Abstract
Although human flexible behavior relies on cognitive control, it would be implausible to assume that there is only one, general mode of cognitive control strategy adopted by all individuals. For instance, different reliance on proactive versus reactive control strategies could explain inter-individual variability. In particular, specific life experiences, like a highly demanding training for future Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs), could modulate cognitive control functions. A group of ATC trainees and a matched group of university students were tested longitudinally on task-switching and Stroop paradigms that allowed us to measure indices of cognitive control. The results showed that the ATCs, with respect to the control group, had substantially smaller mixing costs during long cue-target intervals (CTI) and a reduced Stroop interference effect. However, this advantage was present also prior to the training phase. Being more capable in managing multiple task sets and less distracted by interfering events suggests a more efficient selection and maintenance of task relevant information as an inherent characteristic of the ATC group, associated with proactive control. Critically, the training that the ATCs underwent improved their accuracy in general and reduced response time switching costs during short CTIs only. These results indicate a training-induced change in reactive control, which is described as a transient process in charge of stimulus-driven task detection and resolution. This experience-based enhancement of reactive control strategy denotes how cognitive control and executive functions in general can be shaped by real-life training and underlines the importance of experience in explaining inter-individual variability in cognitive functioning.
Highlights
The uniqueness of human cognition derives from the flexibility in adapting thoughts and behaviors to rapidly changing internal and external states
The main objective of this study was to understand whether a real-life, cognitively effortful training, like the one Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) undergo, has an impact on higher cognitive processes, and, if so, on what specific components
By using an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) measure, memory tasks, Stroop and task-switching paradigms we aimed at exploring these different measures of cognitive functions in a highly selected and, subsequently, trained group of participants, comparing their performance, before and after the ATC training, to that of a matched group of controls undergoing a more general university training
Summary
The uniqueness of human cognition derives from the flexibility in adapting thoughts and behaviors to rapidly changing internal and external states. There is a general agreement that this flexibility leans upon specialized cognitive control mechanisms that allow goaldirected behavior, it would be implausible to assume that all individuals rely on these mechanisms and adopt always the same strategies when acting in a goal-directed manner. Cognitive Processes in Air Traffic Control proposed the Dual Mechanism of Control (DMC) framework, which distinguishes two cognitive control modes: proactive and reactive. The former is characterized by sustained and anticipatory maintenance of goal-relevant information, while the latter is described as a transient, bottom-up reactivation of behavioral goals. Both inter- and intra-individual variability can be better understood by assuming different reliance on proactive and reactive control strategies. Despite a large interest in explaining the sources of individual variability, little is known on the development of different cognitive control processes and how they are shaped by specific life experiences
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