A new inhibition task for young children: The “Real Size Animal” task

In neuropsychology, inhibition deficits underlie a variety of cognitive and behavioural dysfunctions and are reported in numerous developmental and acquired disorders (such as Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders–ADHD). Despite a large body of literature regarding inhibition functioning in adult’s neuropsychology, developmental studies on inhibition remained for a long time scarce. Furthermore, most inhibition tools were originally developed for adults and
are of limited interest in children – particularly in pre-school children. In this study, we present a new computerized measure of inhibition suitable to young children. This task includes three conditions. The two first conditions assess speed processing and require children to decide quickly, by pressing a response-key, [1] the real size of animals (bird =small) and [2] the on screen size of black rectangles (big or small). The third condition measures inhibition and requires deciding the real size of animals displayed in congruent (big elephant) or incongruent size (big bird) on the screen. Sixty children without neurological disorders and twelve ADHD children aged from 4 to 10 took part in this study. Our aims were to examine the developmental curve of inhibition abilities and to determine the task’s sensitivity in ADHD children. Results show that this task is particularly suitable to preschooler children and provides a good measure of inhibition development (p<.01). Furthermore, this task appears sensitive to inhibition’s disturbances in ADHD children (p<.05). In conclusion, these preliminary results support the validity of this measure to assess inhibition control in young children and its clinical interest in ADHD children.