认知抑制——问题解决研究的新视角

抑制是一种领域一般(domain-general)的认知过程,它使儿童和成人能够抗拒习惯、自动化、诱惑、分心物或干扰从而适应存在冲突的情境(Diamond,2013)。抑制控制模型认为儿童或成人在问题解决中的失败并非是缺少相关知识与概念,而是抑制控制失败造成的。研究者采用负启动研究范式和脑成像技术在类皮杰任务、数学和科学问题解决中证实了认知抑制的作用。未来研究应把认知抑制与元认知的研究结合起来,探究认知抑制的发展轨迹及二者在问题解决中的相对重要性。同时,针对认知抑制训练的干预研究也值得重视。

Cognitive Inhibition: A New perspective on Problem Solving

Abstract Piaget proposed that there were four independent stages of cognitive development from infancy to adolescence. Young children not only look like “stupid”, they actually think in a different way. However, many studies have demonstrated that infants have amazing capacities such as they can understand simple mathematics and reasoning. At the meanwhile, adolescents and adults often fail in logic-reasoning tasks. Inhibitory control model suggests that children or adults’ failure in problem solving are due to fail in inhibitory control instead of lack of relevant knowledge and concepts. According to dual-process theory, there are two methods in problem solving at any ages and at any point of time. One is heuristics (also called system 1) which is based on intuition and is defined as a rapid, effortless, often global or holistic strategy and it constitutes the most adaptive response in most situations, but also maybe mislead; the other is logicomathematical algorithms (i.e. system 2) that is slow, analytical and cognitive costly, but it will always lead to a correct answer no matter what the situation is. Generally, children and adults prefer to use heuristics automatically. When heuristics and algorithms have a conflict in brain, inhibitory control is needed. Inhibition is a domain-general process allowing children and adults to resist habits or automatisms, temptations, distractions, or interference, and to adapt to conflicting situations (Diamond, 2013). Researchers adopting Negative priming paradigm and brain imaging method demonstrated that even adolescents and adults need inhibit misleading strategies on solving some problems, such as Piaget-like conservation task and class-inclusion task, simple words comparing problems, rectangle and polygon task, physical and biological related task, etc. Information processing is not only to activate of a proper reaction to a goal, but also need to inhibit an illogical reaction as well. We have no intention to deny the important role of knowledge and concept acquisition on problem solving and learning. In fact, we advocate that students should increase proficiency of some knowledge and skills and turn them into heuristics strategies. Thus, students can process more complicate information with limited working memory resources. According to dual-process theory, people make judgments based on heuristic system instead of analytic system in the majority situation. However, heuristic will lead to bias when we need analytic system in problem solving. Inhibitory control plays a great role of overcoming heuristic bias, such as “ long equals more”, “the more area, the more perimeter ”, “more is addition, less is subtraction”, etc. Although it is very important to inhibit interference, we have to acknowledge that inhibitory control is necessity but not sufficiency to problem solving.Self-regulated learning theory emphasizes the role of meta-cognition in learning. What is the relationship between meta-cognition and cognitive inhibition? What is the reason of the failure to solve a conflict problem? Is it should be attributed to the failure of conflict detection or the failure of inhibition? Future study should pay more attention to combination between cognitive inhibition and meta-cognition to explore their comparative importance on problem solving and development trajectory of inhibitory control. At the meantime, it is worthy to emphasize on intervention projects that is focused on cognitive inhibition training.