ERIC Number: EJ941883
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Sep
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0261-510X
EISSN: N/A
Inhibitory and Working Memory Demands of the Day-Night Task in Children
Simpson, Andrew; Riggs, Kevin J.
British Journal of Developmental Psychology, v23 n3 p471-486 Sep 2005
Gerstadt, Hong, and Diamond (1994) investigated the development of inhibitory control in children aged 3 1/2 - 7 years using the day-night task. In two studies we build on Gerstadt et al.'s findings with a measure of inhibitory control that can be used throughout childhood. In Study 1 (twenty-four 3 1/2-year-olds and sixteen 5-year-olds) we modified Gerstadt et al.'s day-night task. Using this modified task we obtained further evidence for the development of inhibitory control in children between 3 1/2 and 5-years-old. We also obtained data suggestive of more moderate working memory development. In Study 2 we tested 84 children aged between 3 1/2 and 11 years. The aim was to determine how much inhibition and working memory taxed children of different ages. We obtained evidence that inhibitory demands were high and that inhibitory development was non-linear, with rapid improvements in children between 3 1/2 and 5 years and only modest improvements thereafter. In contrast, working memory demands were low and working memory development was more linear. We interpret these findings as evidence that working memory has relatively little impact on performance in our modified version of the day-night task.
Descriptors: Inhibition, Short Term Memory, Children, Task Analysis, Cognitive Ability, Age Differences, Evidence, Cognitive Development
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
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Language: English
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