Examining the indirect effects of kindergarteners’ executive functions on their academic achievement in the middle grades of elementary school

ABSTRACT

We investigated whether the cool and hot executive functions (EFs) exhibited by kindergarteners could predict their academic achievement in the middle grades of elementary school. The study assessed the cool and hot EF of 48 Japanese kindergartners (M = 78.12 months) and then measured these same children’s academic achievement in language and mathematics between grades one to four. The study’s confirmative factor analysis indicated that early childhood EFs have both cool and hot factors. Its structural equation modeling revealed that although both cool and hot early childhood EFs can directly predict academic achievement in grade one, cool EFs had a greater predictive effect. It also found that cool and hot early childhood EFs had an indirect effect on academic achievement between grades two to four insofar as children’s academic achievement in grades two to four was predicted sequentially by their previous academic achievements.

KEYWORDS:

• Cool executive function
• hot executive function
• academic achievement
• early childhood
• elementary school
• longitudinal study

Acknowledgements

We are especially grateful to three students for their help with this project. We also would like to thank the children and their respective teachers who participated in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported in part by 2018 CASIO SCIENCE PROMOTION FOUNDATION [Grant Number 41] and MAYEKAWA FOUNDATION [Grant Number 1] for KN; and the JSPS KAKENHI for JN [Grant Number JP26285149 and JP18K03055].

Notes on contributors

Naoko Nakamichi

Naoko Nakamichi is a professor of developmental psychology in Faculty of Human Life Design, Toyo University. Her research interests include social cognition (theory of mind and testimony) and pretend play in childhood. She also earned her Ph.D. in Education from Tokyo Gakugei University in Tokyo, Japan.

Keito Nakamichi

Keito Nakamichi is an assistant professor of developmental psychology in Faculty of Education, Chiba University. His research interests include cognitive development (reasoning, self-regulation, and executive function) and social development in childhood. He also earned his Ph.D. in Education from Tokyo Gakugei University in Tokyo, Japan.

Jun Nakazawa

Jun Nakazawa is the president of the Uekusa Gakuen University. His research interests include social development in childhood. He also earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from Hiroshima University in Hiroshima, Japan.