Examining relations between performance on non‐verbal executive function and verbal self‐regulation tasks in demographically‐diverse populations. Issue 5 (25th January 2022) - Dutra, Natália B.
Abstract: Self‐regulation is a widely studied construct, generally assumed to be cognitively supported by executive functions (EFs). There is a lack of clarity and consensus over the roles of specific components of EFs in self‐regulation. The current study examines the relations between performance on (a) a self‐regulation task (Heads, Toes, Knees Shoulders Task) and (b) two EF tasks (Knox Cube and Beads Tasks) that measure different components of updating: working memory and short‐term memory, respectively. We compared 107 8‐ to 13‐year‐old children (64 females) across demographically‐diverse populations in four low and middle‐income countries, including: Tanna, Vanuatu; Keningau, Malaysia; Saltpond, Ghana; and Natal, Brazil. The communities we studied vary in market integration/urbanicity as well as level of access, structure, and quality of schooling. We found that performance on the visuospatial working memory task (Knox Cube) and the visuospatial short‐term memory task (Beads) are each independently associated with performance on the self‐regulation task, even when controlling for schooling and location effects. These effects were robust across demographically‐diverse populations of children in low‐and middle‐income countries. We conclude that this study found evidence supporting visuospatial working memory and visuospatial short‐term memory as distinct cognitive processes which each support the development of self‐regulation. Abstract : This study examines the relations between executive functioning (memory) and self‐regulation by analyzing experimental data from children in Malaysia, Ghana, Brazil, and Vanuatu). We measured two aspects of memory using two experimental tasks: the Beads task measures short term memory and the Knox Cube task measures working memory. We found evidence that working and short‐term memory represent distinct processes, though both are positively correlated with self‐regulation. Our data highlight the need to examine and define specific associations between components of EF and self‐regulation, as well as to investigate those in populations that represent global diversity.