关键词: 抑制, 问题解决, 负启动, 启发式, 认知发展

Abstract: Abstract Piaget proposed that there were four independent stages of cognitive development from infancy to adolescence. Young children not only look like “stupid”, they actually think in a different way. However, many studies have demonstrated that infants have amazing capacities such as they can understand simple mathematics and reasoning. At the meanwhile, adolescents and adults often fail in logic-reasoning tasks. Inhibitory control model suggests that children or adults’ failure in problem solving are due to fail in inhibitory control instead of lack of relevant knowledge and concepts. According to dual-process theory, there are two methods in problem solving at any ages and at any point of time. One is heuristics (also called system 1) which is based on intuition and is defined as a rapid, effortless, often global or holistic strategy and it constitutes the most adaptive response in most situations, but also maybe mislead; the other is logicomathematical algorithms (i.e. system 2) that is slow, analytical and cognitive costly, but it will always lead to a correct answer no matter what the situation is. Generally, children and adults prefer to use heuristics automatically. When heuristics and algorithms have a conflict in brain, inhibitory control is needed. Inhibition is a domain-general process allowing children and adults to resist habits or automatisms, temptations, distractions, or interference, and to adapt to conflicting situations (Diamond, 2013). Researchers adopting Negative priming paradigm and brain imaging method demonstrated that even adolescents and adults need inhibit misleading strategies on solving some problems, such as Piaget-like conservation task and class-inclusion task, simple words comparing problems, rectangle and polygon task, physical and biological related task, etc. Information processing is not only to activate of a proper reaction to a goal, but also need to inhibit an illogical reaction as well. We have no intention to deny the important role of knowledge and concept acquisition on problem solving and learning. In fact, we advocate that students should increase proficiency of some knowledge and skills and turn them into heuristics strategies. Thus, students can process more complicate information with limited working memory resources. According to dual-process theory, people make judgments based on heuristic system instead of analytic system in the majority situation. However, heuristic will lead to bias when we need analytic system in problem solving. Inhibitory control plays a great role of overcoming heuristic bias, such as “ long equals more”, “the more area, the more perimeter ”, “more is addition, less is subtraction”, etc. Although it is very important to inhibit interference, we have to acknowledge that inhibitory control is necessity but not sufficiency to problem solving. Self-regulated learning theory emphasizes the role of meta-cognition in learning. What is the relationship between meta-cognition and cognitive inhibition? What is the reason of the failure to solve a conflict problem? Is it should be attributed to the failure of conflict detection or the failure of inhibition? Future study should pay more attention to combination between cognitive inhibition and meta-cognition to explore their comparative importance on problem solving and development trajectory of inhibitory control. At the meantime, it is worthy to emphasize on intervention projects that is focused on cognitive inhibition training.

Key words: inhibition, problem solving, negative priming, heuristics, cognitive development