Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between executive functioning and word learning among preschoolers with and without developmental language disorder (DLD). Method: Forty-one preschool-age children with DLD were matched to typically developing children on age and sex. Participants were exposed to 10 novel…

Understanding that people's ideas may be false is a challenging step in Theory of Mind (ToM) development, which is accomplished around the age of 4-5 years old by typically developing (TD) children. False-belief attribution remains difficult beyond this age for certain clinical populations, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), where delays in…

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects executive function and attention. Many children display ADHD-like symptoms. However, diagnosis requires at least six symptoms that interfere significantly with a child's life for a period of time. School and home can be greatly influenced by executive function deficits that characterize the…

Gross motor and physical activity opportunities in early childhood are important for promoting health and development. We conducted two studies with the following aims: (1) to describe the quality of gross motor/physical activity early learning environments in Washington (WA) state, USA and (2) to study the relationship between the quality of…

Working memory has been proposed to account for the differential rates in progress young children make in writing. One crucial aspect of learning to write is the encoding (i.e., integration) and retrieval of the correct phoneme-grapheme pairings, known as binding. In addition to executive functions, binding is regarded as central to the concept of…

This study tested child characteristics (temperamental executive control and negative reactivity) and maternal characteristics (parenting behaviors and maternal depressive symptoms) as predictors of a mother's emotion-related socialization behaviors (ERSBs). Further, parenting behaviors and ERSBs were examined as predictors of children's emotion…

This dissertation investigated the roles of early childhood fundamental motor skills (FMS) competence on physical, cognitive, and psychosocial health outcomes among underserved preschoolers in Head Start, and examined parental influence on their children's FMS competence. An explanatory sequential mixed methodology was used to examine the…

Older adults often face decline in cognitive resources. How does this impact their decision making--especially under high cognitive demands from concurrent activities? Do older adults' decision processes uniformly decline with increasing mental strain relative to younger adults, or do they compensate for decline by strategically reallocating…

This article reviews the relationship between executive skills and academic performance as well as concerns about the current status of the field with respect to executive skills and future considerations. It summarizes what the author sees as the most positive aspects of the current state of understanding with respect to executive skills and…

Although most early-childhood educators agree on the value of play in child development, they find it increasingly harder to advocate for play given today's pressure for academic achievement. Using the theoretical work of Lev Vygotsky, the authors discuss how make-believe play among children helps them develop skills critical for success in school…

This study aimed to examine the unique and interactive contributions of the quality of mothers' and fathers' relationships with their toddlers to the prediction of children's subsequent executive functioning (EF). The sample included 46 low-risk middle-class families. The quality of mother-child and father-child interactions was assessed…

Research Findings: The present study examined patterns of longitudinal associations between inhibitory control (IC) and early academic skills during the preschool and kindergarten years. Using data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey Cohort 2009 (FACES 2009) (N = 939), a national data set of predominantly low-income children…

Identifying the cognitive capacities associated with the development of school readiness is indispensable to support children's successful school transition. It has been shown that executive function (EF) in preschoolers is associated with both concurrent preacademic and subsequent academic skills. However, most research has controlled for the…

This study of children from two U. S. states examined associations among four cognitive and academic skills: executive function (EF), visuo-motor integration, mathematics assessed with applied problems, and letter-word knowledge. Before (T1) and after (T2) kindergarten, children (N=555) were assessed using the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) EF…

A considerable body of research indicates that children's executive function (EF) skills and related school readiness constructs are important for early learning and long-term academic success. This review focuses on EF and a related construct, motor skills with a focus on visuo-motor integration, as being foundational for learning, and describes…