Abstract
Executive functions are defined as cognitive regulatory mechanisms and
processes that are unique to humans. Extensive research has been
conducted to comprehend the factors that influence these functions, the
most important of which is age, which correlates with varying executive
function performance. However, no research has examined and compared the
performance of different age groups on the basic executive functions
(inhibition, updating, and shifting) among the Iranian population. The
present study used computerized tasks to address this gap by examining
individuals aged 16 to 59. Ten distinct age groups were assigned to a
total of 479 participants (51% females) using the quota sampling method
and compared using the one-way analysis of variance. The analysis
revealed that for the inhibition component, there was a significant
difference between the scores of the ten age groups on the stop signal
and antisaccade tasks but no significant difference on the Stroop task.
In addition, also there was a significant difference between the scores
of updating component but not for the shifting component. The findings
suggest that although the performance of individuals in the Shifting
component remains constant from youth to adulthood, youth performance
growth in the inhibition and updating component of executive functions
is on the rise and reaches a peak in participants aged 20 to 24 before
declining slightly until the end of adulthood. Limitations and future
direction are discussed.