This article presents two studies investigating the role of executive functioning in written text comprehension in children and adolescents. In a first study, the involvement of executive functions in reading comprehension performance was examined in normally developing children in fifth grade. Two aspects of text comprehension were…

The present study explored the bidirectional and longitudinal associations between executive function (EF) and early academic skills (math and literacy) across four waves of measurement during the transition from preschool to kindergarten using two complementary analytical approaches: cross-lagged panel modeling and latent growth curve modeling…

A classroom randomized trial (n = 31 classrooms) was conducted using the Second Step Early Learning (SSEL) curriculum compared to usual curricula. Head Start and community preschool classrooms enrolling low income children were randomly assigned to deliver SSEL (n = 16) or usual curricula (n = 15). Data are reported for four year olds…

Fluid reasoning shares a large part of its variance with working memory capacity (WMC). The literature on working memory (WM) suggests that the capacity of the focus of attention responsible for simultaneous maintenance and integration of information within WM, as well as the effectiveness of executive control exerted over WM, determines…

This study had two aims. The first aim was to measure mental state understanding in institution-reared children by using a theory of mind (ToM) scale, and to examine the role of cultural context in sequencing of ToM acquisition. The other aim was to investigate ToM in relation to social competence and executive function (EF). Due to its pronounced…

Children typically hold very optimistic views of their own skills but so far, only a few studies have investigated possible correlates of the ability to predict performance accurately. Therefore, this study examined the role of individual differences in performance estimation accuracy as a global metacognitive index for different monitoring and…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the acute dose-response relationship of classroom exercise breaks with executive function and math performance in 9- to 12-year-old children by comparing 5-min, 10-min, or 20-min classroom exercise breaks to 10 min of sedentary classroom activity. Method: This study used a within-subjects…

Executive control (EC) develops rapidly during the preschool years and is central to academic achievement and functional outcome. Although children with perinatal adversity are at known risk for EC impairments, little is known about the underlying nature of these impairments or the mechanisms that contribute to their development over time. Drawing…

Research indicates that educational, economic, and life success reflect children's nonacademic as well as academic competencies. Therefore, longitudinal surveys that assess educational progress and success need to incorporate nonacademic measures to avoid omitted variable bias, inform development of new intervention strategies, and support…

Transitional kindergarten--the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for California children born between September 2 and December 2--is intended to better prepare young five-year-olds for kindergarten and ensure a strong start to their educational career. The goal of this study was to measure the success of the program by determining the…

Transitional kindergarten--the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for California children born between September 2 and December 2--is intended to better prepare young five-year-olds for Kindergarten and ensure a strong start to their educational career. The goal of this study was to measure the success of the program by determining the…

The study aimed to examine whether Kurdish-Persian early Bilingual university students (EBL) and Persian Monolingual university students (ML) differ on tasks of executive function (EF). Thirty male EBL and 30 male ML students from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad completed a Persian Stroop Color-Word task (SCWT), Backward Digit Span Test (BDST),…

The study investigated sequence learning from stochastic feedback in boys with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and typically developed (TD) boys. We asked boys with ASD from Nigeria and the UK as well as age- and gender-matched controls (also males only) to deduce a sequence of four left and right button presses, LLRR, RRLL, LRLR, RLRL, LRRL and…

This longitudinal study was conducted to determine (a) the rate of co-occurrence of reading disabilities (RDs) in a writing disability (WD) population of students followed from first grade to fourth grade and (b) the cognitive burden that is assumed by having a WD and a RD (WD + RD). The sample included 137 first-grade students from a single…

Introduction: This study explored the variables of executive functioning (EF) that permitted the evaluation of EF both at home and at school. The objective was to compare the results of the evaluations of these functions in children aged 5 to 6 years, and see to what extent these variables predicted mathematics performance best. Method: Sixty-six…