The current study describes and validates a set of group-based executive function (EF) assessments for use with young children. These situational tasks involve instructing groups of young students to march to music while completing tasks that place demands on their EF abilities. These efforts were motivated by providing researchers with a set measures that assess EF subcomponents while also accounting for the dynamic social processes present in group settings. These assessments take place in schools, are relatively simple to administer, and include multiple EF indicators. Drawing on a diverse sample of 283 Kindergarten students (Mage = 5.8 years; SD = 0.38 years), we found that group-based EF assessments were significantly related to individually-assessed EF measures, and differentially predicted children's performance on standardized tests of math and reading achievement. Overall, this study represents a first step towards developing a set of group-based EF measures that are appropriate for use with young children.

Although electrophysiological (electroencephalography) measures of executive functions (e.g. error monitoring) have been used to predict academic achievement in typically developing children, work investigating a link between error monitoring and academic skills in children with autism spectrum disorder is limited. In this study, we employed traditional electrophysiological and advanced time–frequency methods, combined with principal component analyses, to extract neural activity related to error monitoring and tested their relations to academic achievement in cognitively able kindergarteners with autism spectrum disorder. In total, 35 cognitively able kindergarteners with autism spectrum disorder completed academic assessments and the child-friendly “Zoo Game” Go/No-go task at school entry. The Go/No-go task successfully elicited an error-related negativity and error positivity in children with autism spectrum disorder as young as 5 years at fronto-central and posterior electrode sites, respectively. We also observed increased response-related theta power during errors relative to correct trials at fronto-central sites. Both larger error positivity and theta power significantly predicted concurrent academic achievement after controlling for behavioral performance on the Zoo Game and intelligence quotient. These results suggest that the use of time–frequency electroencephalography analyses, combined with traditional event-related potential measures, may provide new opportunities to investigate neurobiological mechanisms of executive function and academic achievement in young children with autism spectrum disorder.

Deficits in executive functions (EF) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been identified. However, there is limited evidence about patterns of deficits in EF-related skills, especially at the neurobiological level, in young children with ASD and little is known about how these skills are related to other domains of functioning and symptom severity. In this study, we provide a focused review of EF-related Event-Related Potentials (ERP) studies in children with ASD, accompanied by preliminary data for neurophysiological correlates of EF on a child-friendly Go/No-go task. We focus our preliminary investigation on ERPs associated with stimulus processing (N2, P3) and error monitoring [error/correct-related negativity (ERN, CRN), error positivity (Pe)] in 5-year-old kindergarteners with ASD and typical controls matched on age, gender and task accuracy. Children with ASD showed significantly greater amplitudes of ERN/CRN compared to matched controls, suggesting heightened response monitoring. The ASD group also showed less distinct inhibitory P3 compared to the TD group, potentially suggesting atypical stimulus processing. In children with ASD, higher autism symptom severity was correlated with larger P3. Better behavioral performance on an EF-related task was correlated with smaller CRN. Our study is the first investigation to demonstrate the presence of N2, P3, ERN/CRN and Pe in kindergartners with ASD. The potential links between ERP patterns and behavioral and clinical features in more-able children with ASD highlight the need for further exploration into the functional mechanisms of these atypical neural activities and for more focused behavioral interventions targeting cognitive control and response monitoring.

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Although electrophysiological (EEG) measures of executive functions (EF) (e.g. error monitoring) have been used to predict academic achievement in typically developing (TD) children, work investigating a link between error monitoring, and academic skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is limited. In the current study, we employed traditional electrophysiological and advanced time-frequency methods, combined with principal components analyses, to extract neural activity related to error monitoring, and tested their relations to academic achievement in cognitively-able kindergarteners with ASD. Thirty-five cognitively-able kindergarteners with ASD completed academic assessments and the childfriendly "Zoo Game" Go/No-go task at school entry. The Go/No-go task successfully elicited an error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) in children with ASD as young as 5 years at medio-frontal and posterior electrode sites, respectively. We also observed increased responserelated theta power during errors relative to correct trials at medio-frontal sites. Both larger Pe and theta power significantly predicted concurrent academic achievement after controlling for behavioral performance on the Zoo Game and IQ. These results suggest that the use of time frequency EEG analyses, combined with traditional ERP measures, may provide new opportunities to investigate neurobiological mechanisms of EF and academic achievement in young children with ASD.