Vosniadou Stella, Pnevmatikos Dimitrios, Makris Nikos, Lepenioti Despina, Eikospentaki Kalliopi, Chountala Anna, Kyrianakis Giorgos
Department of Philosophy and History of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
School of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University.
Cogn Sci. 2018 Jun 13. doi: 10.1111/cogs.12624.
Prior research has investigated the recruitment of inhibition in the use of science/mathematics concepts in tasks that require the rejection of a conflicting, nonscientific initial concept. The present research examines if inhibition is the only EF skill recruited in such tasks and investigates whether shifting is also involved. It also investigates whether inhibition and/or shifting are recruited in tasks in which the use of science/mathematics concepts does not require the rejection of an initial concept, or which require only the use of initial concepts. One hundred and thirty-three third- and fifth-grade children participated in two inhibition and shifting tasks and two science and mathematics conceptual understanding and conceptual change (CU&C) tasks. All the tasks were on-line, and performance was measured in accuracy and RTs. The CU&C tasks involved the use of initial concepts and of science/mathematics concepts which required conceptual changes for their initial formation. Only in one of the tasks the use of the science/mathematics concepts required the concurrent rejection of an initial concept. The results confirmed that in this task inhibition was recruited and also showed that the speed of shifting was a significant predictor of performance. Shifting was a significant predictor of performance in all the tasks, regardless of whether they involved science/mathematics or initial concepts. It is argued that shifting is likely to be recruited in complex tasks that require multiple comparisons of stimuli and the entertainment of different perspectives. Inhibition seems to be a more selective cognitive skill likely to be recruited when the use of science/mathematics concepts requires the rejection of a conflicting initial concept.
先前的研究调查了在需要摒弃相互冲突的非科学初始概念的任务中，运用科学/数学概念时抑制功能的启用情况。本研究探讨抑制功能是否是此类任务中唯一启用的执行功能技能，并研究转换功能是否也参与其中。研究还探讨了在使用科学/数学概念无需摒弃初始概念，或仅需运用初始概念的任务中，抑制功能和/或转换功能是否会被启用。133名三年级和五年级学生参与了两项抑制和转换任务，以及两项科学和数学概念理解与概念转变（CU&C）任务。所有任务均为在线任务，通过准确性和反应时间来衡量表现。CU&C任务涉及初始概念的运用，以及需要概念转变才能初步形成的科学/数学概念的运用。只有在其中一项任务中，科学/数学概念的运用需要同时摒弃一个初始概念。结果证实，在这项任务中启用了抑制功能，并且还表明转换速度是表现的一个重要预测指标。在所有任务中，无论任务涉及科学/数学概念还是初始概念，转换都是表现的一个重要预测指标。研究认为，在需要对刺激进行多次比较并考虑不同观点的复杂任务中，可能会启用转换功能。当运用科学/数学概念需要摒弃相互冲突的初始概念时，抑制功能似乎是一种更具选择性的认知技能，可能会被启用。
