Executive functions in late childhood: Age differences among groups.

Abstract

Executive functions (EF) have been a major focus of interest in neuropsychology. However, there are few studies about their development in healthy children. To fill this gap in the literature, the current study aims to compare the performance in EF tasks in children from 6 to 12 (n=90) years old. Three age groups (6-7, 8-10 and 11-12 yearsold) were assessed using the following instruments: verbal fluency, narrative discourse, random number generation, N-Back, Bells Test and Hayling Test. Analyses of variance were used to compare the scores among groups. There was a significant effect of age in all executive performance scores, especially between the youngest and oldest groups. The most significant differences were observed in the central executive component of working memory and inhibition, which showed a marked development between 6-7 and 8-10 years of age. In addition, a remarkable peak was observed in the tasks that assess planning and processing speed in the group of 11-12 year-old children. The current results suggest that the development of all components of EF should be further investigated in school-aged children in normative studies so that possible dissociations in the development of these abilities can be better understood.

The association between the COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism and preschoolers’ autobiographical memory details and narrative cohesiveness

“…This complex skill involves temporal organization of the structural elements of the story requiring careful planning and close monitoring of one's narrative production. Narrative comprehension and production have been considered to reflect executive functions in children (Pureza, Gonç alves, Branco, Grassi-Oliveira, & Fonseca, 2013;Purvis & Tannock, 1997) and shown to be related to various other executive functions tasks (Dodwell & Bavin, 2008; Duinmeijer, de Jong, & Scheper, 2012; Friend, Bates, Nobuyuki, & Coldren, 2014). Narrative production involves the same network of frontal lobe areas implicated in executive functions (Mar, 2004); therefore, one could expect it to be affected by the dopamine system and the COMT gene Val 158 Met polymorphism.…”

Effects of Framing and the Color Red on In-Class Performances of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…Katılımcıların tümü erkektir. DEHB tanısı erkeklerde kızlardan yaklaşık 2.28 kat daha fazla olduğu (Ramtekkar vd., 2010) (Pureza, Gonçalves, Branco, Grassi Oliveira ve Fonseca, 2013). Okul çağı çocuklarının gelişimsel niteliklerinden söz edilirken yaş gruplamalarında tam bir uyuşma bulunmamaktadır.…”

The emergence of automaticity in reading: Effects of orthographic depth and word decoding ability on an adjusted Stroop measure

“…Executive functionsincluding inhibition functionsare still developing at the age of school entry (and beyond) (e.g. Adleman,Menon, Blasey, White, et al, 2002;Brocki & Bohlin, 2004;Dash & Dash, 1982;Diamond & Taylor, 1996). For example, McDonald et al 2014reported a substantial age-related improvement in inhibition from 5 to 8 years by means of a Stroop task paradigm (see also, Schiller, 1966).…”