title: Inhibitory control gains from higher-order cognitive strategy training.
abstract: The present study examined the transfer of higher-order cognitive strategy training to inhibitory control. Middle school students enrolled in a comprehension- and reasoning-focused cognitive strategy training program and passive controls participated. The training program taught students a set of steps for inferring essential gist or themes from materials. Both before and after training or a comparable duration in the case of the passive controls, participants completed a semantically cued Go/No-Go task that was designed to assess the effects of depth of semantic processing on response inhibition and components of event-related potentials (ERP) related to response inhibition. Depth of semantic processing was manipulated by varying the level of semantic categorization required for response selection and inhibition. The SMART-trained group showed inhibitory control gains and changes in fronto-central P3 ERP amplitudes on inhibition trials; whereas, the control group did not. The results provide evidence of the transfer of higher-order cognitive strategy training to inhibitory control and modulation of ERPs associated with semantically cued inhibitory control. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for cognitive strategy training, models of cognitive abilities, and education.
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, School of Behavioral & Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, United States. Electronic address: michael.motes@utd.edu.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Motes
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, School of Behavioral & Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, United States.
authors.forename: Jacquelyn F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Gamino
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, School of Behavioral & Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, United States.
authors.forename: Sandra B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, School of Behavioral & Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, United States.
authors.forename: Neena K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, School of Behavioral & Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, United States; Callier Center for Communication Disorders, School of Behavioral & Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, United States.
authors.forename: Mandy J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Maguire
authors.affiliation: Medical Scientist Training Program and Program in Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, United States.
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Brier
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, United States.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kraut
authors.affiliation: Center for BrainHealth, School of Behavioral & Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, United States; Department of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, United States.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hart
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D012660:Semantics
keywords: Cognitive control; Cognitive strategy training; Comprehension; Executive function; Inhibition; Inhibitory control; Reasoning; Transfer