Response interference and working memory in 12-year-old children

A group of 69 12-year-old children performed three well-known response interference tasks: the Stroop task, the Eriksen flanker task, and the Simon task. Individual differences in accuracy and speed correlated across the tasks. However, there was no correlation between the interference effects on these three tasks. Stroop interference, but not the Simon or flanker effect, was correlated with working memory capacity, as obtained from the WISC-R. These results may help clarify the nature of ADHD, which is characterized by problems with response interference.