Examining executive function in the second year of life: coherence, stability, and relations to joint attention and language.

@article{Miller2015ExaminingEF,
  title={Examining executive function in the second year of life: coherence, stability, and relations to joint attention and language.},
  author={Stephanie Elisabeth Miller and Stuart Marcovitch},
  journal={Developmental psychology},
  year={2015},
  volume={51 1},
  pages={
          101-14
        }
}
Several theories of executive function (EF) propose that EF development corresponds to children's ability to form representations and reflect on represented stimuli in the environment. However, research on early EF is primarily conducted with preschoolers, despite the fact that important developments in representation (e.g., language, gesture, shared joint attention) occur within the 1st years of life. In the present study, EF performance and the relationship between EF and early representation… Expand
View on PubMed
static1.squarespace.com
56 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
5
Background Citations
20
Methods Citations
6
Results Citations
5

Figures, Tables, and Topics from this paper

56 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Executive function in the first three years of life: precursors, predictors and patterns
Executive function (EF) underpins the ability to set goals and work towards those goals by co-ordinating thought and action. Its emergence during the first 3 years of life is under-studied, largely… Expand
Articulation Speaks to Executive Function: An Investigation in 4- to 6-Year-Olds
TLDR
The results suggest that children with speech difficulties could be at higher risk for EF deficits, and demonstrate the imbricated nature of EF and speech sound production while bearing theoretical and practical implications. Expand
Emerging coherence and relations to communication among executive function tasks in toddlers: Evidence from a Latin American sample.
TLDR
Evidence is provided for patterns of emerging EF development within this novel cultural sample (and evidence for group differences that may be supported by communicative and representational development) and for more traditional patterns of EF when using the same tasks in a novel Latin American sample. Expand
Assessing Executive Functions in Preschoolers Using Shape School Task
TLDR
The results suggest that EFs explain to a greater extent performance on verbal and performance tasks and provide further information to support research that considers preschool age to be a crucial period for the development of EFs and their relationship with other cognitive processes. Expand
Individual Differences in Early Executive Functions: A Longitudinal Study from 12 to 36 Months
It has been proposed that executive functions develop in a hierarchical fashion, such that early, simple abilities seen already during the first year of life become increasingly coordinated with… Expand
Selective Auditory Attention Associated With Language Skills but Not With Executive Functions in Swedish Preschoolers
TLDR
Assessment of aspects of language and EFs in 431 Swedish children aged 4–6 found that relying on measures of vocabulary alone may overestimate the strength of the language–EF relationship, and correlations between morphosyntactic accuracy and selective auditory attention suggest a specific link between morphological accuracy and the ability to suppress irrelevant stimuli. Expand
Relations between frontal EEG maturation and inhibitory control in preschool in the prediction of children’s early academic skills
TLDR
Assessment of developmental change in children's resting-state electroencephalogram activity from 10 months to 4 years indicated that greater increases in frontal alpha power across the study period were associated with better IC, and indirectly with better performance on Woodcock-Johnson tests of reading and math achievement at age 6. Expand
A Pragmatic Turn in the Study of Early Executive Functions by Object Use and Gestures. A Case Study from 8 to 17 Months of Age at a Nursery School.
TLDR
It is found that, from 8 months of age, the child gave himself challenges in relation to the functional uses of objects and instruments, which suggests that the material world is particularly important in these early manifestations of EF, and teachers' interventions are essential. Expand
Measuring and Predicting Individual Differences in Executive Functions at 14 Months: A Longitudinal Study
TLDR
Results suggest that EF skills build on simpler component skills such as attention and response inhibition, which are related to performance on two of the four EF tasks at 14 months. Expand
A Longitudinal Investigation of Conflict and Delay Inhibitory Control in Toddlers and Preschoolers
TLDR
Because conflict IC and delay IC show unique patterns of development over time, educators can expect classroom behaviors Drawing on the state-like conflict IC to show more fluctuation over time than those drawing on the trait-like delay IC. Expand
...
1
2
3
4
5
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 81 REFERENCES
The structure of executive function in 3-year-olds.
TLDR
Tests of the relative fit of several alternative models supported a single latent EF construct, and measurement invariance testing revealed less proficient EF in children at higher sociodemographic risk relative to those at lower risk and no differences between boys and girls. Expand
Executive function and theory of mind: Predictive relations from ages 2 to 4.
TLDR
The findings provide only partial support for the view that ToM is a prerequisite for EF but strongerSupport for the proposal that EF facilitates children's performance on ToM tasks is provided. Expand
Executive function and theory of mind: stability and prediction from ages 2 to 3.
TLDR
Longitudinal stability and EF-ToM relations were examined in 81 children at 24 and 39 months and individual differences in EF were relatively stable. Expand
Executive function in preschoolers: Links with theory of mind and verbal ability
Fifty preschool children (mean age 3:11 years) took part in an investigation of the relations between children's executive function performance, their understanding of mind and their language skills.… Expand
Executive Function and Theory of Mind in 2 Year Olds: A Family Affair?
TLDR
New batteries of EF and ToM tasks that were administered to 140 two-year-olds from predominantly disadvantaged families showed a strong association between EF and toM, which remained significant when effects of verbal ability were controlled. Expand
How Theory of Mind and Executive Function Co-develop
Theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF) have traditionally been measured starting in preschool and share a similar developmental progression into childhood. Although there is some research… Expand
Executive function in preschoolers: a review using an integrative framework.
TLDR
The authors focus on 3 EF components: working memory, response inhibition, and shifting and conceive of the central executive as a central attention system that is involved in all EF component operations. Expand
Infant attention and early childhood executive function.
TLDR
Infant short lookers exhibited higher EF throughout early childhood as compared to infant long lookers, even after controlling for verbal ability (a potential indicator of intelligence), discussed in relation to the emergence of executive attention. Expand
Using confirmatory factor analysis to understand executive control in preschool children: I. Latent structure.
TLDR
In typically developing preschool children, tasks conceptualized as indexes of working memory and inhibitory control in fact measured a single cognitive ability, despite surface differences between task characteristics. Expand
Individual differences in inhibitory control and children's theory of mind.
TLDR
It is suggested that IC may be a crucial enabling factor for ToM development, possibly affecting both the emergence and expression of mental state knowledge. Expand
...
1
2
3
4
5
...