DEVELOPMENTAL-CHANGES IN THE INHIBITION OF PREVIOUSLY RELEVANT INFORMATION

This study examined whether developmental differences exist in the abi lity to suppress irrelevant information that has entered working memor y. Second graders, sixth graders, and young adults (M ages = 7.5, 11.7 , and 22.4 years, respectively) were asked to provide the ending for a series of sentences that highly constrained a terminal noun (e.g., '' He mailed the letters without any stamps.''). Responses to filler sent ences were confirmed with the anticipated ending, whereas responses to critical sentences were disconfirmed with an unexpected ending (e.g., help). In either case, participants were instructed to remember the t erminal noun (target) that was presented to them. Using another senten ce-completion task, memory for both disconfirmed and target nouns was measured implicitly in terms of priming effects. Children, particularl y second graders, showed priming effects with disconfirmed nouns, wher eas young adults exhibited priming effects only with the target nouns. These results are consistent with the view that there are development al differences in the ability to inhibit irrelevant information (Bjork lund & Harnishfeger, 1990; Hasher & Zacks, 1988). (C) 1997 Academic Pr ess.