Inhibitory Processes Training for School-age Children: Transfer Effects

AYDMUNE, YESICA S.; INTROZZI, ISABEL M.; LIPINA, SEBASTIAN J.

DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group

Año: 2019 vol. 44 p. 513 - 542

1532-6942

Inhibition refers to a basic executive component that can be conceptualizedas consisted of different inhibitory processes (i.e., perceptual, cognitive andresponse inhibition). These processes emerge during the first years of life,and since then are involved in different relevant every day activities.Different individual and contextual factors can modulate their developmentaltrajectories. The possibility of train in separate ways each inhibitoryprocess is a subject of analysis. In such a context, the aims of this workwere: (a) to design, implement and evaluate training of perceptual, cognitiveand response inhibition processes, in a sample of school-aged children(6 to 8 years old); and (b) to analyze near, far, short- and long-transfereffects. An experimental design with three training groups (one for eachinhibitory process) and an active control group was implemented. Neartransfer effects were not observed. We found effects on a visuospatialworking memory task in the short term, after the training in the responseand cognitive inhibition, and effects on a fluid intelligence task in both theshort and long term after the training in cognitive inhibition. The resultscontribute to a conceptualization of multidimensional inhibitory processesand the plausibility of training them during childhood.