Dean of the College and Psychology Program Present
Cognitive Control in the Laboratory and Beyond
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Preston Theater
4:45 pm – 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
4:45 pm – 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Tom Hutcheon, Psychology Program
Cognitive control refers to a variety of mental processes that serve to bias information processing in accordance with internally generated goals. Classically, cognitive control has been viewed as a static, top-down process that is implemented prior to the start of a task. However, accumulating evidence suggests that cognitive control is more flexible than previously thought. Specifically, the structure and efficiency of cognitive control may be impacted by our experience within a task and control may be implemented on a trial to trial basis. In the current talk, I will provide experimental evidence for stimulus-driven control while discussing some important limitations to this form of control. Next, I will show how older adults, a population known to have deficits in cognitive control, often rely too heavily on task experience to cope with these limitations and I will explain how the processing strategies used by older adults might be changed in order to improve performance. Finally, I will describe the results of a recent project that sought to understand how student experience and performance in the classroom is impacted by the operation of cognitive control processes.For more information, call 845-758-7621, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 4:45 pm – 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Location: Preston Theater