ABSTRACT
In addition to studying the impact o f age, we also examined the role o f sex and parent education level in the development o f attentional and EFs . Sex differences, i n general, favored girls-a finding that has been reported also by Pascualvaca et al. (1997). In our study, girls were superior on subtests o f inhibition, on the more complex tasks o f selective attention, and on the verbal fluency tasks. O n the Statue subtest, girls made fewer errors in the age group 3 to 5 years. A t 6 years, boys performed as wel l as girls, and after this age no sex differences were found. It seems that inhibition and impulse control mature earlier in girls, but boys catch up wi th girls at age 6. The fact that boys need more motor activity and often spend less time on task-oriented activities at preschool age can easily be observed in everyday life. However, school-age boys should have as good inhibitory skills as girls do. D i f f i - culties in selective attention and in the ability to concentrate at school age, in both girls and boys, probably are more related to developmental attentional disorders than to maturational lag o f inhibitory skills.
