Citation
Winter, Warren & Sheridan, Margaret A. (2014). Previous Reward Decreases Errors of Commission on Later 'No-Go' Trials in Children 4 to 12 Years of Age: Evidence for a Context Monitoring Account. Developmental Science, 17(5), 797-807. PMCID: PMC4146709Abstract
Inhibitory control is widely hypothesized to be the cornerstone of executive function in childhood and the central deficit in a number of developmental disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, recent evidence from adults indicates that performance on response inhibition tasks may primarily reflect non-inhibitory attentional control (context monitoring) processes. Yet it may be that inhibition plays a more central role in childhood - a time when the architecture of cognitive processes might be more transparent due to wide variability in skill level. Here we directly test inhibitory and context monitoring explanations of task performance on a Go/No-Go task in a large group of children 4-12 years of age. We conclude that traditional inhibitory conceptualizations of task performance on the Go/No-Go task cannot account for our findings, calling into question evidence supporting a central role for inhibitory control in cognitive development or developmental psychopathology.URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/desc.12168Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
2014Journal Title
Developmental ScienceAuthor(s)
Winter, WarrenSheridan, Margaret A.