Predicting time, shaping control: Unveiling age-related effects of temporal predictability on the dynamics of cognitive control in 5- to 14-year-old children.

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Title: Predicting time, shaping control: Unveiling age-related effects of temporal predictability on the dynamics of cognitive control in 5- to 14-year-old children.
Authors: Korolczuk, Inga1,2 (AUTHOR) inga.korolczuk@umlub.pl, Burle, Boris2 (AUTHOR), Senderecka, Magdalena3 (AUTHOR), Coull, Jennifer T.2 (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. Jul2025, Vol. 255, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
Subject Terms: *Cognitive ability, *Age groups, *Adults, Control (Psychology), Performance in children
Abstract: • Temporal predictability speeds RTs to compatible targets in 11-14-year-olds. • Temporal cues induce fast impulsive errors to incompatible targets in 5-14-year-olds. • 5-6-year-olds use temporal cues to better inhibit fast impulsive errors. • Benefits of temporal cues on impulse control diminish from age 7. • By 11, children use temporal cues similarly to adults. Understanding how individuals learn to synchronize actions with the temporal structure of their environment is crucial for understanding goal-directed behavior. This study investigated the effects of temporal predictability on cognitive control and action regulation in children aged 5 to 14 years. In our temporally cued version of the Simon task, children were explicitly informed that visual cues would either predict (temporal cues) or not predict (neutral cues) the onset of a target. They used this information to respond to lateralized targets when the target position was either compatible or incompatible with the response hand. Temporal cues speeded reaction times (RTs) to compatible targets in the older (11- to 14-year-old) children and induced a greater number of fast impulsive errors to incompatible targets across all age groups. This pattern replicates previous results in adults and demonstrates that knowing when an event is likely to occur induces a fast, although impulsive, response style. Surprisingly, in the youngest age group (5- and 6-year-olds), temporal cues speeded RTs to incompatible, as well as compatible, targets and helped children to inhibit fast impulsive errors to incompatible targets more efficiently. In summary, the youngest children appeared to effectively leverage the information conveyed by temporal cues to mitigate impulsive response tendencies. However, the benefits of temporal cues on impulse control started to diminish from 7 years of age, when children begin to show more mature inhibitory patterns. Nevertheless, by 11 years of age children achieve performance comparable to that of adults, with faster responses to compatible targets and impulsive responses to incompatible targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Experimental Child Psychology is the property of Academic Press Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Predicting time, shaping control: Unveiling age-related effects of temporal predictability on the dynamics of cognitive control in 5- to 14-year-old children.
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  Data: • Temporal predictability speeds RTs to compatible targets in 11-14-year-olds. • Temporal cues induce fast impulsive errors to incompatible targets in 5-14-year-olds. • 5-6-year-olds use temporal cues to better inhibit fast impulsive errors. • Benefits of temporal cues on impulse control diminish from age 7. • By 11, children use temporal cues similarly to adults. Understanding how individuals learn to synchronize actions with the temporal structure of their environment is crucial for understanding goal-directed behavior. This study investigated the effects of temporal predictability on cognitive control and action regulation in children aged 5 to 14 years. In our temporally cued version of the Simon task, children were explicitly informed that visual cues would either predict (temporal cues) or not predict (neutral cues) the onset of a target. They used this information to respond to lateralized targets when the target position was either compatible or incompatible with the response hand. Temporal cues speeded reaction times (RTs) to compatible targets in the older (11- to 14-year-old) children and induced a greater number of fast impulsive errors to incompatible targets across all age groups. This pattern replicates previous results in adults and demonstrates that knowing when an event is likely to occur induces a fast, although impulsive, response style. Surprisingly, in the youngest age group (5- and 6-year-olds), temporal cues speeded RTs to incompatible, as well as compatible, targets and helped children to inhibit fast impulsive errors to incompatible targets more efficiently. In summary, the youngest children appeared to effectively leverage the information conveyed by temporal cues to mitigate impulsive response tendencies. However, the benefits of temporal cues on impulse control started to diminish from 7 years of age, when children begin to show more mature inhibitory patterns. Nevertheless, by 11 years of age children achieve performance comparable to that of adults, with faster responses to compatible targets and impulsive responses to incompatible targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Experimental Child Psychology is the property of Academic Press Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1016/j.jecp.2025.106224
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Age groups
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      – SubjectFull: Adults
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Control (Psychology)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Performance in children
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Predicting time, shaping control: Unveiling age-related effects of temporal predictability on the dynamics of cognitive control in 5- to 14-year-old children.
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            NameFull: Korolczuk, Inga
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            NameFull: Burle, Boris
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            NameFull: Senderecka, Magdalena
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            NameFull: Coull, Jennifer T.
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              M: 07
              Text: Jul2025
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              Y: 2025
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