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Early math skills are a good predictor of later academic success. Finding what factors influence math performance might help educators create better and more efficient math programs. The goal of the present study was to assess the relationship of math achievement and verbal fluency, selective attention, visual-motor integration and inhibitory control. An additional goal was to assess the effect of gender and grade on math achievement. The sample for this study comprised 210 children from grades 1 to 3 (107 boys, 103 girls). Children were individually administered a math test and tests of various predictor measures. The significant predictors of math achievement were verbal fluency, selective attention, visual-motor integration, and inhibitory control. The proposed model explained around 70% of the variance in the math scores. There were no gender differences in the math scores. Given the fact that all the predictors used in this study are very susceptible to inclusion in instruction, their incorporation in an early age curriculum might significantly improve math skills at a later age.

Learning to read is one of the most important academic accomplishments in the early grades of elementary school. Knowing what factors contribute to reading ability would improve instructional practices. The goal of the present study was to examine the effects of semantic fluency, phonological fluency, rapid naming, inhibitory control, selective attention, and visual motor integration on reading fluency in 140 second and third grade students. The results of this study indica ted that significant predictors of reading fluency were: selective attention, semantic fluency, inhibitory control, and rapid naming. However, the association between predictor variables and reading fluency was moderated by the students' grade. The article concludes with some suggestions on how to improve reading fluency in elementary school children, given that all predictors are susceptible to instruction.

Background: The assessment of children’s motor control is very important in detecting potential motor deficits. The Finger Tapping Test (FTT) is a widely used test in various clinical and non-clinical populations. FTT is a neuropsychological test designed to measure motor control. Age and gender are significant pre - dictors of finger tapping speed in school-aged children. The goal of the present study was to determine the effects of age and gender on finger tapping speed in preschool children. Material/Methods: The sample for this study included 111 preschool children, aged 3 to 6 years (mean age- 4.6; SD- 0.9), of both genders (59 boys, 52 girls). As a measure of finger tapping speed we used the Finger Tapping Test from the Psychology Experi -ment Building Language (PEBL). Results: The results of this study found a significant effect of age on finger tapping speed. Contrary to the existing studies, there was no gender effect on the tapping speed in preschoolers. A one way analysis of variance showed that older children performed significantly better than younger children Conclusions:There is a linear trend of improved performance on FTT with an increasing age. The child’s gender was not a significant predictor of FTT for preschool children. Motor control and speed can be improved through exercise.

Acquisition of the theory of mind (TOM) is a very important milestone in the development of preschool children. TOM is especially important for the development of children’s social skills. The goal of the present study was to examine the effects of age, gender and executive functions (EF) on the acquisition of TOM. The sample in this study consisted of 116 preschool children aged 36-72 months (mean age 58.8 months, SD= 9.5 months). In relation to the child’s gender, there were 56 girls (48.3%) and 60 boys (51.7%). The Sally Anne test- a task purporting to measure TOM, was used as a dependant variable and age, gender, and EF measures were used as the predictors. Logistic regression was used as a method to determine the effects of predictors on TOM. The results of this study indicated that success on the TOM test can best be predicted by the inhibitory control, followed by verbal fluency and child’s age. The gender of the child was not associated with TOM acquisition. The overall model explained between 27% and 38% of the variance in the TOM scores. Inhibitory control is the executive function that had the greatest predictive power for the results on the theory of the mind task. The findings of this study can help early interventionists in the modification of existing preschool curricula, so that they include more activities that would foster the development of the theory of mind in preschool children. Future studies should aim to find a better model of theory of mind predictors by examining the effects of other executive function constructs, such as working memory.

Semantic fluency is a measure of verbal functioning and cognitive flexibility. Its development is particularly rapid in preschool years. The goal of this study was to examine semantic fluency in preschool children in relation to child's age and gender. The sample for this study comprised 133 children aged 3-6 years (mean age = 56.7 months; SD = 11.1 months) from Canton Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In relation to child's gender, there were 62 girls (46.6%) and 71 boys (53.8%). We used three different semantic fluency categories: animals, food and music instruments. The results of this study confirmed the effect of age on semantic fluency improvement. However, there were slightly different developmental trends for boys and girls in semantic fluency tasks. Girls achieved higher mean scores in all three semantic fluency tasks, but statistically significant differences were only for the category of music instruments. Given the rapid growth in semantic fluency in preschool children, it is very important to actively promote its development in early years.

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Autistic children often have difficulties in executive functions (EF). These difficulties can, in turn, affect their everyday functioning. It is less clear in what way EF are affected by the severity of autism symptoms in children. We hypothesize that autism severity level does not have the same effect across the different components of EF. In this study, we examined how EF are affected by the autism severity level in a sample of 52 autistic children aged 4-7 years (mean age-5.4 years, SD-0.9 years). EF were measured through teachers' reports on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions-Preschool Version. Autism severity level was measured with the Social Communication Questionnaire-Current Form. The results of this study showed that autism severity level impacted two EF, namely Planning and Working memory, and did not affect three EF components: Inhibition, Shifting, and Emotional Control. These results indicate that the cool or cognitive EF are more affected by autism severity level than hot EF. We conclude the article with suggestions for improving EF in autistic children. Lay SummaryExecutive functions such as working memory are very important in everyday life activities. Many autistic children have difficulties in executive functions. In this study, we examined how autism severity level affects executive functions. The results showed that children with more severe autistic symptoms had worse functioning in working memory and planning. These two skills, working memory and planning, can be improved and we described some interventions that practitioners can use to improve these two executive functions.