Attention and executive control

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Cognitive science has identified at least four key factors that can be described as "pillars of learning", since they play a decisive role in the speed and ease of all school learning: attention; active engagement of the child; rapid feedback of information; and daily consolidation of learning.

Let's start with attention, which can be defined as the set of mechanisms by which the brain selects information and directs its processing. American psychologist Michael Posner distinguishes at least three attentional systems: alertness, which globally modulates the level of vigilance; attentional orientation, which selects an object; and executive control, which selects the appropriate processing chain for a given task and controls its execution. Each of these systems massively modulates brain activity and can therefore facilitate learning, but also steer it in the wrong direction. A teacher's greatest skill is undoubtedly to channel and captivate the child's attention at all times, in order to direct it to the appropriate level.

The brain'salertness and vigilance systems signal when it's time to pay attention. They are accompanied by the massive, diffuse release of neuromodulators such as serotonin and acetylcholine. These modulate cortical activity and learning on a massive scale. Animal experiments show that their discharge can radically alter the plasticity of auditory or tactile cortical maps. Daphné Bavelier's work suggests that video games provide a particularly effective means of mobilizing these systems.

The attentionguidance system determines what we pay attention to. Attention amplifies selected signals, but also dramatically reduces those deemed irrelevant. The invisible gorilla experiment by Simons and Chabris (1999) illustrates this phenomenon of inattentional blindness: focusing attention on one object of thought blinds us to other, yet prominent, stimuli. Bruce McCandliss and his colleagues have shown the importance of selective attention in learning to read: paying attention to the overall shape of a word prevents us from discovering the alphabetic code, and directs brain activity towards an inappropriate circuit in the right hemisphere.

Selective attention provides access to a central brain system whose capacity is limited. At this level of processing, which is slow and serial, the brain is unable to perform two tasks simultaneously: attention forms a bottleneck which either renders stimuli invisible (attentional blink effect), or massively slows down their processing (psychological refractory period effect). In "dual-task" situations, i.e. when several cognitive operations are required under the control of attention, at least one of the two operations is bound to be slowed or abolished.

The work of Gergely and Csibra shows that, in children, the social context plays an essential role in the orientation of attention. The presence of a human tutor massively modulates learning by directing the child's attention towards the object to be learned (shared attention). It also induces a "pedagogical posture" that encourages the child to interpret the information presented as important and generalizable. As early as the first year of life, numerous experiments demonstrate the extent to which the presence of a human tutor modulates learning.

Finally, theexecutive attention system determines how selected information is processed. The term "executive control" refers to the set of processes underlying the planning, selection, initiation, execution and supervision of purposeful voluntary behavior. It is these processes that ensure a certain cognitive flexibility by enabling the assembly of new, non-routine strategies. Executive control processes include goal maintenance; selection of relevant perceptual representations, actions and operations to achieve the goal; inhibition of inappropriate actions; strategy change; and detection and correction of goal-distracting errors.

The development of executive control is a slow and essential aspect of a child's development. Children gradually learn to control themselves, i.e. to reinforce appropriate strategies and inhibit inappropriate ones. Cognitive psychology is replete with tasks in which, in the space of a few months or years, a child overcomes an erroneous strategy by developing his or her capacity for inhibitory control: Piaget's A-non-B error, number non-conservation errors, choice of strategies in mental arithmetic, logical reasoning... Brain imaging shows that increased control is accompanied by increased activity in various regions of the prefrontal and cingulate cortex. This increase can be accelerated by training. Many playful activities develop executive control, such as motor training (Montessori), playing a musical instrument, meditation... Other studies also demonstrate the benefits of training working memory capacity. Daphné Bavelier's work shows the significant benefits of action video games, which place intense demands on attention and ultra-rapid decision-making. The effects of such training seem to generalize to many areas, and are particularly beneficial to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Some research shows that, in low socio-economic families, teaching parents the fundamentals of learning and attention can be one of the best educational investments.

What are the implications of these findings for the education system? Since attention determines learning, mobilizing children's attention is a priority objective. Teachers need to create attractive materials that do not distract children from their primary task. Every effort must be made to direct attention to the relevant level. Given the sensitivity of the child's brain to social cues, the teacher's attitude is essential: he or she must capture the child's attention through visual and verbal contact. The teacher must also be careful not to create "double tasks", particularly for children with learning difficulties. Finally, executive control is one of the most important cross-curricular skills that the school can help to develop, with exercises in self-control, concentration, attention to limits (metacognition) and self-correction, starting in kindergarten.