Scientists have found that individuals who are particularly good at learning patterns and sequences tend to have difficulty with tasks requiring active thinking and decision-making. Their new research, published in npj Science of learning, found a negative correlation between statistical learning and executive functions, suggesting that as one strengthens, the other may decline slightly. This discovery provides valuable insights into the competitive interactions that underlie our cognitive skills.
The motivation behind the study arose from a desire to deepen our understanding of how different cognitive systems in the brain interact and potentially interfere with each other. At the heart of this investigation are two fundamental cognitive processes: implicit statistical learning and executive functions.
Implicit statistical learning is a crucial cognitive skill that allows individuals to unconsciously detect patterns and regularities in the environment, thereby strengthening their abilities in areas ranging from language acquisition to social interactions. On the other hand, executive functions are high-level cognitive processes essential for planning, decision-making, error correction and adaptation to new and complex situations, mainly managed by the prefrontal cortex.
This research was motivated by the hypothesis of a competitive interaction between these systems, known as the “competition hypothesis”, according to which reliance on one cognitive system could decrease the effectiveness or engagement of the other . Previous studies have provided preliminary evidence suggesting such interactions, but they were limited by small sample sizes and narrow assessments of cognitive abilities. Researchers sought to build on this foundation to provide clearer insights into how these cognitive processes coexist or conflict in the brain.
“Our brain is a complex ecosystem. Different neurocognitive processes constantly interact with each other. This interaction can be cooperative, but what is very exciting and interesting is that these interactions can also be competitive,” said study author Dezső Németh of the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center at INSERM In France.
“There is therefore a competition between different neurocognitive processes in the brain. This is something I’ve been looking for for years. In this article, we have shown that skill learning and statistical learning underlying predictive processes are negatively correlated with functions related to the prefrontal lobe such as executive functions or control functions.
The researchers conducted two experiments. Study 1 involved 186 young French adults who completed a two-day session in which they first completed the Alternating Serial Reaction Time (ASRT) task to measure statistical learning. In this task, participants responded to visual stimuli (arrows pointing in one of four directions) by pressing corresponding buttons on a response box. Unbeknownst to the participants, these stimuli followed a structured sequence interspersed with random elements, allowing researchers to measure how quickly and accurately individuals could learn and predict these patterns without explicit instructions.
The next day, a series of neuropsychological tests assessed various executive functions, including cognitive flexibility, inhibition and working memory. Participation criteria included being right-handed, under 35 years of age, and having minimal musical training, factors known to influence cognitive processing.
Similarly, Study 2 replicated the structure of Study 1 but included 157 university students from Hungary, with slight variations to accommodate local resources and contexts. The ASRT task in this study used images of a dog’s head and keyboard responses, and it was self-paced, allowing the researchers to test the consistency of the learning measure across different procedural conditions. As in Study 1, the second session consisted of testing executive functions through a set of comparable tasks, slightly adapted for local execution.
In both studies, a consistent negative correlation was observed between statistical learning and most measures of executive functioning. This suggests that individuals who excel at tasks requiring high levels of executive control, such as complex problem solving and decision making, may find it more difficult to engage in or benefit from implicit learning processes that rely on the subconscious detection of patterns and regularities. in the environment.
“It’s very surprising to see this competition in the background of learning skills,” Németh said.
The researchers used factor analysis techniques to dig deeper into the data, revealing that certain aspects of executive functioning – particularly tasks measuring verbal fluency and complex working memory – were most strongly associated with these negative correlations. The researchers proposed that this competition might arise because these executive tasks require active control and manipulation of information, processes that might interfere with the passive, automatic pattern recognition that characterizes implicit statistical learning.
The findings challenge the traditional view that cognitive abilities are isolated skills, instead highlighting the interactive and potentially competitive nature of the brain’s different cognitive systems.
“Humans have multiple learning and memory processes and systems,” Németh told PsyPost. “There is therefore no such thing as a “learning” and “memory” system. Instead, there are apprenticeships (i.e. multiple learning processes) and memory systems (multiple memory systems). When I want to learn a whole new thing, a new pattern, or a whole new sequence in an environment I’ve never seen before, I can do it better if the functions of the prefrontal lobe (executive functions) of my brain are less efficient . .”
“In other words, if you want to learn a new skill, like playing a new musical instrument, it’s great if the functions associated with the prefrontal networks are weaker. It’s quite counterintuitive. In many academic performances we see the opposite: if you need to understand a history or biology lesson, it is good and optimal if the prefrontal function is strong.
However, the magnitude of the effects was modest, indicating that even if the relationships are statistically significant, they may not be strong. This suggests that other factors not measured in this study may also play an important role in cognitive performance. Nevertheless, the results “are very important for basic research,” Németh said. “They tell us a lot about how our brain works. The question is whether these results can be translated into practice.”
“These results are among the first in this field,” adds Németh. “However, it is important to recognize that executive functions (prefrontal functions) and statistical learning (predictive processes) are not monolithic constructs; rather, they encompass a multitude of executive functions and various facets of statistical learning.
“Critical inquiry focuses on specific executive functions and elements of statistical learning that exhibit positive or negative correlations with one another. When do they compete and when do they cooperate? This question also extends to the brain level. My goal is to discover the brain mechanisms underlying these interactions.
The study, “Evidence for a competitive relationship between executive functions and statistical learning,” was authored by Felipe Pedraza, Bence C. Farkas, Teodóra Vékony, Frederic Haesebaert, Romane Phelipon, Imola Mihalecz, Karolina Janacsek, Royce Anders, Barbara Tillmann, Gaën. Floor and Dezső Németh.
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