Contributions of Working Memory and Inhibition to Cognitive Flexibility in Nigerian Adolescents

This study used a novel approach that combined the latency and accuracy scores to examine the relative involvement of inhibition and working memory in two measures of cognitive flexibility – mixing cost and switch cost in 110 Nigerian adolescents. Results showed that inhibition was significantly associated with switch cost. On the other hand, working memory was negatively associated with mixing cost. These findings support the assumption that cognitive flexibility skills are dependent on inputs from inhibition and working memory processes. Inhibition is involved in the deactivation of irrelevant stimuli during switching trials while working memory is essential to maintain the current rule in sets that require no shifting.