Abstract
Some executive tasks may require diverse abilities to solve, having implications for the comprehension of an individual’s performance. This study investigated the processes involved in the resolution of a complex test of executive function (EF): the Tower of London (ToL) task. One hundred twenty-four healthy teenagers, 11–14 years old (M = 12.5, SD = 1.14) participated in the study. They were tested using the Auditory Working Memory Test, Visual Working Memory Test, Computerized Stroop Test, Semantic Generation Test, Cancellation Attention Test, and Trail Making Test B, in addition to the ToL. Multivariate analysis showed significant effects of age on visual and auditory working memory, interference control, and planning, with a marginal effect on selective attention. A gender effect was found only on visual working memory where boys scored higher than girls. Significant correlations were found between EF measures despite their low and moderate magnitudes. Performance on the ToL task was correlated with some executive ability measures. The most difficult problems that required four and five moves were more correlated with EF measures than the easier problems that required two and three moves. Regression analyses revealed that only auditory working memory integrated the ToL explanation model after controlling for age. However, the explained variability was very modest, suggesting that other abilities not analyzed in this study may participate in the ToL solution. In conclusion, this investigation highlighted the modest role of auditory working memory in ToL scores in a sample of teenagers.
Highlights
Executive function (EF) includes cognitive and metacognitive processes that allow an individual to carry out, control, and regulate their own behavior and cognition, permitting involvement in adaptive behaviors, self-organization, and direction toward aims
To understand the nature of the processes involved in the performance of complex tests, considering the age of the participants being tested and the developmental course of EF is necessary. This was the purpose of the present study where we investigated the relative contributions of various EFs on the performance of children and adolescents in the Tower of London (ToL) task, an instrument that involves various executive processes for its resolution (Lezak et al, 2004)
Age had a significant effect on performance on the Auditory Working Memory (AWM) test (F [3,98] = 6.015, p = .001), performance on the Visual Working Memory (VWM) test (F [3,98] = 3.205, p = .027), interference reaction time on the Stroop–Comp test (F [3,98] = 8.408, p ≤ .001), and ToL task (F [3,98] = 3.371, p = .022), with a marginally significant effect on performance on the CAtT (F [3,98] = 2.579, p = .058)
Summary
Executive function (EF) includes cognitive and metacognitive processes that allow an individual to carry out, control, and regulate their own behavior and cognition, permitting involvement in adaptive behaviors, self-organization, and direction toward aims. Because EF involves multiple dimensions (Miyake et al, 2000), one may wonder what some of the specific tests conceived to evaluate EF are appraising This matter has been addressed by Strauss, Sherman, Miyake et al (2000) investigated the requirements for solving complex executive tests including the WCST, Tower of Hanoi Task (ToH), Random Number Generation (RNG), Operations Span (OS), and Dual Task (DT) performed by healthy adults. Their results showed that flexibility is crucial for perseverative errors in the WCST. In the DT, no single model was identified that was statistically
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