Executive functions are a type of high-level mental functions that are easily affected by aging, although they take a long time to develop. When seen from the perspective of the lifetime, executive functions seem to be hardly consolidated and easily deteriorate. Moreover, it is considered that they are affected by various developmental disorders. This study examined the development and decline of executive functions mainly from the perspective of “inhibition of responses.” Firstly, the characteristics of executive functions are discussed from the standpoint of predictability, malleability, and correlation. Inhibitory functions, which are considered the most fundamental factors of executive functions, are examined in relation to other functions, and previous studies that classified inhibition into different types are introduced. Secondly, various problems of executive functions seen in typical and atypical development are reviewed. Thirdly, relevant studies on social, linguistic, and experiential factors, are introduced, by explaining that each factor is essential for the development of inhibitory functions. Finally, future issues for studies in the development of inhibitory functions are discussed.

One of the main functions of working memory involves keeping in mind a plan and purpose during a task. Learning is a purpose-oriented activity and supported by the function of working memory. Working memory is measured through tasks a participant is required to memorize and manage using speech or visual-spatial information. The capacity of working memory increases linearly from infancy to adolescence. However, students with developmental disorders could have some issues with working memory for different reasons. As working memory is the main factor supporting learning language and mathematics, students with issues related to working memory would also have issues concerning learning language and mathematics. Many researchers now believe that training in working memory is fruitless. Therefore, it is important to recognize the characteristics of children with specific developmental issues by assessing working memory and providing appropriate support

This article reviews recent advances of research on neural basis of the development of executive function (EF). EF refers to the ability to control thought, action, and emotion. Recently, a framework of hot/cool distinction in EF has been proposed. According to this framework, hot EF includes processes elicited under affective conditions, such as a delay of gratification, which is in contrast to cool EF that works in neutral, non-affective situations such as cognitive shifting. In this article, I first reviewed the behavioral development of both aspects of EF. Then, the neural basis of hot and cool EF in adults was introduced. Specifically, the lateral prefrontal cortex and the reward system are related to hot EF whereas the lateral prefrontal cortex and the posterior parietal cortex are related to cool EF. Finally, I introduce children's and adolescent's studies about the neural basis of the development of hot and cool EF and its disorders.

Our daily life is composed of several sequential actions that we perform routinely. When children start to learn the action sequences of morning preparation in their kindergarten school, executive functions are needed to control their behaviours. As they repeatedly perform the sequences, they will acquire the routines and come to perform the morning preparation without top-down control. However, the deviations from the acquired routines potencially make them control their bahviours again. As with this example, both excutive funtions and routines mutually shape our goal-directed behaviours. This article aimed to the cognitive processes underlying the performance of goal-directed behaviours in young children, from the viewpoint of the relationships between executive functions and the acquisition of routines. We reviewed developmental evidence about the association of executie functions with routines in both infants and preschoolers. Based on the review, we proposed the complementary relationships between executive functions and routines in preschoolers, which was not true of infants. Finally, we discussed the theoretical impact of our proposal on the previous studies about executive functions and working memory training.

Intelligent behavior relies on the ability to activate task-relevant information as well as the ability to suppress task-irrelevant information. Although inhibitory processes have been largely overlooked within the field of intelligence, there is a growing interest in inhibition, with studies suggesting its important role in executive functions. Inhibition is not a unitary function; rather, it is a multifaceted function including inhibition at the input, intermediate, and output stages of information processing. Previous studies suggest that various types of inhibition develop largely during school-age. Moreover, inhibitory deficits have been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disorder, and intellectual disability. Given the relationship between inhibitory deficits and difficulties in academic performance and in the daily lives of children with neurodevelopmental disorders, inhibition is presumed to be an important factor for intelligent behaviors. Further investigations are necessary to elucidate the developmental mechanism of inhibition and facilitate intervention in children with weak inhibitory control.

In multitasking situations, flexible switching between tasks is required for reaching goals correctly and efficiently. The executive function underpinning this type of mental flexibility is called the shifting function, which is measured traditionally using the Wisconsin card sorting test. More recently, the task-switching paradigm was developed to measure this function. This article reviews studies that used the task-switching paradigm and addresses the cognitive processes that underlie task-switching performance in adolescents and adults. First, the various experimental protocols of task switching and the cognitive processes that are involved in task-switching performance are reviewed. Second, the specific aspects of the cognitive processes of mental flexibility that develop during adolescence are discussed. Finally, the cognitive issues of mental flexibility in autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are considered. The task-switching paradigm has provided new insights into the development (and disorder) of mental flexibility, and fine-grained experimental manipulations have led to a deeper understanding of the cognitive processes involved in this mental mechanism.

This article challenges the concept of an aging effect on inhibition as reflected in cognitive tasks and proposes a measurement metric other than task performance for measuring inhibition. In general, the stimulus–response compatibility paradigm is used to measure inhibition on the cognitive tasks. In this paradigm, inhibition is indicated by the compatibility effect, measured by the difference between performance under conflict and that under non-conflict conditions. An increase in the compatibility effect reflects a decrease in inhibition. Previous studies have suggested that inhibition decreases with aging due to decreased executive function. However, comparisons of young adults' and elderly adults' task performance have been inconsistent. This article first explains how the compatibility effect arises from the stimulus–response compatibility paradigm and describes how inhibition is reflected in various tasks. Next, studies on the aging effect in each task are reviewed. Finally, the present article proposes a novel method to examine the aging effect on inhibition that does not relay on measures of task performance such as reaction time and error rate.

Working memory plays a central role in the learning of language and mathematics, and children with learning disorders often have problems in working memory. It is important to find out students with a problem in working memory and make an intervention for them as early as possible. Therefore, in this study, we made working memory tests that students at elementary and junior high school could conduct with a computer in a group. The working memory tests were composed of eight tasks, each two of which assessed four dimensions of working memory: verbal short-term, verbal working, visuo-spatial short-term, and viso-spatial working memories. The scores of the tests were highly correlated with those of AWMA (Alloway, 2007), and the WM Rating Scale（Alloway, Gathercole, & Kirkwood, 2009）. Students attending public elementary and junior high school located around Japan conducted the tests, and we analyzed the data. The data did not fit the model supposing an independent factor of the central executive, but fit the model with only verbal and visual factors. The tests we made seemed to reflect the function of the central executive highly.

Previous research indicates that working memory is closely related to learning, and that children with developmental disorders often have problems in working memory. In this study, we assessed the working memory of 372 elementary and junior high school students with some difficulties of learning on the web. We analyzed the relationships between the domains of learning difficulties and the dimensions of working memory: a verbal short-term memory, a verbal working memory, a visuo-spatial short-term memory, and a visuo-spatial working memory. A low score of each dimension of working memory has significant relations with the learning of specific skills and knowledge in Japanese and mathematics. Children with learning difficulties did not necessarily have poor working memory. Some children seemed to have the difficulties of learning because of poor working memory, some did because of the characteristics of disorders, and others did because of the interaction of both poor working memory and the characteristics of disorders.

Reading and writing are basic skills for learning. Research has revealed that working memory is related to learning these skills. In Study 1, we developed an assessment test for working memory and administered it to first graders at the start of primary school. The test comprised non-word comparison tasks that assessed verbal working memory and visual array comparison tasks that evaluated visuospatial working memory. Children with scores below the 10th percentile obtained higher ratings on the Working Memory Rating Scale and lower scores in phonological awareness skills than children with scores above the 10th percentile. This reveals the validity of the test. In Study 2, we proposed that the first graders' assessment test scores would predict these children's reading and writing performance 1–2 years later. The working memory assessment test was expected to help identify and support children who may experience future difficulties in reading and writing.

Understanding how to enhance children's danger perception is one of the most important challenges in developmental psychology. Although the effect of picture-book reading on children's language and social cognitive development has been investigated extensively, it remains unclear whether picture-book reading has an effect within the context of crime prevention. We examined if picture-book reading would improve the ability to recognize dangerous situations in 4- to 6-year-old children. We also explored the relationship between tendencies to feel empathy for others and learning effectiveness of picture-book reading. In the study, children were asked what to do when addressed by a stranger and the reasons behind it, both before and after the picture-book reading session. The children proposed more appropriate danger-avoidance behaviors and plausible reasons after the picture-book reading session, and this facilitation effect was greater in older children. Children with higher empathy tended to benefit more from picture-book reading. The developmental changes in the effect of picture-book reading on danger perception and the practical applications of the results are discussed.

Because longitudinal cohort studies involve ongoing relationships between researchers and collaborators, it should be a meaningful experience for all involved. We implemented children's camps emphasizing self-determination from infancy to adolescence, and conducted follow-up with researchers and collaborators. We aimed to develop an exploratory model of this life-span study by (1) exploring the meaning of the experience of the 19 researchers and 20 collaborators, and (2) interpreting the transformation of the relationship between researchers and collaborators when the children became 30 to 50 years of age. Analysis of the researchers' and collaborators' autobiographies and narrative reviews of the camps found that (1) the researchers used self-reflection in order to support the children's self-determination/fulfillment, (2) the collaborators trusted researchers and bonded with peers based on their shared experience of acceptance/fulfillment, which influenced their subsequent lifestyles, and (3) researchers and collaborators developed “equal dialogical relationships” over five distinct periods. These equal relationships were attributed to the role of the researchers, who always reflected, spoke evenly, and interacted with the children. This approach, which sees collaborators also actively constructing equal relationships with researchers, can be used as an exploratory model for life-span longitudinal studies, and for furthering our understanding of collaborative construction of psychological realities.

This study examined the effects of viewing a public television program about child poverty on college students' levels of understanding and social awareness. Thirty-three college students participated in an experiment consisting of three sessions, which were repeated once a week, for three weeks (Times 1 to 3). Each session consisted of (1) watching a different video from a series of programs on child poverty, (2) writing an essay concerning their impressions of and comments on the video, and (3) having a group discussion about the video. The effects of these sessions were assessed by measuring (1) recall of video contents and knowledge of poverty, (2) change in level of understanding of child poverty, evaluated at four levels, (3) change in level of social awareness and approval of children's living necessities, (4) maintenance of knowledge and social awareness at six months post-experiment. Analyses indicated that (1) participants referred to approximately 60% of the video contents, (2) understanding of child poverty increased, (3) social awareness increased, (4) increases in knowledge and social awareness were maintained after six months, with some participants reporting behavioral changes such as new volunteering activities, however, (5) approval of children's living necessities did not change.

Children with autism spectrum disorders are reported to have difficulties in producing and adjusting speech prosody, but there is no comprehensive scale available in Japan that can assess their expressive prosody across different functions. This study developed and tested an assessment scale for the prosodic production skill. Parents of autistic and typically-developing children ranging from 6 to 12 years of age responded to the questionnaire that inquired about their speech characteristics. Factor analysis was conducted on data obtained from 104 respondents, acquiring four factors with 23 question items, namely, vocal naturalness, adjustment for others, speech mimicry and speaker attitude. Analysis of variance revealed that the scores for all the above subscales have significant group differences. Moreover, their total average scores were correlated with the ratings of autistic symptoms and general communication skills but not with age and non-verbal intelligence. These findings suggest that this scale would be useful as the primary assessment tool to recognize the speech profile of autistic children who need a more detailed assessment and clinical support.