Inhibitory control and memory guided planning during early childhood.

Flexibly using memories to guide planning behavior is critical for typical functioning, yet little is known of how this ability emerges and the mechanisms supporting performance. The current study examined children's ability to generalize during memory-guided planning in a sample of 76 preschoolers (24 2-year-olds, M = 32.21 months, SD = 2.21, 12 girls; 27 3-year-olds, M = 41.37 months, SD = 3.50, 17 girls; and 25 4-year-olds, M = 54.64 months, SD = 3.29, 6 girls). Results suggested that 3 and 4-year-olds can flexibly apply a memory from one context to another, while 2-year-olds struggle to generalize. Further, individual differences in inhibitory control predicted performance during memory-guided planning, providing a potential mechanism supporting its early development.