Poster #3 - Development of Executive Functions, Language and Math Skills in Chinese Preschoolers

• In Event: Poster Session 14

Abstract

Executive functions (EFs) describe multiple higher-order cognitive processes underlying thoughts and actions (Zelazo et al., 2008) and are typically conceptualized as three interrelated components: working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility (Miyake et al., 2000). Studies show that EFs relate to children’s reading and math outcomes, but predictive associations are unclear and are unstable when considering child characteristics (Jacob & Parkinson, 2015). Many studies are based on English-speaking contexts; theoretically, it would be important to seek understanding among Chinese children as recent studies suggest a stronger relationship between EF and language, given the greater cognitive demands involved in Chinese learning (Chan & Rao, 2022; Zhang et al., 2020). Against this background, we examine the relationship between EF and early language and math skills among preschoolers in China.

We administered child assessment measures in two waves. Participants of Wave 1 were 680 Chinese children aged from three to six years (Mean age = 55.16 months, SD = 9.07; 344 girls) from 17 preschools in urban and rural areas of China. We followed a subset of 330 children attending the same preschools one year later and administered the same measures in Wave 2. The measures were part of the Early Childhood Development Assessment Scale (Rao et al., 2022), administered individually in the local language (Putonghua). The language (character recognition and name writing) and math (numeracy and counting) tasks were aligned to UNICEF’s Early Childhood Development Index 2030 (ECDI2030; UNICEF, 2022). EF measures included tasks tapping working memory (Backward Digit Span and Picture Memory; Leffard et al., 2006), cognitive flexibility (Dimensional Change Card Sort; Zelazo, 2006), and inhibitory control (Behavioural Inhibition). Internal consistency of individual tasks ranged from .84 to 95.

As presented in Table 1, we conducted a series of Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analyses controlling for gender, maternal education, home learning environments, and child age in months, and adjusted for clustering at the level of schools. All continuous variables were standardized. The first set of HLM analyses focused on the concurrent associations using Wave 1 data: We found that cognitive flexibility was positively associated with character recognition, numeracy, and counting; inhibitory control was positively associated with numeracy and counting; working memory was associated with character recognition and counting. Using data from children who completed both waves, we repeated the HLM analyses using Wave 2 language and math measures as dependent variables and controlling for the corresponding measures in Wave 1 in addition to demographic variables: Working memory predicted gains in numeracy, cognitive flexibility predicted gains in character recognition and name writing, inhibitory control was not associated with any changes. Home learning environments were only associated concurrently with character recognition but did not predict gains in any measures.

The findings provide an understanding of how EFs may relate to early language and math skills among Chinese-speaking children, which is important for our knowledge of child cognitive and language development, and provide the theoretical basis for developing programmes targeting specific EF components for preschool children at the age when EFs develop most rapidly.

Authors

• Stephanie W. Y. Chan, University of Hong Kong (HKU)
  Presenting Author

• Nirmala Rao, The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

• Hechunzi Wang, University of Hong Kong (HKU)