Learning-based before intentional cognitive control: Developmental evidence for a dissociation between implicit and explicit control.

Abstract

Cognitive control can be triggered by explicit or implicit events; it has been proposed that these two possibilities tap into dissociable mechanisms. In this study, we investigate this idea by testing whether young children, who struggle with explicitly triggered control, can demonstrate proportion congruency effects-which are based on implicit learning of task regularities and thus indicative of implicitly triggered control. In a series of five experiments, preschoolers indeed demonstrated significant proportion congruency effects, including both list-wide proportion congruency (LWPC) and item-specific proportion congruency (ISPC) effects, in a Stroop-like task and in a flanker task. These effects did not increase with age, contrary to what is typically observed for explicit control. These results demonstrate that young children show early evidence of cognitive control-including proactive control-when it is triggered by implicit events, at an age where explicit control, and particularly proactive control, is not yet functional. By showing evidence of an early ability for fine-grained adjustments of cognitive control when control cues are learned implicitly, these results support the proposed functional dissociation between explicit and implicit cognitive control.

Midfrontal theta oscillations and conflict monitoring in children and adults

“…By contrast, rigged feedback had a detrimental effect on conflict resolution. Again, this is consistent with behavioral findings suggesting that conflict monitoring may represent a more implicit form of control and develop earlier than conflict resolution (Erb & Marcovitch, 2018Gonthier et al, 2021). It is difficult to draw a firm conclusion on the exact reason why conflict resolution was costlier in the rigged condition.…”

“…These similar profiles suggest that children used the same neurocognitive processes as adults to monitor and resolve conflict but with less efficiency, and that theta oscillations likely play a key role in coordinating these processes across development (see also Adam et al, 2020). This is in line with growing research suggesting similar control adjustment dynamics in children and adults (Ambrosi et al, 2020;Gonthier et al, 2021;Larson et al, 2012;Surrey et al, 2019). However, some important differences in theta activity did emerge between children and adults.…”

“…Indeed, dissociations between N2 and midfrontal theta power effects have been reported in patients with schizophrenia (Hong et al, 2021). The N2 may primarily capture conflict detection or threshold adjustment, that is, inhibition of motor output upon conflict detection, which may correspond to an implicit form of control that develops early (Erb & Cavanagh, 2019; see also Gonthier et al, 2021). Midfrontal theta power, in contrast, may reflect the signaling of the detected conflict for control adjustment, which may show a more protracted developmental course intrinsically related to functional brain network development.…”

“…However, it is unknown whether response feedback benefits performance via better conflict monitoring, better conflict resolution, or both. Response feedback may affect conflict resolution to a greater extent than conflict monitoring because (1) conflict monitoring may correspond to a more implicit or automatic form of cognitive control than conflict resolution (see Erb & Cavanagh, 2019;Gonthier et al, 2021), and (2) information about how well one is doing may help to ramp up or release top-down control over information processing regardless of conflict.…”

The many faces of learning-guided cognitive control.

“…They revealed dissociable yet interdependent effects: both experiential and (smaller) cue-guided control effects were observed, and experiential control was often relatively disengaged when explicit cuing was provided. Further supporting the notion that experiential and explicit control engagement are dissociable, Gonthier et al (2021) showed that young children who struggle with using explicit cues for engaging control nevertheless display robust signatures of experiential control learning in list-wide and item-based PC protocols.…”