Age-related changes in error processing in young children: A school-based investigation

Abstract

Growth in executive functioning skills (EF) play a role children’s academic success, and the transition to elementary school is an important time for the development of these abilities. Despite this, evidence concerning the development of the ERP components linked to EF, including the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe), over this period is inconclusive. Data were recorded in a school setting from 3–7 year-old children (N=96, mean age=5 years 11 months) as they performed a Go/No-Go task. Results revealed the presence of the ERN and Pe on error relative to correct trials at all age levels. Older children showed increased response inhibition as evidenced by faster, more accurate responses. Although developmental changes in the ERN were not identified, the Pe increased with age. In addition, girls made fewer mistakes and showed elevated Pe amplitudes relative to boys. Based on a representative school-based sample, findings indicate that the ERN is present in children as young as 3, and that development can be seen in the Pe between ages 3–7. Results varied as a function of gender, providing insight into the range of factors associated with developmental changes in the complex relations between behavioral and electrophysiological measures of error processing.

Associations between Disorder-Specific Symptoms of Anxiety and Error-Monitoring Brain Activity in Young Children

“…Research in healthy adults suggests that a larger ERN is related to better behavioral performance, namely higher accuracy and fewer errors (Gehring et al 1993; Maier et al 2011), supporting theories that propose the ERN serves critical cognitive control functions involved in adaptive behavioral adjustments and error correction (Botvinick and Cohen 2014). Of the few studies in children that have provided data on the association between the ERN and performance, results confirm that a larger ERN is associated with higher accuracy and fewer errors (e.g., Grammer et al 2014; Lo et al 2015). …”

“…Children completed a Go/No-Go task (Grammer et al 2014) and were asked to help a zookeeper capture animals that had escaped their cages by pressing the spacebar quickly and accurately to the presentation of each animal (Go stimuli). No-Go stimuli consisted of three different orangutans that were helping the zookeeper, and therefore did not need to be captured.…”

“…Based on visual inspection of the grand average ERNs and previous ERN studies in young samples (e.g., Grammer et al 2014; Lo et al 2015), the ERN and its correct-response negativity (CRN) counterpart were quantified as the average amplitude in the 0–100 ms post-response time window relative to a − 200 to 0 ms pre-response baseline. The average amplitude in the 0–100 ms post-response time window were quantified across following five midline electrode sites: Fz (frontal), FCz (fronto-central), Cz (central), CPz (central-parietal), and Pz (parietal).…”

Individual Differences in Fifth Graders’ Literacy and Academic Language Predict Comprehension Monitoring Development: An Eye-Movement Study

“…Hence the metacognitive skill of recognizing when comprehension breaks down might be more automatic, and perhaps more unconscious, than previously thought, at least for 5 th graders. Recent evidence from neurological studies supports this distinction (Grammer, Carrasco, Gehring, & Morrison, 2014; Morrison, Grammer, Kim, & Gehring, 2014). After committing an error, both adults and children exhibit a very rapid neurophysiological response (termed Error-Related Negativity, ERN) followed by a later response (Error Positivity, Pe), thought to reflect more conscious awareness or emotional reactivity to the error.…”

Does One Year of Schooling Improve Children’s Cognitive Control and Alter Associated Brain Activation?

“…Although functional MRI (fMRI) studies have demonstrated a close link between development of cognitive control during middle childhood and adolescence and the maturation of frontoparietal circuitry (e.g., Luna et al, 2001;Satterthwaite et al, 2013), fMRI studies focusing specifically on the age range of 5 to 7 have been sparse (but see Sheridan, Kharitonova, Martin, Chatterjee, & Gabrieli, 2014). Electroencephalography (EEG) studies that have looked at cognitive control during this age range have revealed an age-related increase in the error positivity (Grammer, Carrasco, Gehring, & Morrison, 2014) and a positive association between the error positivity and early academic achievement (Kim et al, 2016). However, nothing is known so far about the direct effect of schooling on the development of the brain network underlying cognitive control.…”