FRN latency has received little attention in the developmental literature, with only one study to date addressing ERP latency effects (Zottoli & Grose-Fifer, 2011). This is surprising given that one of the relative strengths of the ERP approach is its temporal resolution. In their study, Zottoli and Grose-Fifer (2011) observed a statistical trend (p = .08), with adults tending to have shorter latencies than adolescents. However their study may not have been sufficiently powered to test for this effect (n = 18 per group). From a developmental perspective, latency differences in feedback processing could provide evidence for changes in processing efficiency across development. In fact, a significant body of data already documents developmental changes in ERP latency (decreases) related to cognitive development (Courchesne, 1978; Friedman, Putnam, & Sutton, 1990; Johnstone, Barry, Anderson, & Coyle, 1996). Thus, in line with this previous work and the trend observed by Zottoli and Grose-Fifer (2011), we might expect to see a decrease in FRN latency across our three age groups, consistent with more rapid feedback processing across development (Handy, 2005).
