EVALUACIÓN DEL DESARROLLO DE LA FUNCIÓN EJECUTIVA EN ESCOLARES: USO DE LA PRUEBA DIMENSIONAL CHANGE CARD SORT (DCCS) EN UNA MUESTRA ESPAÑOLA.

Abstract

Executive function (EF) has been studied from different perspectives, with the medical or neuropsychological approach has been the most deployed in the field of science, based on the effects that certain damage to the frontal lobes cause to human actions such as planning, impulse control or goal-directed action. Currently, there are studies of EF focused on defining the development and acquisition of skills relating to the components of this function. Therefore, the search for effective and simple tools that allow the detection of students who may have difficulty in control functions, planning, working memory tasks or evaluation, is a necessary resource in the work of detection and diagnosis of the school counselor. This study analyzes the development of executive function (EF) in school populations through the application of the test Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS). We used a sample of 82 students in kindergarten and primary (4 to 7 years) of public schools in western Andalusia. We analyzed the test results and its relationship with age and sex of subjects. The results observed showed a progressive domain, as hierarchical stages, of the EF tasks, being the most complex task, the combined use of several rules, the last to achieve. This pattern of solution of the tasks in a stepwise and hierarchical process shows that the DCCS is appropriate to observe the developmental level of EF, becoming an useful tool for early diagnosis of students with possible deficit related to self-control, mastery rules and attention problems such as attention-deficit hyperactivity or pervasive developmental disorder.