Abstract
"Inhibition of return" refers to increased response latency when the target in a location discrimination task appears in the same location on consecutive trials. Participants in this study were 20 four-year olds and 24 five-year olds. In the experiment, the children's task was to press a left or right button in response to a stimulus displayed on a computer screen. Inhibition of return was observed at least among 4 year-olds on an intentional manual response task. In addition, inhibition of return was stronger when the task was more difficult. The data suggest that inhibition of return begins to function early during the development of behavioral regulation, and that implicit processes are important for the development of human systems of self-regulation.
