Age-related development trajectories of components of mental functions in children 4-17 years old

The present paper is dedicated to the problem of age-related changes in features of neuropsychological development. The sample consisted of 922 conditionally healthy subjects ranging from 4 to 17 years of age, comprising 603 boys and 319 girls. The study participants underwent neuropsychological diagnostics using the psychometric battery “Multifactorial Investigation of Neuropsychological Development” (MIND). The assessment was conducted in two psychological centres in Moscow, Russia. Trajectories of growth for 22 components of mental functions and the general level of development were obtained. This article examines the peculiarities of curve fitting using polynomials, Gompertz, Verhulst, and Schmalhausen-Brody functions. The study reveals that components of mental functions develop at different rates. Some of them complete their growth during the adolescence, while others continue to increase after the age of 18.