ESA Keynote Diamond

8/15/2019 ESA Keynote Diamond

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Understanding Executive Functions

(sometimes erroneously called ‘non-cognitive’ skills):

Insights from Neuroscience & Psychology

Adele Diamond, PhD, FRSC

Canada Research Chair Professor of

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

University of British Columbia (UBC)

[email protected]

Eco. Sci. Assoc. European Mtg 9-2015


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What abilities andskills will be needed

to succeed in the21st century?


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1) Self-control

to resist temptations and not act impulsively

• thinking before you speak or actso you don’t do something you’d regret or

put your foot in your mouth

• to wait before making up your mind; not jump-ing to a conclusion or to an interpretation of

what something meant or why it was done

• resist blurting out what first comes to mind• resist ‘tit for tat’ (hurting someone because

that person hurt you)


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2) Discipline & Perseverance

Having the discipline to stay on task

and complete it

resisting temptations to quit because

frustrated by how difficult,bored because too easy

more fun things are calling

continuing to work even though the

reward may be a long time in coming

(delaying gratification)


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Evidence shows that discipline

accounts for over twice as

much variation in final grades

as does IQ, even in college.

(Duckworth & Seligman, 2005)


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3) Attentional Control / Interference Control

• Being able to concentrate, payattention, & stay focused

• Screening out distractions in theenvironment (such as noise)

• Inhibiting internal distractions

(thoughts or preoccupations not

relevant to the present moment)


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4) Creativity in seeing connections between

seemingly unconnected ideas or facts.

Playing with information and ideas in your

mind, relating one to another, then dis-

assembling those combinations and re-

combining the elements in new ways.

Working memory involves holding

information in mind and working with it.


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5) Creativity in seeing familiar things in new

ways / from different perspectivesIf one way of solving a problem isn’t working,

can we conceive of the problem in a different

way?

Can we think outside the box to come up with

a different way of attacking the problem?


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If you always do

what you always did,

you’ll always get

what you always got.

- Einstein


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6) Flexibility

• Having the flexibility to take advantageof serendipity

• …to navigate around unforeseen

obstacles, and

• …to admit you were wrong when you

get more information


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When one door closes, another

door opens;

but we often look so long and so

regretfully upon the closed door,

that we do not see the ones whichopen for us.

- Alexander Graham Bell

An example of poor

cognitive flexibility:


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“Executive Functions”is shorthand for

all of the abilitiesI just mentioned.


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‘Executive Functions’

refers to a family of mental

functions that are needed

whenever going ‘on

automatic’ would be

insufficient or detrimental.


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The 3 core Executive Functions are:

• Inhibitory Control(which includes self-control & discipline, alsoselective attention)

• Working Memory (holding info in mind &MANIPULATING it; essential for reasoning)

• Cognitive Flexibility (including creativeproblem-solving & flexibility)

Higher-order Executive Functions are:• Problem-solving

•Reasoning Planning


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Relation of ‘Executive

Functions’ to:

cognitive control

self-regulation

executive attention

effortful control


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Is ‘Executive Functions’

synonymous with:

cognitive control

YES


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Historically, EF researchers have focused most on:

cognition,

in non-emotionally-charged situations,

using objective [arbitrary] behavioral measures.

Emotion seen as something to be controlled.

Historically, SR researchers have focused more on:

on social situations,often with strong motivational components,

often relying on parent or teacher report

[observed over time in real world situations].

Emotions need expression as well as controlled.

There is much overlap between EFs,

especially its inhibitory component, and

self-regulation. But:


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“Effortful control” (coined by Mary

Rothbart) refers to an aspect oftemperament, a genetic predis-

position, along a continuum -- to be

predisposed to exercise inhibitory

control or self-regulation with ease

(e.g., easily able to slow down or lowerone’s voice delay) versus finding that

harder or less natural.


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“Executive Attention” (Mike Posner & Mary

Rothbart) is completely synonymous with

inhibitory control of attention.

Much confusion has been engendered by the

overly broad use of the term executive

attention to apply to such skills as Working

Memory (Engle 2002) and Response Inhibition

or the Resolution of Response Conflict (as in a

Simon-type task; Jones et al. 2003).


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There’s little overlap between EFs and whatmost traditional IQ tests assess

most IQ tests assess “crystallized” intelligence”

e.g., memory of previously learned facts

Patients in whom the frontal lobe has been

removed usually score within the normal rangeon such IQ tests.

BUT, there is much overlap between EF and

“fluid intelligence” (i.e., reasoning andproblem-solving) which tests like Raven’s

Progressive Matrices assess.


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Jim Heckman uses the term “non-

cognitive” skills to apply to basically

anything other than academic skills

(such as reading and math).

The distinction he is talking aboutmight be better captured by saying:

academic skills

&

cognitive & non-cognitive skills

critical for academic success


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Inhibitory control

involves resisting a stronginclination to do one thing,

and instead doing what’smost appropriate or needed.

Makes it possible for us to resistacting on our first impulse so we

don’t do something we’d regret.


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Children with better inhibitory control (i.e.,

children who were more persistent, lessimpulsive, and had better attention regulation)

later as

teenagers, are LESS likely to

make risky choices,

have unplanned pregnancies, or

drop out of school

and


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as adults 30 years later have…

better health

higher incomes and better jobs

fewer run-ins with the law

a better quality of life (happier)

than those with worse inhibitory control as

young children,

controlling for IQ, gender, social class, & home

lives & family circumstances growing up

across diverse measures of self control.


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That’s based on a study of 1,000

children born in the same city in thesame year followed for 32 years with a

96% retention rate.

by Terrie Moffitt et al. (2011)

Proceedings of the Nat’l Academy of Sci .

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=yHCzxwaPJzVbDM&tbnid=nv8MWtWshtDA2M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://onediverseculture.blogspot.com/&ei=NhSAUpHDJcm8iwLs-oHQCQ&bvm=bv.56146854,d.cGE&psig=AFQjCNHMKkxiE2XGJNs96XHTL4xhsPBong&ust=1384211889131898


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“Interventions that achieve even small improve-

ments in [inhibitory control ] for individuals

could shift the entire distribution of outcomes in

a salutary direction and yield large improve-

ments in health, wealth, and crime rate for a

nation.”

Terrie Moffitt et al. (2011)

Proceedings of the Nat’l Academy of Sci.


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We adults may not appreciatehow inordinately difficult

inhibition is for young children

because it is so much less

taxing for us.


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Hearts & Flowers Task

Whenever you see a HEART, press

on the SAME side as the stimulus.

Whenever you see a FLOWER,

press on the side OPPOSITE the

stimulus.


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Congruent

Push Left

Push Right Push Left

Push Right

Incongruent

HEARTS & FLOWERS


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HEARTS – CONGRUENT

Each time you see a HEART, press with the thumb orforefinger on the SAME side as the stimulus.

For example, if the heart appears on the left, presswith your left hand.

Remember:

PRESS ON THE SAME SIDE AS THE HEART


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FLOWERS - INCONGRUENT

Now you’ll see a flower. Press on the side OPPOSITEthe flower.

For example, if a flower appears on the left, press with

your right hand.(Here, you’ll need to inhibit on every trial the naturaltendency to respond on the same side as the stimulus)

Remember:

PRESS ON THE SIDE OPPOSITE THE FLOWER


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HEARTS & FLOWERS-MIXED: Now you will sometimessee a heart and sometimes a flower.

On only half the trials will you have to inhibit thetendency to press on the same side as the stimulus, BUT

you’ll have to switch between the same-side andopposite-side rules.

The rules stay the same:

For HEARTS, press on the SAME side.

For FLOWERS, press on the OPPOSITE side.

HEARTS – SAME SIDE

FLOWERS – OPPOSITE SIDE


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It is not that children forget the rules.

Indeed, children often call out thecorrect higher-order rule on trials in themixed condition (e.g., “same,”

“opposite,” “opposite,” “same”) even asthey are making errors.

The problem seems to be in quicklytranslating the rule into the correctresponse.


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60

70

80

90

100

4 5 6 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 26

P e r c e n

t C o r r e c t

Hearts and Flowers Task: Accuracy

Stimuli presented for 2500 ms Stimuli presented for 750 ms

Age in Years

Davidson et al. (2006). Neuropsychologia, 44, 2037 - 2078

CongruentIncongruent

Mixed

Adults


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60

70

80

90

100

4 5 6 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 26

P e r c e n

t C o r r e c t

Dots Conditions: Accuracy


Age in Years

Davidson et al. (2006). Neuropsychologia, 44, 2037 - 2078


Mixed


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60

70

80

90

100

4 5 6 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 26

P e r c e n

t C o r r e c t


Age in Years


Mixed

At every agestudied,

children were

slower & less

accurate on

the Flower

block than on

the Heart

block.

That effect is completely absent in adults.

Hearts and Flowers Task: Accuracy

E t i l d lt


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Even over many trials, adults are

as fast & as accurate on a block (a

series) of Flower trials as they are

on a block of Heart trials.

But that is not true of children.

At every age tested, children are

slower & less accurate on theFlower block than on the Heart

block.

What’s the difference between the


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What s the difference between the

Flower block and the Heart block?

Each block has only one rule (‘press onthe same [or opposite] side’) but for

Hearts subjects do what comes naturally

(pressing on the same side as the

stimulus) but for Flowers they have to

inhibit that and press on the opposite

side. Just imposing that inhibitory de-

mand takes a toll on children’s behavior

but not adults.


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Even very young children have

excellent memories. Inhibition

is a far greater challenge forthem than holding information

in mind.


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Increasing demands on

INHIBITION (the Flower blockvs. the Heart block) are more

difficult for young children(ages 4-9 years) than increasing

demands on how much

information they must hold in

mind (2 to 6 items).


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The opposite is true for us

adults:

Increasing MEMORY demands

is far more difficult for us than

increasing demands on

inhibition.


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We adults may not appreciatehow inordinately difficult

inhibition is for young children

because it is so much less

taxing for us.



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• Inhibitory Control(which includes self-control & discipline, alsoselective attention)

• Working Memory (holding info in mind &MANIPULATING it; essential for reasoning)

• Cognitive Flexibility (including creativeproblem-solving & flexibility)


• Reasoning Planning


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(b) Working Memory:

Holding information in mind

and mentally working with it


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Working memory is critical for

making sense of anything that

unfolds over time, for that always

requires holding in mind what

happened earlier & relating that

to what is happening now.


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relating one idea to another

mental math calculations

understanding cause and effect

remembering multi-step instructions

& executing them in the correct order

– remembering sequences


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Reasoning would not be possible

without working memory, forreasoning requires holding bits of

information in mind and seeinghow they relate. Working memory

enables us to consider the past

and possible future in making

plans and decisions.

Holding information in mind


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Holding information in mindwhile working on something else

e.g., holding your question or commentin mind as you listen to what is currentlybeing said

holding in mind where something washidden despite being given somethingelse to do during the delay

or holding a phone number in mind whensomeone asks you a question before youhave a chance to dial



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• Inhibitory Control

(which includes self-control & discipline, alsoselective attention)

• Working Memory (holding info in mind &

MANIPULATING it; essential for reasoning)• Cognitive Flexibility (including creative

problem-solving & flexibility)


• Reasoning Planning

F l t t thi k f


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For example, try to think of as

many uses for a TABLE as you

can.

What are all the things you mightuse a table for?


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You could dance on top of a table.

Might turned it on its side and use it to

keep a door closed or as a shield

against anything being thrown at you.

You could get under it to hide or to keep

dry.

You could cut it up for firewood.


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Note that because we are able to

selectively attend, we can miss

important things because we were

selectively attending to other things.


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“Our notions of what should

happen [can] block us from seeing

what actually does happen.”

-- Bernie Glassman,

Bearing Witness


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Cognitive Flexibility

appears years later than

working memory or

inhibition.


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shifting mental sets involves both:activating the new set (WM)

& de-activating the old one (Inhib)

WorkingMemory

InhibitoryControl

CognitiveFlexibility


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When sorting by COLOR


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When sorting by COLOR,Correct Response is the Blue Star.

Card to be sorted:

Model Cards:

When sorting by SHAPE


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When sorting by SHAPE,Correct Response is the Red Truck.

Card to be sorted:

Model Cards:


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3-year-olds sort the cardsperfectly

by either

color or shape

but very few 3-yr-olds


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20%

70%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

3 Year Olds 4 Year Olds P e r c e n t a g e o f C h i l d r e n w h o

S u c c e s s f u

l l y S w i t c h

D i m e n s i o n

s

but, very few 3-yr-oldscan switch how they sort


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VI

See VIDEO ofchild starting with

sorting by Shape at:www.devcogneuro.com/

videos/cardsort.mpg


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See VIDEO of childstarting with sortingby Color at:

www.devcogneuro.com/

videos/cardsort_faileds

witch.wmv


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The child has clearly in mind

what the new sorting criterion

is and the appropriate rules for

that dimension.BEFORE the stimulus appears

the child is all set to performcorrectly.


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The core problem for 3-year-olds in


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The core problem for 3 year olds in

switching appears to be:

Attentional Inertia

Once they have focused their attention on a

dimension, their attention gets STUCK

there. They need to disengage from, or

inhibit, their previous way of thinking about

the stimuli. Kirkham et al., 2003

Developmental Progression


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Developmental Progression

Succeed at…. at Age

Reversals (intra-dimensional shift) 2½

- extra-dimensional switches (1 dimen. to another) -

DCCS - Separated Dimensions 3½

DCCS (Standard) - Integ. Dimen. 4½

DCCS - Mixed Block…………….... 7½(switching dimensions randomly

across trials)


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It is not enough to knowsomething or remember it;

you must get that knowledge

into your behavior.

People have assumed that if children knew


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p

what they should do, they would do it. (If they

did not, they were intentionally misbehaving.)But, between knowing and implementing,

another step, long ignored, is often needed.

When there’s a strong competing response,that response must be inhibited. Young

children may not be able to do that.

A child may know what he or she should do,

and want to do that, but still not be able to

act accordingly.


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Percentage of Errors by Children of 3 Years on


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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

First DimensionBlock 1

Second Dimension

Block 2

*

Percentage of Errors by Children of 3 Years onthe First and Second Dimension

E r r o r s


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Adults show many of the same


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Adults show many of the same

cognitive biases that characterizeinfants and young children.

Though, in adults, these biases

are more subtle and held more in

check. We are able to inhibitthem.


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Appearance Reality

Tasks


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SPONGE

Children have to hold in mind two


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Children have to hold in mind two

superficially contradictory things:

-- what an object looks like, and

-- what the object really is

PLUS

-- inhibit the perceptual pull to say that

the object is what it looks like it is

Adults pass those tasks but a discomfort


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Adults pass those tasks, but a discomfort

with ambiguity and difficulty in seeing

both sides of an issue, or two

perspectives on the same thing, remains.

Even adults have difficulty accepting that

good people (or good nations) sometimes

act wrongly or that people who disagreewith us might be right about something.


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“False Belief”

Theory of Mind Tasks

require holding in mind a true and a

false belief (the false belief being

what you had previously thought)

and inhibiting the impulse to want to

appear as smart as possible


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Was Mr. Bun in the room when we moved his ball?


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No.

Did he see us move his ball?

No.

Does he know thatwe moved his ball?

Yes.

Where will Mr. Bun lookfor his ball?

3-year-olds point to the CORRECT location, NOT the place where Mr.Bun last saw his ball placed.


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Adults, too, show a tendency to

attribute what we know to someone

less knowledgeable.

We have difficulty inhibiting /

ignoring what we know when making

assessments about what someone

who does not know that would do.


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Epley, N., Keysar, B., Van Boven, L., &

Gilovich, T. (2004). Perspective taking asegocentric anchoring and adjustment.

Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, 87 , 327-339.

Keysar, B., Lin, S., & Barr, D. J. (2003).

Limits on theory of mind use in adults.Cognition, 89 , 25-41.


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The Curse of Knowledge in

Reasoning About False Beliefs

Susan Birch and Paul Bloom

Psychological Science

2007

Th C f E ti Th ff t


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The Curse of Expertise: The effects

of expertise and de-biasing methodson prediction of novice per for mance.

Hinds, P. J.

(1999)

Journal of Experimental Psychology:Applied, 5 , 205-221


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Other “False Belief” Tasks

(which are not Theory of Mind tasks)

also require holding in mind a true and a

false belief (the false belief being what

you had previously thought)

and inhibiting the impulse to want to

appear as smart as possible


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What do you think is in this box?


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But crayons are what’sreally in the box.


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What had you thought

was in this box before I

showed you?


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3-year-olds answer:

CRAYONS


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Adults don’t claim that they

earlier said that crayons would

be in the Skittles box, but in

analogous situations they claimthat they earlier rated similarly

unlikely outcomes as more

probable than they actually had.

“knew it all along”


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g

Fischhoff, B., & Beyth, R. (1975)

“I knew it would happen":

Remembered probabilities ofonce-future things.

Organizational Behavior &

Human Decision Processe

13, 1-16.

Hindsight bias:


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Hindsight bias:

A by-product of knowledgeupdating?

Hoffrage, U, Hertwig, R, & Gigerenzer, G.

(2000)

Journal of Experimental Psychology:

Learning, Memory, & Cognition

26 , 566-581

Adele Diamond &


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Adele Diamond &Natasha Kirkham

(2005)

Not quite as grown-up as we like tothink: Parallels between cognition

in childhood and adulthood.

Psychological Science

vol 16, 291-297

Executive Function skills


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Executive Function skills

are more important forschool readiness than are

IQ or entry-level reading ormath.

(e.g., Blair, 2002; 2003; Blair & Razza,2007; Normandeau & Guay, 1998)

Executive functions predict


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academic performance in the

earliest elementary grades thru

university better than does IQ.(Alloway & Alloway, 2010; Bull & Scerif, 2001;

Dumontheil & Klingberg, 2012; Gathercole et al., 2004;

McClelland & Cameron, 2011; Nicholson, 2007;Passolunghi et al., 2007; St Clair-Thompson &

Gathercole, 2006; Savage et al., 2006; Swanson, 2014).

Executive Functions are also


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critical for job success.

Poor EFs lead to poor

productivity and difficulty

finding and keeping a job (Prince

et al. 2007).



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important for making and keeping

friends, for being accepted by otherchildren.

Children with poor EFs often respondimpulsively, have trouble resisting

urges, & are forgetful; they don’t wait

their turn, forget the rules that all

agreed to, etc.



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important for marital harmony.

People with poor EFs are more

difficult to get along with, less

dependable, and more likely to

act on impulse (Eakin et al. 2004).

P EF i l bl h


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Poor EFs cause social problems such

as disinhibited or criminal behavior – e.g., emotional outbursts.

The incidence of social problemsreflecting poor EFs (crime, incarcer-

ation, and being unemployable) is

increasing dramatically and the cost isstaggering (Atkinson et al. 2005).

Poor EFs can also contribute to poor

h i l h lth i l di b it


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physical health including obesity, over-

eating, poor food choices, substanceabuse, & poor sustained adherence to

doctors’ orders (Crescioni et al. 2011;

McAuley 2011; Riggs et al. 2010).In a large sample of >14,000, Miller et al.

(2011) found that youths with poorer self-

control were “exponentially more likely”to suffer from 9 of the 10 adverse health

conditions they examined.

In other words, Executive Functions


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are important for every aspect of life –

success in school and in the workplace,making & keeping friends,

marital harmony, and avoiding things like

unplanned pregnancy, substance abuse, ordriving fatalities.

Self-control, creativity, reasoning, mental

flexibility, discipline and perseverance arereally important – they are often more

predictive than IQ or even SES.

Executive Functions


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Executive Functions

depend on PrefrontalCortex and the other

neural regions withwhich it is

interconnected.

Prefrontal

Cortex

Unusual properties of the


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Unusual properties of the

prefrontal dopamine systemcontribute to PFC’s

vulnerability to environmentaland genetic variations that

have little effect elsewhere.

D i i iti ll i t t


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Dopamine is a critically important

neurotransmitter in prefrontal cortexand in the striatum.

One way neurons communicate withone another is by one neuron releasing

dopamine and the other neuron taking

it up with dopamine receptors.

Some of the dopamine released by one neuron

i i h h d ’ h h


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The best mechanism for clearing

away released dopamine is by

dopamine transporter (DAT)

protein.

to communicate with another doesn’t reach the

receiving neuron and needs to be cleared fromthe space between and around the neurons (the

extracellular space).


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Striatum


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= DA Transporter

= DA Receptor

Prefrontal Cortex


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= DA Transporter

=

DA Receptor

Thi k f t l t


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This makes prefrontal cortex

more dependent on

secondary mechanisms (such

as the COMT enzyme) for

clearing away dopamine than

are other brain regions.

COMT Gene


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COMT Gene

catechol-O-methyltransferasegene

codes for the COMT enzyme,which methylates released

dopamine.

It’s located on chromosome 22.

Some COMT genes have


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Some COMT genes have

Methionine (Met) at codon 158and some COMT genes have Valine

(Val) there

A single base pair substitution

CGTG to CATGtranslates into a substitution of

Methionine for Valine


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The Methionine variant of

the COMT gene codes for a

slower COMT enzyme

which leaves more DA

around longer in PFC.

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158 Met


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High dopamine

Zalsman et al.

Low activityenzyme

High activity

enzymeLow dopamine

SYNAPSE


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The Methionine variant of

the COMT gene is generally

associated with better PFC

function and better

executive functions.

The Optimum Level ofDopamine in PFC is an


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Dopamine in PFC is an

Intermediate Level

too little too much

Arnsten & Li, 2005;Vijayraghavan et

al., 2007

Differences in COMT Genotypic


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too little too muchMet-158Val-158

Optimal level of DA in PFC

lead to Differences in PFC DA Levels


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What’s the downside

of Met variant ofCOMT?

Even mild stress increases DA release in

Stress and Prefrontal Cortex


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PFC but not elsewhere in the brain

(Roth et al., 1988)

Genotypic Difference in PFC DA Levels

leads to Genotypic Differences in Stress


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Reactivity

too little too muchMet-158

Val-158

Effectof MildStress

Persons homozygous for

COMT M t158 t d t


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COMT-Met 158 tend to

be more sensitive to stressBuckert et al. 2012; Armbuster et al. 2012

have higher anxietyOlsson et al. 2005

and have heightened pain stress

responses Zubieta et al., 2003

Diatchenko et al., 2005


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Val/ Val COMT

Met / Met COMT

Buckert et al. (2012): Under stress, young adults homozy-

gous for COMT-Val158 showed better EF performance

than young adults homozygous for COMT-Met158

Val

Met

It has long been known that some of


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It has long been known that some of

the brightest people also have themost fragile personalities and are

highly reactive to stress.

Here is a possible mechanism for

why the two might go together.

re: dandelion & orchid children

‘Dandelions’ are children who do okay

wherever they are planted They are


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wherever they are planted. They are

often seen as models of resilience. Perhaps children homozygous forCOMT-Val158 are the dandelions;

they’ll do okay even in a stressfulenvironment, but might lack theexquisite fine-tuning of prefrontal

cortex needed to achieve thebrilliance of which a COMT-Met 158

child might be capable.

Research shows that some of thechildren who look the worst when they


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hildren who look the worst when theyare in an unsupportive, stressfulenvironment are exactly those whoblossom the most when in a goodenvironment.

Perhaps some children homozygous for COMT-Met 158 are among theorchids -- they might look like adisaster when in a stressfulenvironment, yet might blossombrilliantly in the right environment.

The COMT Met-158 genotype, whichconfers risk on individuals when they


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confers risk on individuals when theyare in adverse, stressful circum-stances, holds out promise ofextraordinary potential if only theright fit of circumstances can be

found for the individual.A child who is not doing well in

one environment, or with a particular

instructional style, might shine inanother environment or with adifferent instructional approach.

Many of us were taught


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that people perform

better on challenging

cognitive tasks whenthey are slightly

stressed / a bit on edge,rather than when calm.

Yerkes – Dodson Curve


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That people perform


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p p p

better on challengingcognitive tasks when

slightly stressed

is probably NOT true

for females.


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Effect of Stress on Task Performance

in Male and Female Animals


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NO Stress STRESSED

Males Females0

20

40

60

80

100

% o

f C o n d i t i o n e d

R e s p o n s e s

Shors & Leuner, 2003

Effect of Stress on Task Performance

in Male and Female Animals


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NO Stress STRESSED

Males Females0

20

40

60

80

100

% o

f C o n d i t i o n e d

R e s p o n s e s




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PFC but not elsewhere in the brain

(Roth et al 1988)

The Optimum Level ofDopamine in PFC is an


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Dopamine in PFC is an

Intermediate Level

too little too much

Arnsten & Li, 2005;Vijayraghavan etal., 2007

Hypothesis:Gender Difference in Baseline


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Level of Dopamine in PFC

too littleDA

too muchDA

FemalesMales

Female animals

perform superbly

at baseline (i.e.,

unstressed).

It follows from the Hypothesis ofa Gender Difference in Baseline


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too little too muchFemalesMales

Male animals

perform better

when slightly

stressed.

Level of Dopamine in PFC…

Female animals

perform worse

when slightly

stressed

Effectof MildStress


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WHY?Why might Females have

higher baseline levels of

DA in PFC than Males?

Estrogen down-regulates COMTt i ti (H 2006)


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gene transcription (Ho, 2006).

COMT enzyme activity is 30%

lower in women than men.

Varies with estrus cycle in rats;

inverse relation between COMTactivity and estrogen levels.


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Stress & PFC (Females only)


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(Shansky et al., 2004)

Delayed Alternation

Executive Functions


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can be improved at any

age from early infancy

through old age.

There are 3 basic ways to improve


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functioning that requires EFs:

(a) work on EFs - train them, challenge

them, & practice, practice, practice

(b) work on reducing things that impairEFs (stress, lack of sleep, etc.)

(c) find ways of reducing the demands on

EFs (circumvent the need for EFs, inpart) scaffolding

Many different activities have been shown

i i l di


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to improve EFs, including…

computerized training,

games,

aerobics,

traditional martial arts,

yoga,

mindfulness, &

certain school curricula (like Tools of the

Mind, Montessori, and PATHS).


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de Jong found that the mentoring

d t t f th


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seemed to account for the

benefits of CogMed ® even more

than the computerized training.

de Jong, P. (May 20, 2014). Effects of

training working memory in adoles-

cents with a below average IQ. Work-shop on Enhancing Executive Func-

tions in Education in Nijmegen, NL.

People who are more physically


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active and have better aerobic fitness have better EFs

as true for kids: Scudder et al., 2014Hillman, Castelli, & Buck 2005

as for the older adults: Boucard et al., 2012

Voelcker-Rehage, Godde, & Staudinger, 2010

but…Contrary to influential reviews

of the benefits of aerobic exercise….


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of the benefits of aerobic exercise….

Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)

“Be Smart, Exercise Your Heart:

Exercise Effects on Brain and Cognition”

Charles Hillman, Kirk Erickson & Art Kramer

In particular, the frontal lobe and the executive functions

that depend on it show the largest benefit from improved fitness.

The positive effects of aerobic physical activity on cognition and

brain function are evident at the molecular, cellular, systems, andbehavioral level.

Exercise without a cognitive


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component & perhaps with-

out a social component

(e.g., riding a stationary bike)

produces little or no cognitive

benefit.

Hillman et al. (2014)

Effects of the FITKids randomized controlled


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trial on executive control and brain function.Pediatrics, 134 , e1063-1071.

The wait-list groupstarted out better

& the intervention

group caught up.

There are no sign.

differences in post-

test levels.

Controls started out

better & the

aerobics group


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Sternberg task

Kamijo et al.

(2011)

caught up. There

was no sign. differ-ence in post-test

levels.

Kramer & Erickson


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(2007)concluded in their review that

there is “little evidence of asignificant relationship between

fitness change and cognitivechange.”

Similarly, two meta-analyses of

RCT f d i i l EF


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RCTs found minimal or no EF

benefits from aerobic exercise

Angevaren et al. (2008)

11 intervention studies in older adultsw/out cognitive impairment

Smith et al. (2010)

17 intervention studies in adults [10 of

those in adults 55 or older

Effect of aerobic exercise on executive function (n = 19)


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Smith P J et al. Psychosom Med 2010;72:239-252

Effect of aerobic exercise on working memory (n = 12)


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Smith P J et al. Psychosom Med 2010;72:239-252

Exercise alone appears not to be

ff ti i i i EF


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as effective in improving EFs as

exercise-plus-character-

development (traditional martial

arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness

(yoga) and other exercise that

requires thought (soccer).

Lakes & Hoyt (2004) randomly


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assigned children in grades Kthru 5 (roughly 5-11 years-old)

by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts (N = 105)

or standard physical education

(N = 102).

Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do

showed greater gains than children in


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showed greater gains than children in

standard phys. ed. on all dimensions of

EFs studied (e.g., cognitive [focused vs.

distractible] and affective [persevere vs.

quit] and emotion regulation). This

generalized to multiple contexts and was

found on multiple measures.


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Traditional martial arts

emphasize self-control,

discipline (inhibitory control),

and character development.

In a study with adolescent juvenile

delinquents (Trulson, 1986), one


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q ( )

group was assigned to traditionalTae-Kwon-Do (emphasizing qualities

such as respect, humility, persever-

ance, honor as well as physical

conditioning).

Another group was assigned to

modern martial arts (martial arts as a

only competitive sport).

Those in traditional Tae-Kwon-Do

h d l i d i t


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showed less aggression and anxiety

and improved in social ability and self-

esteem.

Those in modern martial arts showed

more juvenile delinquency and

aggressiveness, and decreased self-esteem and social ability.

Whether gains are seen


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Whether gains are seen

depends on the way an

activity is done.


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Regardless of theprogram to improve EFs,

a few principles hold:

1. Those with initially poorest EFs


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1. Those with initially poorest EFs

gain the most.

e.g., lower-income, lower WM

span, or ADHD children

consistently show the most EF

improvement from any program

Early EF training might be an

excellent candidate for reducing


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g

inequality (because it should

improve the EFs of the most

needy children most) -- thusheading off gaps in achievement

and health between more- andless-advantaged children.

2. EF training appears to transfer,


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but the transfer is not wide.

For ex., computerized working

memory training improves

working memory but not self-

control, creativity, or flexibility.

Commercial computerized training

programs are claiming widespread


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programs are claiming widespread

cognitive benefits but beware:

Wide transfer does not occur

(on the rare occasions where it has

been found, those findings have not

been replicated).

People improve on the skills they


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practice & that transfers to othercontexts where those same skills are

needed -- but people only improveon what they practice – improvement

does not transfer to other skills.

If improvement in a


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particular EF skill is your

goal, then you need to

engage in activities that

require & train that skill.

To see widespread benefits, diverseskills must be practiced.


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Because of that, real worldactivities such as martial arts &

certain school curricula (that train

diverse executive-function abilities)

have shown more widespread

cognitive benefits than targetedcomputerized training.

Physical Exercise activities


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that require thought, planning,concentration, problem-

solving, working memory, &inhibitory control will improve

those abilities. Those thatdon’t won’t.

3. EFs need to be


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3. EFs need to be

continually challenged

to see improvements -not just used, but

challenged.

Consistent with: what Ericsson reports is


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key for being truly excellent at anything --need to keep trying to master what is

just beyond your current level of

competence and comfort

(working in what Vygotsky would call

the ‘zone of proximal development ’)


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Prefrontal cortex

(what I specialize in)

PrefrontalCortex


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To learn something new, we need

prefrontal cortex.

But after something is no longer

new, persons who perform bestoften recruit prefrontal cortex le st.

(what I specialize in)

is over-rated.

NSMTRB


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TT DO

DC KO

The DLPFC

Slice for

8 IndividualsCB

NSMTRB


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TT DO

DC KO

The DLPFC

Slice for

8 IndividualsCB

NSMTRB


200/307

TT DO

DC KO

The DLPFC

Slice for

8 IndividualsCB

NSMTRB


201/307

TT DO

DC KO

The DLPFC

Slice for

8 IndividualsCB

NSMTRB


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TT DO

DC KO

The DLPFC

Slice for

8 IndividualsCB

When something is new, those who

recruit PFC most, usually perform


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best.(Duncan & Owen 2000, Poldrack et al. 2005)

But when you are really good at it,

you are NOT using PFC as much.

(Chein & Schneider 2005, Garavan et al. 2000,

Landau et al. 2007, Milham et al. 2003, Miller et

al. 2003)

Want to be able to use PFC whenever


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you… .. are presented with the unexpected,

.. need to think outside the box,

.. need to concentrate particularly hard,

.. need to adapt to change…

BUT

Want most tasks to be so familiar and

well learned that PFC is NOT needed.


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Want those tasks to be handed off to

older brain regions that have had far

longer to perfect their functioning; they

can subserve task performance ever so

much more efficiently than can PFC.

(re: Zen and the Art of Archery )

A child may know intellectually (at the

level of PFC) that he should not hit


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level of PFC) that he should not hit

another, but in the heat of the moment

if that knowledge has not become

automatic (passed on from PFC to

older brain regions) the child will hit

another (though if asked, he knows heshouldn’t do that).

knowing what one should do


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vs.

2nd nature (automatic)

(i.e., NOT dependent on PFC)

The only way something


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becomes automatic(becomes passed off from

PFC) is through action,repeated action.

Nothing else will do.

“We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.


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We don’t act rightly because we have virtue

or excellence, but we rather have these

because we have acted rightly; thesevirtues are formed in a person by doing the

actions;

we are what we repeatedly do.”

Aristotle, Ethica Nicomachea , 4th century BC

The Importance of

…Action for Learning


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…Learn through Doing

at any age, but especially for

young children

Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us

act to help us do what we need to do


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act, to help us do what we need to do.

If information is not relevant for what we

want to do, we don’t pay attention in the

same way.You learn something when you NEED it for

something you want to DO.

For ex., who will learn the route better – the driver or the passenger in the car?

You know the answer and you know why.

(My son teaching me to program


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the VCR)

The same is true when we teach

children in school. They need

opportunities to concretely

apply what they are taught.

Decades of research have shown that

our skills improve more & we learn


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our skills improve more & we learn

more when we are actively engaged

than when we passively listen.

Diamond, A. (2010). The evidence base for

improving school outcomes by addressing the whole

child and by addressing skills and attitudes, not just

content. Early Ed. and Dev., 21, 780-793.

Freeman et al.


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(2012)Active learning increases student

performance in science,

engineering, and mathematics.

Proceedings of the Nat’l Acad Sci.

vol.111(23), p. 8410-8415

Young children are not built to sit still for

long listening to verbal instruction,


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especially little boys.

Trying to force young children do that

will cause many children to dread school&

to form long-lasting perceptions of

themselves as stupid & unable to learn.

Do NOT require young

children to sit still for any


216/307

y

length of time.

It is developmentallyinappropriate, and

that is especially true forlittle boys.

Children need early EDUCATION


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(at ages 3-5)active, hands-on learning, play

They do NOT need earlyACADEMIC INSTRUCTION

at ages 3-5

There are many things


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one can strive to begood at -- the most

important is to be a

good person – a

mensch.

The Dalai Lama has said:

If you want others to be happy,


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practice compassion.

If you want to be happy,practice compassion.

?

makes perfect sense, even to a child

huh?

For young people to understand

the deep truth of:


220/307

“if you want to be happy,

practice compassion”

they need to practice

compassion and experience for

themselves the joy it brings them

If you want to improve mindful-


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ness, practice mindfulness.

If you want to improve

compassion, practice compassion

(rather than meditating on

compassion) – especially children.

We can tell children that

… people have more in common than


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p p

they have differences

… they should not fear or dislike people

simply because they come from a

different culture

But preaching in the abstract is not the

same as experiencing

Children need to meet


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others from differentethnic groups

They need to workalongside them and

see for those truths

themselves.

If the goals of ed. include logical

reasoning, critical thinking, and


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creative problem-solving, wemust give children opportunities,

day in and day out, to solve

problems on their own, question

assumptions, & reason their way

to solutions. And, we need to findbetter ways to assess these skills.

What gets tested is what


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g

ends up getting

emphasized.

I predict that the activities that will

most successfully improve EFs will


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y p

not only work on training and

improving EFs -- but will also

indirectly support EFs by lessening

things that impair EFs and

enhancing things that support EFs.


227/307

PFC is thePrefrontal

Cortex

Frontal Cortex


228/307

newest area

of the brainand the most

vulnerable.

PFC & EFs are the first to suffer, &

suffer most, if we are


229/307

• sad or stressed

• lonely

• or not physically fit

Conversely, we show better EFs when we’re

happy, feel socially supported, & we’re

physically fit.

Our brains work better


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Amy Arnsten, 1998The biology of being frazzled

Science

This is particularly true for PFC & EFs.

when we are not in a

stressed emotional state.

Stress impairs Executive


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Functions and can cause anyoneto look as if he or she has an EF

impairment (like ADHD) when

that’s not the case. (You may have

noticed that when stressed you

cannot think as clearly or exerciseas good self-control.)

Even mild stress increases DA release inPFC but not elsewhere in the brain



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(Roth et al., 1988)


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In college students, one month of stress in

preparation for a major exam disrupts

prefrontal cortex functional connectivity.Stress decreases coupling between left DL-PFC and right DL-PFC,and between DL-PFC and premotor cortex, the ACC, the insula,

posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and the cerebellum.Liston et al. (2009) PNAS

In humans (& primates in general)

there are more glucocorticoid


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Sánchez MM, Young LJ, Plotsky PM, Insel TR

(2000)

Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors

in the Rhesus Brain.

J Neurosci, 20 , 4657-4568.

receptors in PFC than in the

hippocampus (the reverse of what’s

true in rodents).

When we are sad we’re worse at

filtering out irrelevant information


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Desseilles et al., 2009

von Hecker & Meiser, 2005

(i.e., worse at selective attention).

When we are happy we are better at

selective attention.

Gable & Harmon-Jones, 2008

People show more creativity

when they are happy


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THE most heavily researched predictor ofcreativity in social psychology is mood.

The most robust finding is that a happy mood

leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al. 1999).It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray

et al. 1990) & to see potential relatedness

among unusual & atypical members ofcategories (Isen et al. 1985, 1987).

Hirt et al. 2008: 214

It’s not that sadder people are

less creative than happier


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ones, but that an individual

tends to be more creativewhen he or she is happier

than when he or she is moremiserable.


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re: ReducingStress…

Putting Feelings Into Words


239/307

Produces Therapeutic Effectson the Brain

It increases activation in prefrontalcortex and that decreases activation

in the amygdala.

PFC


240/307


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Amygdala activation went up in ALL conditions when an

angry or fearful face was shown, but ONLY in the onecondition (a) where subjects had to assign a verbal labelto the emotion, did amygdala activation GO DOWN.


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Matt Lieberman et al., 2007

Inverse Relation between Activation in PFC andthe Amygdala in the Lieberman et al. study

(When activation in PFC goes up, activation in theamygdala goes down.)


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If you can get people to talk or


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write about their problems, theirpsychological and physical health

improves.--- James Pennebaker,

Opening Up: The Healing Power

of Expressing Emotions

Translating an emotional


245/307

experience into language,talking or writing about, alters

the way it is represented and

understood in our mind and our

brain (gets prefrontal cortex

more involved).


246/307

We are not just intellects,we have emotions

we have social needs& we have bodies

Our brains work better when we are

not feeling lonely or socially


247/307

isolated.

Loneliness: Human Nature andthe Need for Social Connection

2008a book by John Cacioppo & William Patrick

This is particularly true for PFC & EFs.

Roy Baumeister et al. (2002, Journal ofPersonality & Social Psychology ) told a

- group of subjects that they’d have close

l ti hi th h t th i li


248/307

relationships throughout their lives;- told another group the opposite; &

- told a third group unrelated bad news.

On simple memorization questions (that don’t

require EFs) the groups were comparable.

On logical reasoning (that requires EFs),

those told to expect that they’ll be lonely

performed worse.

Other researchers haven’t tried to manipulate

this, but simply give subjects a survey when

th i t th l b


249/307

they come into the lab

& that includes questions like ‘Do you feel

socially supported? Do they feel lonely?’

One research group (Campbell et al.,

2006) found that prefrontal cortex functioned

less efficiently in those who felt lonely or

isolated.

We are fundamentally social.

W d t b l


250/307

We need to belong.

We need to fit in & be liked.

Children who are lonely or

ostracized will have more

difficulty learning.

Jerome Frank conducted a study comparing

many different forms of psychotherapy to.

H l d d


251/307

He concluded:

Regardless of which form of psychotherapy,

the most successful clinical outcomes were

achieved by….

those who cared deeply about their

patients and were able to communicate that

caring to the patients

The best body of work on the relative

effectiveness of different forms of

psychotherapy

b f d i B W ld’ 2001


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can be found in Bruce Wampold’s 2001

book:

The Great Psychotherapy Debate:

Models, Methods, and Findings

He concluded that:

the client-therapist relationship trumpstechnique hands down.

Th i t f


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The same is true forparents and teachers

What matters most in EarlyChildhood Education?

N t th # f hild

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=yHCzxwaPJzVbDM&tbnid=nv8MWtWshtDA2M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://onediverseculture.blogspot.com/&ei=NhSAUpHDJcm8iwLs-oHQCQ&bvm=bv.56146854,d.cGE&psig=AFQjCNHMKkxiE2XGJNs96XHTL4xhsPBong&ust=1384211889131898


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Not the # of childrenNot the caregiver: children ratio

Not having the best materialsbut the caring relationship between

the teacher and the childrenAs international studies show (e.g.,

Melhuish , 1990 a & b)

Parental nurturance / terrific mothering

largely wipes out the differences in

d i d h lth t b SES


255/307

academic and health outcomes by SES.Hackman et al. (2013) PlosOneBronfenbrenner & Morris (2006), chap. 14 in

Handbk of Child Psychol. (eds. Damon & Lerner)

Similarly, rats genetically predisposed to

be more fearful and damaged by stress,

grow up to be robust in the face of stressif they’ve had great mothering.

Michael Meaney’s work

Evidence that it’s the mother’s behavior thatproduces these effects rather than hereditycomes from cross-fostering studies:

Pups genetically predisposed to be brighterd l ff t d b t i d b l


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and less affected by stress raised by low-licking-and-grooming moms do not show moreexploration, less fear, or better thinking or

reasoning.Pups genetically predisposed to be dumber &more fragile in the face of stress raised byhigh-touch moms do show this constellation.

An example of early experience (nurturingtouch or its absence) producing enduring, life-long effects.

The mechanism for these effects is

epigenetic changes in gene expression.

N t ll i th b d d


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Not all genes in the body are expressed.

90% of our genes are switched off.

To a large extent, our experiences, andour reactions to them, determine which

genes get turned on (& off), when this

happens, & which genes stay on(epigenetics).


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Frequent licking & grooming by rat moms

de-methylation of the glucocorti-

coid receptor gene in their pups

& th


259/307

& thus

more glucocorticoid receptors

tighter regulation of stress hormone

levels

s magnitude of HPA response

ed corticosterone response to stress

throughout life

Rats tend to raise their offspring the way

they were raised, so these effects are

transmitted to succeeding generations, not

th h th b t th h b h i


260/307

through the genes but through behavior:

The biological offspring of low-touch moms,

cross-fostered to high-touch moms, lick andgroom their offspring a lot, and thus less

stress reactivity and cognitive enhance-

ment is passed down through the genera-

tions.

More Responsive MomLess Responsive Mom

Impact of the Quality of a Mother’s Responsiveness to her

Child at Age 2 on the Number of Observed Behavior

Problems in that Child at Age 4


261/307

0

4

2

6

8

Average Score on

Behavior Problems

Low

High SES Middle SES Low SES

Normal

Birthwt


262/307

we have emotions

we have social needs

& we have bodies


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You need your sleep.

L k f l ill d


264/307

Lack of sleep will produce

deficits in EF skills, and cause

someone to look as if he or shehas an EF

impairment,

like ADHD.

The brain doesn’t recognize the

same sharp division between

cognitive and motor function that


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cognitive and motor function thatwe impose in our thinking.

The SAME or substantially

overlapping brain systems subserve

BOTH cognitive and motor function.

For example, the pre-Supplementary

Motor Area (SMA) is important for

sequential tasks


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sequential tasks,whether they are sequential motor

tasks or

sequential numerical, verbal, or

spatial cognitive tasks.

Hanakawa et al., 2002

Motor development and

cognitive development appear


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cognitive development appearto be fundamentally intertwined.

Diamond, A. (2000)

Close interrelation of

motor development and cognitive developmentand of the cerebellum and prefrontal cortex.

Child Development, 71, 44-56

The different parts of the

human being are fundamentally

interrelated


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interrelated.

Each part (cognitive, social,

emotional, & physical) isaffected by, and affects, the

other parts. Diamond, 2000

If we ignore that a child is

stressed, lonely, or not healthy


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because of poor nutrition, lack

of sleep or lack of exercise

those unmet needs will work

against achievement of our

academic goals for our children.

Similarly, lack of social or

emotional support stress


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emotional support, stress,

or sadness often lie at the

root of health problems.

Poverty is a stressor: Food,

Housing, & Job Insecurity are

h


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each stressors

Divorce, Death, or Strife within the

Family are stressors

Violence in the Home or Commun-ity are stressors

It’s important to try to minimize

stresses in children’s lives


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stresses in children s lives

and to give children better ways to

handle the stress in their lives

Let’s return to my prediction:

Those activities that most

successfully improve executive


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successfully improve executive

functions should not only work on

training and improving executive

functions -- and also….

indirectly support executive

functions by working to reduce

thi th t i i ti


274/307

things that impair executive

functions and working to enhance

things that support executive

functions.

What activities directly

train and challenge

executive functions and


275/307

executive functions and

indirectly support them by

also addressing our social,

emotional, and physical

needs?

Traditional

Activities


276/307

Activitiesthat have been

around for millennia.

For 10's of 1,000's of years, across ll

cultures, storytelling, dance, art, music

& play have been part of the human

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=_UzkX8ja3_gPMM&tbnid=UBFyJXMOpFH0aM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://calperformances.org/learn/news_features/season_announcement_1213/fffa/fffa23.php&ei=iky8U9X6DMn9igKv-4H4DQ&bvm=bv.70138588,d.cGE&psig=AFQjCNG9tuha_6xWo-xO16IUbwoV8VfIlw&ust=1404935576520315


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& play have been part of the humancondition.

People in ll cultures made music,

sang, danced, did sports, and played

games. There are good reasons why

those activities have lasted so long andarose everywhere.

Music-making, dance, and

playing sports address our


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playing sports address our

cognitive,

emotional,

social, &

physical needs.

Because they challenge EFs directly,

and indirectly support EFs by


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and indirectly support EFs byincreasing joy,

a sense of belonging, &

physical exercise,

I predict they should improve EFs.

(and we’re hoping to get funding to test my prediction forEl Sistema Orchestra & for social, communal dance)

It doesn’t have to be those - almost

any activity can be the way in, can

be the means for disciplining the


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be the means for disciplining themind and enhancing resilience.

MANY activities not yet studiedmight well improve EFs.

Key is that the child really

enjoy the activity and really

want to do it so s/he will spend


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want to do it, so s/he will spend

a lot of time at it, pushing him-

or herself to improve.

It all depends on the way the activity is

done and the amount of time that is

spent doing it pushing oneself to do


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spent doing it, pushing oneself to do

better. The most important element is

that a person really want to do it, so heor she will spend a lot of time at it. It’s

the discipline, the practice, that

produces the benefits.


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could be caring for an animal….


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http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=young+kids+hiking&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=Agrlu7bfBnJWHM&tbnid=apqGGKT67OKlmM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://randsco.com/index.php/2011/04/25/five_tips_for_hiking_with_kids&ei=g4RLUczzJvLs2AXhkYCgDg&bvm=bv.44158598,d.b2I&psig=AFQjCNFWCP6C2R9AtSPVqZq_i0vXL4Ce-g&ust=1363989943709665


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http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=jFUBndjUrkv6VM&tbnid=Vp07qxuRW28syM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.foodwise.com.au/the-community-gardening-movement/&ei=RzWFU7qrL6mtsQSPiIHwCA&psig=AFQjCNFSs_R1tcuvK09R04HTWvZG_f9mMw&ust=1401325242566999http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=young+kids+hiking&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=Agrlu7bfBnJWHM&tbnid=apqGGKT67OKlmM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://randsco.com/index.php/2011/04/25/five_tips_for_hiking_with_kids&ei=g4RLUczzJvLs2AXhkYCgDg&bvm=bv.44158598,d.b2I&psig=AFQjCNFWCP6C2R9AtSPVqZq_i0vXL4Ce-g&ust=1363989943709665http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=young+kids+hiking&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=Agrlu7bfBnJWHM&tbnid=apqGGKT67OKlmM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://randsco.com/index.php/2011/04/25/five_tips_for_hiking_with_kids&ei=g4RLUczzJvLs2AXhkYCgDg&bvm=bv.44158598,d.b2I&psig=AFQjCNFWCP6C2R9AtSPVqZq_i0vXL4Ce-g&ust=1363989943709665


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Free the Children

Children Changing the World

More than 1.7 million youth involved

in innovative education and develop-

Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=young+kids+hiking&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=Agrlu7bfBnJWHM&tbnid=apqGGKT67OKlmM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://randsco.com/index.php/2011/04/25/five_tips_for_hiking_with_kids&ei=g4RLUczzJvLs2AXhkYCgDg&bvm=bv.44158598,d.b2I&psig=AFQjCNFWCP6C2R9AtSPVqZq_i0vXL4Ce-g&ust=1363989943709665


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ment programs in 45 countries.

Educates, engages, and empowers

young people to be confident young

change-makers and lifelong activecitizens.

97%of their students now believe they

can make a difference in the world.89%

confirm that their students are

more confident in their goal-setting

and completion.

85% find a greater atmosphere of caring

and compassion in the school. 90%

of their students have

demonstrated increased leadership

among their peers.

Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report:

Academic achievement, physical health, &

mental health are fundamentally & multiply

interrelated.


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The best and most efficient way to foster

any one of those is to foster all of them.

Each of us has physical, emotional, & social

needs. We ignore any of them at our peril.

My thanks to the NIH (NIMH, NICHD, & NIDA),

which has continuously funded our work since 1986,& to the Spencer Fdn, CFI, NSERC, & IES for recent

support our work - and especiallyto all the members of my lab.


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thank you foryour attention


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your attention

[email protected]

Inhibition can be critical in helping

students to wait before speaking or

acting

https://www.google.co.id/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCKmb76Wk3cYCFVYIjgodCtQHTw&url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/widemus/14568954856/&ei=qWWmVemiF9aQuASKqJ_4BA&bvm=bv.97949915,d.c2E&psig=AFQjCNFS_NW6sqNhoHX66RB9bAjYJs2bQw&ust=1437054336305431


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g

so that they think before they act

instead of impulsively reacting, and

so that they resist the temptation to

answer quickly, instead taking the timethey need.

THE DAY-NIGHT TASK

Semantically conflicting labels

(Gerstadt , Hong, & Diamond, 1994)


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“Day”

“Night”

y g

Requires holding 2 rules in mind, and inhibitingsaying what the images really represent, saying

the opposite instead.

Experimenter sings a little ditty

DITTY


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p g y think about the answer, don’t tell me

before the child responds.

Imposes time between presentation of stimulus

and response to make children take the time

they need to ‘compute’ the answer

Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Ditty and Standard

Conditions of the Day-Night Task


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8 9 %

5 6 %

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ditty Standard

P e r c e n t C o

r r e c t

Chance

~ 90%

See VIDEO at:


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See VIDEO at:

www.devcogneuro.com/

videos/daynight3.mov

Very often what produces

the best short-term

outcomes


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outcomes

is different from what

produces the best

long-term outcomes

Rosenbaum et al., 2001;

many papers by Robert Bjork’s lab 2007-2012

“Unintended Consequences of

Seemingly Rational Actions.”


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g y

à la the political scientist, Aaron

Wildavsky, and the sociologist,

Robert Merton

For example, high-stakes standardized

exams produce poorer longterm learning.

Teachers told to insure that their students


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Teachers told to insure that their students

perform well on a high-stakes exam end

up having students who perform worsein the long run than teachers given the

mandate to facilitate student learning.

(Flink, Boggiano, & Barrett, 1990; Flink et al., 1992)

Children drilled in reading in

K will test better on reading

at the end of K than children


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at the end of K than children

steeped in oral language in K

(who haven’t received the

same instruction in reading),

but I predict that by the end

of 2nd grade, those steeped


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of 2 grade, those steeped

in oral language in K will be

the better readers.

C

Documents

ESA Keynote Diamond