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Related Experiment Videos

Executive function across the life span.

Philip David Zelazo1, Fergus I M Craik, Laura Booth

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., Canada M5S 3G3. zelazo@psych.utoronto.ca

Acta Psychologica
|February 14, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Executive function (EF) shows a lifespan trajectory, peaking in adulthood and declining in older age. Conscious memory significantly influences EF, particularly in visual tasks, impacting hierarchical models of cognitive development.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental Neuroscience
  • Human Lifespan Studies

Background:

  • Executive function (EF) is crucial for cognitive control and decision-making.
  • Understanding the developmental trajectory of EF across the lifespan is essential.
  • The relationship between memory systems and EF requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the development and determinants of executive function (EF) across childhood, young adulthood, and older adulthood.
  • To investigate the role of conscious versus unconscious memory in age-related changes in EF.
  • To explore the implications for hierarchical models of EF development.

Main Methods:

  • Studied three age groups: children (mean age=8.8), young adults (M=22.3), and elderly adults (M=71.1).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Assessed EF using perseverative responding on two bidimensional sorting tasks (visual and auditory).
  • Estimated conscious and unconscious memory using the process dissociation procedure (PDP).

    • Main Results:

    • Significant quadratic trends indicated a rise and fall in EF across the lifespan for both sorting tasks.
    • Conscious recollection (C) component of the PDP task also showed significant quadratic trends.
    • PDP estimates of conscious memory significantly predicted performance on the visual sorting task, but not the auditory task.

    Conclusions:

    • Executive function exhibits a distinct lifespan trajectory, characterized by development, maturation, and decline.
    • Conscious memory processes play a significant role in mediating executive function performance, especially in visually-based tasks.
    • Findings support and refine hierarchical models of executive function and its developmental underpinnings across the lifespan.