Abstract
The study aimed to systematically analyze the empirical evidence that is available concerning batteries, tests or instruments that assess hot executive functions (EFs) in preschoolers, identifying which are the most used instruments, as well as the most evaluated hot EFs. For the review and selection of articles, the systematic review methodology PRISMA was used. The article search considered the EBSCO, Web of Science (WoS), SciELO and PubMed databases, with the keywords “Hot executive function”, “Assessment”, “test”, “evaluation”, using the Boolean operators AND and OR indistinctly, between 2000 and April 2021. Twenty-four articles were selected and analyzed. The most commonly used instruments to assess hot EFs in preschool children were the Delayed Gratification Task, the Child’s Play Task, and the Delayed Reward Task. Amongst those analyzed, 17 instruments were found to assess hot EFs in preschoolers. The accuracy and conceptual clarity between the assessment of cognitive and emotional components in EFs is still debatable. Nevertheless, the consideration of affective temperature and reward stimulus type, could be an important influence when assessing EFs in this age range. Evidence of the possible involvement of cortical and subcortical structures, as well as the limbic system, in preschool executive functioning assessment has also been incorporated.
Highlights
This study is framed in the context of neuropsychology, a clinical discipline pertaining to a part of neuroscience that focuses on a neural interpretation of the behavioral and affective cognitive evidence in people [1,2]
Given that research on hot EFs is scarce, especially when regarding assessment instruments, this review aims to systematically analyze the empirical evidence available pertaining to batteries, tests, or instruments that assess hot EFs in preschool children, as a contribution to the knowledge of the most commonly used instruments when assessing hot executive functions
Some variables have been associated with altered hot EFs in preschool children, such as preterm birth (n = 2; 8.3%), obesity (n = 1; 4.2%), attention deficit disorder (n = 1; 4.2%), and developmental coordination disorder (n = 1; 4.2%)
Summary
This study is framed in the context of neuropsychology, a clinical discipline pertaining to a part of neuroscience that focuses on a neural interpretation of the behavioral and affective cognitive evidence in people [1,2] Along these lines, the mnesic, attentional, and executive functions (EFs), which is the particular interest of this study, are evaluated according to a person’s response in relation to a possible neurological correlate. EFs are defined as a set of neurocognitive skills that can inhibit, regulate and/or plan behavior, emotional behavior, and complex social functioning, contributing to adaptability, and orienting goal-directed behavior in the individual. Through these processes, proactive, autonomous, and productive activities can be developed [2,5,6,7,8,9]
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