The relationships between cool/hot executive functions during preschool-age and academic achievements: A 5-year longitudinal study

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Attention, Learning, Memory

Abstract

Executive function (EF) is part of school readiness and plays a vital role in school adjustment such an academic achievement (Blair & Raver, 2015). However, little is known about this relationship in a non-western culture. This study examined the 5-year longitudinal relationship between the cool/hot EF at preschool-age and the academic achievements during elementary school years.

Methods. The sample consisted of 48 Japanese children (26 boys and 22 girls) drawn from a five-year longitudinal study of 58 children. In the first part of the study (Preschool-age: Time 1), each child (M = 78.12 months) performed batteries of cool and hot EFs. Two Stroop-like tasks (black-white task and shine-rain task), Simon says task, and backwards digit span (BDS) were used to measure cool EF. Children’s gambling (CG) and forbidden toy tasks were used to measure hot EF. Follow-up surveys were performed when participants reached Grade 1-4, respectively (Elementary school period: Times 2-5). Participants at each grade took the criterion reference test for academic achievement (CRT-II: Tatsuno & Kitao, 2012) comprising Japanese and math tests.

Results. Descriptive statistics for each EF’s measures, as follows: black-white (M = 16.10, SD = 2.72), shine-rain (M = 15.54, SD = 2.63), Simon says (M = 6.56, SD = 3.67), BDS (M = 2.63, SD = 1.42), CG (M = -0.09, SD = 0.30), and forbidden toy (M = 237.40, SD = 124.48). Using standardized (z) scores for each task, cool and hot EF composite scores were calculated for each participant. We conducted a series of multiple linear regression analyses to investigate the relationships between participants’ EFs at Time 1 and academic achievements at Times 2-5 (Table 1). Participants’ EFs at Time 1 were positively related to their academic achievements at Time 2-5, respectively. We examined whether participants’ EFs had direct effects on their academic achievement in Time 5 (Grade 4) or indirect effects (mediated by academic achievement) in each time. Figure 1 depicts the final structural model, with non-significant paths deleted. Participants’ cool and hot EFs had direct effects on their academic achievement at Time 2, but no direct effect at other periods. Moreover, we examined the indirect effects of EFs at preschool-age on later academic achievements through the mediation of prior academic achievements. All indirect effects were tested using the percentile bootstrap with 5,000 bootstrap sample draws. Results showed that participants’ EFs had indirect effects on their academic achievements in Time 5 (Cool EF: β = .50, p < .01, SE = 0.12, 95%CI [0.27, 0.65]; Hot EF: β = .20, p < .05, SE = 0.12, 95%CI [0.02, 0.42]).

Discussion. This study found that the duality of EF during preschool (i.e. cool and hot EFs) directly influences Japanese preschoolers’ academic achievement in Grade 1, and indirectly influenced it four years later. Our results indicate that children’s execution functions during preschool are an important factor in their academic adaptation after starting school and that there is a clear need to focus on the transitional period from preschool to elementary school.

Authors

• Keito Nakamichi, Chiba University
  Presenting Author

• Naoko Nakamichi, Toyo University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jun Nakazawa, Uekusagakuen University
  Non-Presenting Author