Hot and cool response inhibition abilities develop linearly from late childhood to young adulthood

Abstract Inhibitory control involves different types of inhibition processes, such as interference control and response inhibition. In an affectively neutral context, both inhibition processes develop linearly with age. In an affectively charged context, however, the development of these inhibition processes is still debated, and no study has investigated the development of the ability to inhibit an initiated motor response, such as in a stop signal task (SST), from late childhood to young adulthood. We asked children, adolescents and young adults to perform a cool or a hot version of the SST using neutral or emotional nonverbal vocalizations as stop signals. We showed that cool and hot response inhibition abilities develop linearly from late childhood to young adulthood. The development of this ability in an affectively charged context appears to be more protracted than in a neutral one. Exerting response inhibition in an affectively charged context is more challenging than in a neutral context especially during adolescence.