Cognitive processes in the Breakfast Task: Planning and monitoring.

The Breakfast Task (Craik & Bialystok, 2006) is a computerized task that simulates the planning and monitoring requirements involved in cooking breakfast, an everyday activity important for functional independence. In Experiment 1, 28 adults performed the Breakfast Task, and outcome measures were examined with principal component analysis to elucidate the structure of cognitive processes underlying performance. Analyses revealed a 2-component structure which putatively captured global planning and local monitoring abilities. In Experiment 2, the structure of Breakfast Task performance was cross-validated on a new sample of 59 healthy older adults who also performed tests assessing working memory, processing speed, inhibition, reasoning and prospective memory. Factor analyses showed that the global planning component from the Breakfast Task was significantly correlated with individual differences in executive functions but the local monitoring component was independent of such functions. The Breakfast Task provides a fast, enjoyable, and lifelike assessment of complex everyday planning and monitoring, and their underlying processes such as working memory and executive functions.Keywords: planning, monitoring, working memory, prospective memory, executive processesResumeLa Breakfast Task (Craik & Bialystok, 2006) est une tâche informatisee qui simule la planification et la surveillance des preparatifs d'un petit-dejeuner, une tâche quotidienne importante pour l'autonomie fonctionnelle. Dans l'Experience 1, on a demande a 28 adultes de realiser la Breakfast Task, et les mesures obtenues ont ete soumises a une analyse en composantes principales en vue de determiner la structure des processus cognitifs impliques. L'analyse a revele une structure a deux composantes, qui comprendrait la planification globale et des capacites de controle local. Dans l'Experience 2, on a procede a une validation croisee de la structure du rendement a la Breakfast Task au moyen d'un nouvel echantillon de 59 adultes plus vieux, en sante, a qui on a aussi demande de realiser des tests evaluant la memoire de travail, la vitesse de traitement, l'inhibition, le raisonnement et la memoire prospective. L'analyse factorielle a revele que le volet de planification globale dans le cadre de la Breakfast Task etait fortement correle avec des differences individuelles dans les fonctions executives, mais que le volet de controle local etait independant de ces fonctions. La Breakfast Task constitue un outil de d'evaluation rapide, agreable et realiste de la planification complexe au quotidien et de la surveillance ainsi que de leurs processus sous-jacents, tels que la memoire de travail et les fonctions executives.Mots-cles : planification, controle, memoire de travail, memoire prospective, processus executifs.The cognitive processes underlying many everyday activities, such as running errands, shopping for groceries, or preparing a meal, are surprisingly complex. To complete such activities it is necessary to formulate a sequence of actions to achieve the goals, store and update the action plan in working memory, and consciously monitor and coordinate the execution of subtasks. These aspects of cognitive processes are often grouped under the umbrella term planning (Morris & Ward, 2005). Efficient planning clearly depends on a multitude of cognitive processes, but the relative contribution of specific processes is less clear, and their apparent involvement may depend both on the particular task and on how planning is assessed.Laboratory studies investigating planning behaviour typically adopt one of two general approaches (Ward & Morris, 2005). The first approach is represented by tower tasks, such as Tower of Hanoi and its variants (e.g., Owen, 2005), in which participants are required to solve an unfamiliar problem following a set of restrictions. This approach has the advantage of experimental control, but is often criticised for its limited applicability to everyday situations. …