These studies have concluded that performance on tasks of memory known to rely on the medial temporal lobes develops during early childhood. However, performance on tasks of executive functions, such as problem solving and strategy use, continues to develop through childhood and into adolescence. Further evidence of the role of memory and executive functions in visual associate learning, as well as their differential developmental rates, was provided by modulating the difficulty level of a visual associate Torin 1 learning task in children aged 5-12 years old. The NBMT-CV included both an exposure trial during which the children were exposed to the to-be-remembered objects followed by learning trials of increasing task difficulty during which the children learned the object-location associations. At the lower difficulty level, no differences were noted between age groups. Conversely, 5-6 year olds consistently performed more poorly than the older children at the higher difficulty level. This was interpreted to indicate that memory was largely developed by 5-6 years old while differences in performance between age groups at the higher difficulty level were attributable to continued development of executive functions. In sum, the CPAL is a novel measure of visual paired associate learning that allows for the classification of different types of errors made during learning. This allows for the measurement of different cognitive processes, in particular memory and executive functions. Additionally, by varying the memory load of the task, it is also possible to obtain an estimate of working memory capacity. The CPAL is the first task that allows for the investigation of the different component processes of associate learning within the same task. Therefore, our study is the first to provide an understanding of how maturation in memory, executive functions and working memory capacity operate to form the foundation for maturation in visual paired associate learning. These data also provide neuropsychologists and psychologists with new information that can assist with their interpretation of poor visual associate learning in school aged children. Several limitations of this study should be acknowledged. First, although the current data indicate that changes in performance on visual paired associate learning tasks through early to middle childhood are influenced by cognitive processes that have different developmental trajectories, a prospective study is needed to fully elucidate the developmental course of these cognitive processes. Second, in order to establish the validity of the CPAL as a measure of associate learning in children, it is necessary to examine the extent to which wellvalidated neuropsychological measures of memory correlate with performance on the CPAL, as well as how children with memory disorders perform on this task. Studies examining performance on the CPAL in older adults with MCI or AD and in healthy adults challenged.