The individual contributions of three executive function components to preschool social competence

Abstract

AbstractThe present study explored the role of three components of executive function (EF)—response inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility—in preschool children's social competence. Each component was expected to contribute uniquely to children's abilities to resolve peer conflict in a competent manner, namely, the inhibition of incompetent social responses (response inhibition), maintenance of social goals (working memory), and attentional shift between complex social rules and potential response options (cognitive flexibility). Seventy‐two 4‐to 5‐year‐old children were administered measures for each of the EF components and for peer conflict social competence. Positive associations were found between all three EF components and the social competence task, but working memory was the most highly associated with choosing competent responses to peer conflict. In addition, EF accounted for age‐related increases in competent responding. The results highlight the importance of representational abilities in the development of social competence during the preschool period.Highlights This study examined the normative developmental associations between three components of executive function and social competence in preschool. Executive function, particularly working memory, predicted age‐related changes on a peer conflict task between 4 and 5 years of age. The results suggest that the representational abilities associated with working memory may be important in the development of social competence.