Executive functioning predicts reading, mathematics, and theory of mind during the elementary years

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Highlights

  • Executive functioning, reading, math, and theory of mind improved during the elementary years.

  • Working memory, inhibition, and flexibility mediated age differences in reading comprehension.

  • Age predicted mathematics and theory of mind directly.

  • Reading mediated the influence of executive functioning on math and theory of mind.

  • Flexibility predicted mathematics directly.

Abstract

The goal of this study was to specify how executive functioning components predict reading, mathematics, and theory of mind performance during the elementary years. A sample of 93 7- to 10-year-old children completed measures of working memory, inhibition, flexibility, reading, mathematics, and theory of mind. Path analysis revealed that all three executive functioning components (working memory, inhibition, and flexibility) mediated age differences in reading comprehension, whereas age predicted mathematics and theory of mind directly. In addition, reading mediated the influence of executive functioning components on mathematics and theory of mind, except that flexibility also predicted mathematics directly. These findings provide important details about the development of executive functioning, reading, mathematics, and theory of mind during the elementary years.

Introduction

Executive functioning is an umbrella term used to describe the cognitive processes responsible for purposeful, goal-directed behavior (Best and Miller, 2010, Carlson et al., 2013, Müller and Kerns, 2015). Research and practice have provided evidence linking executive functioning with academic and social success, including theory of mind (e.g., Best, Miller, & Jones, 2009). To date, executive functioning and theory of mind research has disproportionately concentrated on the preschool years, demonstrating both robust individual differences and remarkable developmental gains during these early years (Carlson, 2005, Devine and Hughes, 2014, Garon et al., 2008, Hughes, 2011, Liu et al., 2008, Wellman et al., 2001). Even so, there is a major gap in our understanding of executive functioning and theory of mind beyond 5 years of age, as well as the mechanisms by which executive functioning predicts academic and social success across domains and age groups (Best and Miller, 2010, Best et al., 2009, Zelazo and Carlson, 2013). The goal of this study was to specify how executive functioning components predict reading, mathematics, and theory of mind performance during the elementary years. These domains were chosen given their importance for success in school and life (e.g., Best et al., 2009, Miller, 2009).

Despite ongoing debate regarding the core features of executive functioning, there is widespread agreement that executive functioning includes three distinct, yet overlapping, components—working memory, inhibition, and flexibility—during adulthood (Miyake et al., 2000). Recently, developmental scientists have extended this work, demonstrating the utility of similar three-component models during middle childhood (Brocki and Brohlin, 2004, Huizinga et al., 2006, Lee et al., 2013, Lehto et al., 2003, Rose et al., 2011). Ongoing research probes the utility of these models during the preschool years (Hughes et al., 2010, Wiebe et al., 2008, Wiebe et al., 2011, Willoughby et al., 2011), leading some scientists to conclude that executive functioning begins as a unitary construct that becomes more differentiated across childhood (Garon et al., 2008, Lee et al., 2013).

This project focused on working memory, inhibition, and flexibility as three distinct, yet related, executive functioning components. Working memory is the capacity to retain and manipulate information during a short period of time (Schneider & Bjorklund, 2003). Inhibition involves the capacity to delay prepotent responses, to interrupt ongoing responses when given feedback about performance, and to inhibit responding to sources of interference when engaged in tasks requiring self-regulation and goal-directed behavior (Barkley, 1999). Flexibility refers to the ability to switch fluidly between activities and adapt in the presence of new or changing information (Bock, Gallaway, & Hund, 2015). We know that all three components evince developmental gains extending to the elementary years (Anderson, 2002, Bock et al., 2015, Lee et al., 2013, Prencipe et al., 2011, Schneider and Bjorklund, 2003).

Reading comprehension involves constructing meaning from text. Comprehension depends on some degree of mastery of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and fluency as readers seek to understand words, sentences, paragraphs, and entire text passages. We know that executive functioning predicts gains in literacy and reading during the preschool and elementary years (Altemeier et al., 2008, Carretti et al., 2009, Locascio et al., 2010, Sesma et al., 2009). Conversely, deficits in executive functioning are evident in children who struggle with reading (Cain, 2006, Cutting et al., 2009, Gioia et al., 2002). For instance, working memory is positively related to reading (and math) performance during preschool and early elementary school (Bull et al., 2008, Gathercole and Pickering, 2000, Lan et al., 2011, Swanson, 1994, Swanson and Jerman, 2007, van der Sluis et al., 2007, Welsch et al., 2010, Willoughby et al., 2012). It is likely that working memory supports reading success by allowing children to hold in mind the multitude of words, concepts, and themes necessary to comprehend texts.

Similarly, flexibility is related to reading comprehension during the elementary years (Cartwright, 2002, Cartwright et al., 2010, Colé et al., 2014, Gaskins, 2008, van der Sluis et al., 2007, Yeniad et al., 2013). For example, Cartwright (2002) found that reading-specific flexibility contributed to reading comprehension even after controlling for age, domain-general shifting performance, decoding skill, and verbal ability. Moreover, Cartwright, 2002, Cartwright, 2006 demonstrated that training of reading-specific flexibility skills resulted in gains in reading comprehension. Flexibility is important for reading because it allows readers to make use of multiple features, especially orthographic, phonological, and semantic information, that support successful comprehension (Cartwright, 2002, Colé et al., 2014). Although there is some research linking inhibition and reading comprehension (Altemeier et al., 2008, Borella et al., 2010, Cain, 2006), more work is needed in this area. Perhaps inhibition is linked with reading comprehension through overriding irrelevant concepts and thereby focusing more precisely on comprehending the passage at hand. In fact, Cain (2006) found that poor comprehenders were more likely than good comprehenders to recall items that should have been inhibited because they were no longer relevant. Additional research is needed to clarify the links between all three executive functioning components and reading comprehension.

Mathematics is another central tenet of the academic curriculum that is necessary for many everyday tasks. Several cognitive processes, such as working memory, processing speed, phonological processing, attention, and long-term memory, support arithmetic ability (Fuchs et al., 2006). Executive functioning during the preschool years is a powerful predictor of mathematics performance during the elementary years (Welsch et al., 2010). For example, one recent longitudinal study found that executive functioning at 4 years of age predicted mathematics achievement at 6 years. This finding persisted even after controlling for individual differences in cognitive ability and reading achievement (Clark, Pritchard, & Woodward, 2010). Research evidence provides widespread support for a strong link between working memory and arithmetic success (Bull and Lee, 2014, Geary et al., 2007, Lan et al., 2011, Lee et al., 2009, McLean and Hitch, 1999, Passolunghi and Cornoldi, 2008, St. Clair-Thompson et al., 2006, Swanson, 1994, Swanson and Sachse-Lee, 2001, van der Sluis et al., 2007, Welsch et al., 2010). Andersson (2007) found that elementary school students’ working memory skills substantially contributed to their math problem-solving abilities. Similarly, lower working memory is associated with poorer mathematics performance (Alloway, 2009, Bull and Scerif, 2001). Why is working memory vital for mathematics success? According to Swanson and Kim (2007), children with greater working memory capacity have more cognitive resources available for storage and maintenance of information while carrying out computations and solving math problems.

Inhibition also has been implicated in mathematics performance, although the evidence is somewhat mixed (Bull and Lee, 2014, St. Clair-Thompson et al., 2006). For instance, research shows that children with poor inhibition demonstrate lower mathematics ability (Bull & Scerif, 2001). In contrast, Lee et al. (2012) found that only working memory, not a combined inhibition/flexibility factor, predicted mathematics achievement. Monette, Bigras, and Guay (2011) suggested that the links between inhibition and mathematics evident in past studies were the result of measurement issues, especially the omission of working memory measures. Similarly, Bull and Lee (2014) noted that links disappear when reading and IQ are taken into account. Nonetheless, it is important to consider whether inhibition is related to mathematics, perhaps helping children to suppress ineffective strategies or misconceptions. For example, children must suppress details about larger numbers indicating larger quantities (which is true for whole numbers) when attempting to understand fractions, where larger denominators represent smaller quantities. Inhibition also may be important for ignoring irrelevant details in story problems and for suppressing the tendency to work from left to right and instead follow the order of operations. Bull and Lee (2014) claimed that evidence linking flexibility and mathematics is lacking, although a recent meta-analysis revealed significant links between flexibility and math (Yeniad et al., 2013). It is possible that flexibility supports math problem solving by enabling children to focus on divergent strategies, problem-solving goals, and computation operations needed. For example, both multiplication and subtraction are needed to solve long division problems using traditional strategies. Overall, additional research is needed to clarify the extent to which all three executive functioning components relate to mathematics performance.

Theory of mind is the ability to understand mental states, such as thoughts, desires, beliefs, and emotions, in ourselves and others. It improves dramatically during early childhood (Frye et al., 1995, Hughes, 1998, Wellman and Liu, 2004) and shows continued improvement throughout the elementary years and beyond (Apperly et al., 2011, Bock et al., 2015, Miller, 2009, Miller, 2012, White et al., 2009). For instance, children show increased abilities to detect and understand subtleties in conversations and social interactions, such as irony, sarcasm, and figures of speech, across the elementary years (Devine and Hughes, 2013, Filippova and Astington, 2008, Happé, 1994). We know that theory of mind is related to social–emotional competence, and it may mediate the relation between executive functioning and social skills (e.g., Riggs, Jahromi, Razza, Dilworth-Bart, & Mueller, 2006; Watson, Nixon, Wilson, & Capage, 1999). Many researchers have shown that executive functioning is related to theory of mind when they emerge during early childhood (Carlson et al., 2015, Carlson and Moses, 2001, Devine and Hughes, 2014, Frye et al., 1995, Hughes and Ensor, 2007, Hughes and Graham, 2002, Oh and Lewis, 2008, Sabbagh et al., 2006). These researchers have suggested that the links between executive functioning and theory of mind emerge because understanding mental states requires holding multiple perspectives or potential realities in mind, switching adeptly between them, and overriding appearances and one’s own perspectives to understand other people’s perspectives, including false beliefs. Moreover, theory of mind supports social competence, including emotion regulation, play, positive social skills, competent peer interactions, and laudable classroom behavior (Riggs, Greenberg, Kusche, & Pentz, 2006). Recently, Bock and colleagues (2015) demonstrated that flexibility predicted social understanding during the elementary years. Nonetheless, additional research is needed to assess the relation between executive functioning components and theory of mind during the elementary years as well as to specify the developmental trajectory. These findings will provide important details with the potential to shed light on the etiology of competent social skills, including emotion regulation, positive peer interactions, and successful classroom behavior.

Our goal in this study was to specify how executive functioning components predict reading, mathematics, and theory of mind performance during the elementary years. Including all three executive functioning components along with multiple indicators of academic and social understanding is important for gleaning a more complete understanding of the interrelation among domains. We know that schooling is an important aspect of middle childhood development and that success in school depends on academic achievement, social and emotional functioning, and self-control, among many factors. Understanding how three executive functioning components—working memory, inhibition, and flexibility—relate to reading and mathematics achievement and theory of mind thereby provide important details about developmental mechanisms, which may have valuable theoretical implications for increased understanding and practical implications that support success in school, which includes academic and social–emotional functioning (Best et al., 2009, Liew, 2012). Toward that end, 7- to 10-year-old children completed a battery of age-appropriate tasks that assessed working memory, inhibition, flexibility, reading comprehension, mathematics, and social understanding. We predicted that age would predict all three executive functioning components, which would predict reading, mathematics, and theory of mind performance during the elementary years. These findings would clarify developmental aspects of the relations among executive functioning, academic achievement, and social understanding during the elementary years.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 93 7- to 10-year-old children (45 boys and 48 girls; M = 9 years 0 months, SD = 13.88 months). They were recruited from a child research participant database maintained by the Department of Psychology at a large state university in the midwestern United States. The sample was mostly White and middle class (race/ethnicity: 81% White, 3% Asian, 2% Hispanic, 1% Black, 12% other, and 1% did not respond; mother’s education: 7% had obtained a high school diploma (finished Grade 12), 4% had

Results and Discussion

Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations for all variables can be seen in Table 1. The goal of this study was to specify how executive functioning components predict reading, mathematics, and theory of mind performance during the elementary years. We used path analysis. Although many path analysis studies use much larger samples, our sample of 87 participants (with complete data) represents a reasonable ratio of participants to estimated parameters that is within recognized guidelines

Acknowledgments

Portions of this research were completed to fulfill the requirements for a doctoral degree in school psychology by the first author. We thank Sarah Nichols, Steven Landau, W. Joel Schneider, and Maureen Angell for help with the project; Heather Lacey for assistance with data collection and coding; and the children and parents for participation. This research was supported by a Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Professional Innovation Grant (R.H.C., E.K.G., K.C.G., and A.M.H.) and

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