Neuropsychological development of nonverbal behaviors attributed to “frontal lobe” functioning

Abstract

Controversy exists as to when behaviors associated with frontal lobe functioning become fully developed in normal children. This investigation examined the normal development in children of the nonverbal ability to regulate and inhibit motor action and perform on tasks involving temporal ordering. Normal Black and White boys and girls ranging in age from 5 to 12 years were examined on tasks involving go‐no go decisions, auditory‐sequential and visual‐simultaneous conflict tasks, and on a task of temporal ordering. Significant age effects were found on all tasks. Six‐year‐olds clearly performed less well than 8‐, 10‐, or 12‐year‐olds, suggesting that significant development takes place between 6 to 8 years of age on these tasks. However, some behaviors attributed to frontal lobe functioning are still not mastered by age 12.