Executive Functions in Becoming Writing Readers and Reading Writers: Note Taking and Report Writing in Third and Fifth Graders

Abstract

Results are reported for a study of 2 separate processes of report writing-taking notes while reading source material and composing a report from those notes-and related individual differences in executive functions involved in integrating reading and writing during these writing activities. Third graders (n = 122) and 5th graders (n = 106; overall, 127 girls and 114 boys) completed two reading-writing tasks-read paragraph (mock science text)-write notes and use notes to generate written report, a reading comprehension test, a written expression test, four tests of executive functions (inhibition, verbal fluency, planning, switching attention), and a working memory test. For the read-take notes task, the same combination of variables was best (explained the most variance and each variable added unique variance) for 3rd graders and 5th graders: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition (WIAT-II) Reading Comprehension, Process Assessment of the Learner Test for Reading and Writing (PAL) Copy Task B, WIAT-II Written Expression, and Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Inhibition. For the use notes to write report task, the best combinations of variables depended on grade level: For 3rd graders, WIAT-II Reading Comprehension, WIAT-II Written Expression, D-KEFS Verbal Fluency, and Tower of Hanoi; for 5th graders, WIAT-II Reading Comprehension, D-KEFS Verbal Fluency, WIAT-II Written Expression, and PAL Alphabet Task. These results add to prior research findings that executive functions contribute to the writing development of elementary-grade students and additionally support the hypothesis that executive functions play a role in developing reading-writing connections.

Executive functions of children born very preterm—deficit or delay?

“…Miyake and colleagues [32] established three core EF, inhibition, working memory (WM), and shifting, which provide a basis for the execution of more complex executive skills such as planning or problem-solving. EF have shown to be crucial for academic achievement such as reading and writing competence [1] and mathematics [9]. The emergence of EF has been linked to structural maturation of the frontal cortex [10].…”

Numerical Magnitude Skills in 6-Years-Old Children: Exploring Specific Associations with Components of Executive Function

“…Indeed, older children and adults were shown to access their analogue representation of numbers automatically (Girelli et al, 2000;Rubinsten et al, 2002). Moreover, several studies suggested that more automatic skills rely less on executive functioning (e.g., Altemeier, Jones, Abbott, & Berninger, 2006). Therefore, longitudinal studies would not only allow drawing stronger conclusions about the causal relations between executive functioning and the numerical magnitude skills, they would also help to clarify how these associations evolve along children's numerical development.…”

Ready or not: Kindergarten classroom engagement as an indicator of child school readiness

“…Foremost is the link between executive function and math performance (Blair & Razza, 2007;Bull & Scerif, 2001;Butterworth, Varma & Laurillard, 2011;Cirino, 2010;Sabbagh, Xu, Carlson, Moses & Lee, 2006). Other research suggests a strong link between cognitive control and writing skills (Altemeier, Abbott & Berninger, 2008;Altemeier, Jones, Abbott & Berninger, 2006). Furthermore, pre-school children who are better able to exert effortful control to delay gratification score higher on cognitive achievement tests several years later in adolescence (Mischel et al, 1989).…”