Changes in pro- and anti-saccade performance in 315 children from age eight to fourteen

Healthy development of executive functioning in early adolescence is an important aspect of cognitive maturation, predicting academic success and overall well-being. Anti-saccade tasks are established measures of executive functioning. We report on data from a unique sample of 315 children, each measured twice in the age range of 8–14 years, on the anti- and pro-saccade task as a developmental marker of executive function during this period in cognitive maturation. Saccadic reaction times on both tasks were progressively shorter for older ages, with the most pronounced differences between the ages of 8 to 10 years. Accuracy did not improve for the pro-saccade task (at ceiling for all ages), whereas a substantial improvement in accuracy was observed in the anti-saccade task with age. This improvement was mainly due to a decrease in regular errors (SRT ≥ 140 ms after target onset), whereas express errors SRT < 140 ms after target onset) decreased only slightly with age. Overall, we highlight the anti-saccade task as a useful tool for observing cognitive maturation during (pre-) adolescence.