Separating the Fish From the Sharks: A Longitudinal Study of Preschool Response Inhibition

Abstract

The development of response inhibition was investigated using a computerized go/no-go task, in a lagged sequential design where 376 preschool children were assessed repeatedly between 3.0 and 5.25 years of age. Growth curve modeling was used to examine change in performance and predictors of individual differences. The most pronounced change was observed between 3 and 3.75 years. Better working memory and general cognitive ability were related to more accurate performance at all ages, but relations with speed changed with age, where better cognitive skills were initially related to slower responding, but faster responding at later ages. Boys responded more quickly and were more accurate on go trials, whereas girls were better able to withhold responding on no-go trials.

Neural Correlates of Response Inhibition in Early Childhood: Evidence From a Go/No-Go Task

“…The Preschool GNG task (adapted from Wiebe et al, 2012) was a computerized fishing game (see Figure 1), presented using E-Prime 2.0 Professional (Psychology Software Tools, Sharpsburg, PA). Children were instructed to respond by pressing a single button on a button box whenever a fish appeared (Go trials) and withhold responding when a shark appeared (No-go trials) 1 .…”

“…This scenario is just one example of the adaptive importance of response inhibition, or the process of stopping an action that has been initiated. This ability emerges and undergoes rapid growth in early childhood, particularly between three to six years (Carver, Livesy & Charles, 2001; Garon, Bryson, & Smith, 2008; Wiebe, Sheffield, & Espy, 2012), and continues to mature into early adulthood (Band, van der Molen, Overtoom & Verbaten, 2000). There is a parallel, protracted developmental trajectory of the prefrontal brain regions implicated in higher order cognitive functions (Fuster, 2002).…”

“…Both studies used variants of the Go/No-go (GNG) paradigm, commonly used to assess response inhibition in children (e.g., Durston et al, 2002; Wiebe et al, 2012). In a typical GNG task, participants respond to a frequently occurring stimulus type (Go trials), and withhold responding to a less frequently occurring stimulus type (No-go trials).…”

“…Although numerous studies have documented young children’s behavioral performance on measures of inhibition (Cragg & Nation, 2008; Simpson & Riggs, 2006; Wiebe et al, 2012), only a few studies have examined the neural correlates underlying their performance. Cognitive processes like response inhibition occur on a millisecond time scale, and electroencephalography (EEG) is one of the few neuroimaging methods with the necessary temporal resolution to investigate the neural underpinnings of these processes.…”

“…In the GNG task, response inhibition is indexed by children’s ability to withhold responding on No-go trials. We chose to focus on 5-year-olds because many studies have found that children at this age are capable of performing well on GNG tasks (Chevalier et al, 2014; Wiebe et al, 2012), and in ERP studies, it is important that children complete sufficient correct trials to generate stable ERP averages. Additionally, this age captures an important phase transition to formal schooling where there is an increased need for children to inhibit inappropriate responses (Blair & Razza, 2007; Lahat et al, 2010).…”