Abstract
Evidence suggests that executive and motor functions are functionally intertwined, with the interrelation between the two processes influenced by the developmental stage of the individual. This study examined executive and motor functions in preschool children (n = 41; 65–83 months), and investigated if, and how, preschoolers cognitive–motor functioning differs from that of young adults (n = 40; 18–31 years), who served as a control group reflecting the upper bound of cognitive–motor development. As expected, performance of young adults was significantly better than that of preschool children for all cognitive and motor domains tested. The results further showed differential associations among, and between, cognitive and motor functions in preschool children when compared to young adults. While similar correlations among motor variables are found in both groups, correlations among executive functions and between executive and motor variables are only found in preschool children. It thus appears that executive functions (especially working memory) contribute more to successful motor performance in preschool years than in young adulthood. The findings highlight the importance of considering the developmental stage and/or the proficiency level of the individual when examining cognitive–motor interactions or when drawing implications for childhood cognitive–motor training and interventions.
Highlights
One of the critical determinants of school readiness and academic success is a child’s executive functioning (EF; Blair and Razza, 2007; Borella et al, 2010; Vandenbroucke et al, 2017; Duncan et al, 2018; Korucu et al, 2020), a group of top-down mental processes accountable for goal directed behavior
With the exception of response inhibition (p = 0.962), children had low scores compared to the young adult group
Large effect sizes were observed for working memory, processing speed, selective attention and cognitive flexibility (d = |1.199|)
Summary
One of the critical determinants of school readiness and academic success is a child’s executive functioning (EF; Blair and Razza, 2007; Borella et al, 2010; Vandenbroucke et al, 2017; Duncan et al, 2018; Korucu et al, 2020), a group of top-down mental processes accountable for goal directed behavior. Manual dexterity has been found to be associated with working memory and/or inhibitory control in 5- to 6-year-old children (Livesey et al, 2006; Stöckel and Hughes, 2016; Oberer et al, 2017), and with response planning and cognitive flexibility in young (Stöckel et al, 2017; Stuhr et al, 2018) and older adults (Stöckel et al, 2017). Gross motor skills have been linked to working memory and inhibitory control in 8- to 10-year-old children (van der Fels et al, 2019), to working memory in adolescents (Rigoli et al, 2012), and to inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility in 6- to 7-year-old children (Roebers and Kauer, 2009; Oberer et al, 2017) and young adult populations (Stuhr et al, 2018)
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