Go/No-Go and Nebraska Barnyard inhibition and working-memory tasks

Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 4 claims (4 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description

A computerized assessment battery combining a fish/shark Go/No-Go inhibition task and the Nebraska Barnyard complex-span working-memory task for preschool children.

Components

• Go/No-Go and Nebraska Barnyard tasks measuring inhibition and working memory in preschoolers: The Go/No-Go task, adapted from Simpson and Riggs, presents fish (Go, 75% of trials) and sharks (No-Go, 25%) with children pressing a button for fish and withholding for sharks; the percentage of correct No-Go responses indexes "inhibition of the prepotent, more frequent button press response." The Nebraska Barnyard is a computerized complex span task adapted from the Noisy Book in which children remember sequences of animal names and press corresponding colored boxes, with span scored as "the maximum span length (highest span where the subject was correct on two trials)." Both were standardized before entering multilevel models so their effects on costs were directly comparable. (Chevalier N. et al. (2012))

Claims

• Local costs (switch implementation) showed no significant dependence on inhibition or working-memory performance at any of the preschool ages tested [+W]
• Higher inhibition and working-memory scores predict better overall Shape School accuracy at some ages, independent of trial type [+W]
• Perseverators do not differ from non-perseverators in inhibition or working-memory performance at any age [+W]
• Inhibition and working-memory performance are associated with mixing costs (goal representation) at ages 4;6 and 5;3 but not at age 3;9 [+W]

Related Products and Programmes

• Functional Aspects of Working Memory Test (FAWMT)
• Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children - Working Memory (CABC-WM)

Key Sources

• Chevalier N., Sheffield T. D., Nelson J. M., Clark C. A. C., Wiebe S. A., Espy K. A. (2012). Underpinnings of the Costs of Flexibility in Preschool Children: The Roles of Inhibition and Working Memory. Developmental Neuropsychology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3308575/

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	product
id	gono-go-and-nebraska-barnyard-inhibition-and-working-memory-tasks
title	Go/No-Go and Nebraska Barnyard inhibition and working-memory tasks
description	A computerized assessment battery combining a fish/shark Go/No-Go inhibition task and the Nebraska Barnyard complex-span working-memory task for preschool children.
status	review
product_kind	assessment
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-17
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

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