers to the ability to flexibly control and orchestrate thoughts and actions in accord with internally represented behavioral goals (e.g., Koechlin & Summerfield, 2007; Miller & Cohen, 2001; Petersen & Posner, 2012; Stuss & Alexander, 2000; Zelazo, Muller, Frye, & Marcovitch, 2003). The umbrella term for these cognitive processes is called ‘cognitive control’. Cognitive control refers to processes that are important in non-routinized, complicated or novel situations, requiring sus- tained conscious attention and effort, planning and strategic thinking, feedback evalu- ation, and flexible adjustment of behaviour in order to change quickly and flexibly to the demands of the novel environment (Miller & Cohen, 2001; Zelazo et al., 2003). The literature on cognitive control distinguishes between two main components: regulatory (or executive) and evaluative control (see Botvinick, Braver, Barch, Carter, & Cohen, 2001; Botvinick, Cohen, & Carter, 2004; Botvinick & Cohen, 2014; Kerns et al., 2004; MacDonald, Cohen, Stenger, & Carter, 2000; Perlstein, Larson, Dotson, & Kelly, 2006). Regulatory control refers to the ability of the cognitive system to configure it- self to perform specific tasks through adjustments of perceptual selection, biasing of response selection, and the maintenance of contextual information over temporally