Premium
Longitudinal Antecedents of Executive Function in Preschoolers
Author(s) -
Conway Anne,
Stifter Cynthia A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01756.x
Subject(s) - psychology , temperament , developmental psychology , executive functions , longitudinal study , cognition , child development , personality , social psychology , neuroscience , statistics , mathematics
Despite an extensive history underscoring the role of social processes and child contributions to the development of executive functions (C. Lewis & J. Carpendale, 2009; L. S. Vygotsky, 1987), research on these relations is sparse. To address this gap, 68 mother–child dyads were examined to determine whether maternal attention‐directing behaviors (attention maintaining, attention redirection) and toddlers’ temperament predicted executive processes during preschool (mean age = 4.5 years, SD = 0.46)—delay and conflict inhibition. Maternal attention maintaining was associated with high levels of conflict inhibition for inhibited and exuberant children, whereas attention redirection was associated with low levels of delay and conflict inhibition for inhibited children. Therefore, maternal attention‐directing behaviors may enhance the development of executive functions but only for children with inhibited and exuberant temperaments.