Analysis of Attention Networks and Analogical Reasoning in Children of Poverty

Analysis of Attention Networks and Analogical Reasoning in Children of Poverty Ruby C Harris (rcharr02@louisville.edu) Tara Weatherholt (tnweat03@louisville.edu) Barbara Burns (bburns@louisville.edu) Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville Louisville, KY 40292 USA Catherine Clement (catherine.clement@eku.edu) Department of Psychology, Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY 40475 USA Introduction Discussion Researchers describe the development of analogical reasoning as a shift from similarity judgments based on simple perceptual feature comparisons to more complex reasoning based on common relational structures (Gentner, 1989). Given that this shift entails a selective focus on relational information, perhaps attentional development affects the development of analogy. Recently attentional processes have been examined in terms of three networks of attention; orienting, alerting, and executive (Posner & Petersen, 1990). The executive network, an attentional control network required for the resolution of cognitive conflict, may be particularly important for analogical reasoning tasks. Recent research has shown that the same neurological pathways are activated in selective attention activities of the executive network and analogical reasoning (Duque & Posner, 2001; Luo, Perry, Peng, Jin, Xu, Ding, & Xu, 2003). Children from low-income backgrounds have been shown to have impaired attentional and cognitive abilities (Norman & Breznitz, 1992). In the current study, individual differences in children’s skills on the three attention networks are studied in order to understand the relationship between specific attentional processes and analogical reasoning in the context of poverty. The present study is unique in its examination of the relation between attention and analogical reasoning in the context of a high-risk environment. Future studies should examine how these findings relate to Halford's (1989) proposals about the impact of processing capacity on the development of analogy. Further, studies should examine how executive attention interacts with changes in domain knowledge to affect analogy task performance. The present results suggest that high functioning executive attention may be a protective factor in a high-risk environment. Methods Participants were 78 children (Mean age = 56.88 mos, SD = 5.97) from low-income backgrounds. Children were assessed on computerized attention tasks designed to tap the three attention networks (Berger, Jones, Rothbart, & Posner, 2000) Analogical reasoning was assessed using the Matrices Subtest of the Kaufman Brief-Intelligence Test (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1990). Results Hierarchical regression was performed to predict analogical reasoning ability using median reaction time on the attention tasks. Controlling for cognitive ability, the overall model was significant, F (4, 72) = 4.091, p < .005. Performance on the executive attention task added a significant amount of variance (6.4%) to the model. Acknowledgments Study funded by a grant from the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation, Inc. References Berger, A., Jones, L., Rothbart, M. K., & Posner, M. I. (2000). Computerized games to study the development of attention in childhood. Behavior, Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 32 (2), 297-303. Duque, D.F. & Posner, M. (2001). Brain imaging of attentional networks in normal and pathological states. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, Gentner, D. (1989). The mechanisms of analogical learning. In S. Vosniadou & A. Ortony (Eds.) Similarity and analogical reasoning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Halford, G. (1989). Cognitive processing capacity and learning ability: An integration of two areas. Learning and Individual Differences, 1,1, 125-153. Kaufman, A. S. & Kaufman, N. L. (1990). Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test. Circle Pine, MN: American Guidance Service. Luo, Q., Perry, C., Peng, D., Jin, Z., Xu, D., Ding, G., & Xu, S. (2003). The neural substrate of analogical reasoning: an fMRI study. Cognitive Brain Research, 17, Norman, G. & Breznitz, Z. (1992). Difference in the ability to concentrate in first grade Israeli pupils of low and high socioeconomic status. Journal of Genetic Psychology,