The development of cognitive inhibition in streams-of-consciousness and directed speech

This research examined the development of the ability to inhibit thoughts within free speech by manipulating the content requirements of overt streams-of-consciousness. A picture-naming task with procedural manipulations similar to the stream-of-consciousness task was created as an additional method of investigating the development of the inhibition of speech. Comparison of adults' performance in the two tasks indicated that mature performance reflected inhibitory processing rather than selective attention. The children's performance in the stream-of-consciousness task suggested a developmental change in their ability to produce a stream-of-consciousness overtly An investigation of inhibition in the picture-naming task with kindergartners, second graders, fifth graders and adults revealed a developmental improvement in inhibitory ability over the middle childhood years. These results are consistent with the interpretation that developmental improvements in cognitive inhibition contribute to developmental improvements in cognitive function on a variety of tasks.