An Analysis of the Development of Cognitive Control In Young Children Within An Auditory And Visual Modality

The Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control Framework (DMC) posits that cognitive control is directed through two different modes: proactive and reactive control. Proactive control involves the maintenance and manipulation of information in preparation of a response while reactive control would involve little to no preparation until after a response prompt. The AX-Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT) is a cognitive control task that is often utilized in studies looking at proactive and reactive control as it measures context processing and goal maintenance. The aims of this study were to validate the auditory version of the AX-CPT and to then apply this task to young children to understand the role modality of stimulus presentation may play in the emergence of proactive control. The current study tested pupillometric and behavioral performance in a visual AX-CPT task as well as a novel auditory AX-CPT, in which animal sounds replaced letter stimuli as the cues and probes. Proactive and reactive control for the auditory AX-CPT were measured by pupillometry for both adults (Experiment 1a) and children (Experiment 1b). PBI (proactive behavioral index) scores for accuracy and reaction time in children (Experiment 1c) were calculated for both the visual and auditory AX-CPT. Though presented in a different modality, the data suggested that the auditory AX-CPT and the visual AX-CPT both effectively measured goal maintenance in relation to proactive and reactive control. A more thorough understanding of how children develop proactive control can lead to the implementation of educational strategies within the classroom and help propel young children’s learning.