Tradicionalmente, el concepto de función ejecutiva se ha utilizado para hacer referencia a un comportamiento adaptativo (Mesulam, 2002), que integra y combina habilidades cognitivas que están dirigidas a meta (Welsh, Friedman, y Spieker, 2005). Durante los últimos años se ha asistido a un creciente interés en el estudio de la función ejecutiva en la infancia y niñez (Garon, Bryson, y Smith, 2008). Sin embargo, su exploración ha estado limitada por las dificultades para diseñar tareas adaptadas al nivel de desarrollo de los niños. En general, estas tareas se fundamentan principalmente en el seguimiento de reglas verbales abstractas y analizan el control ejecutivo de los niños en base a sus errores directos. Por el contrario, nuestras tareas permiten la construcción de unas reglas de actuación específicas a partir de las dinámicas que se establecen en el proceso de resolución entre la información perceptiva y la información de la acción, siendo un aspecto fundamental el feedback directo que el sujeto recibe de sus acciones. Asimismo, nuestro diseño metodológico trata de minimizar el papel del lenguaje en la construcción y consecución de la meta. El objetivo general de nuestro estudio fue analizar el desarrollo de la función ejecutiva en niños pequeños en base a las dinámicas entre percepción-acción que se establecen en la resolución de una tarea y que ponen de manifiesto la capacidad del niño para manipular ambas fuentes de información. La muestra estuvo integrada por 150 sujetos de 2.5, 3.5 y 4.5 años de edad, a los que se les administraron tres tareas de distinta dificultad, consistente en la inserción de piezas en unos ejes. Los resultados de este estudio ponen de manifiesto que no sólo la edad guarda una estrecha relación con la habilidad para discernir el criterio adecuado y en concreto, los procesos de cambio y control inhibitorio, sino que la complejidad de la tarea desempeña un papel fundamental. Evidentemente, se producen importantes mejoras con la edad en esas capacidades, pero es realmente la comprensión de la naturaleza de la tarea la que parece desempeñar un papel muy importante en la "voluntad" del niño para querer seguir buscando cómo llegar a la resolución del conflicto. / Traditionally, the concept of executive function has been used to refer to appropriate behaviours (Mesulam, 2002), that integrate and combine cognitive abilities oriented to a goal (Welsh, Friedman, & Spieker, 2005). In last years, a growing interest in the study of executive function in infancy and childhood has developed (Garon, Bryson, & Smith, 2008). However, its study has been limited due to difficulties in designing tasks that are adapted to the subjects' developmental level. In general, these tasks are mainly based in following abstract, verbal rules and analyze executive control based on direct errors. In contrast to this sort of tasks, our tasks allowed the subjects to build their own rules from the dynamics established between perceptual and action information in the resolution process, so that the direct feedback that children received from their action is crucial. Moreover, our procedure tries to minimize the role of language during goal construction and attainment. The general aim of this study was analysing the development of executive function in young children through the dynamics between perception and action established in the resolution of a task. These will show children's ability to work with both information sources. 150 children (2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 years of age) participated in this study. They were asked to complete three different tasks with an increasing difficulty based on inserting wooden pieces in their axes. Results showed that not only age is related to the ability to discriminate the right criterion to solve the task, but also the processes of change, inhibitory control and task complexity are key questions. Obviously, there's an improvement with age in these abilities, but what seems to be the most relevant aspect in this sort of tasks is that children were able to understand the nature of the task and this contribute to their "willing" to keep looking for a solution to the problem.

Darbo tikslas – nustatyti kompiuterizuoto inhibicinio kontrolės testo (IKT), IL-6, amoniako bei įprastinių kraujo rodiklių vertę diagnozuojant kognityvinius sutrikimus sergantiems lėtinėmis kepenų ligomis. Darbo uždaviniai: nustatyti kognityvinių sutrikimų dažnį, galimus rizikos veiksnius, palyginti IKT ir kraujo testų rezultatus lėtinio hepatito ir kepenų cirozės grupėse; nustatyti IKT bei IL-6, įprastinių kraujo testų vertę minimaliai hepatinei encefalopatijai (MHE). Iki šiol netirta ar pacientai, sergantys lėtiniu hepatitu ir kognityviniais sutrikimais, neturi analogiškų IKT rodiklių pakitimų, IL-6 koncentracijos padidėjimo kaip sergantieji kepenų ciroze ir MHE. Netirta kokie kraujo ar IKT rodikliai kognityvinius sutrikimus prognozuoja geriausia. Į tyrimą įtraukti 62 sergantieji kepenų ciroze be hepatinės encefalopatijos, 73 lėtiniu hepatitu bei 53 sveiki asmenys. Tą pačią dieną buvo atliekami kraujo tyrimai, psichometriniai testai ir IKT. Lėtinio hepatito grupėje kognityviniai sutrikimai nustatyti 54,8 %, о kepenų cirozės grupėje MHE ¬ 71,0 % tiriamųjų asmenų. Kognityvinius sutrikimus predisponuoja trumpesnė mokymosi trukmė, fibrozės laipsnis, dvigubas etiologinis veiksnys, amžius ir lytis įtakos neturi. Lėtinio hepatito grupėje kognityviniai sutrikimai koreliuoja su IKT rodikliais ir kepenų fermentų koncentracijos padidėjimu, o kepenų cirozių grupėje su IKT rodikliais ir IL-6 koncentracija kraujyje. Išvados: Kognityvinius sutrikimus sergant lėtiniu hepatitu ar... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the study was to ascertain a value of computerized inhibitory control test (ICT), routine blood tests, peripheral blood ammonia and IL-6 concentration for diagnosis of cognitive disorders in patients with chronic liver diseases. Tasks: to assess a frequency of cognitive impairments and associated risk factors and to compare ICT and blood tests results in chronic hepatitis and cirrhotic patients; to ascertain ICT, IL-6 and routine blood tests values for diagnosis of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE). Until now there were no studies performed whether chronic hepatitis patients with cognitive disorders have analogous ICT, IL-6 and other tests abnormalities as cirrhotic patients with MHE. It has not been studied which ICT and other tests results predict best the cognitive disorders in such patients. 62 cirrhotic patients without overt hepatic encephalopathy, 73 chronic hepatitis and 53 healthy individuals were enrolled. On the same day blood tests, psychometric and ICT tests were performed by every participant. Cognitive disorders were detected in 54,8% of chronic hepatitis patients. In cirrhotic patients MHE was found in 71,0%. Cognitive disorders predispose shorter study time, the fibrosis score, double etiologic factor, while age and gender has no influence. In chronic hepatitis patients the cognitive impairments correlate with ICT and elevated liver enzymes. In cirrhotic patients cognitive disorders correlate with ICT and IL-6 concentration. Conclusion: the... [to full text]

The aim of the study was to ascertain a value of computerized inhibitory control test (ICT), routine blood tests, peripheral blood ammonia and IL-6 concentration for diagnosis of cognitive disorders in patients with chronic liver diseases. Tasks: to assess a frequency of cognitive impairments and associated risk factors and to compare ICT and blood tests results in chronic hepatitis and cirrhotic patients; to ascertain ICT, IL-6 and routine blood tests values for diagnosis of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE). Until now there were no studies performed whether chronic hepatitis patients with cognitive disorders have analogous ICT, IL-6 and other tests abnormalities as cirrhotic patients with MHE. It has not been studied which ICT and other tests results predict best the cognitive disorders in such patients. 62 cirrhotic patients without overt hepatic encephalopathy, 73 chronic hepatitis and 53 healthy individuals were enrolled. On the same day blood tests, psychometric and ICT tests were performed by every participant. Cognitive disorders were detected in 54,8% of chronic hepatitis patients. In cirrhotic patients MHE was found in 71,0%. Cognitive disorders predispose shorter study time, the fibrosis score, double etiologic factor, while age and gender has no influence. In chronic hepatitis patients the cognitive impairments correlate with ICT and elevated liver enzymes. In cirrhotic patients cognitive disorders correlate with ICT and IL-6 concentration. Conclusion: the... [to full text] / Darbo tikslas – nustatyti kompiuterizuoto inhibicinio kontrolės testo (IKT), IL-6, amoniako bei įprastinių kraujo rodiklių vertę diagnozuojant kognityvinius sutrikimus sergantiems lėtinėmis kepenų ligomis. Darbo uždaviniai: nustatyti kognityvinių sutrikimų dažnį, galimus rizikos veiksnius, palyginti IKT ir kraujo testų rezultatus lėtinio hepatito ir kepenų cirozės grupėse; nustatyti IKT bei IL-6, įprastinių kraujo testų vertę minimaliai hepatinei encefalopatijai (MHE). Iki šiol netirta ar pacientai, sergantys lėtiniu hepatitu ir kognityviniais sutrikimais, neturi analogiškų IKT rodiklių pakitimų, IL-6 koncentracijos padidėjimo kaip sergantieji kepenų ciroze ir MHE. Netirta kokie kraujo ar IKT rodikliai kognityvinius sutrikimus prognozuoja geriausia. Į tyrimą įtraukti 62 sergantieji kepenų ciroze be hepatinės encefalopatijos, 73 lėtiniu hepatitu bei 53 sveiki asmenys. Tą pačią dieną buvo atliekami kraujo tyrimai, psichometriniai testai ir IKT. Lėtinio hepatito grupėje kognityviniai sutrikimai nustatyti 54,8 %, о kepenų cirozės grupėje MHE ¬ 71,0 % tiriamųjų asmenų. Kognityvinius sutrikimus predisponuoja trumpesnė mokymosi trukmė, fibrozės laipsnis, dvigubas etiologinis veiksnys, amžius ir lytis įtakos neturi. Lėtinio hepatito grupėje kognityviniai sutrikimai koreliuoja su IKT rodikliais ir kepenų fermentų koncentracijos padidėjimu, o kepenų cirozių grupėje su IKT rodikliais ir IL-6 koncentracija kraujyje. Išvados: Kognityvinius sutrikimus sergant lėtiniu hepatitu ar... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Dans les expériences de Milgram sur la soumission à l’autorité (Milgram, 1963, 1965, 1974), les participants se sont vus ordonner d’administrer une série de chocs électriques d’intensité croissante à un autre participant (en réalité compère de l’expérimentateur) au nom d’une étude sur les effets de la punition sur l’apprentissage. Les résultats montrent que 62.5% des participants ont été jusqu’à infliger plusieurs chocs potentiellement mortels (condition standard ; Milgram, 1974). Ces résultats ont suscité un fort intérêt et sont toujours largement cités pour expliquer certains comportements destructeurs comme les actes de torture et de barbarie. Mais les travaux de Milgram ont également provoqué une forte controverse éthique et toute possibilité de réplication a été rapidement proscrite. Dans ce contexte, peu d’études expérimentales ont été réalisées et la question des mécanismes responsables de l’obéissance destructrice (OD) demeure sans réponse. La recherche récente a pu relancer l’étude expérimentale de l’OD par l’usage d’environnements immersifs. Ainsi, une récente étude IRMf reposant sur l’utilisation d’une version virtuelle du paradigme de Milgram montre que l’observation de la douleur de la victime dans ce contexte provoque un état de détresse personnelle chez les participants (i.e., réaction émotionnelle aversive centrée sur soi). Ce résultat suggère que l’OD pourrait être en partie la conséquence d’un défaut de régulation de la détresse provoquée par les mécanismes de résonance empathique. En nous appuyant sur la recherche récente en neurosciences sociales, nous avons fait l’hypothèse que la vulnérabilité au stress pourrait faciliter l’OD via l’exercice d’un contrôle inhibiteur sur la résonance empathique responsable d’une diminution de l’aversion pour l’atteinte à autrui. Nous avons réalisé six expériences visant (i) à examiner l’influence du tonus vagal (biomarqueur de la vulnérabilité au stress) sur l’autoritarisme de droite (prédicteur classique de l’OD) et sur l’OD, (ii) à manipuler expérimentalement la capacité des participants à exercer un contrôle inhibiteur durant la procédure d’obéissance, (iii) à explorer la relation entre ondes thêta (biomarqueur du contrôle inhibiteur) et OD, (iv) à examiner la relation entre OD et activité hémodynamique au niveau du cortex préfrontal ventromédian (incluant le cortex orbitofrontal) et du cortex préfrontal dorsolatéral, régions cérébrales fortement impliquées dans l’empathie et la cognition morale. L’obéissance a été mesurée à l’aide de l’« Immersive Video Milgram Obedience Experiment ». Dans ce qu’ils ont d’essentiel, nos résultats montrent : (i) qu’un moindre tonus vagal prédit l’autoritarisme de droite et l’OD, et que les participants obéissants ont exercé un effort cognitif couplé à une diminution du stress physiologique durant la procédure d’obéissance (études 2 et 3), (ii) que l’affaiblissement expérimental du contrôle inhibiteur via l’induction d’une « fatigue mentale » favorise la désobéissance et supprime l’influence de l’autoritarisme de droite sur l’OD (étude 4), (iii) qu’une augmentation de la puissance des ondes thêta prédit l’OD (étude 5), (iv) qu’une augmentation de l’oxy-hémoglobine au niveau du cortex préfrontal ventromédian droit prédit une moindre obéissance (étude 6). Dans leur ensemble, ces résultats supportent l’hypothèse voulant que les personnes présentant une plus grande vulnérabilité au stress exercent un contrôle inhibiteur sur leur résonance empathique dans un effort pour diminuer leur détresse, et que ce contrôle inhibiteur a pour conséquence une diminution des réponses émotionnelles aversives à l’atteinte à autrui et ainsi une augmentation de l’OD. / In the Milgram's obedience experiments (Milgram, 1963, 1965, 1974), naive participants were ordered to administer increasingly severe electric shocks on a “learner” (a confederate) after being told that they were participating in an experiment on the effects of punishment on learning. Results revealed that 62.5% of the participants were willing to administer allegedly lethal electric shocks when ordered to do so (standard condition; Milgram, 1974). The Milgram's findings are still often cited when explaining destructive behaviors such as torture. The Milgram’s obedience studies have also been a target of ethical criticism and replication has been discouraged. In such a context, a very few experimental studies has been conducted since the Milgram’s experiments and the mechanisms responsible for destructive obedience remain unknown. Recent research reopens the door to direct empirical study of destructive obedience through the employment of immersive environments. A recent fMRI study showed that pain-related affective sharing in a virtual version of the Milgram paradigm elicited an aversive, self-oriented state of personal distress. This result suggests that low self-regulatory control of the shared affect evoked by the victim’s pain could be responsible for destructive obedience. Based on recent social neuroscience research, we hypothesized that stress vulnerability may facilitate destructive obedience through a mechanism of inhibitory control over empathic resonance responsible for decreased harm aversion. We conducted six studies aiming (i) to explore the influence of cardiac vagal tone (a biomarker of stress vulnerability) on right-wing authoritarianism (RWA, a classic predictor of destructive obedience) and on destructive obedience, (ii) to induce a self-regulatory fatigue in order to manipulate the participants’ abilities for inhibitory control during the obedience procedure, (iii) to explore the relation between theta oscillations (a biomarker of inhibitory control) and destructive obedience, (iv) to examine the relation between destructive obedience and hemodynamic response in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (including the orbitofrontal cortex) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, two brain areas highly involved in empathy and moral cognition. Obedience was measured using the “Immersive Video Milgram Obedience Experiment”. All in all, our results showed: (i) that lower vagal tone predicted higher RWA and destructive obedience, and that obedient participants exerted a cognitive effort associated to decreased physiological arousal (studies 2 and 3), (ii) that self-regulatory fatigue reduced destructive obedience and suppressed the influence of RWA, (iii) that increased theta power predicted destructive obedience (study 4), (iv) that increased oxygenated-hemoglobin in the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex predicts disobedience. On the whole, these results support the hypothesis that individuals with high in stress vulnerability exert an inhibitory control over their empathic resonance in an attempt to reduce their own distress, and that such a mechanism is responsible for decreased harm aversion and then destructive obedience.

Submitted by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2018-10-19T20:28:33Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Vivian_Pereira_Fialho.pdf: 1571650 bytes, checksum: a5a3ee9af938bb382b3ad3a339155366 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2018-10-19T20:29:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Vivian_Pereira_Fialho.pdf: 1571650 bytes, checksum: a5a3ee9af938bb382b3ad3a339155366 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-19T20:29:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Vivian_Pereira_Fialho.pdf: 1571650 bytes, checksum: a5a3ee9af938bb382b3ad3a339155366 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-28 / Sem bolsa / Nosso estudo teve por objetivo principal investigar o papel do bilinguismo na execução de tarefas de controle inibitório, partindo-se de uma abordagem dinâmica (VAN GELDER e PORT, 1995). Buscou-se verificar, então, se haveria diferenças significativas no controle inibitório de monolíngues e bilíngues, considerando diferentes graus de proficiência linguística e a proximidade entre as línguas faladas pelos bilíngues. Nosso público alvo foram doze participantes monolíngues e doze bilíngues tardios. Os participantes bilíngues submeteram-se a testes de nivelamento em suas línguas estrangeiras, que poderiam ser espanhol ou inglês, apresentando proficiência baixa, intermediária ou alta. Todos os participantes eram adultos na faixa entre 25 e 35 anos com ensino superior completo ou cursando. Para desenvolver a presente pesquisa, foi aplicado um Stroop Test de cores e palavras, desenvolvido por meio do software E-Prime 2.0. Através desse software foi possível obter o número de acertos e o tempo de reação dos participantes para responder a cada um dos itens testados nas diferentes tarefas realizadas. Os dados coletados foram tratados estatisticamente através do programa SPSS 18. Os resultados alcançados mostram que os bilíngues atingiram uma média menor no tempo de reação do que os monolíngues, obtendo uma diferença estatística significativa neste quesito. Porém, na acurácia, essa diferença não foi constatada. Com relação ao grau de proficiência na L2, embora tenha sido constatada diferença nos tempos de reação dos bilíngues de acordo com os diferentes níveis de proficiência, essa diferença não foi estatisticamente significativa. No que diz respeito à proximidade das línguas faladas, os bilíngues do grupo português-espanhol tiveram um tempo de reação maior do que os bilíngues do grupo português-inglês. Contudo, essa diferença não se mostrou significativa. Nesta dissertação, esses achados são discutidos à luz da Teoria dos Sistemas Dinâmicos. / This study had as main goal to investigate the role of bilingualism in the execution of inhibitory control, based on a dynamic approach (VAN GELDER and PORT, 1995). Therefore, it was sought to verify if there would be any significant differences in the inhibitory control of monolinguals and bilinguals, considering the different levels of linguistic proficiency and the proximity between the languages spoken by the bilinguals. The target public were twelve monolingual participants and twelve late bilinguals. The bilingual participants took leveling tests in their foreign languages, which could be Spanish or English, presenting low, intermediate or high levels of proficiency. All participants were adults between the ages of 25 and 35 who had graduated from college or were about to. To develop the present research, a Stroop Test of colors and words was developed, using E-Prime 2.0 software.Through this software, it was possible to attain the number of right answers and the reaction times of the participants in order to provide an answer to all the tested items on the different tasks that were applied on the participants. The collected data were statistically treated through SPSS 18. The obtained results show that the bilinguals reached a lower average in reaction time than the monolinguals, exhibiting a significant statistical difference on the matter. However, in the accuracy, this difference was not verified. Regarding to the proficiency levels on L2, even though it was confirmed the difference in the reaction times of the bilingual group according to the different proficiency levels, this difference it was not statistically significant. With regard to the proximity of the languages, the Portuguese-Spanish bilingual group showed longer reaction time in comparison to the Portuguese-English bilingual group. Nonetheless, the difference did not prove to be statistically significant. On this dissertation, those findings are discussed in the light of the Dynamic Systems Theory.

Tous les enfants entre quatre et sept ans sont susceptibles de commettre des erreurs de confusion de caractères réversibles, dont le correspondant en miroir correspond à un autre caractère du système d'écriture (par exemple, b, d, p, et q dans l'alphabet latin). Ces erreurs sont le produit de la généralisation en miroir, une propriété du système visuel qui nous permet initialement de reconnaître un visage, un animal, un objet indépendamment de son orientation latérale. Elle s'applique automatiquement (elle est dite heuristique) lors de la lecture et de l'écriture. Pour apprendre à lire et à écrire, nous mobilisons en effet une partie des réseaux de neurones initialement dévolus au traitement visuel des visages, des animaux, et des objets, grâce à un processus de plasticité cérébrale nommé recyclage neuronal. La lecture et l'écriture héritent alors de la propriété de généralisation en miroir, bien que celle-ci soit non-pertinente pour la reconnaissance des lettres réversibles b, d, p, et q. Vers sept ans, la fréquence des erreurs de confusion des lettres réversibles chute brusquement. Le principal objectif de cette thèse est de tester l'hypothèse selon laquelle la généralisation en miroir n'est pas entièrement « désapprise » comme précédemment suggéré, mais activement inhibée. Pour cela, nous avons conçu des paradigmes d'amorçage négatif que nous avons proposés à des adultes lettrés et à des enfants d'école primaire dans quatre études empiriques. Une cinquième étude, théorique, propose une nouvelle loi des apprentissages d'objets culturels récents (langage écrit, mathématiques) sur la base du double processus de « recyclage neuronal + contrôle inhibiteur ». / Every child aged four to seven is likely to commit confusion errors on reversible characters, whose mirror-image counterpart is another character in the writing system (for instance, b, d, p, and q in the Latin alphabet). These errors are produced by the mirror generalization process, a property of the visual system that initially allows us to recognize a face, an animal, or an object independently of the perceived profile. It automatically applies (it is said to be heuristic) to reading and writing. We actually mobilize part of the neuronal networks initially allotted to the visual processing of faces, animals, and objects for learning to read and write, thanks to a process of brain plasticity called neuronal recycling. Thus, reading and writing inherits the mirror generalization property, although it is irrelevant for the recognition of reversible letters b, d, p, and q. Around seven years of age, the frequency of errors of reversible letters confusions suddenly drops. The main objective of the present thesis is to test the hypothesis that the mirror generalization process is not entirely "unlearned" as hypothesized by previous studies but rather actively inhibited. To this aim, we designed negative priming paradigms that we proposed to literate adults and primary school children in four empirical studies. A fifth study, more theoretical, proposes a new law of learning recent cultural objects (written language, mathematics), based on the dual process of "neuronal recycling + inhibitory control".

L'objectif de cette thèse a été d'investiguer la question de la généralité et de l'automatisation des processus de contrôle inhibiteur au fil du développement cognitif. Cette question a été approchée par différentes études expérimentales menées chez l'enfant, chez l'adolescent et chez l'adulte. Trois études ont porté sur la généralité des processus de contrôle inhibiteur agissant dans des tâches appartenant à des domaines cognitifs différents. Dans la première, nous avons voulu répondre à deux problématiques liées aux divergences présentes dans la littérature sur le développement du contrôle inhibiteur dans des contextes émotionnels. Le but de cette étude était de déterminer (a) si le contrôle inhibiteur froid (dans des contextes affectivement neutres) et le contrôle inhibiteur chaud (dans des contextes émotionnellement chargés) suivent un pattern développemental identique, particulièrement à l'adolescence et (b) le degré de spécificité de ces deux types de contrôle inhibiteur au fil du développement. Pour cela, nous avons comparé les performances d'enfants de 10 ans, d'adolescents de 13 ans et de jeunes adultes de 21 ans à une tâche de Stroop couleur-mot affectivement neutre et une tâche de Stroop émotionnel. Dans une deuxième étude, nous avons testé auprès d'un groupe d'enfants de 9 ans si les processus inhibiteurs impliqués dans une tâche classique piagétienne de conservation du nombre (i.e., domaine logico-mathématique) étaient identiques ou partiellement identiques à ceux impliqués dans la résolution de la tâche neuropsychologique classique de Stroop couleur-mot (i.e., domaine verbal). Dans une troisième étude, nous avons testé auprès d'un groupe d'enfants de 10 ans et d'un groupe de jeunes adultes de 20 ans la transférabilité des processus inhibiteurs entre une tâche de discrimination de lettres en miroir (dont il a récemment été démontré qu'elle nécessite l'inhibition) et une tâche classique de Stroop couleur-mot, afin de déterminer (a) si la mise en place de mécanismes inhibiteurs impliqués dans la résolution d'un conflit à un niveau perceptif très précoce (la reconnaissance visuelle de symboles) peut faciliter la résolution d'un conflit à un niveau de traitement beaucoup plus tardif (niveau sémantique et moteur), et (b) si l'âge affecte cette transférabilité. Ensuite nous nous sommes intéressés à l'automaticité des processus de contrôle inhibiteur, testant si le contrôle inhibiteur peut fonctionner de manière totalement inconsciente sur des conflits provoqués par deux stimuli subliminaux interférents. Pour cela, nous avons conçu un paradigme d'amorçage composé d'essais dans lesquels un item de Stroop inversé subliminal précédait un item de Stroop visible. Le but de ce paradigme était de vérifier la présence d'un effet d'adaptation de conflit et d'un effet d'amorçage négatif du stimulus subliminal sur le stimulus visible, deux effets rapportés dans les études utilisant des stimuli visibles et suggérant un transfert des processus de contrôle de l'amorce à la cible. Enfin dans une cinquième étude nous avons cherché à savoir si les différences interindividuelles en termes de contrôle inhibiteur découlent en partie des processus prénataux, sur base de l'analyse de la forme sulcale du cortex, considérée comme une caractéristique qualitative de l'anatomie cérébrale déterminée pendant la vie fœtale et stable au cours du développement. En utilisant l'imagerie par résonance magnétique anatomique, nous avons analysé les corrélations entre les performances à une tâche de Stroop couleur-mot et la forme sulcale de deux régions clefs du réseau neuronal du contrôle inhibiteur, le cortex cingulaire antérieur dorsal et le sillon frontal inférieur (qui limite le gyrus frontal inférieur), chez un groupe d'enfants de 10 ans et un groupe d'adultes de 22 ans. En conclusion, cette thèse apporte un nouvel éclairage à la question de la généralité et de l'automatisation des processus d'inhibition exécutive dans une perspective développementale / The objective of this thesis was to investigate the question of the domain-generality of inhibitory control and its automatization throughout development. This question has been approached by various experimental studies in children, adolescents and adults. Three studies have focused on the generality of control processes operating in tasks belonging to different cognitive domains. In the first study, we wanted to answer two questions related to the discrepancies found in the literature on the development of inhibitory control in affectively charged contexts. The aim of this study was to determine (a) whether cool inhibition (control processes in emotionally neutral contexts) and hot inhibition (control processes in emotionally charged contexts) follow the same developmental pattern, and (b) the degree of specificity of these two types of inhibitory control throughout development. We thus compared the performance of 10-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 21-year-olds to an emotionally neutral color-word Stroop task and an emotional Stroop task. In a second study on 9-year-old children, we tested whether the inhibitory processes involved in a classical Piagetian conservation task (i.e., logico-mathematical domain) were identical or partially identical to those involved in the resolution of the classical neuropsychological color-word Stroop task (i.e., verbal domain). In a third study, we tested on a group of 10-year-old children and a group of 20-year-old young adults the transferability of inhibitory processes between a mirror letters discrimination task (that has recently been shown to require inhibition) and a color-word Stroop task, to determine (a) whether the resolution of a conflict at an early perceptual stage of the processing stream (recognition of visual symbols) can facilitate the resolution of a conflict arising at a much later stage (semantic and motor levels), and (b) if age affects this transferability. Then we looked at the automaticity of the inhibition processes by testing whether inhibitory control can operate completely unconsciously on conflicts arising between two subliminal interfering stimuli. To this end, we designed a priming paradigm consisting of trials in which a subliminal reverse Stroop item preceded a visible Stroop item. The aim of this paradigm was to verify the presence of a conflict adaptation effect and a negative priming effect produced by the subliminal items on the visible items. These two effects are commonly reported in studies using visible stimuli and suggest a transfer of control processes from the prime to the probe. Finally, in a fifth study, we investigated whether inter-individual differences in inhibitory control are in part due to prenatal processes, based on the analysis of the sulcal pattern, considered as a qualitative feature of the cerebral anatomy that is determined during fetal life and is stable during development. Using anatomical magnetic resonance imaging, we analyzed the correlations between the performance on a color-word Stroop task and the sulcal pattern of two key regions of the inhibitory control neural network, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the inferior frontal sulcus (which limits the lower frontal gyrus) in a group of 10-year-old children and in a group of 22-year-old adults. In conclusion, this thesis sheds new light on the question of the generality and the automatization of the inhibitory control processes from a developmental perspective.

The present study investigated the interrelationships between various constructs drawn from the attachment, temperament, and neuropsychology frameworks in the context of self-regulation development and maintenance. In particular, the study sought to determine whether attachment security in early childhood was a predictor of self-regulation and social competence in adolescence, and to elucidate the roles of inhibitory control (IC), maternal sensitivity, and self-control in this relationship. Structural equation modeling was used to create an integrated theoretical developmental model of self-regulation. Attachment Security at 24 months was found to be a significant predictor of Social Skills at age 15 years. In addition, IC at 54 months, Maternal Sensitivity during third grade, and Self-Control during 4 th grade, were found to be subsequent partial mediators of this relationship. Overall, results of the study suggest that foundational self-regulatory capacities such as inhibitory control evolve from patterns of sensitive caregiver-child interactions in early attachment relationships. Furthermore, these capacities appear to be maintained in part through sensitive caregiving throughout childhood and into mid-adolescence. Additional implications of these results for integrating concepts of divergent theoretical domains are also discussed.

Inhibitory control processes have intensively been studied in cognitive science for the past decades. Even though the neural dynamics underlying these processes are increasingly better understood, a critical open question is how the representational dynamics of the inhibitory control processes are modulated when engaging in response inhibition in a relatively automatic or a controlled mode. Against the background of an overarching theory of perception-action integration, we combine temporal and spatial EEG signal decomposition methods with multivariate pattern analysis and source localization to obtain fine-grained insights into the neural dynamics of the representational content of response inhibition. For this purpose, we used a sample of N = 40 healthy adult participants. The behavioural data suggest that response inhibition was better in a more controlled than a more automated response execution mode. Regarding neural dynamics, effects of response inhibition modes relied on a concomitant coding of stimulus-related information and rules of how stimulus information is related to the appropriate motor programme. Crucially, these fractions of information, which are encoded at the same time in the neurophysiological signal, are based on two independent spatial neurophysiological activity patterns, also showing differences in the temporal stability of the representational content. Source localizations revealed that the precuneus and inferior parietal cortex regions are more relevant than prefrontal areas for the representation of stimulus–response selection codes. We provide a blueprint how a concatenation of EEG signal analysis methods, capturing distinct aspects of neural dynamics, can be connected to cognitive science theory on the importance of representations in action control.

Social learning has given us insight into how children learn actions from others across different domains (e.g., actions on objects, pretend play, and tool use). However, little research exists to confirm whether young children can generate their own novel actions. Three different settings were chosen to offer a varied investigation of children’s ability to generate novel actions: generating multiple actions with novel objects; generating iconic gestures in order to communicate; and generating pretend actions using object substitution. Generating multiple actions with novel objects: The Unusual Box test was developed to investigate children’s ability to generate multiple actions with novel objects (Chapter 2). The Unusual Box test involves children playing with a wooden box that contains many different features (e.g., rings, stairs, strings), and five novel objects. The number of different actions performed on the box and with the objects (i.e., fluency) was used as a measure of their individual learning. Positive correlations between the fluency scores of 24 3- and 4-year-olds on the Unusual Box test and two existing measures of divergent thinking were found. Divergent thinking relates to the ability to think of multiple answers based on one premise. Furthermore, a large range of fluency scores indicated individual differences in children’s ability to generate multiple actions with novel objects. In addition, 16 2-year-olds were assessed on the Unusual Box test, twice two weeks apart, to investigate test-retest reliability and the possibility that the Unusual Box test could be used with children younger than 3 years. A strong positive correlation between the scores on the two assessments showed high test-retest reliability, while individual differences in fluency scores and the absence of a floor effect indicated that the Unusual Box test was usable in children from 2 years of age. Generating iconic gestures in order to communicate: Children’s ability to generate iconic gestures in order to communicate was assessed using a game to request stickers from an experimenter (N = 20, Chapter 3). In order to get a sticker children had to communicate to the experimenter which out of two objects they wanted (only one object had a sticker attached to it). Children’s use of speech or pointing was ineffective; therefore only generating an iconic gesture was sufficient to retrieve the sticker. Children generated a correct iconic gesture on 71% of the trials. These findings indicate that children generate their own iconic gestures in order to communicate; and that they understand the representational nature of iconic gestures, and use this in their own generation of iconic gestures. Generating pretend actions using object substitution: In order to determine whether children are able to generate their own object substitution actions and understand the representational nature of these actions, 45 3- and 4-year-olds were familiarized with the goal of a task through modelling actions. Children distinguished between the intentions of an experimenter to pretend, or try and perform a correct action. Children mainly imitated the pretend actions, while correcting the trying actions. Next, children were presented with objects for which they had to generate their own object substitution actions without being shown a model. When children had previously been shown pretend actions, children generated their own object substitution actions. This indicates that children generate their own object substitution actions, and that they understand the representational nature of these actions. An additional study with 34 3-year-olds, revealed no significant correlations between divergent thinking, inhibitory control, or children’s object substitution in a free play setting, and children’s ability to generate object substitution actions in the experimental setting.