Inhibitory Processes and Fluid Intelligence: a Performance at Early Years of Schooling

Abstract

Inhibition constitutes one of the main executive functions and it is important to more complex skills such as fluid intelligence. Actually, there is an agreement on distinguishing three inhibitory types: perceptual, cognitive and response inhibition. Several studies show the differential engagement of these inhibitory types in different skills. However, there is no registered evidence about the differential relation of inhibitory types with fluid intelligence. This inquiry is especially important during the first school years, since in this stage, inhibitory processes would already be differentiated, and inhibitory processes and fluid intelligence are linked to the performance of children in the school setting. For these reasons, the goal of this work is to study the relation and contribution of perceptual, cognitive, and response inhibition with fluid intelligence, in children in the first years of primary school. For that purpose, a sample of children from six to eight years old (N = 178) was tested with a perceptual inhibition task (perception of similarities and differences task); a cognitive inhibition task (proactive interference task); a response inhibition task (stop signal task); and a fluid intelligence task (progressive matrices task). We observed significant correlations between perceptual and response inhibition and fluid intelligence (controlling for age), but only perceptual inhibition explains significantly part of the performance in the fluid intelligence task. This study provides data about the specific contribution, during childhood, of an inhibitory type to fluid intelligence and contributes empirical evidence in support of the non-unitary approach of inhibition.

Development of inhibitory processes during the first years of primary schooling.

“…On the other hand, it contributes to the literature on the development of inhibition, suggesting performance on the three processes is different during the first half of primary school. It is important to gain a better understanding of the development of each specific process since these play a key role in the acquisition of various skills that are relevant to the daily life of children (e.g., Aydmune, Introzzi, Zamora, 2020; Aydmune, Introzzi, Zamora, et al, 2020; Viterbori et al, 2017; Zamora et al, 2019). Knowing its development in depth could allow to detect low inhibitory functioning and then carry out interventions aiming to reach optimal levels (both inhibitory processes and skills in which they are involved; Aydmune et al, 2017).…”

“…During school age, several studies found relations between perceptual and cognitive inhibition, and reading comprehension (Borella & De Ribaupierre, 2014; Borella et al, 2010; Demagistri et al, 2012). In addition, relations between perceptual inhibition and fluid intelligence were observed (Aydmune, Introzzi, Zamora, et al, 2020).…”

Working Memory Vs Inhibitory Control: Peran terhadap Informasi Tidak Relevan sebuah Kajian Neuropsikologi

“…Temuan para ahli tersebut memberikan informasi bahwa inhibitory control selain berkontribusi pada pikiran tidak relevan juga menghambat respons yang tidak dikehendaki. Perspektif lain menyebutkan bahwa inhibitory control dapat menginhibisi persepsi, kognitif dan respons yang tidak diharapkan serta berkontribusi pada penalaran (Aydmune et al, 2019). Inhibitory control juga merupakan sistem kontrol kognitif dalam menghambat informasi tidak relevan (Blumenfeld & Marian, 2014).…”

A psychometric study of an executive function assessment instrument (TDI-FE)

“…Contrarily, non-planning impulsivity is directly related to cognitive inhibition (the ability to inhibit automatic thoughts or responses voluntarily) and decision-making (a process that requires choosing one of several alternatives) [ 7 ]. It is more common for impulsivity to occur in childhood when the cognitive maturation process is still developing [ 8 , 9 ].…”