title: Generality with specificity: the dynamic field theory generalizes across tasks and time scales.
abstract: A central goal in cognitive and developmental science is to develop models of behavior that can generalize across both tasks and development while maintaining a commitment to detailed behavioral prediction. This paper presents tests of one such model, the Dynamic Field Theory (DFT). The DFT was originally proposed to capture delay-dependent biases in spatial recall and developmental changes in spatial recall performance. More recently, the theory was generalized to adults' performance in a second spatial working memory task, position discrimination. Here we use the theory to predict a specific, complex developmental pattern in position discrimination. Data with 3- to 6-year-old children and adults confirm these predictions, demonstrating that the DFT achieves generality across tasks and time scales, as well as the specificity necessary to generate novel, falsifiable predictions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. vanessa-simmering@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: Vanessa R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Simmering
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Spencer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors