Perspective-taking plays an important role in daily life, allowing consideration of other people's perspectives and viewpoints. This study used a large sample of 265 community-based participants (aged 20-86 years) to examine changes in perspective-taking abilities--a component of "Theory of Mind"--across adulthood, and how these changes…

Background: Academic challenges such as losing/not turning in assignments, misplacing materials, and inefficient studying are common in middle-school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability. Deficits in organization, planning, prioritizing, memory/materials management, and studying skills [i.e. academic…

The present study presents the first attempt at investigating long-term mindfulness training in pre-adolescence, adopting an integrative neurodevelopmental approach. Pupils with an established mindfulness practice (n=33) were compared with mindfulness-inexperienced pupils (n=20) on dispositional mindfulness, executive functioning (EF), emotion…

Social decision making is often challenging for autistic individuals. Twenty autistic adolescents made decisions in the socially interactive context of a one-shot ultimatum game, and performance was compared to a large matched typical reference sample. Theory of mind, executive functioning and emotion regulation were measured via direct…

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate dual-task performance in children who stutter (CWS) and those who do not to investigate if the groups differed in the ability to attend and allocate cognitive resources effectively during task performance. Method: Participants were 24 children (12 CWS) in both groups matched for age and sex.…

Emerging evidence suggests interventions can improve childhood self-regulation. One intervention approach that has shown promise is Taekwondo martial arts instruction, though little is known about its acceptability among stakeholders or its mechanisms of effect. We extend evidence on Taekwondo interventions in three ways: (1) testing the efficacy…

Previous research findings indicate that young children from East Asia outperform their counterparts from Europe and North America on executive function (EF) tasks. However, very few cross-national studies have focused on EF development during middle childhood. The current study assessed the EF performance of 170 children in grades 2 and 4 from…

Studies of executive function (EF) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have reported mixed findings. Possible confounds include EF domain assessed and co-occurring neurodevelopmental diagnoses. EF task performance across multiple domains and everyday function of autistic adults (n = 110) was significantly different to age- and IQ-matched controls (n…

Reading comprehension ability relies heavily on executive function skills which can be improved with selective interventions. Cognitively engaging physical activity promotes executive function acquisition and may be helpful to improving reading ability. However, unfamiliar and potentially stressful interventions may be counterproductive to these…

Background: Verbal fluency tasks are included in a broad range of aphasia assessments. It is well documented that people with aphasia (PWA) produce fewer items in these tasks. Successful performance on verbal fluency relies on the integrity of both linguistic and executive control abilities. It remains unclear if limited output in aphasia is…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether preschoolers with primary language impairment (PLI) show deficits in executive function (EF) compared with their peers with typical development (TD) when inhibition, updating, and mental-set shifting are examined using both linguistically based and visually based tasks. Method: Twenty-two…

This study investigated the effects of bilingualism on set-shifting and working memory in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Bilinguals with ASD were predicted to display a specific bilingual advantage in set-shifting, but not working memory, relative to monolinguals with ASD. Forty 6- to 9-year-old children participated (20 ASD, 20…

The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on preschool children's school readiness skills remains understudied. This research investigates Head Start preschool children's early numeracy, literacy, and executive function outcomes during a pandemic-affected school year, using a novel virtual assessment methodology. Study children (N = 336; mean age = 51…

The present study had two aims. First, we set out to evaluate the structure of processing speed in children by comparing five alternative models: two conceptual models (a unitary model, a complexity model) and three methodological models (a stimulus material model, an output response model, and a timing modality model). Second, we then used the…

Background: Recent studies indicate that parent education programs that include content to enhance parents' mental states may prove efficacious in improving parenting behavior and child outcomes. Objective: This study presents findings from a national evaluation of the "Active Parenting First Five Years" (FFY) program. This group-based…