Development of inhibitory control across the life span.

TLDR

The study examines how inhibitory control and response execution develop differently across the lifespan, highlighting the utility of the stop‑signal procedure. The stop‑signal procedure was used with 275 participants aged 6–81 to assess inhibitory control via reaction times to stop and go signals during a visual choice reaction time task. Results show that stopping speed improves with age during childhood but remains stable in adulthood, while go‑signal reaction time speeds up in childhood and slows markedly in adulthood, and these age effects on inhibition are independent of general response speed changes.

Abstract

The stop-signal procedure was used to examine the development of inhibitory control. A group of 275 participants, 6 to 81 years of age, performed a visual choice reaction time (go) task and attempted to inhibit their responses to the go task when they heard a stop signal. Reaction times to the stop and go signals were used to assess performance in inhibition and response execution, respectively. Results indicated the speed of stopping becomes faster with increasing age throughout childhood, with limited evidence of slowing across adulthood. By contrast, strong evidence was obtained for age-related speeding of go-signal reaction time throughout childhood, followed by marked slowing throughout adulthood. Hierarchical regression confirmed that the age-related change in inhibitory control could not be explained by general speeding or slowing of responses. Findings are discussed in regard to the contrast between the development of inhibition and response execution and the utility of the stop-signal procedure.