The authors examined task-based (i.e., executive function), surveyed (i.e., effortful control), and physiological (i.e., resting cardiac respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) measures of child and maternal regulation as distinct moderators of longitudinal bidirectional links between child externalizing (EXT) behaviors and harsh parenting (HP) from 6…

Interpersonal Skills (ISs) and Executive Functions (EFs) are two groups of skills which are extremely relevant for children's cognitive, social and psychological development. As well as being interrelated, both can be modulated by other variables such as intelligence or sex. Many studies have tried to establish the relationship between them, but…

Dysexecutive syndrome has been consistently reported in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Particularly, impairments have been documented in working memory, inhibition, and mental flexibility. However, the relationship between executive impairments and intellectual functioning is far from clear in this population. This…

The current study investigated the effects of metacognitive and executive function (EF) training on childhood EF (inhibition, working memory [WM], cognitive flexibility, and proactive/reactive control) and academic skills (reading, reasoning, and math) among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Children (N = 134, M[subscript age] = 8.70 years)…

Children develop their language capacities and executive functions (EF) throughout their school-aged years. Research has shown that bilingual children show different patterns of EF performance when compared to their monolingual counterparts. However, it is less clear how variations in children's multilingual experiences associate with variation in…

Item recognition and temporal order memory follow different developmental trajectories during middle childhood, with item recognition performance stabilizing and temporal order memory performance continuing to improve. We investigated the potential unique role of individual executive functions on item recognition and temporal order memory during…

This study examined the longitudinal associations of various executive function components with subsequent psychiatric problems in Chinese school-age children. Data from 1,639 children (44.36% girls) ages 6-13 years were drawn from the Children School Functions and Brain Development project. Executive function components were assessed by the…

Executive functions (EFs) are an umbrella term that includes various cognitive abilities (such as inhibition, planning, goal-setting, monitoring, and shifting). There is common agreement that there are three main EFs: inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. Further studies have reported that compared to typically developing…

This study analyzes the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-Learning Potential (WCST-LP) in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) versus children with typical development (TD). Its main aim was to assess: the test's construct validity; the effect of IQ on its pretest and LP scores; and whether the WCST-LP held any relationship to cognitive/EF and…

Objectives: The aim of the study is to distinguish between perceptuomotor and cognitive inflexibility as the source of set-switching difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Seventeen adolescents with ASD and 17 neurotypical controls were presented with a computerized sequencing game using colored shapes. The sequence…

The present study evaluated: (1) the effects of two training programs designed for promoting Theory of Mind (ToM) skills in children aged 7/8; and (2) the relations between second-order recursive thinking (II-order-RT), advanced-ToM (Adv_ToM) and metacognition. Ninety-one 7- to 8-year-old children were assigned to one of three training conditions:…

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to make inferences about mental states. Thus far, little research has examined ToM development in middle childhood. Importantly, recent studies have distinguished between making inferences about beliefs (cognitive ToM) and emotions (affective ToM). ToM has also been associated with executive functioning,…

Detecting a pattern within a sequence of ordered units, defined as patterning, is a cognitive ability that is important in learning mathematics and influential in learning to read. The present study was designed to examine relations between first-grade children's executive functions, patterning, and reading abilities, and to examine whether these…

This study investigated the involvement of inner speech limitations in the executive dysfunction associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Seventeen children with ASD and 18 controls, statistically-matched in age and IQ, performed a computer-based card sorting test (CST) to assess cognitive flexibility under four conditions: baseline, with…

This study examined the effects of a 12-week physical activity intervention on the motor skill proficiency and executive function of 22 boys (aged 9.08 ± 1.75 years) with autism spectrum disorder. In Phase I of the 12 weeks, 11 boys with autism spectrum disorder (Group A) received the intervention, whereas the other 11 boys with autism spectrum…