Abstract:
For students, problem-solving is a critical aspect of the learning process. The cognitive processes involved in problem-solving, for example those that allow for planning, organization and execution of goal-directed behaviors are thought to be managed by Executive Function (EF). Previous studies on EF and problem-solving have mainly focused on how students internally represent a problem and the step-by-step processes a student uses to find a solution; however, such studies characterize cognition as an internal process. A more recent perspective on cognition suggests that it is not entirely an internal system, but rather a distributed system that involves the coordination of embodied information, environment and time. For example, studies of adults and older school-age children suggest that communicative behaviors (e.g., eye gaze and facial expression) reflect cognitive processes. However, such studies have mainly focused on older children and adults so it is unknown how nonverbal behaviors reflect cognitive processes in younger school-age children. Thus, the present study aimed to characterize how children use nonverbal behaviors (i.e., eye gaze and facial expression) in problem-solving contexts. Participants were 40 children (ages 3-4yrs and 7-8yrs) and 20 adults (ages 19-33). Two visuo-spatial tasks were utilized to investigate eye gaze patterns and facial expression production: Task (1) Mystery box -- examined visual imagery skills and Task (2) Safari puzzle -- examined spatial skills. The results suggest that eye gaze patterns vary according to development and the level of cognitive effort that is required to solve a problem. During low cognitive effort, younger children were more likely to make eye contact with the experimenter, while older children and adults showed similar gaze aversion patterns while thinking. However, with increased cognitive effort older children showed gaze patterns similar to younger children; whereas, eye gaze patterns in adults did not vary in these contexts. Furthermore, the data suggest that there are developmental trends in the production of facial expression. With increased cognitive effort, production of facial expressions in female participants increased with age; whereas, the production of facial expression in male participants remains steady over age. Moreover, these results suggest that display rules regarding facial expressions vary according to development and gender, such that female adults and children produced more positive facial expressions than male adults and children. Such findings confirm the role of social interaction in learning and have significant educational implications, particularly in classroom settings where teachers frequently depend on non-verbal cues to evaluate children's attention and comprehension. The results also provide a foundation for future research in atypical populations.
