Post on 03-Dec-2014
description
“I Think…Therefore IM”
Kevin McGrew, PhD.Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
www.themindhub.com
René Descartes
“I think…therefore I am”(Cogito ergo sum)
A more accurate title might be
“IM…Therefore I Think—Better”
Kevin McGrew Affiliations
Institute of Applied Psychometrics (IAP)-DirectorWoodcock-Munoz Foundation – Research DirectorMeasurement Learning Consultants - Associate DirectorUniversity of Minnesota - Visiting Professor (Educ. Psych.)Interactive Metronome - Director of Research and Science (External Consultant) *
* Conflict of interest disclosure: Financial relationship and interest in IM
Additional info re:Kevin McGrew and IAP
can be found at the MindHub™ web portal
www.themindhub.com
Relevant Blogs
Primary goal of presentation:
To provide an understandable research-based explanation of one of the key cognitive benefits of IM
Importance icon
My 2006/2007 IM presentations focused primarily on mental time-keeping (brain clock)
Still critically important but the focus today will be
different. The brain clock research is at
a different explanatory level
So much research and theory…so little
time
Increased brain clock temporal resolution?
Will not deal with important motor, gait, stroke, etc. IM implications and explanations….sorry
White matter matters!
(UK CONNECT brainwhite matter micro-atlas)
Other possible titles (advance organizers)Quieting the busy mindOn demand focusA wandering mind is an unfocused mindBetter thinking through brain synchingWhen you must ponder…your mind must not wanderYou must train to gainTrain and maintain a “focused brain”Detect and deflect distractions and TUTs (task unrelated thoughts)Engage in focus…disengage from distractionsFocus like a laser beam…that is the keyLock on the tone to think in the zoneFine tune your brain networksIs the P-FIT it?
Brief Tribute to the Original Time Doc – Jim Cassily
”If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the
shoulders of giants”
As stated by Isaac Newton in a letter to Robert
Hooke in 1676:
The Original Time Doc – Jim Cassily
The Original “Time Machine”
The Original Purpose + Serendipity
To help athletes and musicians improve their timing, rhythmicity, coordination and focus. However, it was quickly discovered that training with this physically and aurally interactive version of the traditional metronome yielded unprecedented improvement in children with debilitating cognitive, as well as, physical based disorders.” (Jim Cassily, 1993)
Why I (like all of you) am a part of the IM Family
Purpose, Passion and Serendipity
My Brief Personal and Professional IM Journey
Many a scientific adventurer sails the uncharted seas and sets his course for a certain objective only to find unknown land and unsuspected ports in strange parts. To reach such harbors, he must ship and sail, do and dare; he must quest and question. These chance discoveries are called “accidental” but there is nothing fortuitous about them, for laggards drift by a haven that may be a heaven. They pass by ports of opportunity. Only the determined sailor, who is not afraid to seek, to work, to try, who is inquisitive and alert to find, will come back to his home port with discovery in his cargo (p. 177)
Etc.
How can this…
…produce positive outcomes across such diverse domains?
Two IM reading achievement
studies
IM Must be Impacting a Domain-General Cognitive/Learning Mechanism
The quest to find a domain-general cognitive learning mechanism that can be manipulated has been one of the major
goals of cognitive and educational psychology
•There is a long-standing tradition within psychological research to search for general principles or cognitive mechanisms that can be used to address all aspects of behavior and cognition.
•Not tied to any specific content or domain.
•An underlying mechanism that can be applied to a wide range of novel problems and domains of performance
•“Jack-of-all-trades” mechanisms (Chiappe & McDonald,2005)
Some aspect(s) of IM must be increasing the ability or efficiency of some domain general
learning mechanism (s)
Envi
ronm
enta
l inp
ut
Kinesthetic
Visual
Auditory
Tactile
Olfactory
SensoryPerceptual
Systems
Attention Working Memory
Motor Speed & Timing
Motor Performance
Etc. (what)
Etc. (how)
Etc. (what)
Etc. (how)
Motor Sequences
(what)
Acquired Knowledge Systems (aka, long-term memory)
Motor Sequences
(how)Reading (what)
Reading (how)
Verbal (what)
Verbal (how)
Motor Cognitive
Motor Control
Storage efficiency
Retrieval fluency
Cognitive Processing Speed
Cognitive Abilities & Executive
Functions (control)
Cognitive PerformanceCognitive Processing
Speed
(feedback loop)
(feedback loop)
Kevin McGrew
Most likely domain generalmechanisms IM effects.
Due to increased temporal resolution of the brain
clock(s)
IM Task Analysis: It is Measuring and Impacting an Important Human Ability:
Attentional Control (Focus)
IM Long Form Assessment “Norms” The core of IM therapy is measuring a human ability that follows a developmental pattern similar to other abilities (intelligence; physical growth). Such curves are believed to be due, depending on the specific ability, to the influence of education and experiences as well as genetically-driven biological maturation of the central nervous system (CNS).
(Rotated version of original plot above)
Examples of cognitive ability (IQ) and physical development norms
WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities
The primary cognitive goal of IM is to stay in “right on” zone
Right on zone
Out of zone
IM “out of zone” feedback
IM “right on” feedback
“It is quite difficult to force your brain to stay on task and to shut of extraneous thoughts”
(Scientific American-Mind, 2012; Dr. Barry Gordon, John Hopkins)
This is HARD to do. Research suggests a maximum of 20-30 minutes of true
focus or controlled attention
Difficult due to constant presence of external and internal distracting stimuli
that results in attentional capture
Attentional Pirates
•People vary in this ability• Atypical development is associated with a variety of clinical disorders (e.g., ADHD)
Focus of attention
Attentional Pirate
IM provides millisecond feedback. When not in synch (due to attentional pirates) performance feedback trains
person to get back “on target”
“Attentional capture” pulls mental target
out of focus of attention – attentional
pirates
Focus of attention
IM and Focus, Controlled Attention, Working Memory and Executive Functions
Positive IM effects on cognitive and learning tasks (e.g., reading fluency/rate and comprehension) can be explained as increasing the efficiency of working memory and executive functions — all due to enhanced attentional control (focus)
Extensive intelligence research has suggested a strong relationship between working memory and general intelligence and reasoning
r = .82
r = .98r = .50
Extensive intelligence research has suggested a
strong relationship between working memory and general
intelligence and reasoning
Executive attention, controlled attention, attentional control have been implicated as the fundamental core
mechanism of effective working memory
Positive IM effects on reading fluency/rate and comprehension can be explained as increasing the efficiency of working memory and executive functions—all due to enhanced attentional control (focus)
Will explain via the information processing model in next slide
In the next slide consider the red circle as a sentence of text a child has just read
Central Executive (Executive
functions or control?
• Inhibit• Shift• Update
Working Memory
PerceptionSensation
Focus of attention
DecisionsOutput
Long-Term Memory
Storage Retrieval
Efficiency of Attentional Control (Focus) = Working Memory Capacity Complex cognitive processing
????
The goal is to maintain task critical information in attentional focus zone – in activated working memory to allow efficient learning to occur. Information in activated working memory (e.g.., reading a sentence) can then be connected with prior knowledge from long-term memory---therefore reading comprehension
Notice the strong parallel of IM task demands and prominence of attentional control (focus) in information process models of intelligence where activated working memory space is key ability domain
Schneider & McGrew (in press)
External attention
pirates
Focus of attention
DecisionsOutput
Two major threats to controlled attention (focus)—Attentional Capture: One from without
Internal attention pirates The Default Brain Network
(40-50% of the time is active)
• REST: Rapid episodic spontaneous thinking
• TUT’s: Task unrelated thoughts
• Mind Wandering
DecisionsOutput
Two major threats to controlled attention (focus)—Attentional Capture: One is from within
Focus of attention
“I was trying to day dream, but my mind kept wandering”
Comedian Steven Wright said it best
Working Memory
Focus of Attention
Long-Term Memory
Storage Retrieval
Central Executive (Executive
functions or control?
• Inhibit• Shift• Update
PerceptionSensation
DecisionsOutput
Efficiency of Attentional Control = Working Memory Capacity Complex cognitive processing.
????
Attentional Pirates
Efficiency of learning is impacted by ability to maintain focus and to detect and deflect distractions (attentional pirates—that displace task relevant information) from capturing or entering the focus of attention in activated working memory
External attention pirates
Internal attention pirates
DecisionsOutput
IM trains the brain to shut down the attentional pirates…and increases cognitive efficiency
DecisionsOutput
External attention pirates
Internal attention pirates
IM trains the brain to detect and deflect distractions…like a cognitive force field
Sustained & contained focus
Repel…so you can excel
Central Executive (Executive
functions or control?
• Inhibit• Shift• Update
Working Memory
Focus of attention
•Focus• Attentional Control
• Working Memory• Executive Functioning
“Quiet the busy mind” to maintain focus on task relevant information
Major hypothesis:
This is (these are) the domain general
cognitive mechanism(s) trained by IM
Consistent with McGrew (2006, 2007) and Taub & McGrew (2007)
Mind wanderingThe unquiet mind
TUTs
Mind wanderingThe unquiet mind
TUTs
Mind wanderingThe unquiet mind
TUTs
Mind wanderingThe unquiet mind
TUTs
• There is a stable, general mind wandering propensity
• People who mind wander a lot while reading also mind wander a lot on other everyday tasks
• WMC is related to reading comprehension partly because WMC reflects an executive ability to regulate and control thought while reading
• Executive-attention theory
• Attention-control capability (focus) is a domain-general system that controls both WMC and TUTs
Central Executive (Executive
functions or control?
• Inhibit• Shift• UpdateWorking Memory
Focus of attention
•Focus• Attentional Control
• Working Memory• Executive Functioning
Consistent with McGrew (2006, 2007) and Taub & McGrew (2007)
Executive control theory
Attentional control system
Time Doc Bytes
• A wandering mind is an unfocused mind
• Quiet the busy mind
• On demand focus
• Train and maintain a “focused brain”
• Engage in focus…disengage from distractions
• Detect and deflect distractions
When you must ponder…your mind must not wander
IM and Meditation: An important link?
IM and Meditation: An important link?
IM and Meditation: An important link?
IM and Meditation: An important link?
IM and Brain Networks and Neural Efficiency
(A few very brief “teaser” comments)
More for your later review
Time Doc Bytes
• Better thinking through brain synching
• Fine tune your brain networks
• Neurons that fire together…wire together
• White matter matters
• Is the P-FIT it?
Central Executive (Executive
functions or control?
• Inhibit• Shift• Update
Working Memory
Focus of attention
Increasing brain or neural efficiency or synchronization
• Building more brain network communication connections• Increasing efficiency of existing brain network communication
Hypothesis: Increased brain clock temporal resolution facilitates neural efficiency and synchronization which in turn increases efficiency of working
memory and executive functions
Attentional control system
• Default mode network• Salience network• Central-executive network
The network model (vs. modular) of the brain is
importantClick for video – start at 30 second mark)
Click for “brain duet” video –go to 6:58)
White matter matters!
Click for brief video
Is the P-FIT It?
IM and The Parietal-Frontal Integration Model of Intelligence
The Frontal (esp., DLPFC) and Parietal lobes have been repeatedly linked (via research) to the cognitive constructs
of controlled attention, working memory and executive functions general intelligence and higher level
cognition
T
Focusing attention internally
Focusing attention externally
Short-term storage
Response selection
Working Memory
General reasoning
Procedural & Declarative
know.
Frontal Lobe(DLPFC)
Parietal Lobe
Anterior cingulate gyrus
The Brain and Working Memory: The Evidence-Based P-FIT Model
Adapted from Hunt (2011)
T
Focusing attention internally
Focusing attention externally
Short-term storage
Response selection
Working Memory
General reasoning
Procedural & Declarative
know.
Controlled attention (focus) is the minds gold/treasure (limited attentional resources)
Internal attention pirates
External attention pirates
Key cognitiveability for cognitive
and motor learning & performance
The P-FIT Model
The P-FIT Model
The P-FIT Model
Arcuate fasciculus tract
White matter matters!
Indicators of g-factor wereWAIS-III Gs tests (Symbol Search, Digit Symbol), Gsm tests (Digit Span-Backwards; Let-Num. Seq),Gf test (Matrix Reasoning),and Gv test (Block Design).
Indicators of g-speed were measures of reaction time (Gt) – simple reaction time, four-choice reaction time, inspection time)
CHC test classifications not by article authors but by Kevin McGrew as per CHC theory
Three biomarkers of white matter integrity
White matter matters!
Two IM reading achievement studies
White matter related?
White matter matters!
White matter matters!
arcuate fasciculus tract
White matter matters!
White matter matters! Very interesting common white matter tract finding in P-FIT and
recent reading research
arcuate fasciculus tract
Cognitive performance
(reasoning, comprehension,
etc)
The observable positive outcome
The observable IM treatment
Increases the temporal resolution (faster clock speed) of the brain clock(s) which improves neural efficiency of the brain
Improves brain network communication efficiency via white matter tracts, particularly between the parietal-frontal regions (P-FIT neuro-model of intelligence)
Frontal Lobe(DLPFC) Parietal Lobe
White matter tracts (brain network
communication infrastructure)
Network communication
Knowledge in long-term memory.
Cognitive abilities. Exec functions
focus
Working memoryImproves focus (attentional control that maintains goal related information active in working memory) which in turn improves efficiency of working memory, the most central cognitive ability for new learning and performance
Hypothesized IM effect at different “under the hood” explanatory levels (based on brain clock and IM-specific research and theory)
Attentional control system
?