Verbal self-instructions in task switching: a compensatory tool for action-control deficits in childhood and old age?
Verbal self-instructions in task switching: a compensatory tool for action-control deficits in childhood and old age?
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00673.x
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发表时间：
2008-03-01
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Karbach, Julia
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kray, Jutta;Eber, Jutta;Karbach, Julia
本研究考察了言语自我指导对任务转换中年龄差异的影响。任务转换能力，衡量的是在单一任务块和混合任务块中的表现之间的差异，在混合任务块中，参与者在两个任务之间切换(混合成本)，在童年时增加，在老年时减少。为了测量语言对任务转换的影响，我们比较了受试者(A)命名下一个要执行的任务(即与任务相关的动词化)、(B)与当前任务无关的动词化(即与任务无关的动词化)或(C)没有用动词化(控制条件)的情况。结果表明，混合成本在与任务相关的言语交际中显著降低，而在与任务无关的言语交际中显著增加。此外，年龄相关的混合成本差异在内部言语使用中断时增加，而在参与者进行任务相关的言语表达时减少。这些发现表明，口头自我指导是一种有用的工具，可以用来找回下一个任务目标，并减少幼儿和老年人的行动控制缺陷。
This study examined the influence of verbal self-instructions on age differences in task switching. Task-switching ability, measured as the difference between performance in single-task blocks and in mixed-task blocks in which participants switch between two tasks (mixing costs), increases during childhood and decreases in old age. To measure the influence of language on task switching, we compared conditions in which participants either (a) named the next task to be performed (i.e. task-relevant verbalization), (b) verbalized words not related to the task at hand (i.e. task-irrelevant verbalization), or (c) did not verbalize (control condition). Results indicated that mixing costs were substantially reduced under task-relevant verbalization and increased under task-irrelevant verbalization. Moreover, age-related differences in mixing costs were increased when the use of inner speech was disrupted and were reduced when participants performed task-relevant verbalization. These findings suggest that verbal self-instructions are a useful tool for retrieving the next task goal and for reducing action-control deficits in younger children and older adults.