The Role of Executive Functions in Socioeconomic Attainment Gaps: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

The socioeconomic attainment gap in mathematics starts early and increases over time. This study aimed to examine why this gap exists. Four‐year‐olds from diverse backgrounds were randomly allocated to a brief intervention designed to improve executive functions (N = 87) or to an active control group (N = 88). The study was preregistered and followed CONSORT guidelines. Executive functions and mathematical skills were measured at baseline, 1 week, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year posttraining. Executive functions mediated the relation between socioeconomic status and mathematical skills. Children improved over training, but this did not transfer to untrained executive functions or mathematics. Executive functions may explain socioeconomic attainment gaps, but cognitive training directly targeting executive functions is not an effective way to narrow this gap.

Domain-Specific Stimulation of Executive Functioning in Low-Performing Students with a Roma Background: Cognitive Potential of Mathematics

“…This finding was unexpected; however, it corresponds with previous findings in children from special populations, such as those with learning problems, severe arithmetic or language difficulties [63,64], with math anxiety problems [65,66] or children from disadvantaged backgrounds [67]. Our findings are in line with Blakey et al [68], who found that executive functions mediated the relationship between socioeconomic status and mathematical skills. Children improved over the training, but this did not transfer to untrained executive functions or mathematics.…”

Accounting for the SES-Math Achievement Gap at School Entry: Unique Mediation Paths via Executive Functioning and Behavioral Self-Regulation

“…Another pathway is through povertyrelated experiences of chronic stress, which lead to changes in the biological stress response that could detrimentally affect EF (Blair and Raver, 2012). The exact pathway that explains our current findings is unclear as the mechanism(s) may differ according to individual circumstances and extent of SES disadvantage (Blakey et al, 2020).…”

“…Furthermore, while many studies use one task to index each EF component (e.g., Nesbitt et al, 2013), we employed a more comprehensive approach by using multiple tasks for each component. The association between SES and EF may be explained by different factors, including SES-related differences in parental scaffolding and responsiveness, as well as maternal and child language (Blakey et al, 2020). Another pathway is through povertyrelated experiences of chronic stress, which lead to changes in the biological stress response that could detrimentally affect EF (Blair and Raver, 2012).…”

Executive functions and science achievement during the five-to-seven-year shift

“…Learning about scientific phenomena and developing scientific inquiry skills might facilitate growth in skills such as cognitive flexibility (e.g., considering and revising different hypotheses), inhibitory control (e.g., conducting experiments in a logical order rather than going straight to the fun chemical reaction), and working memory (e.g., keeping track of different results). Second, a recent study has shown that while EF might explain socioeconomic math achievement gaps in early childhood, a training program designed to improve EF skills did not improve untrained EF skills as well as later math skills, suggesting that cognitive training that targets EF directly might not be an effective way to narrow this gap (Blakey et al, 2020).…”