Inhibitory Control Predicts Grammatical Ability.

ABSTRACT: We present evidence that individual variation in grammatical ability can be predicted by individual variation in inhibitory control. We tested 81 5-year-olds using two classic tests from linguistics and psychology (Past Tense and the Stroop). Inhibitory control was a better predicator of grammatical ability than either vocabulary or age. Our explanation is that giving the correct response in both tests requires using a common cognitive capacity to inhibit unwanted competition. The implications are that understanding the developmental trajectory of language acquisition can benefit from integrating the developmental trajectory of non-linguistic faculties, such as executive control.

SUBMITTER: Ibbotson P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4682623 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature