Aydmune Yesica Sabina, López-Ramón María Fernanda, Zamora Eliana Vanesa, Juric Lorena Canet, Introzzi Isabel María
Institute of Basic and Applied Psychology, and Technology (IPSIBAT), National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), National University of Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Universitat de València, 46010, Valencia, Spain.
Psychol Res. 2024 Dec 19;89(1):35. doi: 10.1007/s00426-024-02066-0.
Theoretical frameworks suggest that cognitive inhibition suppresses irrelevant information in working memory, preventing overload and promoting the processing of task-relevant information. Consequently, it may also contribute to more complex skills, such as abstract reasoning, by facilitating the retention and processing of patterns and relationships. However, empirical evidence does not consistently show these relationships in early elementary school years. This study aims to examine the validity of the following theoretical proposition: cognitive inhibition is a fundamental process that influences working memory, and both contribute to abstract reasoning in children aged 6-8 years. The final sample included 293 schoolchildren from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades, who completed tasks measuring cognitive inhibition, working memory, and reasoning. Age was also considered in the analyses. The main results indicate that age is associated with improvements in working memory and reasoning (explaining 19% of the variance), but not with cognitive inhibition performance. Additionally, cognitive inhibition directly contributes to working memory (explaining 19% of the variance), and working memory, but not cognitive inhibition, contributes to abstract reasoning (the model explains 23% of the variance). No indirect effects were found. We discuss the importance of incorporating specific relationships between cognitive skills at different developmental stages into theoretical and practical proposals.
理论框架表明，认知抑制会抑制工作记忆中的无关信息，防止信息过载，并促进与任务相关信息的处理。因此，它还可能通过促进模式和关系的保留与处理，对更复杂的技能（如抽象推理）有所帮助。然而，实证证据并未始终如一地表明在小学低年级阶段存在这些关系。本研究旨在检验以下理论命题的有效性：认知抑制是影响工作记忆的一个基本过程，二者都对6至8岁儿童的抽象推理有影响。最终样本包括来自一、二、三年级的293名学童，他们完成了测量认知抑制、工作记忆和推理的任务。分析中也考虑了年龄因素。主要结果表明，年龄与工作记忆和推理能力的提高相关（解释了19%的方差），但与认知抑制表现无关。此外，认知抑制直接影响工作记忆（解释了19%的方差），而工作记忆而非认知抑制对抽象推理有影响（该模型解释了23%的方差）。未发现间接影响。我们讨论了将不同发展阶段认知技能之间的特定关系纳入理论和实践建议的重要性。
