No abstract
The literature on the development of executive function (EF) has been largely limited to studies of middle-class English-speaking children. This study extended executive function research to a primarily low socioeconomic status (SES) sample of Spanish-speaking preschool children living in the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine a variety of language measures (vocabulary, grammar, and comprehensive language) in relation to a variety of executive function measures (working memory, inhibitory control, and attention-shifting). Results revealed that Spanish speakers performed on some, but not all, EF measures comparably to higher SES English-speaking peers, in concurrence with previously reported findings. Further, language relations were strongest to the EF areas of working memory and attention-shifting. Importantly, comprehensive language measures were more powerful predictors of concurrent EF abilities than vocabulary or grammar measures alone. Theoretical and methodological implications of these findings for studies of EF-language relations in clinical populations, in children learning Spanish as a first language, and in children from low SES backgrounds are discussed. This study would not have been possible without the parents and families who devoted their time and to the generous funding from National Institute of Health research grants to Dr. Anne Fernald. I would also like to thank all staff and students at the Center for Infant Studies. In particular, Dr. Nereyda Hurtado and Lucia Rodriguez Mata at the EPA Research Facility were wonderful, supportive colleagues, without whom I would not have so successfully completed nearly a full year of testing. The extensive data collection required for this study was greatly facilitated by their expertise and flexibility in accommodating testing sessions. Lastly, I am grateful to all my friends and family, in particular my husband Jon, for their unconditional encouragement and support, especially during the final months of writing. v Day-night task 38 Standard Dimensional Change Card Sort (Standard DCCS) 39 Children's Behavior Questionnaire 41 VI Language skills 42 Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, Spanish-English Bilingual Edition 42 Spanish Preschool Language Scale, 4 th edition, expressive communication scale 43 Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Preschool Edition, 2 nd edition, expressive language scale 43 The Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment, Spanish morphosyntax subtest 44 Reliability 45 Procedure 46 Results 47 Executive Function Measures 48 Overall performance 48 Working memory and inhibitory control 49 Attention-shifting 50 Intercorrelations among executive function measures Language Measures Overall performance Intercorrelations among language measures Relations of Language and Executive Function to SES
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