Developmental Changes in Executive Functioning

TLDR

Early research on child executive functioning supported a three‑factor model, but newer studies have found undifferentiated or two‑factor structures. The study used a cohort‑sequential design to examine age‑related differences in executive‑functioning structure among 6‑ to 15‑year‑olds. Children were tested annually on tasks assessing updating, working memory, inhibition, and switch efficiency. Task‑based variation in developmental patterns was observed; confirmatory factor analyses revealed a two‑factor structure for ages 5‑13 and a distinct three‑factor structure for 15‑year‑olds.

Abstract

Although early studies of executive functioning in children supported Miyake et al.'s (2000) three‐factor model, more recent findings supported a variety of undifferentiated or two‐factor structures. Using a cohort‐sequential design, this study examined whether there were age‐related differences in the structure of executive functioning among 6‐ to 15‐year‐olds ( N = 688). Children were tested annually on tasks designed to measure updating and working memory, inhibition, and switch efficiency. There was substantial task‐based variation in developmental patterns on the various tasks. Confirmatory factor analyses and tests for longitudinal factorial invariance showed that data from the 5‐ to 13‐year‐olds conformed to a two‐factor structure. For the 15‐year‐olds, a well‐separated three‐factor structure was found.