%0 Generic %A Ibbotson, Paul %A Kearvell-White, Jennifer %D 2015 %T Inhibitory Control Predicts Grammatical Ability %U https://plos.figshare.com/articles/dataset/_Inhibitory_Control_Predicts_Grammatical_Ability_/1624150 %R 10.1371/journal.pone.0145030 %2 https://ordo.open.ac.uk/ndownloader/files/2607818 %2 https://ordo.open.ac.uk/ndownloader/files/2607819 %K Past Tense %K trajectory %K Inhibitory Control %K Inhibitory Control Predicts Grammatical Ability %K ability %K variation %K language acquisition %K executive control %X

We present evidence that individual variation in grammatical ability can be predicted by individual variation in inhibitory control. We tested 81 5-year-olds using two classic tests from linguistics and psychology (Past Tense and the Stroop). Inhibitory control was a better predicator of grammatical ability than either vocabulary or age. Our explanation is that giving the correct response in both tests requires using a common cognitive capacity to inhibit unwanted competition. The implications are that understanding the developmental trajectory of language acquisition can benefit from integrating the developmental trajectory of non-linguistic faculties, such as executive control.

%I PLOS ONE