EC factor loadings on executive tasks strengthen and stabilize across the preschool period¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Longitudinal metric invariance tests showed most EC loadings at age 3 could not be equated with later ages, while loadings from 3.75 onward were largely constrainable to equality, and EC factor correlations increased over time. → Clark 2014

Evidence¶

Clark 2014¶

Clark, C. A. C., Nelson, J. M., Garza, J., Sheffield, T. D., Wiebe, S. A., & Espy, K. A. (2014). Gaining control: changing relations between executive control and processing speed and their relevance for mathematics achievement over course of the preschool period. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00107

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Longitudinal metric invariance analysis combining all four age-point models (overall fit χ² = 1550.47(1124), CFI = 0.88). Correlations between EC factors rose from "β = 0.84 for EC at age 4.5 with EC at 5.25 years", indicating growing stability of the distinct EC factor.

"Correlations between the EC factors also increased from β =0 . 3 4t o . 4 5f o rE Ca ta g e3w i t hE Ca t later ages to β = 0.84 for EC at age 4.5 with EC at 5.25 years, all p’s< 0.001, suggesting increasing stability in the distinct EC factor over time."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• By age 5.25, executive tasks load significantly and consistently on a distinct EC latent factor — related
• At age 3, executive task performance does not form a coherent latent EC factor independent of processing speed — related
• Latent EC at age 3 does not predict mathematics achievement, but EC at ages 3.75, 4.5, and 5.25 shows independent prospective links with mathematics — related
• Executive task accuracy and processing speed improve dramatically with age across the preschool period, with no cohort effect from repeated testing — related
• A unitary EC factor is preferred over separate working memory and inhibitory control factors at age 5.25 even after accounting for processing speed and language — related
• The four effortful control subscales load onto a single latent factor in preschoolers — related
• EF and ToM each show substantial longitudinal stability from 3 to 5 years — related
• In a meta-analytic database of ten studies, the latent EF factor model was preferred in seven samples, with two favoring the components model and one equal — related
• Language proficiency predicts residual variance in executive performance not explained by processing speed at all preschool age points — related