The development of semantic blocking in children

Pictures are named more slowly in the context of semantically related pictures than in the context of unrelated pictures. This semantic blocking effect has been studied extensively in adult participants, and one study has revealed its presence in 6-year-old children. However, little is known about the development of the effect with age. In this study, a blocked cyclic naming procedure was arranged for 5- to 7-year-old and 10- to 12-year-old children. The semantic blocking effect obtained did not differ in size between the two age groups. This finding is tentatively interpreted as evidence that the semantic blocking effect does not have the same underlying cause as interference effects typically observed in naming tasks involving a distractor stimulus, like the Stroop task. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? The semantic blocking effect has been demonstrated in adults, but little is known about its development in childhood. Age-related changes in performance in children have been used to distinguish various types of inhibitory control. What does this study add? A semantic blocking effect was obtained in 5- to 7-year-old children and - for the first time - in 10- to 12-year-old children. In the two age groups, the effect was equal in size and did not show up in the first cycles of the experiment. The findings are argued to be in line with the distinction unintentional vs. intentional inhibitory control.