Hot and Cold Executive Functioning, Motivation, and Metacognition: Disentangling Young Children’s Approaches to Learning

• In Event: Executive Functioning, Concepts, and Cognition

Abstract

The preschool years are a critical period for developing important cognitive skills and approaches to learning. In the present study, we sought to demonstrate the links between hot and cold executive functions (sometimes referred to as self-regulation), motivation, and metacognition as well as examining their relative importance to academic growth. Participants were 145 preschoolers, ages 3-6. Children’s motivation, executive functioning, and metacognitive knowledge were highly interrelated. Both executive functioning and motivation variables predicted fall-spring growth on Woodcock-Johnson Letter-Word Identification and Applied Problems subtests. Those seeking to improve children’s academic achievement may benefit from focusing not only on individual approaches to learning but also on how these skills may work synergistically to promote academic success.

Authors

• Amanda L. Berhenke, University of Michigan

• Loren Marie Marulis, University of Michigan

• Noah Neidlinger, University of Michigan