Selective Inhibitory Control in Middle Childhood

Irene Rincón-Pérez, Alberto J. Sánchez-Carmona, Susana Arroyo-Lozano, Carlos García-Rubio, José Antonio Hinojosa, Alberto Fernández-Jaén, Sara López-Martín and Jacobo Albert
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Irene Rincón-Pérez: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Alberto J. Sánchez-Carmona: Unidad de Cartografía Cerebral, Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Susana Arroyo-Lozano: Centro Neuromottiva, 28016 Madrid, Spain
Carlos García-Rubio: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
José Antonio Hinojosa: Unidad de Cartografía Cerebral, Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Alberto Fernández-Jaén: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Hospital Universitario QuirónSalud, 28233 Madrid, Spain
Sara López-Martín: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Jacobo Albert: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: The main aim of this study was to investigate the development of selective inhibitory control in middle childhood, a critical period for the maturation of inhibition-related processes. To this end, 64 children aged 6–7 and 56 children aged 10–11 performed a stimulus-selective stop-signal task, which allowed us to estimate not only the efficiency of response inhibition (the stop-signal reaction time or SSRT), but also the strategy adopted by participants to achieve task demands. We found that the adoption of a non-selective (global) strategy characterized by stopping indiscriminately to all stimuli decreased in older children, so that most of them were able to interrupt their ongoing responses selectively at the end of middle childhood. Moreover, compared to younger children, older children were more efficient in their ability to cancel an initiated response (indexed by a shorter SSRT), regardless of which strategy they used. Additionally, we found improvements in other forms of impulsivity, such as the control of premature responding (waiting impulsivity), and attentional-related processes, such as intra-individual variability and distractibility. The present results suggest that middle childhood represents a milestone in the development of crucial aspects of inhibitory control, including selective stopping.

Keywords: executive control; selective stopping; strategies; SSRT; middle childhood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:12:p:6300-:d:572613

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