Exploring the steps of learning: Computational modeling of initiatory-actions among individuals with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Project description
Whether a child is studying for a test, or doing homework, there are many actions that need to be made to complete the task at hand. At the start of a task, the child is challenged by the need to internally assign value to her actions since only the last action leads to a desired outcome, while actions at the beginning of a task (i.e., initiatory-actions) do not. Currently, educational-psychological programs fail to address and evaluate children’s ability to internally reinforce initiatory-actions, a process that is assumed to have a major impact on children’s ability to exert attention, delay gratification and act to achieve long-term goals. The aim of the research is to identify and evaluate the process of value-assignment to initiatory-actions in action-outcome sequences among children. For this aim, I will develop a computerized-task based on principles taken from state-of-the-art computational reinforcement-learning (RL) that would estimate a child’s latent abilities to assign value to initiatory-actions. Across three phases, I will (a) test the reliability of these estimates, (b) explore to what extent these measures predict real-life educational and behavioral measures, in both typically developing children and those with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity-Disorder (ADHD), and (c) develop and test a new cognitive-behavioral remediation strategy that will adapt well-known guided-imagery techniques to increase initiatory-actions value-assignment among those in need. Having a deeper understanding regarding value-assignment to initiatory-actions processes that can improve this ability is expected to have a significant educational impact, specifically for children struggling with academic underachievement such as those with ADHD.
About me
I am a PhD student in a Computational Clinical Psychology lab, in the school of psychological sciences. I hold a direct M.A in Psychobiology, and a B.A in Psychology and Computer-Science, all from Tel-Aviv University. My interest in the science of learning has guided me in recent years, during my M.A studies where I used several behavioral procedures that are based on different learning theories, to start a PhD studies in a Computational Clinical Psychology lab, where my research focuses on ‘How we learn?’ and what are the different processes that affects the learning of those with ADHD.