Measuring and Predicting Individual Differences in Executive Functions at 14 Months: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This study of 195 (108 boys) children seen twice during infancy (Time 1: 4.12 months; Time 2: 14.42 months) aimed to investigate the associations between and infant predictors of executive function (EF) at 14 months. Infants showed high levels of compliance with the EF tasks at 14 months. There was little evidence of cohesion among EF tasks but simple response inhibition was related to performance on two other EF tasks. Infant attention (but not parent‐rated temperament) at 4 months predicted performance on two of the four EF tasks at 14 months. Results suggest that EF skills build on simpler component skills such as attention and response inhibition.

Screen Time and Executive Function in Toddlerhood: A Longitudinal Study

“…EF and its component parts develop from very early childhood through early adulthood, with substantial individual differences in the pace of development (e.g., Diamond, 2013). While the factor structure of EF-particularly in infancy and toddlerhood-is unclear (e.g., Willoughby et al, 2010Willoughby et al, , 2012Lerner and Lonigan, 2014;Miller and Marcovitch, 2015;Holmboe et al, 2018;Devine et al, 2019;Fiske and Holmboe, 2019), it is evident that individual differences in very early EF (regardless of how it is operationalized) are associated with children's ability to regulate their behavior (Vernon-Feagans et al, 2016;Hughes et al, 2020), engage in goal-directed behavior (e.g., Hendry et al, 2016), understand others' thoughts and feelings (Hughes et al, 2009;Devine and Hughes, 2014), and successfully transition to school settings (Hughes et al, 2009;Mulder et al, 2017;Willoughby et al, 2017).…”

“…Several factors portend individual differences in EF including neurological differences (e.g., Short et al, 2019), early attention (e.g., Blankenship et al, 2019;Devine et al, 2019), and cognitive training (Scionti et al, 2020). Furthermore, several environmental factors including aspects of parenting (e.g., Hughes et al, 2013;Fay-Stammbach et al, 2014;Hughes and Devine, 2019), child care (e.g., Duncan et al, 2019), and stress (Blair, 2010) are associated with the development of young children's EF.…”

Infant screen exposure links to toddlers' inhibition, but not other EF constructs: A propensity score study

“…However, there is growing interest in the association between very early screen use and children's executive function (e.g., Lillard & Peterson, 2011). Executive function (EF; a multidimensional construct that broadly encompasses the ability to inhibit prepotent responses, keep multiple pieces of information in mind and manipulate them in working memory, and flexibly shift attention between multiple stimuli in pursuit of goals) develops throughout the lifespan and can be reliably measured as early as toddlerhood (e.g., Devine, Ribner, & Hughes, 2019;Johansson, Marciszko, Brocki, & Bohlin, 2016;Mulder, Hoofs, Verhagen, van der Veen, & Leseman, 2014). Supporting EF is critical, as it is implicated in the development of academic and interpersonal skills (Blair & Razza, 2007;Brock, Rimm-Kaufman, Nathanson, & Grimm, 2009;Devine & Hughes, 2014).…”

Associations between individual variations in visual attention at 9 months and behavioral competencies at 18 months in rural Malawi

“…Overlap in neural bases may explain findings from the USA showing that attentional orienting at 5 months (i.e., median duration and number of looks at dynamic stimuli) predicts executive function at 10 to 36 months of age (e.g. [9][10][11][12]). It may even be possible that the same neurocognitive skill (e.g., cognitive control) first manifests in looking behavior (given early maturation of oculomotor control) and later in manual, reaching responses (after reaching matures during the second year of life [13]).…”

“…[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]). The cognitive outcomes were assessed at 18 months of age in the current study as this is the age when individual differences become visible across domains (i.e., motor, language, social-emotional, executive functions, see [8]; see also [9,10]) and have been studied through observational and parent report methods, also in the target population in Malawi [43][44][45].…”