Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
York University
$50,000.00
Effect of experience on representation and control across the lifespan
FY 2013-14
Summary
Throughout life, our experiences help shape our cognitive abilities. In childhood, the degree of environmental richness influences development; in adulthood, intense experience with specific skills promotes ""expertise""; and in older age, ongoing participation in stimulating activities contributes to ""cognitive reserve"". In all these cases, cognitive performance is enhanced or modified through these experiences. However, little is known about how these experiences have their effect and how broad the impact is across the cognitive system. The present proposal is to examine these questions by studying two common experiences that have been shown to influence cognitive systems. These experiences are bilingualism, in which individuals routinely use two languages throughout their lives, and musical training, in which individuals engage in intensive study and practice of musical performance. Unlike previous research that has examined the effect of these experiences in discrete studies at a single point in time, the present proposal is to integrate this research into a coherent framework in order to compare and contrast their effects at three crucial points in the lifespan - childhood, young adulthood, and older age. There are three main objectives. The first is to conduct detailed investigations of how each of bilingualism and musical training affect cognitive ability in terms of the range of functions affected and the ages at which these effects are most apparent. The second is to interpret these patterns in a model of cognitive functioning that is based on a distinction between processes involved in representation of specialized knowledge systems and processes involved in control of attention. The third is to use these analyses to propose a mechanism (or set of mechanisms) through which experience has these effects. The results have implications for theoretical notions of cognitive systems and development and practical approaches of education, remediation, and rehabilitation.
Program
Discovery Grants Program - Individual
Recipient
Location
Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
2559-2010
Name nom
Bialystok, Ellen
Department département
Psychology
Organization id
38
Institution établissement
York University
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2013
Competition year année de concours
2010
Award amount
50000
Program id
RGPIN
Program name en
Discovery Grants Program - Individual
Program name fr
Programme de subventions à la découverte - individuelles
Group en
Discovery grants programs
Group fr
Programmes de subventions à la découverte
Committee code
1502
Committee name en
Biological Systems and Functions
Committee name fr
Systèmes et fonctions biologiques
Area of application code
1210
Area of application group en
Advancement of knowledge
Area of application group fr
Avancement des connaissances
Area of application en
Psychology
Area of application fr
Psychologie
Research subject code
6304
Research subject group en
Psychology
Research subject group fr
Psychologie
Research subject en
Cognitive science -- fundamental
Research subject fr
Science cognitive -- principes fondamentaux
Partie
4
Nb partie
5
Application title
Effect of experience on representation and control across the lifespan
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
Throughout life, our experiences help shape our cognitive abilities. In childhood, the degree of environmental richness influences development; in adulthood, intense experience with specific skills promotes ""expertise""; and in older age, ongoing participation in stimulating activities contributes to ""cognitive reserve"". In all these cases, cognitive performance is enhanced or modified through these experiences. However, little is known about how these experiences have their effect and how broad the impact is across the cognitive system. The present proposal is to examine these questions by studying two common experiences that have been shown to influence cognitive systems. These experiences are bilingualism, in which individuals routinely use two languages throughout their lives, and musical training, in which individuals engage in intensive study and practice of musical performance. Unlike previous research that has examined the effect of these experiences in discrete studies at a single point in time, the present proposal is to integrate this research into a coherent framework in order to compare and contrast their effects at three crucial points in the lifespan - childhood, young adulthood, and older age. There are three main objectives. The first is to conduct detailed investigations of how each of bilingualism and musical training affect cognitive ability in terms of the range of functions affected and the ages at which these effects are most apparent. The second is to interpret these patterns in a model of cognitive functioning that is based on a distinction between processes involved in representation of specialized knowledge systems and processes involved in control of attention. The third is to use these analyses to propose a mechanism (or set of mechanisms) through which experience has these effects. The results have implications for theoretical notions of cognitive systems and development and practical approaches of education, remediation, and rehabilitation.
