Inhibitory Processes Training for School-age Children: Transfer Effects.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Inhibition is a core executive function comprising perceptual, cognitive, and response processes.
• These inhibitory skills develop early in life and are crucial for daily activities.
• Individual and contextual factors influence the development of inhibitory processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design, implement, and evaluate targeted training for perceptual, cognitive, and response inhibition in school-aged children (6-8 years).
• To analyze the near, far, short-term, and long-term transfer effects of this inhibitory training.

Main Methods:

• An experimental design was employed with three distinct training groups (perceptual, cognitive, response inhibition) and an active control group.
• Children aged 6-8 years participated in the training interventions.
• Transfer effects were assessed using various cognitive tasks.

Main Results:

• No near transfer effects were observed across the training groups.
• Short-term improvements in visuospatial working memory were noted after response and cognitive inhibition training.
• Both short-term and long-term improvements in fluid intelligence were observed following cognitive inhibition training.

Conclusions:

• The findings support a multidimensional view of inhibitory processes.
• It is plausible to train distinct inhibitory processes during childhood, leading to cognitive benefits.
• Cognitive inhibition training shows potential for enhancing fluid intelligence over both short and long terms.