The role of executive functions in the relation between socioeconomic level and the development of reading and maths skills / El rol de las funciones ejecutivas en la relación entre el nivel socioeconómico y el desarrollo de habilidades lectoras y matemáticas

Abstract

Executive functions (EF) are a set of processes that allow individuals to plan, monitor and organize tasks and thus play a key role in the development of reading and maths skills. Environmental factors such as socioeconomic level (SEL) influence reading and maths skills as well as EFs. The aim of this study is to explore the extent to which executive functions play a mediating role between SEL and reading and maths performance. To this end, we assessed 286 Chilean primary education students: 86 with a high SEL and 200 with a low level. The results show that the high-SEL group obtained consistently higher scores than their peers with low SEL levels in both reading and maths tasks as well as in EF measurements. This suggests that SEL could influence the development of these variables. The results also showed that EFs partially mediate the relation between SEL and reading and maths skills in primary school students through the specific function of inhibition. The results are discussed in light of the effect of SEL on the development of EFs and school learning.

Selective Attention and Inhibitory Control of Attention Are Correlated With Music Audiation

“…Although both schools have similar characteristics, i.e., they are public (no fees) and non-profit, the Chilean and Belgium contexts could be quite different. Indeed, Chile has one of the highest income inequalities compared to other member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and large differences in educational deprivation exist between children who come from high and low socio-economic status (SES; Escobar et al, 2018). Parents' occupation and their level of education have a high impact on children's behavior and attentional problems in 1st and 2nd grade children (Kalff et al, 2001).…”

Research on numerical cognition in Chile: current status, links to education and challenges (Investigación en cognición numérica en Chile: estado actual, vínculos con la educación y desafíos)

“…De forma similar, Rosas, Espinoza, Garolera, y San-Martín (2017) encontraron que tanto las funciones ejecutivas como constructo global, así como la memoria de trabajo y la inhibición conductual de los niños de último año de educación parvularia predijeron sus habilidades académicas al finalizar el 1° grado escolar. Más aún, Escobar et al (2018) mostraron que el grado de inhibición de los niños es central para el rendimiento matemático, mediando la relación entre el nivel socioeconómico (NSE) y el rendimiento matemático en el 1° grado escolar.…”

“…Similarly, Rosas, Espinoza, Garolera, and San-Martín (2017) found that both executive functions as a global construct, as well as working memory and behavioural inhibition of children in the last year of early childhood education, predicted their academic skills at the end of grade 1. Furthermore, Escobar et al (2018) showed that the degree of children's inhibition is central to mathematical performance, mediating the relation between socioeconomic status (SES) and mathematical performance in grade 1.…”

A psychometric study of an executive function assessment instrument (TDI-FE)

“…The relationship between EFs and academic performance has been widely documented in existing literature, and there is robust evidence indicating the influence of EFs on social-emotional and cognitive development at various stages of life [ 8 , 12 , 13 ]. A study investigating models demonstrated the predictive power of EF on reading and arithmetic performance two years later [ 14 ].…”