Cool and hot executive function as predictors of aggression in early childhood: Differentiating between the function and form of aggression

Executive function (EF) has been implicated in childhood aggression. Understanding of the role of EF in aggression has been hindered, however, by the lack of research taking into account the function and form of aggression and the almost exclusive focus on cool EF. This study examined the role of cool and hot EF in teacher reported aggression, differentiating between reactive and proactive as well as physical and relational aggression. Children (N = 106) completed laboratory tasks measuring cool (inhibition, planning, working memory) and hot EF (affective decision‐making, delay of gratification). Cool, but not hot, EF significantly contributed to understanding of childhood aggression. Inhibition was a central predictor of childhood aggression. Planning and working memory, in contrast, were significant independent predictors of proactive relational aggression only. Added to this, prosocial behaviour moderated the relationship between working memory and reactive relational aggression. This study therefore suggests that cool EF, particularly inhibition, is associated with childhood aggression across the different functions and forms.     

Individual differences in executive function partially explain the socioeconomic gradient in middle‐school academic achievement

Children from families with low socioeconomic status (SES) earn lower grades, perform worse on achievement tests, and attain less education on average than their peers from higher‐SES families. We evaluated neurocognitive mediators of SES disparities in achievement in a diverse sample of youth whose data were linked to administrative records of performance on school‐administered tests of 7th grade reading and math proficiency (N = 203). We used structural equation modeling to evaluate whether associations between SES (measured at ages 8–9) and achievement (measured at age 13) are mediated by verbal ability and executive function (measured at age 10), a suite of top‐down mental processes that facilitate control of thinking and behavior. Children from relatively higher‐SES families performed better than their lower‐SES peers on all neurocognitive and achievement measures, and SES disparities in both reading and math achievement were partially mediated by variation in executive function, but not verbal ability. SES disparities in executive function explained approximately 37% of the SES gap in math achievement and 17% of the SES gap in reading achievement. Exploratory modeling suggests that SES‐related variation in working memory may play a particularly prominent role in mediation. We discuss potential implications of these findings for research, intervention programming, and classroom practice.     

Attention and executive functioning in infancy: Links to childhood executive function and reading achievement

This study provides the first analyses connecting individual differences in infant attention to reading achievement through the development of executive functioning (EF) in infancy and early childhood. Five‐month‐old infants observed a video, and peak look duration and shift rate were video coded and assessed. At 10 months, as well as 3, 4, and 6 years, children completed age‐appropriate EF tasks (A‐not‐B task, hand game, forward digit span, backwards digit span, and number Stroop). Children also completed a standardized reading assessment and a measure of verbal intelligence (IQ) at age 6. Path analyses on 157 participants showed that infant attention had a direct statistical predictive effect on EF at 10 months, with EF showing a continuous pattern of development from 10 months to 6 years. EF and verbal IQ at 6 years had a direct effect on reading achievement. Furthermore, EF at all time points mediated the relation between 5‐month attention and reading achievement. These findings may inform reading interventions by suggesting earlier intervention time points and specific cognitive processes (i.e. 5‐month attention).     

Prosocial behavior is related to later executive function during early childhood: A longitudinal study

ABSTRACT

Previous research has shown that executive function is correlated with prosocial behavior during early childhood. Whether early prosocial behaviors were associated with later executive function during preschool years or vice versa was thus examined in a longitudinal design. The prosocial behaviors and executive function of children (N = 64) aged 42 to 65 months were evaluated twice (Times 1 and 2), based on teachers’ reports and children’s performance on hot and cool executive function tasks. Results revealed that prosocial behaviors at Time 1 were associated with later hot executive function at Time 2, but executive function at Time 1 was not related to prosocial behaviors at Time 2. These findings suggest that prosocial behaviors may enhance children’s hot executive function.     

The detrimental effect of academic procrastination on subsequent grades: the mediating role of coping over and above past achievement and working memory capacity

Background: Academic procrastination is common among university students and its effect on their achievement is worrisome. Although procrastination is often depicted as self-regulation failure, research still needs to examine the self-regulatory mechanisms involved in the relationship between procrastination and achievement.

Objectives: In this prospective study, we sought to (a) unravel the unique effect of academic procrastination on university grades, (b) examine the mediating role of task-oriented and disengagement-oriented coping as a self-regulatory pathway toward achievement, (c) control for the potential confounding influence of past achievement and working memory capacity.

Methods: A sample of 258 university students completed self-report measures of academic procrastination and coping, and performed tests of working memory. Their semester grade point average was collected at the end of the semester.

Results: Results of structural equation modeling showed that academic procrastination negatively predicted subsequent academic achievement, even after controlling for high school achievement and working memory capacity. Furthermore, indirect effects revealed that task- and disengagement-oriented coping explained 70% of the total effect.

Conclusion: These findings outline that the effect of academic procrastination cannot be reduced to a history of academic difficulties or limited cognitive ability and that coping plays an important role in the procrastination – achievement relationship.     

Influence of executive functioning difficulties on verbal aggression in adolescents: Moderating effects of winning and losing and increasing and decreasing levels of provocation

We examined the extent to which executive functioning difficulties were related to verbal aggression under conditions of gradually increasing or decreasing provocation over both winning and losing trials. Sixty adolescent boys and girls completed a modified Taylor aggression paradigm in which verbally offensive remarks were sent and received. Results showed (a) that during increasing levels of provocation, verbal aggression increased on both winning and losing trials, (b) that verbal aggression decreased during decreasing levels of provocation but only on losing trials, and (c) that difficulties on two measures of executive functioning were related to verbal aggression, but only in the context of increasing verbal provocation. Individuals with executive functioning difficulties responded with more verbal aggression than did individuals with less severe executive functioning difficulties. Results have implications for the manner in which provocation is studied and for understanding the conditions in which executive functioning difficulties contribute to verbal aggression. Aggr. Behav. 29:475–488, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

青少年时间态度与学业拖延的关系：成就动机的中介作用

采用青少年时间态度量表、成就动机量表和学业拖延问卷,对 733名中学生进行调查,旨在探究时间态度与学业拖延的关系,揭示成就动机在时间态度与学业拖延之间的中介作用机制。结果发现（1）过去消极、现在消极和未来消极与学业拖延呈显著正相关,过去积极、现在积极和未来积极与学业拖延呈显著负相关。（2）过去消极、现在消极和未来消极与成就动机呈显著负相关,过去积极、现在积极和未来积极与成就动机呈显著正相关;成就动机与学业拖延呈显著负相关。（3）成就动机在现在消极与学业拖延之间起部分中介作用,在未来积极、未来消极与学业拖延之间起完全中介作用。     

Identity styles and academic achievement: mediating role of academic self-efficacy

The purpose of this study was to assess the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between identity styles and academic achievement. Four-hundred high school students (200 male, 200 female) who were selected through cluster random sampling, completed the Revised Identity Styles Inventory (ISI, 6G) and Morgan-Jink Student Efficacy Scales (MJSES). Path analysis was used to analyze the data. In general, the results indicated that informational identity style had a positive direct impact on academic achievement, while diffuse/avoidance identity style had a negative effect on academic achievement. Data also suggested that informational and normative identity style had a positive influence on academic achievement through the mediation of academic self-efficacy.

The relation between perceived parental involvement and academic achievement: the roles of Taiwanese students' academic beliefs and filial piety

The excellent academic performance among East-Asian students has drawn international attention from educators and psychologists. However, the process that underlies student academic achievement for this particular group has rarely been documented. The present study examines how the relation between perceived parental involvement and Taiwanese students' academic achievement is mediated by student academic beliefs (i.e., beliefs about effort, academic self-concept, and perceived control). The study further explores whether this mediating effect varies with types of filial piety. Participants were 468 first-year students from colleges and universities in Taiwan. Multiple-group mediating models were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results indicated that, for the Taiwanese sample, students' academic beliefs mediated the relation between perceived parental involvement and academic achievement. Furthermore, the mediational effect was significant for the reciprocal filial type, but not for the authoritarian filial type. The importance of the quality of the parent-child relationship and the internalization process related to children's assumptions of their parents' educational values indicate the need for a contextual view when examining predictors of student academic achievement.     

Socioeconomic status and executive function in early childhood: Exploring proximal mechanisms

Although there is substantial evidence that socioeconomic status (SES) predicts children's executive function (EF), the mechanisms underlying this association are poorly understood. This study tested the utility of two theories proposed to link SES to children's EF: the family stress model and the family investment model. Data came from the Midwestern Infant Development Study (N = 151). To measure SES, parental education and income were assessed during pregnancy, and income was also assessed when children were 6 and 36 months old. Children's EF, operationalized as working memory/inhibitory control (WMIC) and self‐control, was assessed at 36 months of age, along with potential mediators including maternal psychological distress, harsh parenting, and cognitive stimulation. Using structural equation modeling, we tested simultaneous pathways from SES to EF: (a) via maternal psychological distress to harsh parenting (family stress model) and (b) via cognitive stimulation (family investment model). Of the SES measures, lower education predicted poorer WMIC directly and indirectly via greater maternal psychological distress. Lower education also predicted poorer self‐control via greater maternal psychological distress. This effect was partially suppressed by an indirect path from lower education to better self‐control via greater psychological distress and increased harsh parenting. Cognitive stimulation did not act as a mediator. Income was not directly or indirectly associated with EF. These findings provide partial support for the family stress model and suggest that family functioning is an important proximal mechanism for children's EF development. This study also highlights the importance of considering SES as a multidimensional construct.     

感知社会支持与学生学业成就关系的元分析：学习投入的中介作用

学业成就是衡量学生学习认知能力和检测其学习效果的重要指标,受到感知社会支持和学习投入等因素的显著影响,先前的研究已经考察了这两个因素对学业成就的共同作用机制,但感知社会支持与学业成就的关系强度不明,且尚不完全清楚中介效应、调节效应对二者关系的影响。因此当前研究采用元分析方法检验效应量的可靠性、学习投入的中介效应以及一系列调节效应。研究共纳入符合要求的原始文献41篇,含78个研究。结果发现：(1)感知社会支持及子类型与学业成就呈现显著的正相关,但效应值偏小,即二者之间存在的是弱相关。此外,感知社会支持及子类型显著正向预测学习投入,且对学习投入的效应量高于对学业成就的效应量。(2)学段仅对感知教师支持的调节效应显著,学业成就指标调节了感知社会支持及子类型与学业成就之间的关系,而经济水平和文化背景的调节效应不显著。(3)学习投入在感知社会支持及子类型对学业成就的影响中起到部分中介作用,且中介效应只存在于初中群体,在高中群体中介效应不显著。     

早期儿童数学学习与执行功能的关系

执行功能是个体对复杂的认知活动的自我调节和以明确目标为导向的活动过程, 对早期儿童的数学学习起着重要的作用。早期儿童数学学习与执行功能呈显著正相关, 执行功能是儿童数学学习的重要认知加工机制。早期儿童执行功能和数学学习之间存在着相互预测的关系, 执行功能可以预测数学成绩, 数学成绩可以预测执行功能。高质量的早期数学教育可能具有发展儿童执行功能和数学能力的双重价值。未来研究可以明确执行功能的界定和统一测量工具, 提供更可靠的证据证明早期儿童执行功能与数学能力的因果关系, 以及进一步探究语言、数学以及执行功能三者之间的关系。     

A longitudinal intergenerational analysis of executive functions during early childhood

Despite the importance of executive function (EF) in both clinical and educational contexts, the aetiology of individual differences in early childhood EF remains poorly understood. This study provides the first longitudinal intergenerational analysis of mother–child EF associations during early childhood. A group of children and their mothers (n = 62) completed age‐appropriate EF tasks. Mother and child EFs were modestly correlated by 24 months of age, and this association was stable through 48 months. Importantly, maternal–child EF associations were still robust after controlling for verbal ability (potential indicator of verbal/crystallized intelligence) and maternal education (correlate of socio‐economic status and verbal intelligence). Potential implications of these findings as well as underlying mechanisms of the maternal–child EF association (gene–environment interplay) are discussed.     

The mediating role of cognitive ability on the relationship between motor proficiency and early academic achievement in children

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between motor proficiency and academic achievement in 7 years-old children. A mediating model in which the relation between motor proficiency and academic achievement is mediated by cognitive ability was tested. Participants included 152 children from the longitudinal study Jeunes enfants et leurs milieux de vie (Young Children and their Environments). Motor proficiency was evaluated with the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT2), cognitive ability with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) and academic achievement with the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test II (WIAT II). Results showed that motor proficiency, cognitive ability and academic achievement were positively correlated with each other. A structural equation modeling analysis revealed that motor proficiency had a positive effect on academic achievement through an indirect path via cognitive ability. These results highlight the fundamental importance of motor skills in children's academic achievement in early school years.