Interference suppression, but not response inhibition, relates to academic achievement and schooling skills¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (3 entries) · associational r1 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2011 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 3 of 3 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 Reaction-time interference suppression scores correlate negatively with average grades (r = -.37), math (r = -.39), and literacy (r = -.36). → Checa 2011 q3 i? Response inhibition scores showed no significant correlations with intelligence or any school competence measures. → Checa 2011 (2) q3 i3 ERP interference suppression amplitude correlates negatively with math grades (r = -.42) and several schooling skills, while ERP response inhibition correlates with none. → Checa 2011 (3)

Evidence¶

Checa 2011¶

Checa, P., & Rueda, M. R. (2011). Behavioral and Brain Measures of Executive Attention and School Competence in Late Childhood. Developmental Neuropsychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/87565641.2011.591857

q3 · i3 · associational · r1

Correlations between flanker-task interference suppression RT difference scores and school grades in 37 children. Larger interference effects (poorer suppression) related to poorer achievement, with the study reporting scores "negatively related to the average of school grades."

"We also found that the RT IS score (ISRT) was negatively related to the average of school grades and grades in mathematics and literacy (r =− .37; p < .05, r =− .39; p < .01 and r =− .36; p < .05, respectively)."

Checa 2011 (2)¶

Checa, P., & Rueda, M. R. (2011). Behavioral and Brain Measures of Executive Attention and School Competence in Late Childhood. Developmental Neuropsychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/87565641.2011.591857

q3 · i? · associational · r1

Response inhibition was measured as percentage of commission errors in No-Go trials. The study reports no significant correlations between RI and intelligence or school competence variables; equivalence was not tested.

"Nonetheless, we did not obtain significant correlations between the RI measure and neither intelligence nor any of the variables related to school competence."

Checa 2011 (3)¶

Checa, P., & Rueda, M. R. (2011). Behavioral and Brain Measures of Executive Attention and School Competence in Late Childhood. Developmental Neuropsychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/87565641.2011.591857

q3 · i3 · associational · r1

ERP interference suppression scores (incongruent minus congruent amplitude, 460–760 ms) correlated with math grades and schooling skills in 27 children with usable EEG data. The study reports the score "negatively correlated with grades in mathematics."

"The ERP-IS score was negatively correlated with grades in mathematics (r =− .42; p < .05), as well as Rule Following ( r =− .39; p < .05), Student-role Understanding scores ( r =− .47; p < .05), and the average of all schooling skills ( r =− .39; p < .05)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Executive Function — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Effortful control positively predicts academic achievement and schooling skills in twelve-year-old children — related
• Flanker task produces congruency effects in reaction time and accuracy in twelve-year-old children — related
• ERP interference suppression amplitude predicts mathematics grades even after controlling for fluid intelligence — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Smaller response-time differences between incongruent and congruent trials (better inhibition) correlate with higher mathematics scores — related
• Dot comparison performance no longer predicts mathematics achievement once inhibition skill is accounted for, but inhibition explains variance over and above dot comparison — related
• Inhibitory control did not relate to adolescents' communicative perspective-taking — related
• Inhibition/interference, working memory and processing speed correlate with adolescent academic achievement, while cognitive flexibility and social skills do not — related
• In toddlerhood, interference suppression correlates with expressive vocabulary after controlling for age, whereas response inhibition does not — related
• Response inhibition shows a small negative association with reading fluency (r = −.15) in a single study — related
• The set of executive-function and intelligence predictors of academic achievement differs across Grades 2, 4, and 6, with EF contributions appearing cumulative as students get older — related
• Better response inhibition (complex No-Go accuracy) is associated with longer reaction times on counterintuitive misconception trials, not better performance — related
• Associations between inhibition and word reading are task-dependent, ranging from negligible to large (r = .59) — related
• The correlation between dot comparison performance and children's mathematics achievement is driven by incongruent, not congruent, trials — related
• Cool EF (Stroop inhibition and CNT cognitive flexibility) predicts academic performance, while no hot EF variable does — related
• Early interference suppression, but not response inhibition, correlates with emergent literacy measures in both 4–5- and 5–6-year-old subsamples — related
• Interference suppression assessed at 28–36 months is the only significant predictor of early orthographic knowledge at 4–6 years in the full regression model — related
• Interference inhibition correlates more strongly with mathematical ability than response inhibition — related