The development of non-spatial working memory capacity during childhood and adolescence and the role of interference control: an N-Back task study.

T.M.J. Schleepen*, L.M. Jonkman

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

To investigate the role of interference control on the development of working memory (WM) capacity, 6-12-year-old children and adults performed an N-Back task with differing WM-load and interference control demands. Correlation analyses between flanker interference scores and WM-load levels showed that interference control was only required in the 2-back condition. While WM maintenance (1-back task) reached adult accuracy levels at age 10-12, the ability to maintain information in WM during distraction (2-back-task) displayed protracted maturation into adolescence. This is suggested to reflect yet immature connections between prefrontal and posterior association areas, respectively involved in interference control and WM storage.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)37-56
JournalDevelopmental Neuropsychology
Volume35
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2010

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