Neuropsychological development of behavior attributed to frontal lobe functioning in children

Abstract

There has long been speculation as to the development of behaviors attributed to frontal lobe functioning in children. Controversy exists as to when behaviors attributed to frontal lobe functioning become fully developed. This study examined the performance of normal male and female children at four age levels between 6 and 12 years of age. Performance on verbal and nonverbal proactive and retroactive inhibition, verbal and nonverbal conflict, and two perseve‐ration tasks was assessed. The results suggested that in children, the development of behaviors associated with frontal lobe functioning is a multistage process. The greatest period of development appeared to occur at the 6‐ and 8‐year‐old levels. By the age of 10, the ability to inhibit attention to irrelevant stimuli and perseveratory responses was fairly complete, with mastery evident by age 12.