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Generality and specificity of cognitive control: research logics and debates

YANG Guo-Chun^1,2, LI Zheng-Han^1,2, WU Hai-Yan^1,2, LIU Xun^1,2,*

¹CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China；²Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Abstract

As a high-level cognitive function of actively regulating human behaviors, cognitive control plays essential roles in conflict processing, working memory, decision making and so on. However, it is still under debate whether a universal cognitive control mechanism underlies the processing of various conflicts. Many existing theories tend to hold that cognitive control is domain-general; however, this view has been challenged by recent empirical studies. The logics of studying generality/specificity mainly include transferability, parallel comparison, correlation and resources competition, etc. Current empirical findings support that cognitive control is domain-general, domain-specific or both, respectively. To tackle this controversy, future studies about cognitive control can be performed from the perspectives of life-span development, the dynamic brain network, combination of multiple logics, causal relationship from brain injury, computational modeling, cognitive flexibility and functional connectivity.

Key words: cognitive control; modularity; specificity; generality

Received: 2018-04-19　　Accepted: 2018-07-02

Corresponding author: 刘勋　　E-mail: liux@psych.ac.cn

DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2018.0096

Citing This Article：

YANG Guo-Chun, LI Zheng-Han, WU Hai-Yan, LIU Xun. Generality and specificity of cognitive control: research logics and debates. Acta Physiol Sin 2019; 71 (1): 140-148 (in Chinese with English abstract).