Abstract
The development and determinants of executive function (EF) were studied in children (mean age=8.8 years), young adults (M=22.3 years), and elderly adults (M=71.1 years). EF was indexed by perseverative responding on two bidimensional sorting tasks (Visually Cued Color-Shape task and Auditorily Cued Number-Numeral task), and age-related changes in EF were considered in relation to estimates of conscious vs. unconscious memory that were obtained using the process dissociation procedure (PDP). Results revealed the rise and fall of EF across the life span, with significant quadratic trends found for performance on both sorting tasks and for the conscious recollection component (C) of the PDP task. Regression analyses indicated that PDP estimates of conscious memory accounted for variation in performance on the visual sorting task, but not on the auditory sorting task. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for hierarchical models of EF and its development.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 167-183 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Acta Psychologica |
| Volume | 115 |
| Issue number | 2-3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 2004 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada to P.D. Zelazo and F.I.M. Craik. The authors would like to thank Jennie Sawula and Dana Liebermann for their help in preparing this article, and Ellen Bialystok for helpful comments on a previous draft.
Keywords
- Ageing
- Executive functions
- Lifespan
- Task-switching