Abstract
Executive functions, like the capacity to control and organize thoughts and behavior, develop from childhood to young adulthood. Although task switching and working memory processes are known to undergo strong developmental changes from childhood to adulthood, it is currently unknown how task switching processes are modulated between childhood and adulthood given that working memory processes are central to task switching. The aim of the current study is therefore to examine this question using a combined cue- and memory-based task switching paradigm in children (N = 25) and young adults (N = 25) in combination with neurophysiological (EEG) methods. We obtained an unexpected paradoxical effect suggesting that memory-based task switching is better in late childhood than in young adulthood. No group differences were observed in cue-based task switching. The neurophysiological data suggest that this effect is not due to altered attentional selection (P1, N1) or processes related to the updating, organization, and implementation of the new task-set (P3). Instead, alterations were found in the resolution of task-set conflict and the selection of an appropriate response (N2) when a task has to be switched. Our observation contrasts findings showing that cognitive control mechanisms reach their optimal functioning in early adulthood.
Highlights
Methods makes it possible to distinguish underlying neural subprocesses of early attentional selection from later response selection stages20 by examining distinctive event-related potential components (ERPs)
We investigated in what way neurophysiological processes underlying cognitive flexibility are affected by age and to what extent memory- and cue-based task switching are differently modulated between late childhood and young adulthood
And further corroborating the interpretation of a developmental effect, we observed a positive correlation between memory-based switch costs and participant age
Summary
Methods makes it possible to distinguish underlying neural subprocesses of early attentional selection from later response selection stages by examining distinctive event-related potential components (ERPs). Developmental research showed the N2 to be decreased in amplitude with increasing age, comparing both children with adolescents and children with adults31,32 This has been suggested to reflect the development of cognitive control. With respect to developmental studies, the P3 has been found to be decreased in latency as well as to be differentially distributed (e.g. being larger at parietal sites and absent at fronto-central sites) in children (9–10 years) as compared to young adults. With respect to developmental studies, the P3 has been found to be decreased in latency as well as to be differentially distributed (e.g. being larger at parietal sites and absent at fronto-central sites) in children (9–10 years) as compared to young adults32 These observations have been suggested to reflect the recruitment of additional and/ or different updating-related cognitive processes in children as compared to adults. We focus on ERPs that are related to processes of early selective attention (P1 and N1) as well as on response selection (N2) and updating (P3), assuming that response selection processes (N2) best reflect behavioral performance
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