So I have a confession to make. I only recently learned how to drive. And it was really hard. Now, this wasn't an older brain thing. Do you remember what it was like when you first learned how to drive? When every decision you made was so conscious and deliberate? I'd come home from my lessons completely wiped out mentally. Now, as a cognitive scientist I know that this is because I was using a lot of something called executive function. Executive function is our amazing ability to consciously control our thoughts, emotions and actions in order to achieve goals ... like learning how to drive. It's what we use when we need to break away from habit, inhibit our impulses and plan ahead. But we can see it most clearly when things go wrong. Like, have you ever accidentally poured orange juice on your cereal?
Imam jedno priznanje. Tek nedavno sam naučila da vozim. I bilo je baš teško. To nije zbog toga što sam starija. Sećate li se kako vam je bilo kada ste vi učili da vozite? Kada je svaka odluka koju ste donosili bila tako svesna i promišljena? Dolazila bih kući sa časova potpuno mentalno iscrpljena. Kao kognitivni naučnik, znam da je to zbog toga što sam koristila dosta onog što se zove izvršna funkcija. Izvršna funkcija je naša sjajna sposobnost da svesno kontrolišemo svoje misli, emocije i aktivnosti kako bismo postigli ciljeve... kao što je učenje vožnje. To je ono što koristimo kada treba da pobegnemo od navike, sputamo impulse i planiramo unapred. Najbolje je možemo videti kada stvari krenu po zlu. Npr. da li ste ikada slučajno sipali đus preko žitarica?
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Or, ever start scrolling on Facebook and suddenly realize you've missed a meeting?
Ili, da li ste ikada počeli da skrolujete Fejsbukom i odjednom shvatili da ste propustili sastanak?
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Or maybe this one's more familiar: Ever plan to stop at the store on the way home from work and then drive all the way home instead on autopilot?
Ili vam ovo zvuči poznatije: da li ste ikada planirali da svratite u prodavnicu na putu s posla, a onda se, na autopilotu, odvezli kući?
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
These things happen to everyone. And we usually call it absentmindedness, but what's really happening is we're experiencing a lapse in executive function.
Ove stvari se dešavaju svima. I to obično zovemo rasejanost, ali u stvari se dešava da doživljavamo zastoj u izvršnoj funkciji.
So we use executive function every day in all aspects of our lives. And over the past 30 years, researchers have found that it predicts all kinds of good things in childhood and beyond, like social skills, academic achievement, mental and physical health, making money, saving money and even staying out of jail. Sounds great, doesn't it? So it's no surprise that researchers like me are so interested in understanding it and figuring out ways to improve it.
Izvršnu funkciju koristimo svaki dan u svim aspektima života. Tokom poslednjih 30 godina, istraživači su otkrili da predviđa razne dobre stvari u detinjstvu i kasnije, kao što su društvene veštine, akademski uspeh, psihičko i fizičko zdravlje, zarađivanje, štednju, čak i izbegavanje zatvora. Zvuči sjajno, zar ne? Tako da ne iznenađuje da su istraživači kao ja toliko zainteresovani da je razumeju i da shvate kako da je unaprede.
But lately, executive function has become a huge self-improvement buzzword. People think you can improve it through brain-training iPhone apps and computer games, or by practicing it in a specific way, like playing chess. And researchers are trying to train it in the lab in the hopes of improving it and other things related to it, like intelligence. Well, I'm here to tell you that this way of thinking about executive function is all wrong. Brain training won't improve executive function in a broad sense because it involves exercising it in a narrow way, outside of the real-world contexts in which we actually use it. So you can master that executive function app on your phone, but that's not going to help you stop pouring OJ on your Cheeerios twice a week.
Nedavno, izvršna funkcija je postala popularna formula za samopoboljšanje. Ljudi misle da mogu da je unaprede kroz aplikacije za trening mozga i kompjuterske igre, ili uvežbavajući je konkretno, npr. igrajući šah. A naučnici pokušavaju da je treniraju u laboratoriji u nadi da će je unaprediti, kao i druge povezane stvari, kao što je inteligencija. E pa, mogu vam reći da je pogrešno ovako razmišljati o izvršnoj funkciji. Treniranje mozga neće unaprediti izvršnu funkciju u širem smislu jer podrazumeva vežbanje u užem smislu, van realnog konteksta u kojem je u stvari koristimo. Dakle, možete savladati aplikaciju za izvršnu funkciju u telefonu, ali vas to neće sprečiti da sipate đus preko pahuljica dvaput nedeljno.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
If you really want to improve your executive function in a way that matters for your life, you have to understand how it's influenced by context.
Ako zaista želite da poboljšate svoju izvršnu funkciju na način koji je važan za vaš život, morate da razumete kako na nju utiče kontekst.
Let me show you what I mean. There's a great test that we use in the lab to measure executive function in young children called the "dimensional change card sort." In this task, kids have to sort cards in one way -- like by shape -- over and over until they build up a habit. And then they're asked to switch and sort the same cards in another way, like by color. Now, really young kids struggle with this. Three- and four-year-olds will usually keep sorting the cards in the old way no matter how many times you remind them of what they should be doing.
Pokazaću vam šta mislim pod tim. Postoji sjajan test koji koristimo u laboratoriji za merenje izvršne funkcije kod dece niskog uzrasta koji se zove „sortiranje karata uz menjanje kriterijuma.“ U ovom zadatku, deca treba da sortiraju karte na jedan način - npr. prema obliku - iznova i iznova dok ne stvore naviku. A onda im tražimo da se prebace i sortiraju iste karte na drugačiji način, npr. po boji. Baš mala deca se muče sa ovim. Deca od tri i četiri godine će uglavnom nastaviti da sortiraju na prvi način bez obzira na to koliko ih podsećate na ono što bi trebalo da rade.
(Video) Woman: If it's blue, put it here. If it's red, put it here. Here's a blue one.
(Video) Žena: Ako je plava, stavi ovde. Ako je crveno, stavi ovde. Evo ti plava.
OK, so now we're going to play a different game. We're not going to play the color game anymore. Now we're going to play the shape game, and in the shape game, all the stars go here and all the trucks go here, OK? Stars go here, trucks go here.
Okej, sada ćemo igrati drugu igru. Nećemo igrati igru boja više. Sada ćemo se igrati igru oblika, i u ovoj igri, sve zvezde idu ovde, a svi kamioni ovde, okej? Zvezde idu ovde, kamioni ovde.
Where do the stars go?
Gde idu zvezde?
And where do the trucks go?
A gde idu kamioni?
Excellent.
Odlično.
OK, stars go here, trucks go here. Here's a truck.
Okej, zvezde idu ovde, kamioni idu ovde. Evo ga kamion.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Stars go here, trucks go here. Here's a star.
Zvezde idu ovde, kamioni ovde. Evo je zvezda.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
SB: So it's really compelling, and it's really obvious when she fails to use her executive function. But here's the thing: we could train her on this task and others like it and eventually she'd improve, but does that mean that she would've improved her executive function outside of the lab? No, because in the real world, she'll need to use executive function to do a lot more than switching between shape and color. She'll need to switch from adding to multiplying or from playing to tidying up or from thinking about her own feelings to thinking about her friend. And success in real-world situations depends on things like how motivated you are and what your peers are doing. And it also depends on the strategies that you execute when you're using executive function in a particular situation. So what I'm saying is that context really matters.
SB: Baš je zanimljivo i vrlo je očigledno kada ne uspe da koristi svoju izvršnu funkciju. Evo u čemu je stvar: mogli bismo da je obučimo za ovaj i slične zadatke i na kraju bi se popravila, ali da li to znači da bi popravila izvršnu funkciju i van laboratorije? Ne, jer u stvarnom svetu, moraće da koristi izvršnu funkciju za mnogo više stvari od prebacivanja između oblika i boje. Moraće da se prebacuje između sabiranja i množenja ili od igranja do spremanja ili od razmišljanja o svojim osećanjima do razmišljanja o prijatelju. A uspeh u realnim situacijama zavisi od toga koliko ste motivisani i šta vaši vršnjaci rade. Takođe zavisi i od strategija koje upotrebljavate kada koristite izvršnu funkciju u određenoj situaciji. Hoću da kažem da je kontekst veoma važan.
Now let me give you an example from my research. I recently brought in a bunch of kids to do the classic marshmallow test, which is a measure of delay of gratification that also likely requires a lot of executive function. So you may have heard about this test, but basically, kids are given a choice. They can have one marshmallow right away, or if they can wait for me to go to the other room and get more marshmallows, they can have two instead. Now, most kids really want that second marshmallow, but the key question is: How long can they wait?
Daću vam primer iz svog istraživanja. Nedavno sam okupila gomilu dece da urade klasičan test sa maršmelouom koji meri odlaganje zadovoljenja potrebe, a koji takođe verovatno zahteva mnogo izvršne funkcije. Možda ste čuli za ovaj test, ali uglavnom, deca imaju izbor. Mogu da dobiju jedan maršmelou odmah, ili ako mogu da sačekaju da odem u drugu sobu i donesem još maršmeloua, mogu da dobiju dva. Većina dece stvarno želi taj drugi maršmelou, ali glavno pitanje je: koliko mogu da čekaju?
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Now, I added a twist to look at the effects of context. I told each kid that they were in a group, like the green group, and I even gave them a green T-shirt to wear. And I said, "Your group waited for two marshmallows, and this other group, the orange group, did not." Or I said the opposite: "Your group didn't wait for two marshmallows and this other group did." And then I left the kid alone in the room and I watched on a webcam to see how long they waited.
Dodala sam zaplet da bih sagledala efekte konteksta. Svakom detetu sam rekla da pripada grupi, npr. zelenoj grupi, čak sam im dala i da obuku zelenu majicu. Rekla sam im: „Tvoja grupa je čekala drugi maršmelou, a ona druga grupa, narandžasta, nije.“ Ili bih rekla suprotno: „Tvoja grupa nije čekala drugi maršmelou, a ona druga grupa jeste.“ A onda bih ostavila dete samo u sobi i gledala na kameri koliko su čekali.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
So what I found was that kids who believed that their group waited for two marshmallows were themselves more likely to wait. So they were influenced by a peer group that they'd never even met.
Saznala sam da su deca koja su verovala da je njihova grupa čekala drugi kolačić uglavnom i sama čekala. Na njih je uticao vršnjak iz grupe kog čak nikada i nisu upoznali.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Pretty cool, isn't it? Well, so with this result I still didn't know if they were just copying their group or if it was something deeper than that. So I brought in some more kids, and after the marshmallow test, I showed them pictures of pairs of kids, and I told them, "One of these kids likes to have things right away, like cookies and stickers. And the other kid likes to wait so that they can have more of these things." And then I asked them, "Which one of these two kids do you like more and who would you want to play with?" And what I found was that kids who believed that their group waited tended to prefer other kids who liked to wait for things. So learning what their group did made them value waiting more. And not only that, these kids likely used executive function to generate strategies to help themselves wait, like sitting on their hands or turning away from the marshmallow or singing a song to distract themselves.
Prilično kul, zar ne? Ni nakon ovih rezultata nisam znala da li samo kopiraju svoju grupu ili je bilo nešto dublje od toga. Pa sam dovela još dece, i nakon testa sa maršmelouom pokazala sam im slike parova dece, i rekla im: „Jedno od ove dece voli da dobije stvari odmah, npr. slatkiše i nalepnice. A drugo dete voli da sačeka kako bi dobilo više ovih stvari.“ A onda sam ih pitala: „Koje od ove dece vam se više sviđa i sa kim biste voleli da se igrate?“ Saznala sam da su se onoj deci koja su mislila da je njihova grupa čekala više sviđala druga deca koja vole da čekaju stvari. Znajući šta je njihova grupa uradila, više su cenili čekanje. I ne samo to, ova deca su verovatno koristila izvršnu funkciju da stvore strategije koje bi im pomogle da čekaju, kao što je sedenje na dlanovima ili okretanje od maršmeloua ili pevanje pesmice kako bi skrenuli misli.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
So what this all shows is just how much context matters. It's not that these kids had good executive function or bad, it's that the context helped them use it better.
Sve ovo pokazuje koliko je kontekst važan. Ne radi se o tome da su ova deca imala dobru ili lošu izvršnu funkciju, već im je kontekst pomogao da je bolje iskoriste.
So what does this mean for you and for your kids? Well, let's say that you want to learn Spanish. You could try changing your context and surrounding yourself with other people who also want to learn, and even better if these are people that you really like. That way you'll be more motivated to use executive function. Or let's say that you want to help your child do better on her math homework. You could teach her strategies to use executive function in that particular context, like putting her phone away before she starts studying or planning to reward herself after studying for an hour.
Šta to onda znači za vas i vašu decu? Recimo da želite da naučite španski. Mogli biste da promenite kontekst i da se okružite drugim ljudima koji takođe žele da nauče, čak je bolje ako su to ljudi koji vam se stvarno sviđaju. Tako ćete biti više motivisani da koristite izvršnu funkciju. Ili recimo da želite da pomognete svom detetu sa domaćim iz matematike. Mogli biste da je naučite strategije za korišćenje izvršne funkcije u tom konkretnom kontekstu, kao što je odlaganje telefona pre nego što počne da uči ili da isplanira da se nagradi nakon sat vremena učenja.
Now, I don't want to make it sound like context is everything. Executive function is really complex, and it's shaped by numerous factors. But what I want you to remember is if you want to improve your executive function in some aspect of your life, don't look for quick fixes. Think about the context and how you can make your goals matter more to you, and how you can use strategies to help yourself in that particular situation. I think the ancient Greeks said it best when they said, "Know thyself." And a key part of this is knowing how context shapes your behavior and how you can use that knowledge to change for the better.
Ne želim da zvučim kao da je sve do konteksta. Izvršna funkcija je zaista složena, i oblikuju je mnogi faktori. Ali želim da zapamtite da, ako hoćete da poboljšate svoju izvršnu funkciju u nekim sferama svog života, ne tražite brza rešenja. Razmislite o kontekstu i kako da učinite da vam vaši ciljevi više znače i kako možete da koristite strategije da vam pomognu u konkretnoj situaciji. Stari Grci su to najbolje rekli izrekom: „Poznaj sebe.“ A najvažniji deo je znati kako kontekst oblikuje vaše ponašanje i kako možete iskoristiti to znanje da se menjate nabolje.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)