ERIC Number: EJ1468614
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-May
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1363-755X
EISSN: EISSN-1467-7687
Available Date: 2025-03-16
Child Vocabulary and Developmental Growth in Executive Functions during Toddlerhood
Developmental Science, v28 n3 e70010 2025
Executive functions (EFs) emerge in the first years of life and are essential for many areas of child development. However, intraindividual developmental trajectories of EF during toddlerhood and their associations with ongoing development of language skills remain poorly understood. The present three-wave study examined these trajectories and their associations with language skills. Child EF and vocabulary were assessed around 13, 19, and 28 months of age in a sample of 145 toddlers (51% boys) from mostly White families. At each time point, mothers reported on child receptive and expressive vocabulary, and EF were assessed with three behavioral tasks targeting inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. Multilevel growth models revealed that toddlerhood is a period of significant developmental growth in child inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. The findings also provide evidence for a sustained relation between toddlers' language skills and their ongoing acquisition of inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. This study offers novel insight into intraindividual developmental changes in EF during toddlerhood and the role of language in these meaningful, though neglected, changes.
Descriptors: Executive Function, Toddlers, Child Development, Language Acquisition, Language Skills, Short Term Memory, Adoption (Ideas), Inhibition
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1School of Psychology, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada; 2Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada