Domain-general v domain-specific mechanisms in intelligence and learning

I have often referred to the human brain clock as representing a domain-general cognitive mechanism, in contrast to a domain-specific mechanism.  I recently found an excellent article that describes the fundamental difference between "jack-of-all-trade" (domain-general) and compartmentalized or modular (domain-specific) brain-based cognitive mechanisms, placed within the context of evoultionary psychology.  Both classess of mechanisms are important for human cognition and learning.  For those who really want to understand this distinction, I would recommend the 2005 article "The evolution of domain-general mechnaisms in intelligence and learning" (Journal of General Psychology (by Chiappe & McDonald).

Research bytes: Two new brain fitness/training studies in the elderly

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Improved brain clock improves student performance: Media coverage

Today's edition of the Daytona Beach News-Journal includes an interesting report on a private schools use of a synchronized metronome tapping (SMT) intervention (viz., Interactive Metronome) with elementary school-age children. The article speaks for itself, with the staff reporting positive improvement in behavior and academics for students using the IM method.

As you will notice, myself, and my friend/colleague (Dr. Gordon Taub) were interviewed for the article. We were interviewed as the reporter read our recent journal publication in Psychology in the Schools, an article that reported positive reading improvement after the IM intervention.

This is one of my handful of experiences in being interviewed by a reporter. After spending at least one hour on the phone with the reporter, and sharing all kinds of information, it is interesting to see what comments I (we) made the survived the final cut. I'm pleased that the information attributed to Dr. Taub and I was accurate.

Be sure to watch the video that accompanies the article...it will give you a good feel for the basics of the IM (SMT-based) intervention.

As I've reported before, my involvement in the IM study with Dr. Taub was the impetus for my recent interest in temporal processing, mental/interval time-keeping, and the concept of an internal brain clock. It is why I started the IQ Brain Clock blog.

[See conflict of interest disclosure statement re: my role as a Scientific Advisor to IM]

Just in case this on-line article is ever pulled from the net, I've made a pdf copy available for viewing.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, neurotechnology, brain clock, Interactive Metronome, mental time keeping, temporal processing

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Controlled attention, working memory and brain clock

Central to my thinking regarding the temporal brain clock is the notion of working memory. A number of models of working memory have been proposed, with the first and most prominent being the working memory (WM) model of Baddeley and Hitch (1974).

Myself....I've been very interested in the controlled executive attention (CEA) model of WM of Engle, Kane, and Conway. For readers who have kept up with this blog, and/or those who have heard me present on the IQ Brain Clock (see on-line viewable PPT slide section of this blog page), it is clear that I believe that there is a strong link between the brain clock's temporal processor and the construct of working memory....esp. the shared link in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the central role that CEA plays in the brain clock, working memory, and temporal processing based timing interventions.

Today I skimmed a very nice and concise explanation/definition of the CEA model of WM. The following was in the introduction of an article by Colflesh and Conway (2007) Psychonomic Bulletin and Review:

• According to the CEA model of WM "there is a domain-general component of WM responsible for guiding attention as well as domain-specific components responsible for maintenance of task-relevant information. Individuals who score high on tests of working memory capacity (WMC) therefore may do so because of greater controlled attention and/or because of better use of domain-specific skills and strategies to aid maintenance. Engle and colleagues have argued that the domain-general controlled attention ability is related to both higher-level cognition, such as fluid intelligence, reading comprehension, and problem solving, and lower level cognition, such as performance of simple visual and auditory attention tasks that require cognitive control."

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, mental timing, interval timing, brain clock, temporal processing, Gsm, working memory, attention, executive function

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Types of elementary timing or temporal processing experiences

According the Rammsayer and Brandler (2006, in press), a major controversy in the field of human timing is whether psychological time is governed by a unitary (domain-general) timing mechanism, separate (domain-specific) mechanisms, and/or whether a domain-general internal mental clock can explain the subset of distinct elementary temporal/timing experiences.

What are the major classes of elementary timing experiences that a master internal mental clock theory/model would need to explain? According the Rammsay and Brandler, they are:

• Interval timing: Is often explained by the general assumption of a hypothetical internal clock based on neural counting. The neural pacemaker generates pulses or ticks with the number of pulses corresponding to a physical time interval that is recorded by an accumulator. The number of pulses counted during a given time interval is the internal representation of this interval.
• Rhythm perception: The subjective grouping of objectively separate events or discrimination processes in serial temporal patterns.
• Temporal-order judgment (TOJ): Refers to the question of how much time must intervene between the onsets of two different stimuli for their order to be perceived correctly.
• Simultaneity and successiveness: Concerned with the size of the temporal interval between two sensory events that is required for them to be perceived as two separate events (successiveness) rather than fused as one event (simultaneity)

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, cognition, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, neurology, intelligence, IQ, interval timing, mental timing, brain timing, master clock, brain clock, temporal processing, rhythum perception, temporal order judgements, IQ Brain Clock