Executive Functions and Decoding in Children and Adolescents: a Meta-analytic Investigation

Reading Skill Profiles in School-Aged Italian-Speaking Children: A Latent Profile Analysis Investigation into the Interplay of Decoding, Comprehension and Attentional Control

Our study examined the complex relationships among reading performance (decoding, comprehension) and language, visuo-spatial, and attentional control abilities in 115 Italian-speaking children. Latent profile analysis was used to identify distinct clusters of participants showcasing quantitative differences in decoding skills, including word, pseudo-word, text reading speed and accuracy. Then, we used this classification to investigate group differences in a variety of linguistic, working memory, and visuo-spatial tasks, as well as in reading comprehension skills, by means of multivariate and univariate tests. Our results reveal significant links between reading proficiency and several key factors: language skills, visuo-spatial abilities, and attentional control. These findings illuminate the nuanced impact of domain-general processes that govern a series of linguistic and visuo-perceptive subcomponents during reading tasks. Additionally, using dominance analysis, predictors of written text comprehension were identified. Our findings suggest that effective reading comprehension relies on a synergistic interplay of adequate reading speed, attentional control, working memory, and verbal fluency, accounting for 23% of the explained variance. This study highlights the multifaceted nature of reading proficiency and suggests that a broader perspective is necessary to fully understand reading development and support its improvement.

First-grade multilingual students' executive function profiles and links to English reading achievement and difficulties: a person-centered latent profile analysis

Although the important role of children's executive function (EF) in their reading development has been well-established, less is known about the extent to which multilingual children's EF components vary and whether the variability in different EF abilities explains multilingual children's English reading achievement. The present study explored the US first-grade multilingual children's (N = 3,819) profiles of EF abilities and how the profile membership was associated with their English reading achievement, using a nationally representative sample of multilingual children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K: 2011) study. We fit latent profile analysis with various EF components, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, approaches to learning, and attentional focus, and found three distinct EF profiles in multilingual children: (a) Below-Average EFs with Above-Average Cognitive Flexibility (10.13%), (b) Above-Average EFs (84.09%), and (c) Very Low Cognitive Flexibility (5.78%). Controlling for kindergarten English reading achievement scores and demographic variables, children in the Above-Average EFs profile attained a significantly higher English reading achievement score than their peers, while children in the Very Low Cognitive Flexibility group had the lowest English reading achievement score. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding multilingual children's heterogeneity in EF and have implications for the early identification of and tailored intervention for multilingual children at risk for reading difficulties.

Impact of a cognitive stimulation program on the reading comprehension of children in primary education

Introduction

At present, numerous studies can be found in which influences and relationships between the principal executive functions, reading comprehension, and academic performance associated with reading are reported. However, there is still a lack of convergence regarding the impact of computerized cognitive training on children's executive development and its transfer in academic reading performance and comprehension of written texts.

Methods

This study analyzes the effect of implementing a cognitive stimulation program on the performance of reading comprehension and academic performance in the subject of Spanish Language and Literature. To this end, a total sample of 196 children from 23 educational centers received the cognitive intervention for 8 weeks, with three weekly sessions of between 15 and 20 min each occurring on non-consecutive days. Pre-test and post-test measurements were collected and analyzed.

Results

The results demonstrate a significant increase in the reading comprehension scores. In addition, a significant impact of the training on the participants' academic performance in the subject Spanish Language and Literature was found.

Discussion

These results highlight the usefulness of computerized cognitive stimulation programs for reading comprehension enhancement.

Executive Functioning with the NIH EXAMINER and Inference Making in Struggling Readers

Executive functioning (EF) is a domain-general process implicated in reading, but there remains lack of clarity within the domain due to varied assessment methods. We investigated the relation of EF (indexed with the NIH EXAMINER) to word reading, reading fluency, and reading comprehension in struggling readers and evaluated the mediational role of inference making for the EF-comprehension link. Analyses revealed an overall effect of EF on reading, with significant differences between fluency and comprehension, and between single word reading and comprehension, but not between fluency and single-word reading. The EF-reading comprehension relation was fully mediated by inference making.

A Longitudinal Study on Bidirectional Relations between Executive Functions and English Word-Level Reading in Chinese American Children in Immigrant Families

This two-wave (1.5 years apart) longitudinal study examined the bidirectional relations between measures of executive function (EF; working memory, attention focusing, inhibitory control, and a comprehensive EF measure) and two types of English word-level reading (pseudoword reading and word reading) among 258 school-aged children (52.6% boys, age = 5.8-9.1 years, in 1st to 3rd grades at Wave 1) from Chinese American immigrant families. Cross-lagged panel analyses were conducted to test whether the four EF measures and English word-level reading proficiency predicted one another controlling for prior levels of EF or word reading, as well as demographic characteristics and children's English and Chinese language proficiency. We found a positive bidirectional association between the comprehensive EF measure and pseudoword reading. By contrast, although the comprehensive EF measure positively predicted word reading over time, word reading did not predict comprehensive EF. Additionally, both word reading and pseudoword reading positively predicted working memory over time. The results provided partial evidence that English word-level reading is bidirectionally related to EF among early elementary school-age dual language learners.