ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cognit.
Sec. Learning and Cognitive Development
Chronological Age and Biological Maturity are Separately Positively Associated with Inhibitory Control and Working Memory in Boys and Girls
Provisionally accepted
Luke M. Gilbert*
Ryan A. Williams
John G. Morris
Anna Dunn
Ruth Boat
Karah Dring
Mary Elizabeth Nevill
Simon B. Cooper- Department of Sport Science, School of Science and Technology, Sport, Health and Performance Enhancement Research Centre, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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Executive function is typically considered from a chronological age perspective, despite the influence of biological maturity on executive function development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of chronological age and biological maturity on inhibitory control and working memory, separately in boys and girls (due to sex differences in biological maturation). The study employed a cross-sectional design and, following familiarisation, 736 (400 female) young people (12.3 1.3 years) completed tests of cognitive function on two separate occasions. Participants completed the Stroop test to measure inhibitory control and the Sternberg paradigm to measure working memory. Chronological age and biological maturity (Moore et al., 2015) were calculated for each participant. Linear regression models were performed separately for boys and girls. Two models were fit for each test and level of executive function: a chronological age model (executive function x chronological age) and a biological maturity model (executive function x biological maturity). Higher chronological age and biological maturity were associated with superior performance on inhibitory control and working memory tests. In boys, the biological maturity models were a significantly better fit (vs. chronological age), whilst in girls, the chronological age models were a better fit (vs. biological maturity). This study provides novel evidence that biological maturity is associated with inhibitory control and working memory. Emphasising that future investigations into inhibitory control and working memory in young people should consider biological maturity, especially in boys.
Keywords: cognitive development, Executive Function, maturation, adolescence, Cognition
Received: 23 Jan 2025; Accepted: 19 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gilbert, Williams, Morris, Dunn, Boat, Dring, Nevill and Cooper. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Luke M. Gilbert, luke.gilbert@ntu.ac.uk
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