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Efficiency of responding to unexpected information varies with sex, age, and pubertal development in early adolescence
Author(s) -
Brumback Ty,
Arbel Yael,
Donchin Emanuel,
Goldman Mark S.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2012.01444.x
Subject(s) - psychology , psychosocial , developmental psychology , cognition , event related potential , latency (audio) , information processing , adolescent development , cognitive psychology , neuroscience , psychiatry , electrical engineering , engineering
Entry into adolescence is marked by dramatic changes resulting from a dynamic interplay among biological and psychosocial processes. Despite the complexity, development is often indexed only by age in event‐related potential ( ERP ) studies. To broaden this approach, we address the effects of gender and pubertal development, along with age, in adolescents using a psychophysiological probe of decision making, the P 300 component. Overall, girls exhibited shorter P 300 latencies and smaller P 300 amplitudes compared to boys, suggesting more efficient information processing. In both genders, P 300 latency and amplitude also diminished as age and pubertal status increased, again suggesting increasing efficiency of information processing with development. Our findings highlight the necessity of considering more than age when examining cognitive functioning in adolescents and, in particular, the necessity of considering gender whenever developmental issues are addressed.